So, what if we throw the Harvey characters into the mix? Who wins then?
Based on preference over experience or quality, I gotta go with Marvel. It’s just more natural for me to imagine Spidey swinging through NYC than it is Superman flying above the fictitious Metropolis.
Plus, back in the day I just adored playing Marvel Super Heroes the RPG.
Marvel takes a much bigger share of the blame then DC does for the decline of the comic book market in the 1990’s for a couple of reasons.
Marvel had something like 15 X-Men X-men offshoots solo titles going, plus they were insanely in love with the dreaded multiple covers format, of which I believe the worst example to be the first issue of X-Men which IIRC had no less then 6 different covers and a limited edition trading card. Needless to say all copies of the comic came pre-poly bagged, thereby insuring that if the bag was opened the value of the comic would drastically decrease.
I think that’s hardly without a doubt. Silver Surfer is a serious contender for that title, and Thor can’t even defeat the Hulk easily.
I agree entirely with BogieBlanca that Marvel was a much bigger offender than DC when it came to the decline of the comics market. Remeber Fatal Attractions? The storyline with heavy cardstock covers with holograms on them? Yeah.
DC definitely suffered from this (Eclipso, Bloodlines), but not to the degree that Marvel did, and I don’t see how you relate DC’s adult titles to the decline of the industry.
Assuming Superman actually remembers that he has super-speed, couldn’t he just fly circles around Thor, hitting him several thousand times per second, until Thor collapses?
I like an entertaining story, wherever it comes from, so I can’t say that one company is better than another, but I think the single character who’s entertained me the most is probably Spider-Man.
Who beats who in any comic depends mostly on who’s writing the issue.
Sure, Superman should be able to beat Hawkeye and Thor should be able to obliterate the Creeper, but if whoever is writing it wants the other way, the other way it shall be.
I’ve always hated the “If <insert company>'s characters got into a fight with <insert other company>'s heroes, <insert either company> would win” cliche. Both companies have godlike beings of unlimited power so there really is no plausable answer.
The X-Men #1 didn’t come with a card, but did have 5 different versions. (4 covers + 1 special edition with a poster/cover)
X-Force #1 only had 1 cover, but was polybagged with one of 5 collectors cards. You can find them in back issue bins around the world for no more than a quarter a pop.
Sorry for the nit-pick.
Odinoneeye has a good point… how come nobody ever asks “If the Beyonder and the Spectre fought, who would win?” 
Well, because that’s a really easy fight. Beyonder wins by going back in time and preventing Jim Corrigan from being murdered. Beyonder wins!