Are Marvel characters more accesible than DC?

[Artistsean]

They'll end up regretting it, maybe. Maybe they will regret it, but probably not.
It actually can be sort of cool.

But the original reason for doing Crisis on Infinite Earths was to get rid of the other realities, the other Earths, because it was getting too confusing.
Marv Wolfman (spelling, and name?) and George Perez have said the reason they did it was because it was getting too hard to keep track of all the characters and continuity. Having characters from so many different realities each with their own continuity and each universe with its own history, writers and artists ended up having to have piles of past comics and piles of refference material just to get on comic done.
So now what is going to happen? Maybe this time it will be easier, what with the internet and all.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think the intent with the new Multiverse is to just follow the New Earth characters closely, while the rest of the Multiversal versions of the characters remain background players. Except, of course, people like Starman and the Karate Kid, who have been transplanted to New Earth from other Earths.

 

[Spade]

In my humble opinion Marvel is more accessible. To speak from personal experience, when I was a kid I couldn't find myself connecting to most of DC's characters. It was easier to connect to a character like Superman- he acts so much as a superpowered reminder of humanity's greater good it's hard not to. It was harder to do so with the others. I only liked Green Lantern because of Kyle, I dabbled with the Flash but got bored with it, and even though I liked Batman his tendency to close his sphincter tighter than Fort Knox at any given situation was an element I felt adult readers connectecd more to than anything else. When I popped open a Marvel comic I felt like each character was more personalized. Not all of them (Doctor Strange comes to mind), but the vast majority. They felt like imperfect people rather than untouchable legend-worthy gods. Bruce Banner gave natural human reactions to being such a detriment to the people around him, Peter Parker felt like the Everyman archetype that you could identify with, and (while dysfunctional) the Fantastic Four had a good family feel to them.

The problem with both to me is the lack of care as of late for kids like I was whose eyes used to glow with anticipation at the next time that rack would be covered with tales from my favorite heroes. Now the industry as a whole has completely geared itself towards seperation from the past with sordid attempts at getting attention. The Women in Refrigerators stereotype hasn't quite gone away, DC keeps on confusing me with all of the reboots and character replacements that they've done, and Marvel is no better with the decision-making process teetering between "very good" and "retcon-worthy". Everyone suggests the Wiki, but I find it sad that we even have to do that. It used to be that even if you weren't familiar with what was happening you could still just jump in (albeit with having to educate yourself on the character a little more) without feeling too left in the dark. Now, all of the aforementioned make it hard to feel like I can grow fond of each character. Events like Civil War don't make it easier: I got so tired of the supposed twists, the numerous tie-ins, and all of the political banter that by #3 I just gave up. I can't imagine most people younger than myself even wanting to jump into comics in general with the informal nature most comics provoke nowadays.

But hey, what do I care? I like mangas for what they provide to my tastes, so it's not exactly as if I'm a diehard fan of either side who just buys seemingly for the sole purpose of collecting or feel like I need to defend them. They are what they are, and it's hard to say which is more beloved when my interests in the medium are burning out as it is.

 

[SKSpawn]

I dunno. I grew up with both sets of comics. I never even knew about the original Crisis until I was an early-teenager. As far as I was concerned, until the few years or so, I could piece together continuity for both company's reletively well.

It helps that a lot of the comics characters have mainstream exposure. Really all you need to know when you pick up a comic are the basics: Batman's parents were killed, Superman is an alien with God-like powers, Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, the X-Men are feared/hated mutants. Things like that allow me to pick up, say "The Laughing Fish" and know: Why Batman is who he is and does what he does, that the Joker is hia arch-nemesis (again, generally known thanks to exposure), that he operates in Gotham City, is Bruce Wayne and yaddayaddayadda.

However, lately, it's beena tricky situation and I can't say I vouch for either company. I pick up Batman and Spider-Man graphic novels because they're my fabourites from each company, and then I get the collected event books because I like seeing all the characters battling together for a reason, it feels like more value for your money to me (similar to how I buy two disc DVDs and rarely the cheaper one disc editions because DVD, to me, is about the special features and content available so you can get more out of it).

But, I picked up Infinite Crisis and enjoyed it (I still haven't read the original, but know enough about it, I have Zero Hour but am still a bit confused as to the point of that one) and plan to get 52 and Countdown when they're collected, but I haven't felt the urge to pick up any Marvel titles at all recently. House Of M almost had me but seemed kinda rubbish, I was going to go for Civil War but it was really convoluted and all the spin-offs mean I spend more money just trying to get the whole story, though I may get World War Hulk. I can't pick up an issue of Spider-Man without some nonsensical plot being presented that is meant to "change Spider-Man forever": clones, fake parents, sin's past, spider Gods, Iron Spidey, unmasked, fugitive, back in black (though I love the look) and now this sudden conspiracy to end his marriage even though I enjoy him being married? If I pick up Batman it just feels easier to me to follow the story, I can't really explain why. Maybe it's because the issue-by-issue changes to DC's comics are more subtle than Marvels "in your face" changes.