DC vs Marvel type discussions

I've been using Google to look up random comic character battles just to see who would win, and every time I would go to Comicvine because the search result was exactly what I was looking for. Anyways I noticed that more than enough times; whenever I look up a battle between a DC character vs a Marvel one, people would say that the DC character wins, or as some would say "curb stomp". This might be a silly question, but are DC characters just designed to be much more powerful than Marvel characters? Excluding Superman because I know he's very strong.

DC's Earth based Superheroes are more powerful compared to Marvel IMO. But Marvel's cosmic and abstract characters are not afar from DCs in terms of powers.

No.

Pretty much this.

Silver Surfer, Drax, Gamora, Nova/Nova Prime, Beta Ray Bill, Thor, Odinson, etc. can hang with the best of them.

Not sure why..but yeah all the main characters from DC are considerably stronger. Than most of marvels mains except for a select few

This is of course my opinion but Marvel's street guys tend to be more powerful than DC's, specifically their top tier street guys like Spider-Man (who could be argued that he's low mid tier, but with his morals he's high street imo), Black Panther, and Iron Fist. DC's powerhouse level characters, on the whole, tend to be more versatile and more powerful in that they are very powerful in many ways (think of all Superman's powers and how capable each is). Marvel's powerhouses tend to be specialized in a small, specific powerset (think Hulk) and while they may be stronger or more durable than a DC powerhouse they lack the versatility and DC has comparable abilities, while having more available.

Both Marvel and DC seem fairly equal on the mid tier front, and I personally am not into high cosmic/herald/skyfather+ level characters so I couldn't comment there.

Take it for what you will, it's just my opinion based on experience.

DC and Marvel favor different powersets

I think he reads several battle where Spectre was used thats why he always read curbstomp.

@primehunter9000: For the most part DC's Earth characters are stronger than Marvel. Just how they were designed.

@granitesoldier: just outta curiosity.. Who is a DC street lever? Deathstroke?

DC tried to infuse a whole bunch of 'mid tier' characters during Bloodlines, but they sold for crap. Similarly, Marvel's best sellers have generally been the less powerful characters, other than Hulk or Thor.

Thanks, everyone for the replies. Since I don't really read DC comics, I only have general knowledge about the characters. Unlike Marvel where I know a little more about in detail

@gokuisking: Deathstroke, Batman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Black Canary...all are different tier of street leveler.

I've found Marvel's 'funny animals' way more fun than DC's

@primehunter9000: Sup homie. Man i cant wait to get off work. This is how i spend my breaks.lol But i've noticed just as many Marvel win battles vs DC as DC has. Sometimes DC does come off appearing stronger at times but thats just due to DC always being over the top in EVERYTHING. Marvel is more grouned and thought out than DC. Sometimes it erks me how Marvel will normally sacrifice character strength for story. Where DC is just the opposite sacrificing story for strength. And these...types.....as u call them are actully pretty crucial for deciding which u like more. For example I cant hardly stand DC because how silly and inconsistant ther characters power levels are. DC ranges from Flash solos, Flash solos to getting pimp slapped by Gorrila grodd. My point is no matter how u do a Flash story its gonna always be stupid. Samething for Batman. Its because of DCs type that thers so much debate about "Batman with prep", "Batgod", Batkick, Etc... To much sacrificing strory for strength has lead to the most ridiculas DC debates.

@granitesoldier: okay who from marvel are street levers?

Anyone from low street guys like Black Widow and Hawkeye to mid street like Daredevil and Captain America to high street like Iron Fist, Wolverine, and Black Panther. Then there's Spider-Man and Kaine, who walk the line of street-to-mid tier, held back by morals in Peter's case and how he acts in character and how he fights when it comes to Kaine.

I don't think you're far from the truth. I think COIE's was designed to make the DC characters a little more....beatable maybe? Sheesh, it seemed everyone could cross the light speed barrier and travel time, was invulnerable and had boundless strength. Crisis on Infinite Earths launched many of the same characters although, maybe a little more believable. However, Marvel had a handful that could hang with the silver age DC guys that to this day, could probably still hang with some of those silver age characters.

Your perception seems to be a generally accepted notion on comic vine, maybe because first impressions are the lasting ones? But I've noticed a growing trend of people around here who are realizing that perception is not entirely true. Characters like Doctor Strange, Thanos, the Silver Surfer, the Sentry, Gladiator and Adam Warlock would best most of DC's post crisis characters. It does seem back in the day, DC was more cognizant of their character's level of power. Writers of the Nu 52 stuff seem less aware, save maybe in it's presentation of Superman (DC's bread and butter).

