# DC vs Marvel outside the comics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514 "2005-07-14T15:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/21 "2005-07-14T21:51:28Z")
IMO, DC wins at cartoons, Marvel wins at movies. Batman Begins is the first decent DC movie in…a long while. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/22 "2005-07-14T23:02:09Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > There were two Hulk cartoons, actually, although the earlier (60s) one would be hard to call ‘animated’. > > The 60s version was more or less a barely-animated comic book. It had its charms, but was no Spiderman. (And the theme song…‘Doctor Banner, pelted by Gamma Rays…’ _shudder_) > > The 90s version was in UPN’s cartoon block. I don’t remember it well, but it wasn’t good. There was another Hulk cartoon in the early '80s, which ran concurrently to Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. It had a really awesome instrumental theme song that perfectly captured the power and rampaging of the Hulk. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/23 "2005-07-14T23:49:31Z")
The UPN cartoon had She-Hulk in it. And a rather foxy rendition, too. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/24 "2005-07-14T23:58:09Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > There were two Hulk cartoons, actually, although the earlier (60s) one would be hard to call ‘animated’. The 60s one was part of the “Marvel Super Heroes” cartoon I mentioned in my OP. There were also Captain America and Avengers segments, and I want to say there were Thor segments too. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/25 "2005-07-15T00:17:08Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The 60s one was part of the “Marvel Super Heroes” cartoon I mentioned in my OP. There were also Captain America and Avengers segments, and I want to say there were Thor segments too. Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and Sub-Mariner. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/26 "2005-07-15T00:20:12Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **wolfman.** The so-called “craptacular” Batman song has the advantage of such sublime simplicity that I can teach a roomful of kindergarten students the lyrics and melody with just one exposure. Simple or not, Neil Hefti said it took him forever to write the Batman theme. Simple don’t mean simplistic. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/27 "2005-07-15T00:40:18Z")
**Nonsuch.** Agreed. I didn’t mean simplistic as a perjorative. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/28 "2005-07-15T01:42:27Z")
Is it just me? I seem to remember one or more live-action Spiderman films in the seventies … Actually, I seem to recall them being pretty bad. But still. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/29 "2005-07-15T01:46:12Z")
**McSpon.** You’re doubtlessly thinking of the TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/30 "2005-07-15T01:46:54Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > (I would KILL for a new X-Men cartoon with today’s animation standards.) Did you catch [“X-Men: Evolution”](http://x-men.toonzone.net/)? It might not have been full “Justice League” caliber, but it was pretty decent. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/31 "2005-07-15T01:58:23Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **McSpon.** You’re doubtlessly thinking of the TV show. Hm. On research, I think you’re nearly right. It appears that there were two or more “movies” consisting of episodes from the TV series, edited together. And to think I saw them at the theatre. Geez. Now I feel ripped off. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/32 "2005-07-15T02:21:05Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Did you catch [“X-Men: Evolution”](http://x-men.toonzone.net/)? It might not have been full “Justice League” caliber, but it was pretty decent. I did, and unlike apparantly most x-men fans who are too much of an uberfanboy to accept a different telling of the story, I enjoyed it. Doesn’t mean I still don’t want something with the “regular” X-Men and their story. One based on the movies could be good, but I think even better might be a series of mini-series from the different alternate realities. Maybe one for Age of Apocolypse, one for Marvel 1602…umm…well, I don’t know how many more AU’s there are that are fleshed our enough for a mini-series, but the writers would, and they’d be the ones writing them! Or instead of that, mini-series of the most popular X-Over series, like Days of Future Past, X-Tinction Adgenda, X-Cutioners Song, and others. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/33 "2005-07-15T04:12:28Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Unlike with other acquisitions, D.C. acquired Captain Marvel from Fawcett as the result of a lawsuit. The courts agreed that Captain Marvel was nothing more than a knockoff of Superman. That’s how the urban legend tells the story, but that’s not what happened. DC did bring suit against Fawcett, but no court ruling was ever handed down. Fawcett settled and agreed to cease-and-desist publishing the Captain rather than continue a drawn-out legal battle. Fawcett, seeing the writing on the wall, (comic books sales have been on a declining spiral since the mid-50s) decided to get out of comic book publishing entirely. And DC didn’t acquire the rights to Captain Marvel (and the other Fawcett characters) for quite some time. While the Captain was in limbo, Marvel came out with their own Captain Marvel and locked up rights to the name, which is why any comic (or TV show) featuring the Big Red Cheese always uses Shazam! in its title instead of Captain Marvel. