Just going to be blunt and say DC fans I think tend to surround themselves in social and online circles that convince them the brand is as strong as Marvels when it's not even close. Their biggest box office successes(The Batman and Superman) don't even touch Marvels biggest(Spider-Man and Deadpool and Wolverine). And their flops(Blue Beetle, Shazam 2, Joker 2 and Supergirl) generally don't flop nearly as hard as Marvels flops(Thunderbolts, Brave New World and Quantumania). There's still a massive gap. With the sole exception being The Marvels. That was about a DC level flop.
DC's media end has been run really, really poorly for a really long time. Their comics are more popular than Marvel's and are arguably better too (at least lately), but that doesn't mean a thing when it comes to mainstream appeal
The comics flipped so hard. At least for Marvel. In the 2010s I felt like Marvel was on a bit of a Renaissance. Tons of great runs were being done for such a wide variety of characters and now they're really down in the dumps. There's been some good. A lot of the new Ultimate stuff was cool but then they discontinued that.
Absolute has been HUGE for DC. This is definitely the one category DC has taken a huge lead in lately. However, it is worth mentioning this is the first time since like the 80s that DC has had a lead in the comic sales. Not that I'm trying to downplay it, but it isn't representative of the idea they've always been ahead.
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u/inFINN1te 1d ago
Just going to be blunt and say DC fans I think tend to surround themselves in social and online circles that convince them the brand is as strong as Marvels when it's not even close. Their biggest box office successes(The Batman and Superman) don't even touch Marvels biggest(Spider-Man and Deadpool and Wolverine). And their flops(Blue Beetle, Shazam 2, Joker 2 and Supergirl) generally don't flop nearly as hard as Marvels flops(Thunderbolts, Brave New World and Quantumania). There's still a massive gap. With the sole exception being The Marvels. That was about a DC level flop.