One the earliest naming feuds between DC Comics and Marvel Comics was over a character named Wonder Man in 1964. Stan Lee created Wonder Man as a new villain/hero of The Avengers, but was quickly met with discomfort from DC Comics. Due to the character's name "Wonder Man" being too close to "Wonder Woman" Stan Lee was forced to take Wonder Man out of The Avengers book. In 1977 DC must have forgotten that lawsuit because Wonder Man was added as a full time member of The Avengers. One year later Stan Lee revealed the lawsuit DC made fourteen years prior and explained why it was for that reason Wonder Man went so under used. It's funny that the only thing interesting about the D-List hero Wonder Man is how he raised DC Comic's neck hairs, despite the character never being anything past ordinary they still felt he was a threat to their business. Either that or DC Comics-circa 1964-were very stingy towards competitors. I'd be convinced to believe the latter as the next course of action from DC Comics came in the form of Power Girl.
In 1972, Archie Goodwin and John Romita Jr created Power Man for Marvel Comics. Power Man's civilian name was Luke Cage and his job title was "Hero For Hire". A big hit with readers during the 1970's Blaxploitation era, the name of the book was changed to "Luke Cage, Power Man" by issue #17 most likely to push the superhero aspect of the book and to cash in on the "Black Power" movement. Four years later, Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada, and Wally Wood created the character Power Girl for DC Comics. A spiritual successor to Otto Binder and Al Plastino's Supergirl, this character was an older version of the Girl of Steel from another dimension (Earth 2) and gained a fan following for her progressive characterization and-much, much later-for her "robust" design. You can probably see how everything lines up. Wonder Man was created in 1964, DC Comics threatens a lawsuit over Wonder Man's name shortly after his creation, Power Man was created in 1972, DC Comics creates Power Girl in 1976 with no dispute from Marvel, Wonder Man is given full membership on The Avengers in 1977, Stan Lee reveals the earlier lawsuit and his annoyance by the creation of Power Girl in a 1978 interview. It's safe to say, back then at least, DC Comics was the big-man on campus tossing his weight around and expecting no push-back from the little guys.
Another funny naming case involved the character Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel was a successful character publicized by Fawcett Comics, but their publication ended in 1953 because DC Comics sued them for ripping off Superman. While Captain Marvel was missing from modern comics, Marvel Comics swooped in and created their own Captain Marvel in 1967 so that people wouldn't confuse Fawcett/DC's Cap with their company and so Marvel legally had the name "Captain Marvel". When DC Comics started reprinting old Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel stories in 1974 they were forced to retitle the book "Shazam!"-named after Cap's trademark phrase-to avoid a lawsuit from Marvel Comics. While the book went by "Shazam", Captain Marvel kept his name in the book. This meant that DC Comics could legally print the book under a different title and avoid Marvel's lawyers, but keep calling the character Captain Marvel despite that choice causing decades of confusion. DC/Fawcett's Cap was always more popular than Marvel's Cap anyway, but it wouldn't be until 2011 that DC Comics renamed the character "Shazam" right before Marvel's Ms. Marvel became Captain Marvel and the name was once again associated with Marvel Comics.
Characters from established mythologies-Hercules, Ares, Hera-and classic fiction-Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes-have no legal binding to either company because they are in the public domain. So both Marvel Comics and DC Comics have their own versions of those characters. Marvel's Ares is an anti-hero, DC's Ares is a villain. Marvel's Hercules is a hero, and DC's Hercules is a toolbox. Toolbox being an insult. The Public Domain-by the way-is a list of intellectual properties that have not been bought and have expired, leaving them to be used by anyone and everyone. DC Comics may own the rights to "Superman", but the name "Super-Man" was almost in the public domain. When Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster first created the character they named him "Super-Man" and later sold him to DC Comics under the name "Superman". It was only quiet recently that DC Comics has used the name "Super-Man" for a character, this is half because of a necessity to create more racially diverse characters (this Super-Man is Chinese) and half to keep any and all variations of Superman out of The Public Domain.
