In "Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-Year Battle between Marvel and DC," journalist Reed Tucker provides a brisk, captivating account of the ongoing clash of the superhero-publishing titans.
He's done a fine job portraying two companies traveling parallel tracks: Marvel, the scrappy upstart publisher of all-too-human superheroes that overtook longtime industry leader DC in the early 1970s and eventually became just as corporate as its main competitor; and DC, the staid corporate publisher with iconic, godlike heroes that's spent five-plus decades trying-sometimes successfully, sometimes not-to capture Marvel's brand of cool by bringing those icons like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman down to earth and making them relevant for modern readers.
Tucker introduces his narrative with a vivid account of a cringe-inducing meeting at DC's bland New York headquarters in which worried executives try to figure out the secret of Marvel's success-and focus on imitating every superficial aspect of Marvel magazines except the storytelling because they refused to stoop to actually reading those books.
At times, the publishers' battle for spandex supremacy is as intense-though not as violent and destructive-as anything depicted in their books. Industry personalities hurl vulgar schoolyard insults at their employer's rival. Those same personalities are the objects of talent wars as the companies poach each other repeatedly. They imitate, they plagiarize-and even engage in espionage that hews closer to "Get Smart" than James Bond. (In 1971, a DC executive left in his outbox a fake memo about publishing 500-page comics. The employee suspected of leaking company secrets to Marvel took the bait-and soon enough, Marvel was discussing publishing 500-page comics.)
Of course, the personality who dominates Tucker's narrative is Stan Lee, who co-created (with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko) conflicted, flawed heroes like the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man who were the antithesis of DC's idealized, perfect heroes. Tucker offers readers not the idealized "Stan the Man," but a writer who originally wanted nothing to do with comics and just wanted to make enough money to launch a career in more respectable publishing. In effect, Tucker does for Lee what Lee did for superheroes-he humanizes a seemingly larger-than-life figure.
Tucker also makes clear that comics is primarily a male-dominated industry; the only women's voices heard in his narrative are those of Jenette Kahn, longtime DC president and publisher, and veteran Marvel writer/editor Ann Nocenti.
Along the way, he also shows how the comics themselves evolved from inexpensive, four-color entertainment for children to more complex fare intended for a fanatically devoted, but aging, audience-and now, to valuable intellectual properties for conglomerates like Disney and Warner, respectively.
It's Tucker's love of his topic that makes "Slugfest" such a knockout read.
And "Slugfest" can be enjoyed not just by comic book fans, but also by students of business administration, as Tucker chronicles the lack of business acumen exhibited by editorial regimes at both companies. (Particularly fascinating is the cautionary tale of Carmine Infantino, a renowned artist whom DC woefully miscasts as an executive.)
In the end, Tucker concludes, neither company is the real winner of its ongoing rivalry-it's the kids who read "Batman" and "Daredevil" who grew up to become power players in the film, television and video-game industries that are the latest battlefields for the cape-and-cowl titans.
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Reviews with images
Great so far and interesting typo in introduction.
So far I enjoyed an interview with the author I heard on a podcast and I enjoyed the prologue of the book but there appears to be a typo in the introduction. The phrase should read "...would never be the same again." The "be" is missing, unless this is a new figure of speech I'm unaware of.
Top reviews from other countries
Jakob Arnold
Kann man haben, muss aber nicht ...
Reviewed in Germany on April 1, 2024
McGroovy
Fascinating and superbly written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2020Ken Kudla
Still reading this book however as far as I have ...
Reviewed in Canada on February 18, 2018
Peter
Excellent look at the corporate history of comics
Reviewed in Australia on April 2, 2023
