Comic books and their characters have had a huge impact on my childhood and the childhood of so many people across the world. From dressing up as Batman for Halloween to the new “Black Panther” movie coming out this November, comics have and have had an influence on a lot of different aspects of not just individual lives but society as a whole. Comics tell stories and let us, the readers, experience the human imagination to the fullest, which no one in the business does better than DC Comics.

From a very young age and even till now, there have been debates on which comic franchise is better, DC or Marvel. I am here to tell why DC is far superior to Marvel. As a disclaimer, I am a fan of Marvel and all of their products, and I grew up on Marvel and DC comics, TV shows and series, animated series and movies and live-action movies – and I believe it is for that very reason I am enticed to write the opinion piece. 

Comic books by their very nature are fictitious pieces of literature that tackle reality and real-world issues through superhero adventures and quirky comic relief. An example of this would be Marvel’s decision to use real cities like New York or Los Angeles as opposed to DC’s fictional cities like Gotham or Metropolis. Regardless, DC still manages to tell comic and inspiring stories while relating to real world problems which Marvel struggles at doing. An example would be the backstory of Bruce Wayne and how the death of loved ones can either send you down a dark path or a path of protection for others; or of Superman and how there are people in the world who will hate or fear you for just being different then they are –  regardless of how much good you put into the world; or the backstory of Jason Todd and how emotional hardship and the consistency of life can be overwhelming and exhausting. I am not saying Marvel doesn’t do that in their comics because they do (i.e., Spider-Man) but DC has been doing it since its very first comic publication and has been doing it really well.

Another factor to consider when talking about why DC is better than Marvel is popularity of characters. In 1946, Harry Donenfield consolidated several comic book companies under one name: Detective Comics. Already featuring America’s most popular comic book character, Batman, and upon release of Action Comics’ first ever issue, their leading character, Superman became America’s favorite superhero. DC’s character has always been the most popular comic book character in history. A good example is Namor and Aquaman. Over the years people have believed that Aquaman came before Namor and that Marvel copied the idea from DC, but in actuality it’s the other way around. Namor was first introduced in 1939 and Aquaman was introduced in 1941 following the popularity of the Atlantean. If asked to name first superheroes, for most people three out of five would be DC characters.

Another category to consider would be representation. Media representation is very important in society as it gives the young, underrepresented minds a figure to look up to, or  tries to explain real world problems in its pages and DC has been a force in the comic book world for representation. From Saturn Girl being the first ever female leader of a team in comic history to Icon and Rocket, the first ever black duo in comic history. Although Marvel has good representation, it wasn’t till later in the game it started. Other examples of DC’s representation are Extraño, the first openly LGBTQIA+ comic book character, Midnighter and Apollo, the first queer comic book relationship, Roy Harper, first ever comic book character to deal the dangers of drug abuse, Wonder Woman, first female comic book character to be in a team and so on.

I could go on with so many reasons why I believe DC is way better than Marvel because it is. Regardless of Marvel’s huge success in creating a cinematic universe, DC still beats Marvel in many other factors which is why DC is the superior comic book franchise.