DC Superheroes: Too Anachronistic?

[DIPHOB]

I read that DC/Warner are planning a Justice League movie. I got into Marvel in the early 70's with 'The Mighty World of Marvel', when Marvel went UK, publishing rehashed B & W editions for our market . At the same time , I was given a load of free DC full colour comics by a neighbour but those lantern jaws just didn't connect. I think the rot set further back than then. I'm wondering, outside of Batman who has always carried a menace befitting any age, is DC flogging a dead horse trying to foist Wonder Woman, the Flash and Shazam on to a modern audience. It seems to me that some iconic heroes can thrive where others fall away, maybe through the genius of re-interpretation, Sherlock Holmes or Political incorrectness, Tarzan or just being not a product of a modern age. The last rehash of Superman was pretty lukewarm and, one could argue, something like the Hulk is way more appealing. Kids like monsters.

 

[Reverend D]

One of the big differences between Marvel and DC, historically was the villains. Superman's enemies (Luthor, Bizarro, Myxyzptlk etc) were nuisances. Batman's baddies were pretty much novelty-themed hoodlums. None of them posed any huge danger to the heroes.

Marvel's villains though tended to be slightly more powerful than the heroes, and/or much more unhinged than their DC counterparts. They also didn't regard themselves as being evil: Doctor Doom is probably the best example of a villain who actually thinks that he is a hero (to his own people, or by fighting the devil for his mother's soul). Look at Galactus too: he appears to have evil motives but really he's just trying to survive. Was Magneto a villain, or a guy fighting to defend his own kind.

This moral complexity can be demonstrated by considering how many Marvel heroes actually started out as baddies; Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Black Widow, Medusa. Tony Stark and Stephen Strange weren't wholly likeable in their first appearances either. Look at Sub-Mariner too- 80-odd years he's been around and he is sometimes a hero (he's been a member of the Avengers) and sometimes portrayed closer to a baddie (he was the star of Super Villain Team Up, and once hit New York with a tidal wave during a scrap with the Original Human Torch).

I've always thought DC needed to power up their villains a bit. Doomsday and Despero had the power, but were hardly three-dimensional characters, personality wise. I think the best villain DC had, or certainly the most effective, was Reverse Flash. He was as powerful as the hero, with less morals to restrain him, and motivations that weren't just "rule/destroy the world"

 

[Analogue Boy]

DC has mad and twisted villains with their own stories who are often way more interesting than the heroes. (See Arkham Asylum) Marvel villains are usually just 2D somethings as metaphorical unstoppable objects to be pummelled into defeat.

 

[ramonmercado]

DC has mad and twisted villains with their own stories who are often way more interesting than the heroes. (See Arkham Asylum) Marvel villains are usually just 2D somethings as metaphorical unstoppable objects to be pummelled into defeat.

Magneto is a 3D villain, my archetype and inspiration.