Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC

I very much enjoyed this book.

This is an easy to read book that discusses the rivalry between the two companies and relates it to and describes their past and present cooperate structure. The author does not dwell on items too long, such as Marvels bankruptcy where other books have done that. The book is all text with no illustrations and does not involve itself the actual comic book stories.

For those familiar with the important events he gives behind the scenes information and quotes. For those not familiar with the most important events, he discusses them in chronological order.

Marvel, in the 1960s is, of course, the winner in the race. Now, from a distance it is easy to see that the corporate structure of DC, its conservative outlook and its inability to change, held them back. Marvels innovative approach, led by Stan Lee, allows Marvel to grow and overtake the much bigger rival in comic book sales. The narrative of DC concentrates on Weisinger and Schwartz, a bit on Kanigher and very little on Schiff, although in the 1960s Batman became a big deal. Soon the DC narrative shifts to Carmine Infantino. In the later years, Joe Questa and other Marvel higher up do not come out looking good. And once again, no one has a kind word for Weisinger.

I have written about this recently and it is discussed here. At the beginning of Marvels rise to fame, DC books seemed for children, they offered few adventures and lots of silly gimmicky covers. Yet, in the beginning of the 1960s DC thought themselves as literature and Marvel as, well, garbage. Their dialogue was simplistic and had no personality, so at a JLA meeting you could move the balloons around it would not matter who said what. These issues were gone into in detail in this book. And show why Marvel won the 1960s and 1970, creatively as well as on the stands.

Reed discusses at length the events that led Marvel to Secret Wars and that help change its corporate structure. He does the same with the Death Of Superman and Crisis at DC, and, once again, shows how special events help circulation, but, later on often hurts it. Apparently, the author feels to DC has overtaken Marvel creatively, at least in the last couple of decades.

A great deal of time is spent discusses the problems setting up the crossover issues, Superman vs. Spider-Man, and how the up and down animosity of the two companies often stand it its way. At the same time, Reed show how economically the two companies are somewhat dependent on each other. The author also discusses why many artist left on company to go to another. Or why an artist or writer would NEVER go to DC or Marvel.

The author also lets us in a bit on the very good salaries and bonuses, sometimes a million dollars that popular creators now get. The book concludes with a look at the movies and the constant rebooting of the companies.

I have no dog in this race but I reached a conclusion a long time ago. Creativity comes from an individual, not a corporation. Marvel in the 1960s and DC in the 1940s (not covered here) were their most creative when privately owned.

In “Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-Year Battle between Marvel and DC,” journalist Reed Tucker provides a brisk, captivating account of the ongoing clash of the superhero-publishing titans.

He’s done a fine job portraying two companies traveling parallel tracks: Marvel, the scrappy upstart publisher of all-too-human superheroes that overtook longtime industry leader DC in the early 1970s and eventually became just as corporate as its main competitor; and DC, the staid corporate publisher with iconic, godlike heroes that’s spent five-plus decades trying-sometimes successfully, sometimes not-to capture Marvel’s brand of cool by bringing those icons like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman down to earth and making them relevant for modern readers.

Tucker introduces his narrative with a vivid account of a cringe-inducing meeting at DC’s bland New York headquarters in which worried executives try to figure out the secret of Marvel’s success-and focus on imitating every superficial aspect of Marvel magazines except the storytelling because they refused to stoop to actually reading those books.

At times, the publishers’ battle for spandex supremacy is as intense-though not as violent and destructive-as anything depicted in their books. Industry personalities hurl vulgar schoolyard insults at their employer’s rival. Those same personalities are the objects of talent wars as the companies poach each other repeatedly. They imitate, they plagiarize-and even engage in espionage that hews closer to “Get Smart” than James Bond. (In 1971, a DC executive left in his outbox a fake memo about publishing 500-page comics. The employee suspected of leaking company secrets to Marvel took the bait-and soon enough, Marvel was discussing publishing 500-page comics.)

