I Marvel...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Doc Savage Magazine was the worst, a new "book" every month, same basic plot.

[SGOS]

Right now, Marvel seems to corner the box office.  Although, Superman and Batman hold up well to any single Marvel Superhero, DC makes only a feeble attempt to enter the theater market.  Now I see Wonder Woman releases next month.  It's seems like one new DC superhero for every 10 of Marvels.

My parents never let me read those kinds of comics, so I never developed an interest, not even as in "forbidden fruit", but I was wondering if Marvel dominated the comic book market the way it does at the theater?  Is DC a lesser player in comics too?

[Baruch]

Right now, Marvel seems to corner the box office.  Although, Superman and Batman hold up well to any single Marvel Superhero, DC makes only a feeble attempt to enter the theater market.  Now I see Wonder Woman releases next month.  It's seems like one new DC superhero for every 10 of Marvels.

My parents never let me read those kinds of comics, so I never developed an interest, not even as in "forbidden fruit", but I was wondering if Marvel dominated the comic book market the way it does at the theater?  Is DC a lesser player in comics too?

I will be happier to see Wonder Woman, more so than to see Thor ... my choice ;-)

[Hydra009]

Right now, Marvel seems to corner the box office.  Although, Superman and Batman hold up well to any single Marvel Superhero, DC makes only a feeble attempt to enter the theater market.  Now I see Wonder Woman releases next month.  It's seems like one new DC superhero for every 10 of Marvels.

Yeah.  Marvel has had huge success in the movies and DC is playing catchup.  Marvel went wide (lots of movies centered on many different characters, taking a lot of risks) compared to DC's tall (few movies centered around few characters, playing it safe) and Marvel's plethora of movies have generally been well received.  There have been some stinkers (Fantastic Four, X-Men Apocalypse) but they've really raked in the cash with the good ones.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 773.3 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 91%)
X-Men Days of Future Past (2014) 747.9 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 91%)
Avengers Age of Ultron (2015) 1.405 billion USD (Rotten Tomatoes 75%)
Ant Man (2015) 519.3 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 81%)
Fantastic Four (2015) 168 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 9%)
Deadpool (2016) 760.3 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 84%)
X-Men Apocalypse (2016) 543.9 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 48%)
Captain America Civil War (2016) 1.132 billion USD (Rotten Tomatoes 91%)
Doctor Strange (2016) 675.9 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 90%)

In contrast, DC has had fewer releases and therefore fewer hits, especially lately:

Man of Steel (2013) 668 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 55%)
Batman VS Superman (2016) 872.7 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 27%)
Suicide Squad (2016) 745.6 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 26%)

Despite sales figures that aren't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, critical reception has not been kind to DC.  That could really hurt DC in the long run.  Their cinematic future is hanging on their next few releases:  Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Justice League.

My parents never let me read those kinds of comics, so I never developed an interest, not even as in "forbidden fruit", but I was wondering if Marvel dominated the comic book market the way it does at the theater?  Is DC a lesser player in comics too?

More recent market share figures, regrettably not in graph format.

Since 1966, Marvel has generally outsold DC.  DC made a helluva comeback and Marvel's lead has been very narrow some years.  But yes, generally speaking, Marvel is the top player, but DC is still a strong contender.  Marvel's top spot is by no means secure; DC could claw their way to the top in the comics industry if Marvel rests on its laurels.

[SGOS]

In contrast, DC has had fewer releases and therefore hits, especially lately:

Man of Steel (2013) 668 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 55%)
Batman VS Superman (2016) 872.7 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 27%)
Suicide Squad (2016) 745.6 million USD (Rotten Tomatoes 26%)

Despite sales figures that aren't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, critical reception has not been kind to DC.  That could really hurt DC in the long run.  Their cinematic future is hanging on their next few releases:  Aquaman, Wonderwoman, and Justice League.

Yeah, not being well versed in the comics, I was wondering if DC had fewer characters, but I'm getting the impression here that they have many more, but just haven't developed them into movie characters.

I'm not sure why critics have been so hard on DC.  Superman seemed well worth more than a 55%.  Perhaps, not up to Marvel quality, although in my opinion, that's not the case.  Superman vs Batman (27%) wasn't that great in my opinion, but not much worse than Captain America: Civil War , but I thought the premise of both were dumb out of the gate.  But having said that, Superman vs Batman was at least as good as the average horror flick that gets a 80% from critics.  Suicide Squad was a bit disjointed, but not impossible to follow.  26% seems way underrated, like critics have got a grudge against DC, and automatically discount a DC film for some reason.

The variety in Marvel does count for a lot of my interest, but that shouldn't automatically create a reason to rate individual DC characters so low.  Superman has been in the movies for many more years, starting with the TV series I watched as a kid.  Maybe he's just getting stale, although I still see a lot of potential.

