DC Event Are Better Than Marvel Ones for This One Little Reason

Marvel and DC Comics have made event storytelling one of the key areas of their publishing schedule for over 40 years now. As with all things in comics, events have changed a lot over the decades. There used to be one a year, but now it seems like every time you turn around, there’s a new event story, one that promises to shake the foundations of the comic world. Event fatigue is a real phenomenon, and it’s one that comic fans complain about on a pretty regular basis. Marvel is the much bigger offender on this count, but DC does it as well. However, let’s be real — DC is much better at it than the House of Ideas.

The strange thing is that it wasn’t always this way. There was a time when Marvel actually did a better job at events than they do now, and that changed over the years. DC has been wiping the floor with Marvel when it comes to events for a while now, and it all comes down to one simple reason: the tie-ins. These supplemental chapters to event books can be annoying, but there was once a time when it actually worked pretty well for both publishers. The House of Ideas lost that ability at some point, and DC has been eating their lunch for a while, starting with the all-time classic ’00 event Infinite Crisis.

DC Has Found a Way To Keep Event Tie-Ins From Being Intrusive

I feel like old Rose from Titanic when I say this, but I was there, 22 years ago, when DC started teasing Infinite Crisis. It heated up after Countdown to Infinite Crisis dropped, but even before that, books across the line had been dropping hints. We eventually got multiple miniseries, and tie-in issues across ongoing books. What worked was that most of these books had been helping build the story anyway, and it felt unobtrusive. The interesting thing is that at the same time, Marvel was doing the same thing and succeeding. It wouldn’t be until Civil War that Marvel started doing tie-in miniseries for various teams and characters, so they wouldn’t interrupt the flow of the books.

However, DC was always able to make its tie-ins feel organic. Every time a book crossed over with a big event, it didn’t really feel like it was interrupting anything. It wasn’t a problem as it could be with Marvel events. This honestly goes back to Crisis, but for some reason, DC is able to get their creators on board better with their event storytelling. As tie-in miniseries became the rule across events, DC still did a better job with these. For one thing, the publisher does a lot fewer of them per event than the House of Ideas. A lot of them get done by A-list talent, which helps the quality, something that Marvel doesn’t always do. These tie-ins feel more important than the ones of their marvelous competition as well, building up key areas that you don’t need to see, but make it better if you do.

Read Next

5 Nostalgic DC Events That Aren’t As Great As You Remember

Starting with Dark Knights Metal, DC definitely pulled ahead. Writer Scott Snyder wrote numerous tie-ins, as did James Tynion IV, and great talent like Jeff Lemire and Grant Morrison did books. The tie-ins to different series worked, and there weren’t all that many of them. Death Metal did the same thing: lots of tie-in miniseries from A-listers (including the main architect of the event) and only a few tie-in stories in the main books. This has been the way that DC has done ever since. It’s why I think Dark Crisis is good; the tie-ins are awesome, and they actually do a great job of making the main book even better.

The last time Marvel did an event that I think worked across the line was A.X.E.: Judgment Day, because they got writer Kieron Gillen to do numerous tie-ins, and it was a story that felt right, tying into the books. It gave creators a chance to do something fun and different. However, that was the first time Marvel had ever done that in a long time, and they haven’t since. Meanwhile, DC is still pumping out events with tie-ins from A-list talent and the people who came up with the event; I’ve read nearly every DC K.O. tie-in so far, and it’s fantastic because you can tell everyone who is telling a story related to it wants to and they’re all the best of the best: Snyder, Williamson, Waid. And looking at the solicits, it’s only going to get better.

Marvel Puts Out More Events, but DC Is the Master of Them

Marvel does events constantly, to the extent that it’s kind of annoying. There are multiple mini-events throughout the year, which sprout miniseries from B and C-list talent, and ongoings that fold under a year spinning out of them. It’s become a huge problem for the House of Ideas, and it’s the main driver of event fatigue. Meanwhile, since Dark Knights: Metal, DC has been putting out events that not only excite their fans, but also give readers way better books from higher-level creators.

Marvel does more events, but DC does them better, and they do them better because their tie-in game is stronger than the House of Ideas’. Somehow, the publisher is able to get more creators involved in the building of the story, allowing them to tell better tie-in stories when the time comes. It makes all the difference; seriously, go back and read, say, Final Crisis and the tie-in series. You’ll find an embarrassment of riches from the best creators of the time. It’s a lot harder to do that with the Marvel; the tie-ins are usually blah. DC understands tie-ins, and it’s meant all the difference.

What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!