One of the things I like to ponder about most with regards to comics is the idea of what makes Marvel and DC comics different, especially in that intangible way that diehard fans of each can pick up on, but not quite define. There are some big differences that many point out, like that DC has more "iconic" characters, while Marvel showcases "the common man." I love to read Scipio's Iconic Dyansty theories over at the Absorbascon about the DC characters as heroic dynasties. V. cool stuff. There's also the old differences in writing style between the two publishers: Marvel used to do a Plot-art-dialogue progression while DC did direct script to art. Nowadays everyone does it the "DC way,"though. To me, the biggest difference is that of the handling of continuity. I'm not nearly ready to take on a large discussion on the relative merits of the continuity-restart (as in DC's crises) versus the everything-is-in-continuity approach. For now I just want to say that, although I do see the problems of the Marvel way, I like it better personally because I never have to wonder if a story I read is still in continuity (retcons aside).
These are all things I'm sure I'll write about in the future, but the comparison that has been on my mind lately is that of the "unity" of the respective Marvel and DC universes.
DC has just given it's entire multiverse a big restart, and I have to say that it's making the most of it, regardless of the merits of individual storylines. With it's large cast of characters, the Countdown special could easily fall completely outside the continuity of the individual titles it crosses over to or shares characters with. However, as far as I read, it's been able to avoid that, making countdown an addition to my normal books, instead of an intrustion. The best example of this is the breaking off of the Rogues' story from the main Fash book to Piper & Trickster in Countdown. The Flash story continued to the relaunch of the title, and the Rogues went on in Countdown. Now there's two stories for the price of one, Voila! However, DC is also hitting the snags of a "unified" universe. The big one has been cropping up in JLA mostly, and it's the little astrisk. *"This story takes place before/during/after the events of blah/blah/blah. For some reason, that little footnote always annoys me. Perhaps it is the idea that the reader should be so caught up in the story that they do not question when the story is happening that is ruined by this note. It reminds me of when I would read cruddy Fanfics that had authors notes going "BTW I know that such and such happened such and such time, but I changed it for my story!" Bleh. If the story is supposed to meld into the other stories going on at the same time, it should do so, and if it doesn't, I feel it would be better to not draw attention to the discrepency. Readers can understand that Black Canary is appearing with the JLA after she rescues Ollie from Amazons on their own. Of course, then there's the problems of storylines with different writers stepping on each others feet by having characters do conflicting things in different titles to work out.
That's what Marvel's been struggling with for years, as the "unity" of the universe used to be a big selling point with Stan the Man. Way back in the day it was quite easy to keep all the Marvel titles taking place at the same time in the same universe with no overlap, because Stan Lee was writing pretty much all of them. Couple that with the fact that old-style stories were done in one or two issues, and there was no problem with one storyline dragging on in outer space while another with the same characters happened on Earth. However, anyone who's been trying to follow more than one X-men story lately knows that trying to reconcille the different titles is pretty much impossible. the Astonishing title has been travelling separate from the rest of the pack for a while (the allowances made for big-name writers like Wheadon to tell the story their way without having to participate in the big company wide events and such). However, the X-men appear in the World War Hulk crossover while they should be in space for no good reason! It's not like there is a lack of other mutants around the mansion to use in that title. Also the fact that Wolverine's in every one of these plotlines at once... well let's just not go there.
It used to be a really cool throwaway line or two that kept the reader knowing that all these comics were interconnected. Some bad guy would show up fleeing from the scene of a crime in Avengers only to be intercepted by Spiderman in his own title. That's cool! I like that idea, and it's not like it deeply affects the intended storylines, or has to. However, there's been some major recent breakdown at Marvel with regards to this. Over in Mighty Avengers we are supposed to be shocked and worried when Iron Man's body is apparently hijacked by Ultron and turned into a woman (no lie). Within that title, everyone's fretting about what they will do now that Tony's apparently dead, and great angst is had by all. But not by the reader, who is told that these events take place before those of World War Hulk, where Tony Stark is alive and well and getting his butt kicked in by the big green meanie.
Don't even get me started on the Skrulls in New Avengers. DC, learn from Marvel's mistakes. Stop spoiling Green Lantern with the Countdown and try to keep things in your new universe, well, unified.
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