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Marvel and DC Comics are the juggernauts of the comic book industry — and now, for better or worse, also of the movie industry. Fans love to debate which company produces the better comics and movies, who has the better heroes and villains, and what characters would win in a crossover match-up.
When it comes to the latter, the answers have actually been provided by the industry giants themselves. Over the years, Marvel and DC Comics have treated us with a handful of crossover comic books. Most of their story arcs pit iconic heroes against each other, settling age-old debates. Others team these characters up against a common enemy. For fans who love superhero movies, here are 10 of the best crossover comic books from Marvel and DC to check out.
10 Green Lantern / Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances
1996’s Green Lantern / Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances is an interesting crossover. It features an unexpected pairing of two less prominent DC and Marvel characters: Green Lantern and Silver Surfer. Silver Surfer crosses paths with the original Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, and the villainous Cyborg Superman after a planet’s destruction causes a rift between their universes. The two team up to stop Cyborg Superman.
Meanwhile, another alliance has formed between a second Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner),and the infamous Thanos.In the end, these four characters clash in an epic brawl.Has anyone ever wondered who would win in a fight between Green Lantern and Silver Surfer? Probably not.
But the end result is one of the most unique crossovers we’ve gotten from Marvel and DC. It remains to be seen if Silver Surfer will appear in the MCU, or if Green Lantern will finally be redeemed in James Gunn’s DCU.
9 Batman / Daredevil: King of New York
Published in 2000, Batman / Daredevil: King of New York teams up DC’s Batman with Marvel’s Daredevil. It’s one of those crossovers that seems to make perfect sense. Daredevil is like the Batman of Marvel Comics, a dark, edgy hero who defends his city in the nighttime and uses fear as a weapon. The little horns on his mask even seem to mimic the pointed ears on Batman’s cowl.
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This actually isn’t their first crossover: the pair also joined forces in 1997’s Daredevil/Batman. King of New York, though, is regarded as the better story. Daredevil follows the Kingpin to Gotham City, where the villain forges an alliance with Ra’s al Ghul and the Scarecrow.
There, Daredevil reunites with his old ally Batman, as they work together to take down Kingpin, Ra’s, and Scarecrow. There’s even a cool scene where Daredevil, the Man Without Fear, gets hit by Scarecrow’s fear gas.
8 Darkseid vs Galactus: The Hunger
Darkseid vs Galactus: The Hunger is another interesting crossover from 1995. It focuses on two of the greatest antagonists from the Marvel and DC universes rather than your typical superheroes. You may recognize Galactus as the planet-consuming entity from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Likewise, Darkseid was supposed to be the big, bad villain of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the Thanos of the DC Extended Universe, before James Gunn took over and rebooted it.
The Hunger pits these cosmic villains against each other after Galactus threatens to consume Apokolips, a planet that’s ruled by Darkseid. For once, Darkseid plays the role of the hero as he defends his planet from Galactus. What follows is a showdown between two of the most powerful characters from Marvel and DC.
For the record, Galactus proves to be the stronger opponent, brushing off Darkseid’s Omega Beams. He would’ve destroyed both Darkseid and his precious planet had he not realized that Apokolips is a barren wasteland, a planet that’s already on the verge of death thanks to Darkseid’s abuse. Since there’s nothing for him to feed on, Galactus leaves to find another planet, ultimately sparing Darkseid’s life.
7 Spider-Man and Batman
Spider-Man and Batman are two of the most popular superheroes in comic books. They also arguably have the most iconic rogue galleries in the superhero genre. 1997’s Spider-Man and Batman brings Marvel’s web slinger to Gotham City, where he teams up with the Dark Knight to take down some of their best villains.
Spider-Man’s sarcastic humor pairs well with Batman’s grim and serious demeanor, making them a formidable and entertaining duo. But perhaps the most entertainment comes from the union between Carnage and the Joker, two of the most insane, twisted, and dangerous villains from each hero’s life. In the end, Joker and Carnage’s insanity prevents them from working well together, allowing Batman and Spider-Man to successfully overthrow them.
6 The Uncanny X-Men and The Teen Titans
The X-Men franchise features some of the most iconic superheroes in Marvel. And who knew they would pair so well with the Teen Titans, a teenage group of DC’s most famous sidekicks. Published in 1982, The Uncanny X-Men and The Teen Titans brings these two groups together after the deceased Phoenix appears to both the X-Men and to Raven of the Teen Titans in dreams, warning them of an approaching disaster.
This leads the Teen Titans to investigate Phoenix and her connection to the X-Men, eventually bringing the two groups together. They unite to bring down DC’s Darkseid (yes, him again), who’s revived Dark Phoenix to help him destroy Earth. The Uncanny X-Men and The Teen Titans features some fun character interactions, like Kitty Pryde and Beast Boy developing teenage crushes on each other. The comic is widely regarded as one of the best Marvel/DC crossovers.
5 Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man
Marvel and DC had a big decision to make when they came together for the first time: what superheroes should appear in this historic crossover? In the end, it made sense to go with their flagship characters: Superman for DC and Spider-Man for Marvel.
Published in 1976, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man made comic book history as the very first Marvel and DC crossover. It features two of the heroes’ most prominent villains, Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus, who meet in a prison in Deming, New Mexico.
The pair team up and trick Spider-Man and Superman into fighting each other, in what the comic book touts as “the Battle of the Century” — though it’s really not. Spider-Man is unknowingly hit with Luthor’s red sun radiation blast, which enhances his strength and levels the playing field for a while.
