Comics are one of the most highly recognized pieces of American pop culture. From Superman to Batman, Wonder Woman to Jean Grey, the list of classic characters goes on and on. The first comic book ever published in the U.S. was Odadiah Oldbuck in 1842. Almost a century later, Major Malcom Wheeler-Nicholson establishes DC Comics, and five years afterwards, Marvel Comics was founded (at the time, it first began as Timely Comics) by Martin Goodman.

As the competitive rivals, Marvel and DC, continue to build their empires with fresh ideas and (mostly) unique characters, they decided to expand the worlds they created on media platforms, primarily movies and television. However much to one’s surprise, both companies already lost that first milestone to United Artists as The Mark of Zorro (1920) became the first superhero film ever made. Like most, if not all superhero films, The Mark of Zorro was based off Johnston McCulley’s The Curse of Capistrano serialized in 1919 and later published under the film’s eponymous name in 1924. However, today, when one thinks of the word “superhero”, most likely the name Zorro won’t come to mind. Names like Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman (the three together are known as the Trinity) will. Despite not holding the first superhero film achievement under its belt, Marvel, however, did beat DC to the cinematic jump by releasing Captain America in 1944, while DC took home the gold for the smaller screens in 1952 through Adventures of Superman.

With time going by faster and technology continuing to evolve, update, and improve itself, the comic companies kept producing more and more content based off their visual literary material they had already published. Shows like Teen Titans, Batman: The Animated Series, and Justice League captured the hearts of not only devoted fans of the original work, but also new audiences who aren’t familiar with the comics and even managed to turn the heads of some critics (who are usually hard to please, especially when it comes to getting higher recognition like an Oscar). What made these shows so special was not only did they come out at the right time, but they possessed very unique qualities that is very hard to find in today’s televised content (especially in animation):

1. Captivating Story: A story that is interesting, powerful, and appeals to both children and adults, morals/lessons kids can draw from

2. Strong Character Development: Characters that not only look like us, but also go through the same challenges/obstacles as we do (ex. Wonder Woman being the feminism icon, Robin adding appeal to younger audiences to balance the more mature themes of Batman), making them human and relatable so audiences can connect with the characters.

3. Good Writing: A well written script is the backbone of exemplary content. If the jokes fall flat, not cohesive, confusing or uninteresting story, odd pacing, or even continuity issues (referring to content’s timeline), then the content won’t last as long as the creator(s) have hoped, damaging their already established fanbase.

Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001-2006)

Spider-Man (1994-1998)

Young Justice (2010-Present)

As for movies, both popular publishers established a reputation and left an impression amongst fans and audiences that still sticks with them today. After successfully raking in billions at the box office through their Infinity Saga story arc (Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame), Marvel has left an overall positive impression. People can generally agree that Marvel knows what they’re doing with their materials and how to tell their stories on the silver screen. DC, however, left people feeling quite the opposite with flops like Suicide Squad and a seemingly endless debate on Batman v Superman. Despite these releases,  Warner Bros., one of the major five film studios (now four since RKO no longer exists), who owns the entertainment rights to the DC characters, now understands how to make good comic book movies using their characters: stop trying to copy Marvel’s formula. After the successes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam, WB has gave fans and audiences hope as they have started regaining their trust in making better quality films. Now with Wonder Woman: 1984, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and Black Adam scheduled to be released in the future, fans both old and new are left feeling curious, optimistic, and excited for DC’s future that seems to be shining as bright as Green Lantern’s light.