When I was a teenager in the 1970s, I was a comics fan and a would-be writer. I kept notebooks of my random notions, and one of those ongoing notions was the idea of a combined DC and Marvel Comics universe.
This would have been before the 1976 publication of the one-shot Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, a joint venture between the rival companies which made the preposterous idea of DC and Marvel working together an eensy bit less preposterous.
Not a lot less preposterous. But still: Just imagine! What if?
I still have some of my old notebooks, filled with nerdly scribbles and a raw enthusiasm that far outstripped my creative ability and my common sense. I did not consult the old notebooks for today's post, nor did I review any real-world records of what DC and Marvel were putting out in this period of, say, 1973-1977. Instead, this is an off-the-cuff attempt to list individual titles that could have comprised a merged DC-Marvel publishing slate in the the '70s.
But I do remember that my teen notebook notions of smooshing the DC and Marvel universes together as one would have commenced with a crossover series I called Crisis Across Creation. From there, proper Justice League of Avengers hijinks would have ensued.
(And I tell ya: I would have just loved to see DC artists like Jim Aparo and Nick Cardy depict some Marvel heroes, and for Marvel's John Romita and John Buscema to draw up a li'l DC.)
In compiling this list, I omitted licensed properties like Conan the Barbarian, Tarzan, and Welcome Back, Kotter (though it would have been interesting to see the Sweathogs and/or Hotsie Totsie interact with the X-Men). The only exception here is Shazam!, starring the original Captain Marvel. At the time, no one really knew that DC was only licensing the character from Cap's original publisher Fawcett Comics; DC now owns the character outright, and we're including him on this list.
I compiled the list from my memory of DC and Marvel books in this time frame, and I probably skipped something that oughta be here. But even in the unlikely event this merger had come to pass, there's still no way that the combined new publisher would have included all of these titles in its roster. As it is, I left out things like Shanna The She-Devil, Claw The Unconquered, Superman Family, and Night Nurse. I probably could have dropped Freedom Fighters and Omega The Unknown, and a bunch more, too. Batman, Spider-Man, and Superman retain their two solo titles apiece, as well as their team-up books.
Furthermore, there is no way this new mega-publisher's line wouldn't introduce some new titles. New # 1s! But today we're sticking with books actually published by DC or Marvel in the '70s. A few of them have been retitled: Books with "DC" or "Marvel" in their names are now DC/Marvel Presents and DC/Marvel Team-Up, etc., and Marvel's erstwhile Master Of Kung Fu is now Masters Of Kung Fu, presuming that Shang Chi and the Daughters of the Dragon will be meeting the Bronze Tiger and Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter, and probably the Black Canary and Batgirl. See, everyone was king fu fighting. It was the '70s!
So here 'tis. Make mine Marvel/DC. DC/Marvel reigns supreme.
Super-Team Family
Oh. And of course Young Love. Even an unlikely corporate merger needs love, man.
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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/
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