But once the radiation wears off, not even the powerful Spider-Man can leave a scratch on Superman. After recognizing this deception, they form an alliance to bring Doc Ock and Luthor to justice. It’s a historic and epic crossover, even if “the Battle of the Century” tagline didn’t really pan out.
4 Punisher / Batman: Deadly Knights
1994 gave us Punisher / Batman: Deadly Knights, another crossover that makes perfect sense. Both characters are dark and edgy, and carry a chip on their shoulders. Neither of them have superpowers, which makes for a fair fight if pitted against each other.
Also, the Punisher is what Batman could’ve been had he chosen the path of vengeance rather than justice, embracing murder and guns instead of opposing them. Given this difference in their ideologies, you’d expect Batman and the Punisher to not get along — and you’d be right.
Unlike many crossovers on this list, Punisher / Batman: Deadly Knights is one of the few stories where the superheroes never develop a friendship or mutual respect. Batman and Punisher clash numerous times, their conflict beautifully captured by the raw and gritty look of the artwork.
Even after the villains have been stopped, the two continue to fight each other, and the story only ends when they begrudgingly agree to part ways. Punisher even attempts to execute the Joker — but in classic Batman fashion, the Dark Knight interferes and spares the Joker’s life. Again.
3 The Incredible Hulk vs. Superman
Fans love to pit DC and Marvel superheroes against each other in imaginary, one-on-one match-ups, debating which character would win in a brawl. And one of the most commonly debated fights is between Superman and the Hulk, arguably the most powerful superheroes from their respective universes.
There’s no need to imagine this scenario anymore; 1999’s The Incredible Hulk vs. Superman captures this hotly debated battle. This isn’t the first time these superhuman heavyweights have clashed fists, but it is the first crossover that’s singularly devoted to their confrontation.
Most of their conflict stems from miscommunication and Hulk’s blind, uncontrollable rage. Superman and Hulk face off, causing destruction all around them. It’s an even fight, and fascinating to see these two titans finally meet their match. But annoyingly, their battle ends in a draw, leaving fans to continue to debate this match-up and theorize over its ultimate victor.
2 JLA / Avengers
Marvel and DC each have a superhero super group, an assembly of the most iconic, powerful, and popular characters in their rolodex. For DC, it’s the Justice League of America (JLA). For Marvel, it’s the Avengers. It doesn’t take a genius to come up with the grand idea of pitting these teams against each other. But it did take 25 years, thanks to creative differences and petty politics, for the idea to finally come to fruition.
2004’s JLA / Avengers is the comic book version of the video game Super Smash Brothers — an all-out, free-for-all melee where Marvel and DC’s mightiest heroes go head-to-head — though behind the scenes, it’s really nothing more than a game orchestrated by two selfish and powerful beings: Marvel’s Grandmaster and DC’s Krona.
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The game sends each team racing across their universes, battling each other while searching for 12 powerful, hidden items, like the Cosmic Cube and the Infinity Gauntlet. Whoever’s team wins will have their universe spared. But here’s the catch: DC’s Krona is given Marvel’s Avengers, while Marvel’s Grandmaster takes DC’s JLA.
In other words, each team is unknowingly competing to destroy their own universe. What follows is a battle royale featuring various epic match-ups, like the Flash outpacing Quicksilver and Superman vs Thor. There’s a particularly badass moment when Superman proves himself worthy of picking up Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir (as if there was any doubt).
After Krona and Grandmaster’s game is uncovered, we’re also treated to some cool team-ups, like Batman and Captain America (which somehow makes perfect sense), and Aquaman and Vision. JLA / Avengers is the last Marvel/DC crossover to come out in the last 20 years. Maybe it’s time for the comic book giants to come together and brainstorm a new story.
1 DC Vs. Marvel
Before there was JLA / Avengers, there was 1996’s DC Vs. Marvel, the ultimate clash of the titans. Previous DC/Marvel crossovers were set on an Earth where these characters have always coexisted. DC Versus Marvel, however, is the first crossover to take place within the continuity of both universes.
Similar to JLA / Avengers, two godly entities known only as the Brothers (personifications of Marvel and DC) want to play a game that will decide the fate of their respective universe. This game featured eleven one-on-one battles between combatants from each universe. The outcomes of six battles were determined by the series’ creative team. The remaining five were creatively decided by reader votes to shake things up a bit.
DC Versus Marvel features iconic heroes that didn’t appear in JLA / Avengers, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the Hulk. But more importantly, it features some of the best match-ups, with actual winners, of any crossover: such as Thor vs. Shazam, Green Lantern vs. Silver Surfer, Storm vs. Wonder Woman, and Batman vs. Captain America (Batman wins, thanks to readers).
We’re also treated to first-time match-ups like Superman vs Hulk (Superman wins this one per the readers), and Flash vs. Quicksilver (Flash proves to be quicker). And for once, a victor is actually decided at the end: Marvel beats DC. To spare DC’s destruction, DC’s Spectre and Marvel’s Living Tribunal fuse the two universes together, creating the Amalgam Universe.
This leads to a mishmash of superheroes, such as Dark Claw, a badass combination of Batman and Wolverine, and Super-Soldier, an epic combination of Captain America and Superman. It’s nearly impossible to finish this crossover without thinking of the word “epic.”
For more on superheroes, check out this video on James Gunn’s plans for the rebooted DCU:
“}]] Over the years, Marvel and DC Comics have treated us with crossover stories, teaming up their iconic heroes – or pitting them against each other. Read More