Of course, the personality who dominates Tucker’s narrative is Stan Lee, who co-created (with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko) conflicted, flawed heroes like the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man who were the antithesis of DC’s idealized, perfect heroes. Tucker offers readers not the idealized “Stan the Man,” but a writer who originally wanted nothing to do with comics and just wanted to make enough money to launch a career in more respectable publishing. In effect, Tucker does for Lee what Lee did for superheroes-he humanizes a seemingly larger-than-life figure.

Tucker also makes clear that comics is primarily a male-dominated industry; the only women’s voices heard in his narrative are those of Jenette Kahn, longtime DC president and publisher, and veteran Marvel writer/editor Ann Nocenti.

Along the way, he also shows how the comics themselves evolved from inexpensive, four-color entertainment for children to more complex fare intended for a fanatically devoted, but aging, audience-and now, to valuable intellectual properties for conglomerates like Disney and Warner, respectively.

It’s Tucker’s love of his topic that makes “Slugfest” such a knockout read.

And “Slugfest” can be enjoyed not just by comic book fans, but also by students of business administration, as Tucker chronicles the lack of business acumen exhibited by editorial regimes at both companies. (Particularly fascinating is the cautionary tale of Carmine Infantino, a renowned artist whom DC woefully miscasts as an executive.)

In the end, Tucker concludes, neither company is the real winner of its ongoing rivalry-it’s the kids who read “Batman” and “Daredevil” who grew up to become power players in the film, television and video-game industries that are the latest battlefields for the cape-and-cowl titans.

I thought it was a great history of the two companies but it seemed clear to me that the author had a very big lean toward Marvel. I also prefer Marvel on the whole but he often glossed over some of the lower points in Marvel history. Example: he goes to great lengths to sing the praises of Marvels movie success but rushes through a 20 year history of terrible marvel movies. He goes into specifics around terrible DC comics but glosses over the effect of Nolans Batman trilogy.

Its well worth a read but if you were looking for fairness this isnt the best book for you.

The author tells the story as if DC was around forever to help usher in the Marvel Comics, who were using comics as a gateway to fill our cinemas with only the best films ever made. Good night everyone!

It’s (mostly) a good read if you have no idea about comics (like me), but the author always overblows DC’s mistakes while giving Marvel’s head-scratching blunders a pass. Mistakes that still haunt Marvel to this day. DC doesn’t have these issues.

The book also oddly decides to pinpoint EXACTLY when humanity lost its way. Apparently, it was when George W. Bush became President in 2001. It’s a very oddly written paragraph, but I think he was trying to talk about the rise of the internet trolls (without having to say it). The same online trolls that think one comic bookmaker is better and their opinion is the fact.

Why not enjoy both? Competition is always good!

While my comics-reading experience as an adult is diametrically opposed to that of the author (I took one look at Dark Knight Returns and ran straight back into the Time Tunnel like my pants were on fire), you cant argue with the facts. This, as far as I can tell, is a fairly accurate account of the rivalry between Marvel and DC from the 60s to the 21st century. Where I might disagree in parts is with some of author Reed Tuckers assessments or assumptions. I dont, for example, believe you have to take sides with either Marvel or DC. One might have preferences, but I read both and still do, albeit only back issues. Indeed, the tragedy of the rivalry for me is that both companies are now inter-changeable. Back in the 1960s, where Tuckers history begins, both companies did indeed have a separate identity, and I liked that. In the late 60s, DC tried too hard to change, and lost their identity and direction, while in the late 70s, Marvel tried too hard to conform, and lost their credibility and cool. Today, either company could publish any title, and I think thats unfortunate. The world is full of kids of all ages, after all. In the 1960s, a kid started with DC, then graduated to Marvel as surely as one went from school to college.

This book should be perfect bedtime reading, as it is divided into short, brief, easy to read chapters. Unfortunately, I know the story its telling all too well, and it still gets me excited, not sleepy. So I see its daylight out there. Still, its nice to still be excitable when youre over sixty.

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