One of the reasons that I self-identify as a DC guy is because I love the history that, up until recently, was always a cornerstone of their books. The publisher, during its finest hours, was never beholden to the past, but shone a light backwards, from where it came, and kept the best pieces of the past firmly in place. Think about the Justice Society of America; what was once the first superhero team was eventually brought back as an intergenerational team, full of mentors, legacy characters, and new characters looking for a place to call home.
Despite the run itself not being all that special, one of my favorite moments in any comic comes in Brad Meltzer’s “Justice League of America.” It comes from when Hal Jordan and Dinah Lance, two adults who looked out for him when he was young, present Roy Harper with a Red Arrow costume. You can see the pride in the older generation, the feeling of acceptance for Roy, and you get a sense that this is really a special moment. Even if you’ve never read the classic Neal Adams/Denny O’Neil story that is being referenced here, you can see that there is a lot of history between these characters, and each stitch of it matters.
DC decided that this reliance on history was a bad thing and, for this and many other reasons, rebooted their entire line of comics in 2011. The “New 52” as it was dubbed was all about a fresh start, an unshackling of these great characters from their wicked (as in bad, not in Boston for good) continuity, and giving readers an easy access point.
Marvel, until recently, for better or worse, has never been as big on its history. Sure, there are a lot of relationships that have been building for ten, twenty, even fifty years, but Marvel, more often than not, was about the here and now. You rarely saw Marvel looking back on their history with the same soft-focus nostalgia that DC did.
That is, until recently.
In the past year or so, Marvel has had a nearly unparallelled run of critical and commercial success. Marvel NOW has been a spectacular success, putting top notch creators with new books, and giving the mythic new reader a great jumping on point.
But, something has felt different about Marvel NOW, and I think I’ve figured it out.
Marvel realizes that, with the rebooting of the DC Universe, they are the comics publisher with the most available history at its disposal, and is using it. They are taking a number of tricks from the old DC playbook, and in doing so, are undoubtedly winning superhero comics in 2013. Here’s how:
1) The past is important, but knowing every facet of it isn’t.
After literally a decade plus of not reading any “Avengers” comics, I came back to the line when Jonathan Hickman was announced as the flagship writer. In Hickman’s first issue, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are having a touching conversation about their friendship, their status as teammates, and what the world looks like right now, which ends with this realization: the Avengers have to “get bigger,” and they go on a recruiting drive. That is how Hickman introduces his new team – a simple, elegant, intriguing start to the new series.
Compare that to the first issue of DC’s flagship team book, “Justice League,” written by Geoff Johns, which takes the team five years into the past, erases all interaction between them leading up to this point, and reduces the characters to broad stereotypes. “The Avengers,” through its simple plot, bring you onto an already moving train. “Justice League” takes you back to the construction of the train tracks. One is exciting and invites you to read more, the other makes you look at your watch and see how much longer until the good stuff happens.
Marvel has brought back the original X-Men team – not reunited them in the present, but had the Silver Age versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel travel through time to the present day, where the mutant world is reeling from the loss of Professor Xavier. That is just about all you need to know to pick up “All New X-Men” #1. Is the story more rewarding if you’re a fan of those classic stories? Of course it is – but it is still enjoyable if you’ve never read a single Lee/Kirby issue.
Continued below2) Legacy characters get the spotlight
In my personal favorite DC-era, the late 90s/early 00s, DC had a serious commitment to new characters carrying the names (and sometimes costumes) of classic characters. Green Lantern, the Flash, Green Arrow, Hourman, Mister Terrific, Starman, Robin – all of these major DC characters were the second (or third) generation of characters to go by these names, and they were being established as the most important version of that character. Sure, the prior versions still existed, but you got the impression that DC really wanted to make sure that the characters moved forward, while still carrying on that important tradition.
Well, Marvel is doing the exact same thing right now. There are currently two Human Torches*, two Ant-Men, two Power Men and, if rumors are correct, two Spider-Men in the main Marvel 616. Marvel isn’t whitewashing the past to get rid of these characters, they are embracing them. Hell, both versions of Power Man are on the same team!
*EIC Matt wants you to know that this isn’t an actual legacy situation, but I feel that the fact that Marvel is okay with having two unrelated characters named the same thing, much like DC did with “Starman,” fits the DC-ishness this article is striving for.
Even with [spoilers if you haven’t been reading comics of keeping up in any way over the past year] Otto Octavius as the Superior Spider-Man, we are seeing actual changes to the Marvel Universe that are beyond just cheap deaths and stunt resurrections.
3) The past, no matter how weird or goofy, isn’t off limits
If you had told me a few years ago that a clone of Peter Parker would, again, have his own book, I’d have laughed in your fool face. But, here we are, with “Scarlet Spider” still coming out monthly. I don’t know if I would have believed you if you told me that in 2013 Marvel were harkening back to a time when a female Inhuman was one of the members of the Fantastic Four. A “New Universe” revival? Are you high? Don’t get me started with the 2099 characters…
Oh, wait. Look at the cover for “Superior Spider-Man” #17 (the variant cover is shown because it is just so damn beautiful).
But that is exactly what is happening. Marvel is looking back at its entire history – from Namor and the Human Torch to Crystal to Star Brand to Kaine and Ben Reilly – for inspiration for its current stories. There is no longer a feeling that certain characters or storylines are too dumb or too out of sync with the current 616 to work. And that freedom is allowing creators to put out some of the best work of their careers.
The upcoming “All New Invaders” harkens back to the very beginning of Marvel’s existence, and is unashamed in doing so. This is very reminiscent of DC dusting off the Justice Society, one of the smartest decisions DC made in the late-90s. The aforementioned “Superior Spider-Man” is, in its own way, a tip of the hat to the “Return of Superman” – which of the four “imposters” was really Kal-El? Even Bucky becoming prominent again, and taking Winter Soldier as an alias, harkens back to Dick Grayson choosing to be Nightwing. The Fantastic Four have kids that are now, essentially, as important as their parents. The Jean Grey School shows that the X-Universe can embrace generational shifts and a massive culling of various eras and characters under one roof (Doop, Kitty Pride, Northstar). The Avengers, between “Young Avengers” and “Avengers Arena,” have a ton of youth nipping at their heels. This is a maturing universe, and one that is ripe with stories that capitalize on that history and legacy.
All of this is reminiscent to how DC has always operated. In his masterful “Starman,” James Robinson tied all the characters ever called that together under one roof, and made sense of 50 years of weirdness. Hell, Grant Morrison’s Batman run was nothing if not a stitching together of all the myriad aspects of the Bat – from the dark to the goofy – and making the character make logical sense in all scenarios.
As long as DC is so beholden to their “five-ish years” timeline for the New 52, and dismiss anything from the past as off limits, their characters will feel flat and lifeless. Whereas Marvel have a plethora of its past to mine from to find great stories for the future, DC is relying on a gimmick of newness that has already lost its luster.
And until something changes, DC is going to be suffering a fate worse than just being in 2nd place: they’re going to have to watch Marvel beat them at their own (old) game. And it has to sting.
