jack@hp-dcde.UUCP (05/10/84)
Paul Simmington says: >>> "Marvel can proudly boast of some of the best and longest >>> running magazines. Such examples can be easily found, like: 1) Thor >>> 2) Fantastic Four 3) The Incredible Hulk 4) The Uncanny X-men." Marvel may indeed have the best comics, but the longest running? No Marvel comic has been running before 1960, but DC has been publishing comics continuously since 1939 or so. Action, Adventure, Detective, etc. have been around for more than forty years now! -Jack Applin (hplabs!hp-dcd!jack) P.S.: You can argue about the old Timely group (original Human Torch, etc) being part of Marvel if you wish but none of your examples were from them.
dub@pur-phy.UUCP (Dwight U. Bartholomew) (05/11/84)
Dear readers,
<FLAME ON!>
From all the contraversies which have plagued the network
news, I wish to add one more. The topic is so versatile that I
have made it my mission for the news.
Why does everyone talk about D.C. (Distinct Crap). They have
nothing to compare to the King, Marvel Comics. Though D.C. has
always had the "Perfect" people, you can't learn from them at all.
The characters in the Marvel comics are "human" and they
aren't perfect. They may have mutant abilities like the X-men
or Fantastic Four. They could also have developed physical or
mental faculties like Daredevil or Professor Xavier.
Characters like Superman and Batman are perfect and always
have devices or machines to save them from breaking the barriers
into Mankind. These superheroes can never really know the things
their missing.
The Marvel universe has such superheroes that D.C. could never
touch. The Marvel Universe also has powerful supervillians that
D.C. could never think of or create. Persons like the world devouring
Galactus, who's cosmic power and Heralds have reeked havoc over the
different comics. Others have super-human intelligence, used to control
the destinies of others. Dr. Victor Von Doom is one such person.
He's the antithesis of Reed Richards.
Marvel can proudly boast of some of the best and longest
running magazines. Such examples can be easily found, like: 1) Thor
2) Fantastic Four 3) The Incredible Hulk 4) The Uncanny X-men.
So, to all those Distinct Crap readers who only read their
D.C., they have no idea what they're missing. The Marvel Universe
has tastes for everyone, from the Avengers to the mighty Thor.
How many of you out there in Netland can actually say D.C.
is really worth the money? Can you really say that their titles
and material are really interesting?
Signed,
Paul Simmington
North Eastern University
Boston, Massachusetts
P.S. To all D.C. readers, WAKE UP!!!
<FLAME OFF!>eric@aplvax.UUCP (05/14/84)
This is too blatant to pass up. Neither company has a lock on "quality" work. Both have their good and bad times. Yes, there have been times when Superman and Batman were examples of perfection. There have also been times when they have been far from that. Recently, Batman has been shown as the sometimes obsessed person that he is. As for supervillains, Darkseid was far from an angel or a pushover. And we always have the better stories of Luthor or the Joker. I freely admit that I do not follow Marvel comics, the reason is not one of material, but simply economics. When I was but a child, I had limited resources, and I gravitated towards DC comics. Now I find it too expensive to try and build up a collection of Marvel comics, especially with all the "alternative" comics to suck away my money. But claiming that one company is better than another is simplistic. After all, artists and writers shift between the two with increasing frequency, and they are the creative forces behind the strips. Both companies have some bright spots in their history, and both have published drek. Compared to the newer companies, both have more drek per comic (how many bad issues has First put out?), but most of the "classics" have been put out by them, also. Perhaps you should try looking at TEEN TITANS, or RONIN, or CAMELOT 3000, or SWAMP THING, before making sweeping statements. -- eric ...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!eric
richard@dartvax.UUCP (Richard A. Brown) (05/14/84)
[Remember the Alamo] Dwight, > Why does everyone talk about D.C. (Distinct Crap). They have > nothing to compare to the King, Marvel Comics. Though D.C. has > always had the "Perfect" people, you can't learn from them at all. Obviously, Dwight, you haven't been reading some of D.C.s BETTER titles. What about The New Teen Titans? Marvel has no comic to my knowledge that has the color and the action that the Titans have. As for character depth, they may not be as advanced as the X-men, but then again, Wolfman doesn't spend 80% of the comic developing characters, nor is the title 20 years old. Now TNT has been broken into two different titles, for twice the fun. I'm looking forward to it. I suggest you go to somewhere other than your local 7-11 and pick up a copy. Also, DC has perhaps one of the most durable titles of any comic: The Legion of Super-heroes. I grew up with the Legion, and I like to follow there exploits. They're like family, and I feel like I know them all personally. I never really coulddo that with the marvel titles, although I must admit I do identify with the X-men a slight bit. A slight bit. If these titles weren't popular, then they wouldn't be splitting them into two different titles. DC has its followers, and they are a loyal group. Nothing in this world will stay around without demand. Richard Brown ..{astrovax,decvax,colby,cornell,linus,etc}!dartvax!richard
moriarty@uw-june (Jeff Meyer) (05/15/84)
It's after midnight, please excuse me, but.... How is it we get twits like this on the net? I just love blanket generalities, don't you? Here, let's take a look at a few (can you say "Stuck in a 1960's time warp and very ignorant and writes like a 5-year-old"? Sure you can!): >Though D.C. has >always had the "Perfect" people, you can't learn from them at all. 1) If you're trying to learn behaviour patterns from comics characters, good luck. 2) Marvel has quite a few "perfect people"... it depends on the writer. And I'd hardly call Blue Devil, Batman, or Thriller perfect. Gad, such banal generalities! >Marvel can proudly boast of some of the best and longest running magazines. Gosh, I think DC's have been running, oh, about 45 years. Pretty long, eh? And Camelot 3000, Blue Devil, Star Trek and others ARE among the best (according to many of us). "The best" is a subjective term. >So, to all those Distinct Crap readers who only read their >D.C., they have no idea what they're missing. The Marvel Universe >has tastes for everyone, from the Avengers to the mighty Thor. I (and I imagine many others) read both, and in fact agree that many Marvels ARE among the best (I probably buy more Marvels than any other company's). The trick is, we a) don't limit ourself to rooting for one company, no matter what they print, and b) don't put down people's choice of comics on the basis of the company. C'mon, if you're going to contribute, do it in a constructive way. This group is a fantastic service to me as a comic reader because I can get opinions from other people on specific comics... this points me towards comics which I might miss otherwise, or warns me away from comics which might be (in the reviewer's opinion, and with substantiation) be gobblers. >How many of you out there in Netland can actually say D.C. >is really worth the money? Can you really say that their titles >and material are really interesting? I'd say the same thing about DC, Marvel, First or A-V: In many INDIVIDUAL cases, YES!!! Lights out to the Peanut Gallery. I'm going to bed. "DANGER is my BUSINESS"| Currently residing in | UUCP: MORIARTY | {ihnp4,decvax,tektronix}!uw-beaver!uw-june!moriarty | ARPANET: AKA -jwm- | moriarty@washington
boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (05/15/84)
Come, fess up, this can't be for real. And he's from my old alma mater, too.
