''DC vs. Marvel'' (issues #2–3 titled ''Marvel vs. DC'') is a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

intercompany crossover A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders (known as intercompany ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

and

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

from February to May 1996. Each company would publish two issues of the miniseries, thus the title difference between issues #1 and 4 as ''DC vs. Marvel Comics'' from DC and issues #2–3 from Marvel as ''Marvel Comics vs. DC''. The miniseries was written by

Ron Marz Ron Marz (born November 17, 1965) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as '' Batman/Aliens'', ''DC vs. Marvel'', ''Green Lantern'', ''Silver Surfer'', and ''Witchblade''. Career Marz is known for his work on ''Si ...

and

Peter David Peter Allen David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025), often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Grea ...

, with art by

Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC Comics, DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday (DC Comics), Doomsday, Hank H ...

and

Claudio Castellini Claudio Castellini (born 3 March 1966) is an Italian comic book artist. Biography Castellini's first published work was the March 1989 episode of the Italian horror series ''Dylan Dog'', published by Sergio Bonelli Editore. This was followe ...

. The special crossover miniseries pitted Marvel Comics superheroes against their DC counterparts in battle. The outcome of each battle was determined by reader ballot, which were distributed in advance to comic book stores. An

omnibus edition An omnibus edition or omnibus is a book containing multiple creative works by the same or, more rarely, different authors. Commonly two or more of the works have been previously published as books, but a collection of shorter works, or shorter w ...

of ''DC vs. Marvel'' was released in October 2024.

Plot

Two god-like brothers who personify the DC and

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

s each become aware of the other's existence and challenge one another to a series of

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

s involving each universe's respective superheroes. The losing universe would cease to exist. The story had an "out of universe" component in that the outcomes of the primary battles were determined by the readers' votes. Numerous smaller story-driven skirmishes occur throughout the miniseries, not counted with the primary duels meant to determine the outcome between the brothers. There were 11 battles fought between the two universes. The result of the following six battles were determined by the miniseries' creative team: *

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles ...

(DC) vs.

Namor the Sub-Mariner Namor McKenzie (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc., the character first appea ...

(Marvel). Aquaman won by summoning a whale to leap out of the water and land on top of Namor. Since Namor is pinned and unable to move, he is declared the loser. * Elektra (Marvel) vs.

Catwoman Catwoman is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, she debuted as "the Cat" in ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' #1 (spring 1940). She has become one of the superhero Batman' ...

(DC). Elektra won by cutting off Catwoman's whip as she hung from a girder on a building under construction, but Catwoman survived by falling into a dumpster filled with sand. * The

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

(DC) vs. Quicksilver (Marvel). The Flash won using superior speed. * Robin (DC) vs.

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

(Marvel). Robin won by using his cape as a decoy and then tying up Jubilee. * The

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

(Marvel) vs.

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

(DC). The Silver Surfer won when both collided with each other and released a huge explosion which knocked out Green Lantern, but left the Silver Surfer unfazed. *

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

(Marvel) vs. Captain Marvel (DC). Thor won when Captain Marvel was forced to change back to his alter ego of Billy Batson. Billy tried to change back, but Thor used Mjolnir to intercept the lightning bolt that would have transformed him back into Captain Marvel; the resulting impact knocked Billy out and sent Thor's hammer flying off into the distance. The result of the following five battles were determined by the readers' votes: *

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

(DC) vs. the

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

(Marvel). After exchanging punches and a burst of heat vision, Superman defeated the Hulk. *

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

(Marvel) vs.

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

(DC). With the advantage of his spider-sense, Spider-Man won by tying up Superboy with impact webbing and electrocuting him with high voltage, knocking him out. *

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

(DC) vs.

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

(Marvel). The match ultimately ends in Batman's victory, though both are evenly matched after hours of combat, until a sudden flushing of the sewer knocks Captain America off balance as Batman manages to strike him with a batarang. Batman rescues Captain America from certain death by drowning, but Captain America's unconsciousness from nearly drowning causes him to lose. *

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

(Marvel) vs. Lobo (DC). Wolverine beats up Lobo in a brutal barfight, which was largely off-panel. *

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

(Marvel) vs.

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

(DC). After Wonder Woman drops Thor's hammer in order to allow the fight to happen as it was intended to, Storm won the battle after repeatedly hitting Wonder Woman with lightning after a brief melee encounter. Although the final victor of the battles is Marvel, the new character of Access, a man capable of traversing between the two universes, infuses Batman and Captain America each with fragments of their respective universes before the

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...

and the

Living Tribunal The Living Tribunal is a cosmic entity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Strange Tales'' #157 (June 1967) and was created by Stan Lee, Marie Severin, and Herb Trimpe. Publication his ...

attempt to create a compromise by fusing the two universes together. This resulted in the creation of the Amalgam Universe, which sees various amalgamated versions of the heroes and villains acting as though they have been in existence for years. Access is eventually able to find the Dark Claw and Super-Soldier – versions of Batman and Captain America who have been amalgamated with Wolverine and Superman, respectively – and use the fragments of the two original universes in them to restore them to normal. As the Brothers engage in direct battle, the Spectre and the Living Tribunal attempt to stop the conflict, but Batman and Captain America convince Access to take them to the conflict as well. Reading the minds of Batman and Captain America as they try to stop the fight, the Brothers realize that the two men are essentially the Brothers in miniature; each one unique among their worlds, but with no interest in the conflict that the Brothers have engaged in. Realizing the pointlessness of the conflict, the Brothers withdraw and congratulate each other.

Trading cards

To promote the event, SkyBox released a series of trading cards. The cards expanded the number of fights in comparison to the miniseries, including battles between villains, and were praised for their artwork, which was thought to be of a high standard. The ''DC versus Marvel Comics'' trading card set contained 100 base cards, with base card #100 being a checklist. The remaining 99 base cards were divided into four types: Hero, Villain, Rival and Battles. There were also four subsets of chase cards: 18 Impact cards, 12 Holo F/X cards, two Mirage cards and four ''Amalgam'' Preview cards.

Collected editions

After its completion, the miniseries was collected into a trade paperback titled ''DC versus Marvel Comics'' (collects the miniseries and ''Doctor Strangefate'' #1; 192 pages; September 1996; ). The miniseries was collected with the other past DC/Marvel crossovers in an omnibus edition titled ''DC versus Marvel Omnibus'' in 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DC vs. Marvel 1996 comics debuts 1996 comics endings Amalgam Comics Comics by Dan Jurgens Comics by Peter David Comics about parallel universes Intercompany crossovers Superhero crossover fiction Team-up comics

Plot

Trading cards

Collected editions

See also

References