This Series From Marvel & DC Is Still the Greatest Comics Mashup Ever

Marvel and DC Comics are the two biggest names in superhero comics. DC created the superhero as they are commonly known, with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman leading the charge of some of the greatest of all time. Marvel revolutionized the superhero, making them more human, and building the shared universe model that would change pop culture forever. Marvel and DC are the top of American comics, and the friendly rivalry — sometimes not so friendly rivalry — played out for years in letter pages, magazines, and the Internet. With Marvel and DC announcing new crossovers for the first time in over twenty years, fans are thinking a lot about the last time the two companies had a major league crossover, one that brought the greatest comic mashup of all time — Amalgam Comics.

Amalgam came from the biggest crossover in the history of comics. Marvel Vs. DC & DC Vs. Marvel was a four issue series, published by both companies, that allowed fans to vote on who would win in some of the biggest Marvel/DC fights of all-time. The Amalgam Universe took the two different comic universes and mashed them together, creating all new versions of the most recognizable superheroes in pop culture. Amalgam Comics is one of the coolest things to ever happen to superhero comics, and it remains a highlight of the ’90s.

Amalgam Comics Was a Fresh Idea

’90s comics have a very bad reputation, and for somewhat good reasons. It was the decade when style overtook substance, and both companies tried everything they could to pump out huge selling books. By the midpoint of the decade, pretty much everything had been done already, and the two companies decided to join forces for a story that would take the rivalry between the two companies and play off it. Fans had always talked about Marvel and DC fights, so the companies indulged that. Readers got to vote on the fights, and everything was cool. Then the third issue of Marvel Vs. DC/DC Vs. Marvel came, and the two universes melded together.

This was completely unexpected and it led to Amalgam month. The two companies published a series of one-shots set in a newly combined universe. Superman and Captain America became Supersoldier, Batman and Wolverine became Dark Claw; Magneto was melded with Will Magnus and created the Magnetic Men; The X-Force and the Doom Patrol were mixed, plus Storm and Wonder Woman, and Superboy and Spider-Man. The JLA and the X-Men were put together — this was honestly a strange one, because most people would have thought the JLA and Avengers should have melded, but the X-Men were much more popular at the time and looked at as Marvel’s top team. It was a wild idea, one that had fans had only dreamed about for decades.

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The one-shots sold like hot cakes. The coolest thing about it was that the creators were able to take the two very different vibes of the Marvel and DC Universe and combine them. The best one-shots never felt like they were one or the other, they felt like a true amalgamation. Fans had read crossovers between Marvel and DC before, and those books had a pretty stark delineation of feel. The ones Marvel published felt like Marvel books and the ones that DC published felt like DC. Amalgam books never felt that way; this was an entirely new universe and fans loved it.

Amalgam proved to be so popular that the two companies came together and did it again. While the most popular Amalgam characters got sequels, new mash-ups also arrived like: Challengers of the Fantastic, The Fantastic Four and the Challengers of the Unknown; Thorion, a mixture Asgard and the New Gods; Lobo the Duck, a melding of Lobo and Howard the Duck; and more. These were pretty popular as well, but the logistics of intercompany crossovers meant that these were the last Amalgam comics readers would ever see.

Amalgam Comics Created a Universe that Fans Wanted to Go Back to

It’s hard to explain just how cool it was to pick up Legends of the Dark Claw #1 or Super-Soldier #1, or the Uncanny X-Patrol #1. These were perfect little one issue masterpieces, setting up the idea of the Amalgam Universe while also giving readers a great story. They were more than worth the cover price and let readers see both companies in entirely new ways. It was an amazing moment in the history of comics. Amalgam Comics was something special, and everyone who bought an issue knew it.

Superhero mashups have gotten more popular as the years have gone by. Creators often take two heroes or villains and mash them up to make something new, but they rarely hit the heights of creativity of the Amalgam Universe. These books were one of a kind; go out and check out the reprinted volumes that Marvel and DC just re-released to get an idea of why. The Amalgam Comics were magical, a unique moment in comic history that we were lucky to see even once and would be even luckier to see again.

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