This dramatic cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano (with some uncredited tweaking by Neal Adams, reportedly) graced the very first - and still the best, IMO, crossover between rival comics publishers DC and Marvel Comics. The story was great, pitting the heroes against an unholy alliance of Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus, and the book was just beautifully drawn.It was originally published in an oversize, "tabloid" format, but I've long-since lost that copy (or perhaps it fell apart after too many re-readings). Fortunately, it's been reprinted a few times, and I have one of those on my bookshelf.
Actually the first crossover between characters from other companies occurred in the 1940s, when Munsey's Green Lama appeared with Crestwood's Prize Comics characters to battle their version of the Frankenstein Monster in Prize Comics #24.
ReplyDelete(Green Lama had been licensed to the company and had been appearing in his own feature in Prize since #7, but was still being published in pulp form in Double Detective by Munsey.)
The first crossover involving Marvel or DC occurred on tv in 1967 when Green Hornet Inc./Gold Key's Green Hornet appeared on the Batman, tv series.
I never said this was the first superhero intercompany crossover - only the first between modern DC and Marvel characters.
ReplyDeletethough I love the comic, I never liked the chumpy, trumped up hyped titles they came out with for comics back in the day.
ReplyDeleteFor example, thisi s clearly not a true vs. but they use that to draw in sales. It's sort of like when Invisible Girl became Invisible Woman and they had that whole, "Invisible girl no more" headline.
I know why they do it, just never been a fan of that sort of marketing.
Great comic though the Spidey vs. Supes.
-eli
Actually, Supes and a souped-up Spidey engage in quite a donnybrook in the book, so I don't think there's anything particularly misleading about the title.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sorry, but enthusiastic hyperbole is part of what used to make comics fun and exciting.
Today's comics take themselves far too friggin' seriously.