Richard Gottlieb has written several pieces recently about Marvel and DC, the major power centers of the comic book world. As I read those pieces, I felt that something was missing from the conversation and that was: How did the true fan react to the announcements? Are you happy, excited, disappointed or completely indifferent? That point of view interests me because I am a fan. I love all kinds of college and professional sports and enjoy being a fan of legacy brands such as those represented by both Marvel and DC.
So, to find out how fans reacted to the announcements I first visited theComics Alliancewebsite and analyzed the comments to their article “Warner Bros Announces Justice League, Wonder Woman, Aquaman Movies & More.” Only 15% of the comments that took a position were positive about DC and Warner. When I checked the Marvel announcement on the io9 website, I found almost the reverse. Roughly 90% were positive about Marvel. Notably, many of the comments to both articles compared DC unfavorably to Marvel.
Here are some sample quotes: “Holy shit guys [Marvel), we asked, you delivered.” Another commented: “There are no words…except, DC, THIS is how it's done.”
There are a number of reasons that fans seem not just prefer Marvel but to be emotional in their choice. One reason that I think says a great deal is to whom and where the companies made their announcements. I will write about that in my next article.
