In the beginning of that Marvel vs DC crossover, Spider-man is transported to Gotham and meets the Joker. The Joker recognizes Spidey, but not vice-versa.
Was there a previous crossover where Joker met Spider-Man? If so, then why isn’t included the in the one of two"Crossover Classics" collections? And why didn’t Spider-man recognize Joker? Something to do with that Spider-man clone confusion I never followed?
There was a Spider-Man/Batman crossover published by Marvel shortly before, in which the Joker teamed up with Carnage. The Spidey who appeared in Marvel/DC was the (yech) Spider-Clone, not Peter Parker; hence, he didn’t recognize the Joker.
Oddly, the first crossover was written as though Batman and Spidey were in the same universe all along. They hinted in a later Marvel/DC crossover that there had been some “blurring” going on that none of the characters realized. :rolleyes:
Thanks Res. Which later crossover hinted at the “blurring”?
Well, Res’s explanation is probably more accurate, but I just figured he watched The Electric Company*.
Which is exactly how the very first DC-Marvel crossover was written, about thirty years ago, when Superman and Spider-Man first met. Clark Kent and Co. from the Daily Planet simply flew from Metropolis to NYC and Spidey and Supes met shortly thereafter to fight Lex Luthor and Dr. Octopus. Subsequent team-ups (Supes and Spidey again, against Dr. Doom, with cameos by The Hulk and Wonder Woman; X-Men and Teen Titans against Darkseid and Phoenix; the aborted Justice League and Avengers book) were all written the same way. Fans decided that this was simply a universe separate from the “normal” DC and Marvel continuities, a universe where the various characters had always lived together, but we just hadn’t heard about it before.
How the heck do you not recognize the Joker? 
Nitpick: no it wasn’t. The premise of JLA/Avengers was that both universes hatched from different “eggs.” The entire DC multiverse came from its own egg, which explained why the Marvel Earth wasn’t affected by the Crisis.
I don’t make this stuff up, folks.
Yes, but don’t you wish you could get paid to do exactly that?
The first DC/Marvel crossover was Superman and Spider-Man in 1975, though they also co-published a Wizard of Oz book earlier that year, based on the MGM movie. Written by Roy Thomas and drawn by the late John Buscema (all songs deleted, though some are referred to in the dialogue), Roy and John both swore that Buscema drew the entire issue from memory, that he had no need to see the movie again to refresh his evidently remarkable memory.
There was a team-up I forgot: Batman and the Incredible Hulk against the Joker and the Shaper of worlds. Well-drawn by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, it also takes place in a combined DC/Marvel universe.
Hmmmm…I wonder what the definitive crossover list is…let’s see…
Superman/Spider-Man: combined universe
Spider-Man/Superman: combined universe
Batman/Hulk: combined universe
X-Men/Titans: combined universe
JLA/Avengers (stillborn): separate universes
Batman/Punisher & Punisher/Batman: combined
Spider-Man/Batman & Batman/Spider-Man: combined universe
Superman/Silver Surfer: separate universes
Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: separate universes
Daredevil/Batman: combined universe, considered a DC Elseworld
Batman/Captain America: combined universe, considered a DC Elseworld, set in John Byrne’s “Generations” universe
Superman/Fantastic Four: separate universes
Fantastic Four/Gen13: same universe (it’s a Wildstorm book, but DC owns 'em now)
And of course, DC vs. Marvel/Marvel vs. DC and its two sequels were based on the premise of separate universes.
I’m probably missing a few, so…any others?
Also…
Hulk/Superman (1999): combined
Generation X/Gen13: combined
Spider-Man/Gen13: combined (and atrocious)
Team X/Team 7: combined
Fantastic Four/Superman (treasury size): combined
Darkseid/Galactus: combined
And soon to be…JLA/Avengers (2003): combined (I think)
Although I never heard of Fantastic Four/GenX, but I’m sure I missed a couple too. Personally I prefer the combined universe more than them not knowing each other. They’ve referred to the competitors characters as movie/comic characters too many times to NOT be amazed when they actually run into them (remember in one of the early issues of McSpider-Man, he held up a crook at whispered “I’m Bat-…er…I’m Spider-man.” Also Damage Control mentioned DC bought their building after making a bundle of money from a movie in 1989.)
