Another thread - and my reading of some old comics - brought this to mind.
It seems to me that where DC has more fictional cities, Marvel has more fictional nations.
For nations, I can only think of two, offhand, in the DCU (Markovia and Abyssia), but three in Marvel - 4 if you stretch the definition of nation a little (Latvaria, Wakandia, Genova, and The Savage Land at a stretch.)
For cities, both have the fictional cities that exist in their fictional nations, but Marvel doesn’t have any fictional cities I can think of in real countries, whereas DC has a bunch in the US alone.
So…to the topic:
I’d like to try to come up with a listing of fictional places (on - or under - the Earth) for both companies, and whether each are countries or cities, in order to compare.
So…so far:
Marvel
Countries:
Latvaria
Wakandia
Genova
The Savage Land
Atlantis
Cities:
None save those in the countries above.
DC
Countries
Markovia
Abyssia
Cities:
Metropolis
Gotham
Bludhaven
Star City
Coast City
Central City
Opal City
Cities located in the above nations.
So, can anyone come up with more to fill the list out?
DC has a lot of others - they’re not leaping to mind mostly, but the JLA/Avengers crossover lists a few more. Qurac would be a notable fictional DC country, too.
Keystone City
Hub City
Fawcett City
Houma, LA
Gateway City
Ivy Town
Blue Valley, NE
Happy Harbor
Littleville, WY
Four Heroes, ME (formerly Codsville, ME)
Midway City
Smallville
Manchester, AL
Leesburg
Pittsdale
d00d, how could I forget these? >_< This is why I don’t make comprehensive lists much.
OK, current list:
Marvel
Countries:
Latvaria
Wakandia
Genosha
The Savage Land
Atlantis
Cities:
None save those in the countries above.
DC
Countries
Markovia
Abyssia
Atlantis
Bialya
Qurac
Themyscira
Cities:
Metropolis
Gotham
Bludhaven
Star City
Coast City
Central City
Opal City
Keystone City
Hub City
Fawcett City
Houma, LA
Gateway City
Ivy Town
Blue Valley, NE
Happy Harbor
Littleville, WY
Four Heroes, ME (formerly Codsville, ME)
Midway City
Smallville
Manchester, AL
Leesburg
Pittsdale
Cities located in the above nations.
So, it doesn’t look like my theory is holding. Ah, well.
Sidenote - does anyone know which states the various fictional DC American cities are supposed to be in - other than the ones ussentinel listed, of course? (I’m doing some fanfic and want to nail down where the cities are supposed to be.)
Ones I know/believe to be the case:
Metropolis - Delaware
Gotham and Bludhaven - New Jersey
Coast City - California
Smallville - Kansas
Is Central City Kansas, too?
After that very small lot, I blank, completely.
I’m particularly interested in Star City and Opal City, but filling out the list would be good.
Like Springfield on The Simpsons, Opal City is impossible to connect to a real-life state, or an existing city. Its creator, Starman writer James Robinson, did this by design. Opal City seems to be on the mid-Atlantic seaboard, but is surrounded by sprawling plains (Turk County) and has “Old West”-esque origins, including being patrolled by the frontier lawman Brian Savage. There were also pirates in Opal even before that. In the ‘30s, Art Deco architecture sprang up, and there was plenty of European influence in an area slightly reminiscent of New Orleans’ Franch Quarter.
When pressed, Robinson said Opal City is “like Baltimore, only funkier.”
C’mon, folks, I realize that it’s tough to transliterate from Latverian script, but the standard Marvel lettering usage since Stan Lee was in short pants has been Latveria, with an E in the middle.
Sheesh!! Have you no respect for cultural traditions? :dubious:
Well, it’s obviously the third city on any list of comic-book-universe cities!
Hmm…to count Gorilla City as a City or a Country…it’s a nation state…briefly recognised by the UN… Will count it as a Country, though that hurts my theory more. Oh, my poor theory…
Marvel
Countries:
Latvaria
Wakandia
Genosha
The Savage Land
Atlantis
Cities:
None save those in the countries above.
DC
Countries:
Markovia
Abyssia
Atlantis
Bialya
Qurac
Themyscira
Vlatava
Gorilla City
Cities:
Metropolis
Gotham
Bludhaven
Star City, Massecheussettes
Coast City
Central City
Opal City
Keystone City
Hub City
Fawcett City
Houma, LA
Gateway City
Ivy Town
Blue Valley, NE
Happy Harbor
Littleville, WY
Four Heroes, ME (formerly Codsville, ME)
Midway City
Smallville
Manchester, AL
Leesburg
Pittsdale
Cities located in the above nations.
On the other hand, some of the information in the DC one is wrong, unless there’ve been retcons I missed. (Prince Brion Markov (Geo-Force) is referred to as Barin is one I spotted right off. Might be others.)