I started collecting comics back in 1970, and in the days since then, I
have seen many ramblings from Marvel fans about how Marvel is God, and DC prints
nothing but bilge, as well as ramblings from DC fans about the reverse. I may be
incredibly obtuse, but I have yet to understand any of this type of bat guano.
I really wish people would stop this "X is great and Y is garbage" non-
sense! Doesn't anyone consider each comic book on its own merits, regardless of
what company publishes it?
Mr. Simmington, a week or so ago, I posted in this group a list of what I con-
sidered the 10 best comics being published today. There was only *one* Marvel
on it, and *two* DC's, despite the fact that given a choice, my preference is
for Marvel comics over DC comics [incidentally, of the rest, 3 were First, 2
Aardvark-Vanaheim, 2 Kitchen Sink, 1 Eclipse, and 1 Capital (deceased); I know
that adds up to 12 comics, don't ask].
By turning your nose up at DC comics, you doing nothing more than cheating your-
self of some fine reading. If I may be so impertinent as to make recommendations
I might suggest that you try the following DC's:
SWAMP THING, TEEN TITANS (Mando & Baxter books), LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (ditto),
BLUE DEVIL, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, ATARI FORCE, and CAMELOT 3000. Also pick up the
Baxter reprint books of the O'Neil/Adams GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW, Kirby's THE
NEW GODS, and the Goodwin/Simonson MANHUNTER.
(For what it's worth, among the people who have a hand in the above are past or
present Marvel people Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Keith Giffen, Roy Thomas,
Gerry Conway, Mike Barr, Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Archie Goodwin,
and Walt Simonson. It's not the company that counts, it's the creators.
If you really think that none of the DC characters are "human", try TEEN TITANS
or search your comic shops for back issues of DETECTIVE with Englehart & Rogers'
Batman. If you think no one at DC can write, try SWAMP THING (I said it before,
and I'll say it again, Alan Moore is *THE* best writer in comics today; he makes
Chris Claremont look like a fourth-grader scribbler). If you think there are no
major villains at DC, you obviously haven't seen Darkseid, Mongul, or Trigon.
And do you want to talk about long-running? THOR, HULK, FF, X-MEN, AVENGERS ---
Hah! THOR has the most there with almost 350 issues (actually, discounting the
first 82 issues of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, he runs only 265 issues, just behind
FF). Look at DC's record: ADVENTURE ran over 500 issues before it was cancelled;
ACTION is over 550 issues, DETECTIVE is getting close to 550, SUPERMAN is going
to hit #400 in a couple of months; BATMAN is up to 375, FLASH, WONDER WOMAN,
WORLD'S FINEST, and TALES OF THE LEGION (formerly SUPERBOY) are all over 300;
SGT. ROCK, of all things, is close to 400; the off-again/in-again BLACKHAWK is
almost at the 275 mark; JLA is at 230, and GREEN LANTERN is at 180. That makes
*TEN* (count 'em, 10) still extant DC comics that have published more issues
than FANTASTIC FOUR (the current frontrunner for Marvel, in number of issues
with a continuous feature -- remember, THOR started in JIM #83, HULK started
with #102, and CAPTAIN AMERICA with #100), and that's not counting ADVENTURE.
"So, to all those Distinct Crap readers who only read their D.C., they have no
idea what they're missing. The Marvel Universe has tastes for everyone, from
the Avengers to the Mighty Thor."
Well, to all those Marvel readers who only read their Marvels, they have no
idea what they're missing. The DC Universe has tastes for everyone, from the
Legion of Super-Heroes to Swamp Thing.
"How many of you out there in Netland can actually say D.C. is really worth the
money? Can you really say that their titles and material are really interest-
ing?"
Well, I guess you know my answer to that one. And this is from a "Marvel fan".
--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard, MA)
UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian
ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
*NOTE CHANGE IN ADDRESSING*broehl@wateng.UUCP (Bernie Roehl) (05/17/84)
I freely admit that my bias is still towards Marvel, but I feel that
DC's merits are being ignored. The fact is their recent stuff has been
as good as a lot of what Marvel puts out (especially since Marvel doesn't
seem to be quite what they used to be). The drifting away of talented
people from Marvel is a major factor here, especially since some of them
(e.g. Roy Thomas) are drifting towards DC. It's getting expensive to
follow both, and my current approach is to buy the *Best* comics from each
group.
--
-Bernie Roehl (University of Waterloo)