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Comic book miniseries crossover From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DC vs. Marvel (issues #2–3 titled Marvel vs. DC) is a comic book miniseries intercompany crossover published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics from February to May 1996. Each company would publish two issues of the miniseries, thus the title difference between issues #1 and 4 as DC vs. Marvel Comics from DC and issues #2–3 from Marvel as Marvel Comics vs. DC. The miniseries was written by Ron Marz and Peter David, with art by Dan Jurgens and Claudio Castellini.[2]
DC vs. Marvel | |
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![]() Cover of DC versus Marvel Comics #1, art by Dan Jurgens | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | February – May 1996 |
No. of issues | 4 |
Main character(s) | |
Creative team | |
Written by | |
Penciller(s) | |
Collected editions | |
DC versus Marvel Comics | ISBN 1-56389-294-4 |
The special crossover miniseries pitted Marvel Comics superheroes against their DC counterparts in battle. The outcome of each battle was determined by reader ballot, which were distributed in advance to comic book stores.[2]
In February 2024, it was announced that the crossovers would be published in an omnibus edition.[3]
Two God-like brothers who personify the DC and Marvel Universes each become aware of the other's existence and challenge one another to a series of duels involving each universe's respective superheroes. The losing universe would cease to exist. The story had an "out of universe" component in that the outcomes of the primary battles were determined by the readers' votes.[4]
Numerous smaller story-driven skirmishes occur throughout the miniseries, not counted with the primary duels meant to determine the outcome between the brothers.[5]
There were 11 battles fought between the two universes.
The result of the following six battles were determined by the miniseries' creative team:
The result of the following five battles were determined by the readers' votes:
Although the final victor of the battles is Marvel, the new character of Access, a man capable of traversing between the two universes, infuses Batman and Captain America each with fragments of their respective universes before the Spectre and the Living Tribunal attempt to create a compromise by fusing the two universes together. This resulted in the creation of the Amalgam Universe, which sees various amalgamated versions of the heroes and villains acting as though they have been in existence for years.
Access is eventually able to find the Dark Claw and Super-Soldier – versions of Batman and Captain America who have been amalgamated with Wolverine and Superman, respectively – and use the fragments of the two original universes in them to return them to normal. As the Brothers engage in direct battle, the Spectre and the Living Tribunal attempt to stop the conflict, but Batman and Captain America convince Access to take them to the conflict as well. Reading the minds of Batman and Captain America as they try to stop the fight, the Brothers realize that the two men are essentially the Brothers in miniature; each one unique among their worlds, but with no interest in the conflict that the Brothers have engaged in. Realizing the pointlessness of the conflict, the Brothers withdraw and congratulate each other, with both of them saying together "You've done well."
To promote the event, SkyBox released a series of trading cards. The cards expanded the number of fights in comparison to the miniseries, including battles between villains, and were praised for their artwork, which was thought to be of a high standard.[8]
The DC versus Marvel Comics trading card set contained 100 base cards, with base card #100 being a checklist.[9] The remaining 99 base cards were divided into four types: Hero, Villain, Rival and Battles. There were also four subsets of chase cards: 18 Impact cards, 12 Holo F/X cards, two Mirage cards and four Amalgam Preview cards.[10]
After its completion, the miniseries was collected into a trade paperback titled DC versus Marvel Comics (collects the miniseries; 192 pages; September 1996; ISBN 1-56389-294-4).
The miniseries will be collected with the other DC/Marvel crossovers in an omnibus edition titled DC versus Marvel Omnibus.
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