Slugfest

Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC by Reed Tucker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For decades, DC was the undisputed king of comics until one fateful day in 1961 when an upstart rose up to claim the throne. Could DC fend off its new rival or would Marvel sit upon the iron throne?

This is the story of the never-ending rivalry between Marvel and DC. It has a decidedly pro-Marvel slant, though. I'll say that right off the bat. The book covers the formation of DC, the near death of the comic industry in the 1950s, and Stan Lee's last effort to write a successful comic, the Fantastic Four. From there, the rivalry begins.

The book is well-written and well organized. That being said, 80-90% of it was covered in other books I've read in the past few years. However, there were some new morsels to uncover, like Vince Colletta leaking DC stuff to Marvel while he was working at the Distinguished Competition, and DC having their eyes on the Fantastic Four while Marvel was circling the drain for the umpteenth time around the turn of the century.

Another wrinkle I was unaware of due to my absence from comics for about a decade was the Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada regime. Bill Jemas is the one who decreed that all stories should be written specifically to be collected in trades. Fuck Bill Jemas.

The book goes out of its way to take shots at DC, painting them as a bunch of monkeys trying to fuck a football while trying to figure out why Marvel's books were outselling theirs. It also glosses over Jack Kirby's struggle to get his art back from Marvel and ignores what a tool Stan Lee was at times.

Every time I read a book of this kind, I'm amazed we still have super hero comics. Both Marvel and DC are shit shows behind the scenes. When you're handed the golden ticket, try not to wipe your asses with it!

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