At any rate, a decent place to start is the respect threads here on comic vine, although, take with a grain of salt as they are respect threads after all ;).

Research, research, research. Welcome to the Vine!

@granitesoldier: ah I see..so in your opinion can deathstroke beat daredevil?

@gokuisking: Personally yes. Slade is physically superior, comparably skilled, and while Matt is more agile and has radar Slade has better weaponry and is faster in terms of raw speed, not to mention his armor gives him a solid durability edge beyond physicals.

@granitesoldier: okay so then where are dc's weak street levelers?..cauz you said marvel has better street levelers?( just asking politely LOL)

@gokuisking: Well you asked one matchup. Deathstroke is a top street level guy whereas Daredevil is not.

Pair Deathstroke against Iron Fist, Panther, or Wolverine (high tier streets from Marvel) and he's going to lose.

But some more examples would be I'd say in a straight hand to hand fight Elektra out skills Black Canary (I say hand to hand because her Canary Cry makes the fight a real debate), or Punisher would take Jason Todd, or Hawkeye against Green Arrow, or Spider-Man against pretty much any DC street leveler without special stipulation. One specific matchup does not mean much, especially when it's when one has obvious advantages.

@granitesoldier: really? Okay why do you think deathstroke would lose to wolverine?, I think the opposite? But I agree with everything else except GA vs hawkeye

If you stay around the vine for longer and simply observe, you'd find that the community doesn't believe in a DC over Marvel superiority, it might just be the opposite.

no. dc characters were never designed to be more powerful than marvel characters at all. that's how it was, that's how it is, that's how it'll always be.

DC Magic<Marvel Cosmic=DC Cosmic<Marvel Magic<DC Earth< Marvel Earth

@gokuisking: Logan is just a bad matchup for Slade due to his healing and skeleton. And this comes from someone who's regularly followed Deathstroke and is in no way a big Logan fan. Now I don't know if I buy the whole Logan being a top tier in skill, however he has enough showings in my opinion to justify being on Slade's level.

Then there's the fact that Slade would need a very specific heart strike or something very similar to put Logan down long enough to KO him, because he can't kill Wolverine and doesn't carry any incap type gear like Batman. Now Slade is skilled but fighting an equally skilled opponent and attempting a very measured attack like that is by no means an easy shot. The only reason Kaine pulled it off is because he and Logan made a last minute setup.

Then there's the fact that Logan's claws will pass through anything Slade has, easily. Slade's weapons and armor will provide no defense.

Logan is just a bad rock paper scissors matchup despite them being very similar statistically and feat wise.

@granitesoldier: I see your point, HOWEVER Slade also possesses a healing factor and although he will never be able to kill wolverine that does not mean he can't k.o. in my opinion Slade has better h2h (mastering all/number of martials arts while he wS a solider)that should give him an edge plus his reaction time which h as you already know is fast enough to react to the flash. Nth metal armour is very durable it has take. Tank blasts and shots from logans twin lobo. His blades are promethium coated he has shown to cut an entire car in two.

There's always huge context to Slade tagging Flash, and more than a little bit of plot. If Slade tagging Flash is considered standard, then how do you explain Batman dodging him? Or Cassandra Cain? Or Nightwing? Or any number of street levelers? Flash is a high end outlier at absolute best, with plenty of context, and plot at worst. And while I think Logan's maximum skill potential is higher than Slade's he doesn't routinely use it enough for it to be considered in character for him to fight to his skill potential at all times. having said that he has used skill to keep up with a (pre-WOTS) Spider-Man more than once, Panther, Iron Fist, and other top tier Marvel martial artists. So in terms of skill, I'd say they are even on the average, and Logan having faster reflexes than those demonstrated by New 52 Slade (pre-52 is about even). Slade also doesn't know all martial arts, he knows a very well rounded set of martial arts like boxing, judo, karate, and kenpo, but far from all.

He also lacks the strength to KO Logan, despite his skill. His sword isn't KO'ing Logan with anything short of a heart strike, and with a man who's bones are unbreakable/uncuttable with anything Slade has and equal or faster combat speed with equal skill...I don't see it being a sound strategy. Cutting a car is cool, but are you really going to compare a car to Logan's skeleton?

Slade's healing is no where near on par with Logan's. Slade has taken days to heal heavy wounds Logan has healed in panels. So it isn't comparable. Also current Slade doesn't have Nth armor, but even if he did Nth is in no way going to stop Logan's adamantium claws. Every time Logan connects, he's cutting. He's doing damage. Damage Slade will heal, and quickly, but slowly compared to Logan. He can easily take Slade apart, whereas Slade's efforts are instantly healed and are incapable of removing limbs on Logan.

