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They have been the biggest names in comics for more than 50 years. DC BD, the company behind Superman, Wonder Woman and other emblematic heroes, was once the unparalleled blue chip of the industry. But after Upstart Marvel unleashed a wave of new heroes in the early 1960s, including the fantastic four, Spider-Man and the Hulk-DC began to lose ground.

A decade later, Marvel ripped off her bitter rival head and never looked back. Since then, the two companies have continued to violently compete with a market share, talents and media coverage. This exclusive extract from the new bookSlugfest: inside the 50-year epic battle between Marvel and DCthroughReed Tucker Choose in the early 90s at the beginning of a what would become the largest sales boom of the industry. DC, desperate for a victory, turns to a desperate idea, extinguishing a series of unexpected consequences.

"Just kill him", "longtime superman's writerJerry Ordway suggested steel man during a planning session. With this pronunciation was bornThe death of Superman, An EPIC multipart has extended to seven questions from different CC titles. The story was, ironically, an attempt to do something that the film that has partially adapted,Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Has been criticized not to do - to show the horrible ramifications of a battle between two super powerful beings.

"Death came out of the desire to make a big Marvel style punch party, where there were consequences rather than fighting where cities are destroyed," ordered said. The culminating point, in which the hero is shot in the hands of a powerful naughty called Doomsday, arrived at Superman # 75 (January 1993). The question of death was of course freed in several formats, including a special edition that came wrapped in a black bag, rolling the "S" logo of Superman, and packed with a black poster and cuff.

"We cut about DC buttocks throughout this period, and I still had the impression that DC examined the success that Marvel had," said Marvel's SuppinyTerry Stewart. "We were doing a lot of things that DC was not aggressively doing. DC was pretty much doing what he always did. There were not many new directions that had been new. I've always feltThe death of Superman Was something they had about to find - something that would bring their mark to another level of sales success. And it succeeded. "

The disappearance of Superman has become a new major and was covered with televisions and magazines and newspapers. He brought DC an indispensable dose of attention, as well as customers. The death show has set up Marvel figures, selling more than 4 million units - second behind only X-men of 1991 # 1. He also allowed DC capture the market share of the month of his Liberation, doubling the percentage of DC of the previous month at 31%. In the process, it is also the wonder of which the share fell by 17 points.

In some stores, guests have been literally aligned with hundreds of buying this supposedly historical problem. The madness of sales and media shocked anyone familiar with the nature of the soap-operated comics, where death was often as permanent as a button.

"We had no reason to think that the world would give a sh * t," former president of DCPaul Levitz said. "We had killed before." Superman would come back, of course. It was resurrected nearly a year later (sporting a sweet mule, no less) at the end of a carefully padded saga spread over several titles. The success ofThe death of Superman Can we surprise a lot in the industry, but it reinforced the lesson that events have matched sales. If the previous event titles, Marvel'sSecret warsand DCCrisis on infinite land had been the companies learning to crawl,The death of Superman was a full sprint. Both companies have doubled on the strategy.

"I remember an editorial meeting where the feeling was simply," we killed Superman and sold 4 million copies. Marvel does that, and they sell a million copies, "said former CC editorBrian Augustyn. "The underlying message was:" We are not sure what it is, but these epic events sell and drive the market. "There was almost like a dictator if your book is considered a coming or a pillar, you must shake it."

Large important promising stories huge changes for these familiar characters have become the order of the day. Soon, Batman had the back broken by a naughty named Bane and was replaced by an apprentice. The history of multipart has been calledKnightfall,And it appears from dozens of problems and lasted about two years.

In 1994HAL JORDAN, which had served as green lantern of the Earth for thirty-five years, was replaced by a new one. "The feeling was, there was value in events if people are excited about them," saysChris Duffy,
A DC partner publisher from 1993 to 1996. "The word in the street was that [publisher]Kevin DooleyI went for his annual review on the Green Lantern, where you talked about what was in the work of the book. All group publishers were there and Paul [Levitz]. The success ofThe death of Superman andKnight Turned this meeting, how can we do this for the green lantern? So Kevin had to throw all his plans for the green lantern because they were not big enough, and that's when they concocted [the replacement scenario]. "

The success ofThe death of Superman leads to mandates similar to Marvel. "At an editorial meeting of 1993 or 1994 with various leaders, they noticed thatThe death of Superman had just mentioned today's show, "said former Marvel publisherBob Budiansky. "It was like DC coming to abandon a nuclear bomb on us." They are on today's show, and we are not! "At the time, to access a traditional TV show was such a big deal."

Marvel has started to make a response to the Great DC event, which could pull a similar weight cover in the process. The idea they bought was that Peter Parker and his wife would have a baby spider. "The audience of today's show has been considered many women, and they will want to catch something like that," says Budiansky. "It will be friendly to this kind of shows."

The story has been put in place as part of an ongoing spider epic that reintroduces a clone from Peter Parker especially forgotten from 1975. The new story revealed that the Pierher Parker, whose readers have had readers from the 1970s, was not, in fact, the real Pierber Parker, but rather the old clone of Parker, who thought to be the current Parker. As we could imagine, it did not sit with devoted readers. It was like being said that you were secretly married to your wife's twin sister for two decades. As far as the baby is concerned, the powers - who soon become the remorse of the buyer, afraid that Peter Parker became a father separating him from the big base of male Marvel fan, teenager readers. Mary Jane is shown unlike in an amazing Spider-Man # 418 (December 1996).

The Saga Clone Finally dragged for more than two years to a hundred problems, in the process becoming one of the most tortuous, muddled and controversial stories, Marvel had already published. Even when Marvel PochedDan Jurgens, the main artist onThe death of Superman, Contribute, he could not save the scenario. Many now consider disdain and mentioning it in the presence of a spidey hardcore fan could be enough to win a SWIFT slap.

"Here's a case where competition between the two companies has reached something Marvel was doing," says Budiansky. "By trying to be a media story, Marvel came up with a story that did not support the character positively."

Slugfest extract: inside the 50-year epic battle between Marvel and DC by Reed Tucker. Copyright© 2017. Available from Da Capo Press, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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