[Hydra009]

Yeah, not being well versed in the comics, I was wondering if DC had fewer characters, but I'm getting the impression here that they have many more, but just haven't developed them into movie characters.

DC has about the same, maybe a little less, characters than Marvel.  It's just that these characters tend not to make it to theaters.  DC tends to lean pretty hard on Batman and Superman, while Marvel has had Spidey, Avengers, and the X-Men as their main draws.

I'm not sure why critics have been so hard on DC.

I can't talk about Man of Steel or Batman VS Superman, but I saw Suicide Squad and imho, it was terrible.  I wasn't expecting Citizen Kane or anything, I was expecting a fun little anti-hero romp, but the disjointed story, lackluster characters, and poor logic of the film killed it for me.  We're talking 2/10, tops.  If anything, the 26% rating is too generous.  It was a bit upsetting to find out that it had about the same box office as Guardians of the Galaxy - a much, much, much better movie.

The variety in Marvel does count for a lot of my interest, but that shouldn't automatically create a reason to rate individual DC characters so low.  Superman has been in the movies for many more years, starting with the TV series I watched as a kid.  Maybe he's just getting stale, although I still see a lot of potential.

I don't personally like Superman very much (for almost identical reasons as Captain America).  It would take one hell of a Superman flick to get me to buy a ticket.

Batman has had his ups and downs, and yeah, it's getting pretty predictable.  But then again, Dark Knight was amazingly good.  Batman has a great rogue's gallery and a really good villain and good story can make up for the weaknesses of the Batman franchise, much like Spider-Man.

[SGOS]

It would take one hell of a Superman flick to get me to buy a ticket.

Batman has had his ups and downs, and yeah, it's getting pretty predictable.  But then again, Dark Knight was amazingly good.  Batman has a great rogue's gallery and a really good villain and good story can make up for the weaknesses of the Batman franchise, much like Spider-Man.

I get turned off with Superman and Batman when they are portrayed as battling comical villains, rather than serious criminals or formidable aliens.  There has been somewhat of a transition that helps this weakness recently.  Kevin Spacey, who can be a real badass had his model train layout that proved his land development scheme would work if he had some Kryptonite.  The rest of the movie was fine, but that part was ridiculous.

[Munch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLeGWcVeIZ4

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

[Hydra009]

Heh, he recognized Stan Lee.

[JBCuzISaidSo]

Anson Mount as Black Bolt in ABC series.

Discuss?

http://deadline.com/2017/02/marvels-inhumans-anson-mount-black-bolt-casting-abc-1202027526/

[Hydra009]

I don't know him.  So I can't say one way or the other.

But it has to be an actor who can convey a lot from only body language.  Disciplined, determined, somewhat aloof and standoffish but also compassionate.  A difficult character to portray correctly.

[Cavebear]

I never read the novels.  I used to enjoy Tarzan in the old movies as a kid, but the TV show was silly.  I did't enjoy or didn't watch the newer Tarzan movies.  John Carter of Mars the movie, was pretty formulaic, but since I didn't read the novels, it was fresh.

I read Doc Savage at 13.  By 15, the books seemed pretty idiotic.  Tarzan made me laugh, too unrealistic.  John Carter didn't even make me laugh.

[Solomon Zorn]

I can relate to that.  But for me it was Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Then, later, on to Heinlein.  And others.

I read FF, X-Men, Spiderman, Avengers, and so on(not to mention a lot of weird horror comics), before I read much in the way of sci-fi. And I didn't stop reading them, even as I expanded my literary interests.

I was pretty young when I read Edgar Rice Burroughs, Princess of Mars. I remember it painting a vivid picture of the fantastic world of Barsoom. I finally got around to watching the Disney epic, John Carter, just last night. I very much enjoyed it. The story seemed fresh enough to me, despite many of the themes and settings having been frequently borrowed, by many authors and movies throughout the years, prior to John Carter having his day on screen. Barsoom was artfully depicted, and Tars Tarkus, was perfect. It's the only visual interpretation, of Burroughs' Mars series, other than the Marvel comic-book series, that came out back in the 70's.

[Solomon Zorn]

Watched Doctor Strange, on Blu-Ray, a couple of days ago. I thought it really captured the essence of the comic-book. 

As for the main character, Cumberbatch was very convincing, as a narcissistic surgeon, who is broken by tragedy, and in his search for healing, finds a higher purpose to his life.

Visually, it was stunning, and very innovative in the portrayal of the mirror dimension. The astral-plane, and the space-portals that they opened were cool too.

The story unfolded at a pleasant pace, and fits nicely into the foundation, that Marvel is laying, of Infinity War.

I plan on watching it again.

[SGOS]

Visually, it was stunning, and very innovative in the portrayal of the mirror dimension.

I'm not a huge fan of most 3D movies, but this movie shined in 3D, the kaleidoscope effects and the mirror world, especially.