If you were to survey the customer base of an average comic book shop, you would probably find that most of the patrons buy from several of the major publishers.  There exists, however, many who would proclaim themselves as either “Marvel only” or “DC only” readers, and for one reason or another they can usually tell you why.  For some, a certain story arc turned them off to a company, or perhaps a character’s death (read “death”) was the proverbial straw for them, making them swear off any title that Marvel or DC published from there on out.  While they may not read a certain company’s titles, they probably are aware of what the other is doing, and if they’ve paid attention to current trends in both companies, they may find the lines between companies starting to blur.  Perhaps merge is a better word.

Over the past two years, the stories, character directions and events from the two biggest comic book publishers are becoming increasingly similar, almost strangely similar.  It’s hard to say if this is purely intentional, as both DC and Marvel have enough devoted readers to not feel the need to riff on each other in a way that elicits obvious comparisons.  There are several notable incidents of this, and it doesn’t always work for the respective company.  At some point, each company has pulled off the theme/event better than the other.  Consider the following cases in point: read more….

Can’t get enough undead fun?  Wish YOU could play the part of a zombie villain hell-bent on vengeance and a tasty human heart?  You’re in luck!  WizKids has announced the May 2010 release of a new entry into the HeroClix universe when the DC HeroClix Blackest Night Starter game lands in your comic book and gaming stores this spring!  Even if you’ve never picked up a HeroClix game before, this game provides a great entry point, and a really cool starter pack, to initiate you into the game of strategy and battle between some of your favorite fictional characters. read more….