Needless to say, DC Comics has always been of the business mindset. But can you blame them? They own some of the most memorable characters in modern fiction. And the company that owns DC Comics-Warner Bros Entertainment-also own some of the most memorable characters in animation and film. DC Comics has always been aided by big business, but before Marvel Comics was bought by Disney they were scrapping the barrel. They were the little guy. They almost went bankrupt in the 1990's and only survived by selling movie rights to Fox, Sony, and whoever else would buy. Even now they struggle to keep their movie department afloat and keep people coming back to pay for movies and comics. You may say DC Comics has done some cold things in the past, but given Disney/Marvel's current rise in success don't be surprised if they start tossing their weight around too. You know what happen to The Fantastic Four's book after Fox announced a new movie? Cancelled.
Thanks for reading!
In 1972, Archie Goodwin and John Romita Jr created Power Man for Marvel Comics. Power Man's civilian name was Luke Cage and his job title was "Hero For Hire". A big hit with readers during the 1970's Blaxploitation era, the name of the book was changed to "Luke Cage, Power Man" by issue #17 most likely to push the superhero aspect of the book and to cash in on the "Black Power" movement. Four years later, Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada, and Wally Wood created the character Power Girl for DC Comics. A spiritual successor to Otto Binder and Al Plastino's Supergirl, this character was an older version of the Girl of Steel from another dimension (Earth 2) and gained a fan following for her progressive characterization and-much, much later-for her "robust" design. You can probably see how everything lines up. Wonder Man was created in 1964, DC Comics threatens a lawsuit over Wonder Man's name shortly after his creation, Power Man was created in 1972, DC Comics creates Power Girl in 1976 with no dispute from Marvel, Wonder Man is given full membership on The Avengers in 1977, Stan Lee reveals the earlier lawsuit and his annoyance by the creation of Power Girl in a 1978 interview. It's safe to say, back then at least, DC Comics was the big-man on campus tossing his weight around and expecting no push-back from the little guys.
Another funny naming case involved the character Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel was a successful character publicized by Fawcett Comics, but their publication ended in 1953 because DC Comics sued them for ripping off Superman. While Captain Marvel was missing from modern comics, Marvel Comics swooped in and created their own Captain Marvel in 1967 so that people wouldn't confuse Fawcett/DC's Cap with their company and so Marvel legally had the name "Captain Marvel". When DC Comics started reprinting old Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel stories in 1974 they were forced to retitle the book "Shazam!"-named after Cap's trademark phrase-to avoid a lawsuit from Marvel Comics. While the book went by "Shazam", Captain Marvel kept his name in the book. This meant that DC Comics could legally print the book under a different title and avoid Marvel's lawyers, but keep calling the character Captain Marvel despite that choice causing decades of confusion. DC/Fawcett's Cap was always more popular than Marvel's Cap anyway, but it wouldn't be until 2011 that DC Comics renamed the character "Shazam" right before Marvel's Ms. Marvel became Captain Marvel and the name was once again associated with Marvel Comics.
Characters from established mythologies-Hercules, Ares, Hera-and classic fiction-Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes-have no legal binding to either company because they are in the public domain. So both Marvel Comics and DC Comics have their own versions of those characters. Marvel's Ares is an anti-hero, DC's Ares is a villain. Marvel's Hercules is a hero, and DC's Hercules is a toolbox. Toolbox being an insult. The Public Domain-by the way-is a list of intellectual properties that have not been bought and have expired, leaving them to be used by anyone and everyone. DC Comics may own the rights to "Superman", but the name "Super-Man" was almost in the public domain. When Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster first created the character they named him "Super-Man" and later sold him to DC Comics under the name "Superman". It was only quiet recently that DC Comics has used the name "Super-Man" for a character, this is half because of a necessity to create more racially diverse characters (this Super-Man is Chinese) and half to keep any and all variations of Superman out of The Public Domain.
Needless to say, DC Comics has always been of the business mindset. But can you blame them? They own some of the most memorable characters in modern fiction. And the company that owns DC Comics-Warner Bros Entertainment-also own some of the most memorable characters in animation and film. DC Comics has always been aided by big business, but before Marvel Comics was bought by Disney they were scrapping the barrel. They were the little guy. They almost went bankrupt in the 1990's and only survived by selling movie rights to Fox, Sony, and whoever else would buy. Even now they struggle to keep their movie department afloat and keep people coming back to pay for movies and comics. You may say DC Comics has done some cold things in the past, but given Disney/Marvel's current rise in success don't be surprised if they start tossing their weight around too. You know what happen to The Fantastic Four's book after Fox announced a new movie? Cancelled.
Thanks for reading!
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