Marvel Comics

Illustration by Ricky Riley / VOX Staff

By Ricky Riley / VOX Staff

I’ll admit that when both Marvel and DC started publishing comic books in the 1930s, DC was clearly the top dog with legendary characters such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. However, that was then and this is now.

Starting in the 1960s, Marvel was completely reborn under the genius of editor Stan Lee and the comic book artists and storytellers he brought to Marvel. DC’s popularity had fallen, and Marvel rose up to capture the imagination of kids, teenagers and adults with new characters such as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers and, of course, The Uncanny X-Men.

With World War II over, Marvel’s characters went back to facing supernatural villains rather than Nazis and other more conventional foes. At the same time, the characters became more than just superheroes. The writers emphasized the human nature behind the masks, and storylines began to discuss the burden of their powers, as well as other real-world issues such as crime, sex and drug abuse. Heroes were no longer larger-than-life, but had personal flaws that gnawed at them. They were prone to having their emotions override their rational decision making.

Perhaps the one character who embodied this change more than any other was The Incredible Hulk. Whenever scientist Bruce Banner, would fly into a rage he would turn into the giant, green, virtually indestructible monster. And this really connected readers to him, because we all know how anger can change us into something horrible. There’s a Hulk, a beast, inside us waiting to be unleashed upon the world.

On the other side of the spectrum, underneath the mask of Spider-Man was a geeky teenager who was always being bullied in school. He had to temper his anger so that he wouldn’t abuse his powers and use them for personal vengeance.

In such ways, Marvel’s characters grew to be much more interesting than the stoic, predictable heroes that DC hadn’t changed much since they were created back in the 1930s. It’s much harder for comic-book readers to relate to Superman, an alien, or Batman, a depressed, vigilante billionaire, than with teenage mutants such as The X-Men who are social outcasts for being different. And whenever DC’s iconic heroes dealt with a tragedy, they never seemed to be troubled too much about it. If they failed to protect the innocent, they’d shrug their shoulders and go off to fight someone else.

Speaking of The Uncanny X-Men, this is perhaps the greatest group of characters that Marvel ever produced, and from the 1970s through the 1990s was the most popular title among comic-book readers. The X-Men represent the next evolution of mankind, and they are recruited as kids and teenagers to a private, hidden school where they learn how to cope with their powers and use them for good. However, when the U.S. government learns about them, crusading politicians are afraid of them and try to have them rounded up and locked away from humanity.

The most famous of the X-Men is Wolverine, a grizzled anti-hero who has amazing healing abilities which allowed scientists to fuse his skeleton with an indestructible metal called adamantium. His signature trait are his wolverine-like metal claws that he uses to slash and stab foes. He’s a difficult character for the X-Men to control, a moody rogue with a shady past — however, he does have a heart of gold, albeit a reluctant one.

Storm is another member of The X-Men, and she is perhaps the single most popular and celebrated black comic-book character. Not only can she control weather, but she serves as a leader for the team and is dedicated to making peace between mutants and humans.

DC has done very little to address diversity with its characters. Not only does Marvel have Storm, but also major African-Americans heroes Blade, Luke Cage and Cloak, Asian-Americans heroes Jubilee and Shang-Chi, disabled heroes Daredevil and Professor X, gay heroes Northstar and Karma, and many others who represent a multi-cultural universe. The classic DC heroes have pretty much stuck to their roots in the 1930s and haven’t changed much to reflect the times.

For these reasons, in the battle royale between these two powerful comic universes, Marvel comes out on top because it has more interesting and diverse characters, more complex storylines and connects more fully with readers around the globe. Sorry DC, game over.

Ricky is a junior at Southwest Dekalb High.