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/34 "2005-07-15T13:55:39Z")
I have a family member who worked for Marvel in NY for a few years around 1990. He says Stan Lee is an egomanical lunatic. I feel that Marvel squandered a lot of time in the 80’s when the comic market was smoking hot by not exploiting it with a big movie or some other break out into other media. Batman was huge when it came out, if you weren’t there at the time it’s hard to understand how big of an impact it had. Marvel saw what was going on in the last few years and practically bet everything on the Spiderman movie. If it flopped I think Marvel would be bankrupt right now. So says my source still working in the field. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/35 "2005-07-15T14:20:08Z")
> [@Mr. Goob](#): > > Marvel saw what was going on in the last few years and practically bet everything on the Spiderman movie. If it flopped I think Marvel would be bankrupt right now. So says my source still working in the field. I’d say they bet it all on the X-Men movie, which came out one or two years before. It wasn’t as successful, but still makde a lot of money and is regarded by most as a good superhero movie. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/36 "2005-07-15T14:43:18Z")
I think back on all the years I’ve read Marvel comics and I recollect how Stan Lee was such a hugely agressive salesman for them. He had the Marvel Bullpen columns, dropping tidbits about the artists and writers, and making them sound like rock superstars. The lettercolumns were full of gung-ho responses to readers, reminding them how lucky they were for reading the greatest comics in the world. He had the little editorial letterboxes refering the reader to another issue (do ya remember that happening in FF #32 Faithful Marvelites? Sure ya do!) After he stopped writing, he put his name first on all the marquees as EDITOR! Buy Marvel comics because the ultra-cool Smilin’ Stan Lee is in charge of 'em! I remember one Marvel Bullpen blurb that was utter horseshit: Marvel had a couple of noncolor mags featurring Conan the Barbarian, et al. Stan plugged them, then said “We get so many questions from readers, Gee Mighty Marvel HQ, with all these blockbuster noncolor magazines coming out, does this mean Marvel’s gonna stop printing color comics? We will never discontinue our color comics faithful Marvelites, and that’s a promise from us!” He made an issue out of a nonissue to peddle his product. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/37 "2005-07-15T15:19:59Z")
Yeah, but there were no DC characters on The Electric Company! ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/38 "2005-07-15T19:01:57Z")
> [@Mr. Goob](#): > > I have a family member who worked for Marvel in NY for a few years around 1990. He says Stan Lee is an egomanical lunatic. I feel that Marvel squandered a lot of time in the 80’s when the comic market was smoking hot by not exploiting it with a big movie or some other break out into other media. Egomanical lunatic or not, I think he was right - when comic popularity was exploding (more in the early 90’s), both Marvel and DC dropped the ball in getting good movies to the big screen. In fact, when the comics were hottest, Marvel & DC performed at their worst artistically all the way around. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/39 "2005-07-15T19:16:53Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > In recent years, Stan Lee has been involved in exstensive legal battles against Marvel and its subsidiaries for shares of royalties resulting from Marvel motion picture ventures. Somehow I doubt that Marvel is consulting him often for artistic contributions. Well, as **D\_Odds** notes, Stan and Marvel have settled. Anyway, they never really consulted him for any artistic contributions since the late '70’s, when he moved to Hollywood to be their pitchman. But even during the litigation, he still was doing the job – when Joe Quesada went on Larry King (?) to hype the gay Rawhide Kid miniseries, Stan went on the back him up. A couple months after the suit was first filed, “Stan Lee presents” was dropped from the title pages of all the Marvel books (where it had sat comfortably for nigh on 25 years at that point). There was a _huge_ fan uproar and Marvel restored it a couple months later and some CYA spin saying it was just an oversight. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514/40 "2005-07-15T19:50:06Z")
Stan Lee can be respectful and quiet and civil when he wants to. The whole “Stan the Man” thing is just an act he uses. I can’t imagine anyone believing for an astro-second that Stan truly felt his _Fantastic Four_] stories were better than anything Shakespeare eveer wrote, for instance. And give Stan some credit, he’s never AFAIK bad-mouthed or demeaned anyone or anything, even when they were in direct opposition to him. He knows this is all just business, and doesn’t seem to take anything too personally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dc-vs-marvel-outside-the-comics/312514.md?page=1)