Oh, if we want to get really sneaky, there’s a bajillion times where writers and artists sneak characters into another company’s book. Peter Parker makes an appearance in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8, and George Perez made it a point to include him on the cover of the Crisis hardcover collection. I can recall seeing Clark Kent and Lois Lane show up in an issue of Web of Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. Hal Jordan showed up in an insane asylum in Incredible Hulk #426.
I also remember someone meeting Jubilee at a concert, back when she was wearing a color scheme similar to Robin’s, and commenting “Hey, aren’t you dead?” 
Let’s not forget the X-Men/Star Trek crossover!
Let’s not forget the X-Men/Star Trek crossover!
Mmmmmm…doesn’t really count, since Marvel had the Star Trek license at the time it was published.
Are you sure about that? I mean, sure the “Dr. McCoy” line was pretty funny, but come on…X-Men…Star Trek…I think it’s best forgotten.
Along those same lines, ResIpsaLoquitor, J. Jonah Jameson can be seen in the adaptation of the Batman movie, apparently moonlighting at the Gotham Globe. Maybe the long commute is why he’s so cranky all the time.
There have been other crossovers with other comic book companies, such as Batman meeting Spawn, Judge Dredd and the Predator (not all at once!), and I think there was a Superman vs. Aliens (without Sigourney Weaver).
Christ, is there a comic out there that HASN’T had a crossover with Aliens, or is it just the DC Universe? Let’s see, Superman’s fought them twice, Batman’s fought them, Green Lantern’s faught them, and whole fucking JLA has faught them as well, I believe. They used the Aliens to kill off Stormwatch in a fucking WildCATS vs Aliens comic. That, in my mind, was a really shitty thing to do.
Just out of curiosity, did DC buy the rights to Aliens, or is Dark Horse hurting real bad?
Then again, the Predator has faught Batman, what? Three times now? He’s also faught Magus, Robot Fighter to my knowledge, and I’m sure they’ve crossed Superman’s past at some point in time as well. Who else has met up with the Predators?
In the 70s, there was a (apparently real) town called Rutland Vermont that (apparently) had a Super-Hero themed Halloween parade. Bunches of '70s books (esp. ones written by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Steve Gerber, Steve Englehart) had unofficial Halloween crossovers where some (invariably supernatural) menace would turn the innocent parade-goers dressed up as the other company’s heroes into demonic menaces. This was big from about '72-'77.
Mark Gruenwald also had fun with the Crisis. I believe there was a Squadron Supreme graphic novel involving Arcana’s baby stopping the anti-matter wall. Also, in Quasar (another Gruenwald book) Barry Allen guest-starred for a full issue. (there was a race to see who the fastest character ever was and a blonde guy with a crew-cut shows up suffering from amnesia saying his name was something like “Buried Alien”. Of course Barry leaves everyone else in the dust.
Fenris
Crud, how could I forget the “Buried Alien” incident?
I guess we shouldn’t forget the Authority fighting a team that had a strong resemblance to the Avengers a few years ago…and the Squadron Supreme was meant to be based on the JLA Archtypes. If I recall correctly…
Hyperion = Superman
Power Princess = Wonder Woman
Nighthawk = Batman
Whizzer = Flash
Dr Spectrum = Green Lantern
Amphibian = Aquaman
Skrull = Martian Manhunter
Arcana = Zatanna
Tom Thumb = the Atom
Goldren Archer = Green Arrow
whatsername = Black Canary
I also always figured Master Menace was a Lex Luthor archtype, given the alliteration in their names and the parody of MM having too much hair, whereas Lex was completely bald.
Don’t forget that at roughly the same time as the Squadron Sinister’s (or Supreme’s) first or second appearance (Avengers #71ish or #85 ish) there was a wink-wink/nudge-nudge crossover. While the Avengers were dealing with Hyperion and The Wizzer, JLA was fighting Blue Jay, The Silver Sorceress, Jack B. Quick (the Sorceress’s brother), Wakajinda(sp) (who was a doofy looking Thunder-God), etc.). This was in roughly JLA #86.
From what I’ve read, it was planned that the two books’d come out the same month, but scheduling issues prevented it.
Fenris