Admit It: DC Is Better at Being the House of Ideas than Marvel

DC Comics and Marvel Comics have been in a fierce war for decades. DC was the first to create the modern superhero way back in 1938’s Action Comics #1 and Marvel would join them with 1939’s Marvel Comics #1. Each publisher created more and more heroes, although DC would win the battles of the Golden Age. The Silver Age changed all of that. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby took the building blocks of the superhero and added all new ideas to the concept, and soon the moniker “House of Ideas” was born. Marvel and DC both revolutionized the superhero in various ways since then, and for a long time the House of Ideas was the bestselling publisher thanks to the new ideas they brought to the superhero.

However, all of that has changed again. It all started with DC All-In #1, which kicked off a new status quo and led to the creation of the Absolute line of books. The Absolute comics were able to lap Marvel’s competing Ultimate books, and DC has rode those titles to the top. Add in their numerous great main line series, and we’re getting the best DC we’ve had in ages. They’ve beaten their marvelous competition at their own game and it’s time to admit the truth: DC is not only currently better at being the House of Ideas than Marvel, but it always has been.

DC Has Been Doing More for Superheroes Than Marvel for Decades

Marvel definitely deserved the appellation of the “House of Ideas” for decades. They took superheroes out of the heavens and made them into the common man, allowing readers to identify with them more. They gave us the shared universe in a way that superhero comics hadn’t before. They took the world outside readers’ windows and put it in the panels. All of this and more made Marvel more popular for years.

DC was looked at as the more staid and uncool of the two. However, if you look at the maturation of comics, it all came from DC. The publisher brought in British creators in the ’80s, starting with Alan Moore, and used them to change their universe. This would lead to Vertigo, an imprint that made mature readers comics that pushed the bounds of what comics could be, something that spread across their entire publishing line. DC has been pushing the superhero forward in the way that Marvel once did in the ’60s and ’70s for the last few decades, but for some reason, the house that Stan and Jack built gets all of the credit.

Fast forward to the present and Marvel has left behind being the House of Ideas. The publisher’s offerings are as safe as possible, trying to recapture past glories and depending on MCU synergy (and variant covers and blind bags) to sell their books. It’s not been working very well; the usually bestselling Spider-Man and X-Men books are trapped in regressive status quos, the Avengers haven’t been important in years, and there are numerous books that just exist to exist and fill out the publishing schedule. There are great comics – Captain America, Fantastic Four, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, Mortal Thor, Infernal Hulk – but they’re the exception, not the rule.

Meanwhile, DC is doing what Marvel used to do across their line. Comics are a business of stasis, trying to keep the characters as familiar as possible to get new readers to come in. However, looking at DC’s current books, they’re embracing an ethos that rewards new ideas. The Absolute books are taking things in bold directions, bringing new and underutilized ideas to the fore. The main line is full of amazing stories that have a classic feel, but take things to places they’ve never gone before. It feels like they are trying to push their universe forward in ways that Marvel doesn’t anymore and it’s working. DC can be confusing and hard to get into, but their massive sales right now show that they’ve been able to get fans through the door and keep them there with their amazing ideas.

DC Has Taken the Thing That Made Marvel Into Who They Are

Marvel feels trapped in a cycle of diminishing returns. Between the too often events, never giving new series a chance to find an audience, MCU synergy that no one wants but Kevin Feige, and static characters, and they no longer feel like the House of Ideas anymore. It’s hard to be a Marvel fan right now, because so much of the company’s output just isn’t worth it. They’ve settled into complacency, depending on their name to sell books. It’s obviously not working.

Looking at DC since the 1980s, it’s plain to see that they have become the true House of Ideas. They put out the stories that made people in the United States realize comics weren’t just for kids. They revolutionized queer rep and brought the creator-owned comic to the masses with Vertigo. The 2020s have seen them repair the mess that had been made of the DC Multiverse, and they’ve reached a stage where their books are full of ideas new and old that fans want to read about. DC Comics is the true House of Ideas, and they have been for longer than most fans want to admit.

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