Just imagine: What if?
Ever since I became a devoted fan of superhero comics, the idea of combining heroes from different universes was a natural thought for me. The notion stretches back to the 1960s, when I was a kid and still unaware that some of the characters were owned by different, competing business entities.
Before I learned that DC and Marvel weren't the same company, I imagined their characters meeting; after I learned that it wasn't that easy, I still wanted DC and Marvel to mingle. Let Batman join the Avengers! Let Iron Man team with the Justice League of America! Hell, I even had a dream that DC struck an agreement with Marvel to publish a Human Torch comic book, with the tagline "Now he's from Marvel AND DC!"
Oh, go analyze your own dreams. LET JUSTICE ASSEMBLE!
The impossible dream came true in 1976, with the joint DC-Marvel publication of the one-shot tabloid Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man. The two companies did a few more crossovers over the next few years, then stopped speaking to each other, returned for a few more crossovers in later years, stopped speaking to each other again, and temporarily buried the hatchet long enough for the epic four-part JLA/Avengers and Avengers/JLA mini-series in 2003-2004. That remains one of my absolute favorite comic book stories. After its publication and subsequent (and now long out-of-print) trade editions, DC and Marvel really, really stopped talking to each other, allowing only an extremely limited-run collector's edition JLA/Avengers reprint for charity in 2022. No further collaborations appear likely at this time.
Until, y'know, that changes again. Don't hold your breath. But never say never.
Meanwhile, howzabout we weld DC's original tagline for the Justice League ("Just imagine") to Marvel's ongoing invitation to consider alternate possibilities: What if? What if our ever-bickering funnybook IP holders agreed to co-publish a separate monthly line of crossover series? The books in this immersive and inclusive line would avoid duplicating the titles of any currently-published DC or Marvel titles and would unite the DC and Marvel universes in a single continuity.
Twenty monthly books, and one weekly book. What if? Just imagine:
Asgard Versus Apokolips
Batman/Daughters Of The Dragon
Black Panther And Wonder Woman
Black Widow/Green Arrow
Captain America And The All-Star Squadron (or: All-Star Invaders)
Captain Marvel Adventures
Daredevil/Black Lightning
Doctor Strange Adventures [co-starring Deadman]
Fantastic Four/Flash
Forbush Man/Ambush Bug
Green Lantern And The Guardians Of The Galaxy
Iron Man And The Doom Patrol
Jessica Jones And The Birds Of Prey
Justice League Of Avengers
Scarlet Witch/Harley Quinn
Swamp Thing/Hulk
Supergirl And Dr. Doom
Superman And Spider-Man
Tales To Astonish!
X-Titans
And our weekly title:
Secret Crisis
I did all of the above without researching...well, anything. I probably forgot about some popular characters that should have been included. I deliberately excluded the Punisher and Lobo because I don't like those guys. And it's MY list, dammit! MINE! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!
Harrumph. Glad to get that outta the way.
A few notes:
Asgard Versus Apokolips. Thor and the New Gods? Darkseid and Loki? The Enchantress and Big Barda? The Forever People and the Warriors Three? Hell, I'd figure out a way to involve Jimmy Olsen, and wish the late Jack "King" Kirby were still around to do this.
Batman/Daughters Of The Dragon. I originally had this pencilled in as Batman And The Defenders, but I decided that felt too much like another opportunity for a writer to portray the Batman--my favorite superhero--as a bossy, know-it-all dick. That ain't my Batman. Instead, let's partner the Dark Knight with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, working together and kickin' what needs kickin'.
Captain America And The All-Star Squadron. I have wanted to see a combination of the two companies' World War II characters since...always. Small wonder that my favorite single-issue DC-Marvel crossover is 1997's Batman & Captain America, wherein writer-artist John Byrne pit the Caped Crusader and the Star-Spangled Avenger (along with Robin and Bucky) against Nazi supervillain the Red Skull and all-American nogoodnik the Joker. Okay Axis, here we come! For our hypothetical book here, I might prefer the alternate title All-Star Invaders after all, but anything that gets us to Captain America, Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner fighting the Third Reich alongside members of the Justice Society of America is A-OK by me.
Captain Marvel Adventures would unite Marvel's Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) and DC's Captain Marvel (Billy Batson, the hero usually referred to nowadays as Shazam). Captain Marvel Adventures was the latter character's flagship title in the '40s and early '50s, and this new book would also feature the rest of his Marvel Family (Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior) plus Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau from the Marvel Comics side of things. Probably work Marvel's Silver/Bronze Age Mar-Vell in here somewhere as well.
Forbush Man/Ambush Bug. You can laugh (and I hope you will), but this is the one that'll probably win the Eisner Award, my friends.
Justice League Of Avengers. In 1982's The Uncanny X-Men And The New Teen Titans, there's a throwaway line (spoken, if I recall correctly, by Robin) about calling in every superhero on Earth. We're calling 'em in now: Justice League of Avengers. Every. Superhero. On. Earth...!
Superman And Spider-Man. The respective top guys of the DC and Marvel universes were the stars of the first two DC-Marvel meetings, and I've always liked the way the characters and their supporting casts blended. I've been wishing to see more of it ever since.
Swamp Thing/Hulk. The incredible Hulk meets Swamp Thing, champion of the Green. I can't explain why this pairing appeals to me so much, but it does.
Tales To Astonish! TEAM-UP TITLE!! Shang Chi and Plastic Man one month, Catwoman and Moon Knight the next, and so on. We could even harken back to Marvel's 1960s two-fer book Tales To Astonish, mix it with DC's House Of Mystery, and have one issue of Sub-Mariner and the Hulk with the Martian Manhunter and Dial H For Hero.
Secret Crisis. The BIG crossover, and I see New York City mayor Luke Cage and billionaire scientist and full-time egotist Lex Luthor as the central protagonists. Yeah, ol' Lex is on the side of the good guys here. Unless he's not. One can never be too sure with Luthor.
Now, I'm fully aware that none of the above is ever going to happen. There's a (slightly) greater chance of the DC and Marvel cinematic universes doing an on-screen crossover, simply because of the enormous stacks of money that could draw at the worldwide box office. And even that probably ain't gonna happen. There's currently little--no--incentive to pursue such a thing in the comic books themselves.
But it would be so cool.
What if?
Just imagine...!
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