Also Slade hasn't tagged Flash in New 52 (and if he has I'd love to see the scans), so to say he's tagged Flash and has Nth means you're considering a composite Slade. And while that means we have a wider variety of skill, speed, and weapon feats to apply...none of that matters in the end. He still lacks to output to put Logan down. If Logan can take punches from Namor and Thing level characters and keep fighting, Deathstroke isn't putting him down by force...unless he gets the heart stab. Good luck with that Slade.

Actually, they're relatively equal. A lot of people just buy into DC's characters being more powerful, but that's just not true.

@granitesoldier: okay mate your logic does make sense about slades reaction time and healing factor, but I believe Slade still out trumps old man Logans h2h.. Check his or in story at variant comics he did master every/number of martial arts while he was a solider..and I'm pretty sure Slade wears nth metal armour.. Logan could cut it BUT itl take more than one shot..a tank blast has more force then logans stab..therefore it will take Logan a few more shots to cut him. Plus he has take on multiple meta humans at once. I'm sure one person isn't harder then 7 people( not that Logan isnt a quality fighter). And he's defeated lobo..and you know lobo is just a stronger he version of wolverine minus his adamantium skeleton. However you do make a compelling case.

@primehunter9000:

Both companies create their more powerful heroes, in ways that allow them to essentially be as powerful(or weak) as the plot of the story demands it, the difference lies in the methods they use.

Marvel tends to go with "potential". Such as Hulk, who gets stronger the angrier he is, or Gladiator who gets more(or less) powerful, the more(or less) confident he is, or Sentry, who gets more/less powerful the more/less stable-minded he is, Nate Grey, who can tap into the nigh-infinite energies of the Astral Plane to empower himself, Silver Surfer, who can draw more deeply into the Power Cosmic if he needs it, etc.

DC on the other hand, tends to use the "holding back" method. Essentially their heroes(and villains) are always holding back to some degree. Like Superman, who has several mental self-limiters, Captain Atom(pre-flashpoint), who was mentally limiting himself due to fear of his own power. Or people like Flash, who actually seems to be unaware of their full potential, and only tap into it on occasions where conscious thought is put on the side-line, such as Flash evacuating an entire city, after a nuclear weapon detonates, in split seconds. No time for conscious thought, just action.

For Marvel, this means that their 'low showings' can generally be explained by the character not tapping deeply enough into their potential, such as Hulk not being angry enough, while their high-end showings, can be explained by the characters drawing more deeply on their potential.

For DC, it means that their 'low showings' are generally due to the characters holding back, while their higher end showings, are due to the characters letting lose more of their power.

Generally, the difference in methods means that the DC low showings tend to be more quickly labeled as PIS, since it's harder to explain why someone would hold back, or simply 'forget' to let lose, when they are losing.

The end result, for matches such as the ones we do here on CV, is that DC characters tend to be more powerful(DC has a tendency to start out as ridiculously overpowered, while Marvel starts out moderately powerful, and just dips in to the ridiculous when the plot demands it).

There are exceptions, of course(Thor, to give an example), but this is just an explanation of the general tendencies.

@gokuisking: Slade had Promethium armor pre52, Nth is his first New 52 series, and we don't know what he currently has, and it hasn't yet demonstrated similar abilities as his Nth. Considering Logan has cut into Thor and Hulk, who are far more durable than Nth, I think he can get into Slade.

Still, in the end, Slade lacks a variety of options to take Logan down.

Simply put no. When people try to compare different universes, they contradict the very essence.

They are different universes, with different threats, and different heroes. They have nothing to do with each other.

Trust me

Some of the cosmics in Marvel could give DC cosmics a run for their money...

This, though I would say Marvel has the upper hand on Cosmic and Abstract characters, as well as Gods(ie. Thor, Odin, Zeus)

@petey_is_spidey: marvel has no answer to lucifer, Michael, the great evil beast, the great darkness the endless and others. That's why I say afar.

Living Tribunal, TOAA, Eternity, Franklin Richards, and countless others.

@petey_is_spidey: TOAA is on another level. Franklin is not on the levels of these abstracts. Try researching :)

Marvel likes to have heroes at every stage of power, whereas DC only has normal people or Uber Gods.

@havenless: agreed

@yaboi: Man. What happened to make you hate DC so much. In every thread you've made you criticize them in some fashion. It's okay to just let DC be, and let people who prefer DC or Marvel have their opinions.

@granitesoldier: good debating mate, look forward to challenging your views in future threads. Until then I take my leave.

Agreed! Was a good, and civil (which is rare) exchange!

And then Scarlet Witch came and wiped away whole DC characters out of existence to end this discussion...