Intercompany crossovers in comics

Last updated

Intercompany crossovers in comic books consist of comics in which characters and other elements owned by one publisher appear together and interact with ones owned by another. Such occurrences within the medium of comics as opposed to other types of media are notable, given the regularity of canonical crossovers between characters and series under a single publisher, particularly in DC Comics and Marvel Comics, where they constantly affect mainstream continuity for the parties involved. As a result, intercompany comics crossovers are less common, and usually take the form of one-shots or miniseries that are not canonical to the history of the characters that are featured.

Notable crossovers between Marvel and DC include 1976's Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man , [1] 1996's DC vs. Marvel , 2003's JLA/Avengers and the Amalgam Comics imprint, which featured original characters conceived as amalgamations of famous DC and Marvel characters. Examples of crossovers between the "big two" and smaller publishers include Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Archie Meets the Punisher . Other collaborations between comic publishers might not consist of conventional crossovers and instead feature original characters or ones from other media, such as WildStorm (a subsidiary of DC Comics) and Dynamite Entertainment’s 2007 miniseries Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash . [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Byrne (comics)</span> American comic book writer and artist (born 1950)

John Lindley Byrne is a British-born American comic book writer of superhero comics. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on many major superheroes; with noted work on Marvel Comics's X-Men and Fantastic Four. Byrne also facilitated the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics's Superman franchise with the limited series The Man of Steel, the first issue of which featured the comics' first variant cover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elseworlds</span> Imprint of comics from DC Comics

Elseworlds is the publication imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that take place outside the DC Universe canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realities that deviate from the established continuity of DC's regular comics. The "Elseworlds" name was trademarked in 1989, the same year as the first Elseworlds publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerry Conway</span> American comic book writer (born 1952)

Gerard Francis Conway is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science fiction writer, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante antihero the Punisher as well as the Scarlet Spider, and the first Ms. Marvel and also writing the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man in the story arc "The Night Gwen Stacy Died".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultimate Marvel</span> Marvel Comic imprint

Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the Ultimate Universe. Those characters include Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Ultimates, the Fantastic Four, and others. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for the characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Quesada</span> American comic book artist, writer

Joseph Quesada is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books, such as Ninjak and Solar, Man of the Atom. He later worked on numerous books for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, such as Batman: Sword of Azrael and X-Factor, before forming his own company, Event Comics, where he published his creator-owned character, Ash.

<i>Archie Meets the Punisher</i> 1994 one-shot crossover comic book

Archie Meets the Punisher or The Punisher Meets Archie is a one-shot comic book and intercompany crossover written by Batton Lash with art by Stan Goldberg, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer. It was published jointly by Archie Comics and Marvel Comics in June 1994. In the story, the murderous vigilante Punisher mistakes all-American teenager Archie Andrews for a criminal that he is hunting. When he realizes his error, he works with Archie to rescue Archie's girlfriend Veronica Lodge, who has been kidnapped by the criminal. Despite being a humorous intercompany crossover, the comic was said to take place in the mainstream Marvel Universe by The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amalgam Comics</span> Defunct collaborative publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics

Amalgam Comics was a collaborative publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones. These characters first appeared in a series of 12 one-shots which were published in April 1996 between Marvel Comics versus DC #3 and DC versus Marvel Comics #4, the last two issues of the DC vs. Marvel crossover event. A second set of 12 one-shots followed one year later in June 1997, but without the crossover event as a background. All 24 of these one-shots took place between the aforementioned issues of DC vs. Marvel Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronze Age of Comic Books</span> Early-70s-to-80s era of comic books

The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of American superhero comic books, usually said to run from 1970 to 1985. It follows the Silver Age of Comic Books and is followed by the Modern Age of Comic Books.

<i>DC vs. Marvel</i> Comic book miniseries crossover

DC vs. Marvel is a comic book miniseries intercompany crossover published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics from February to May 1996. Each company would publish two issues of the miniseries, thus the title difference between issues #1 and 4 as DC vs. Marvel Comics from DC and issues #2–3 from Marvel as Marvel Comics vs. DC. The miniseries was written by Ron Marz and Peter David, with art by Dan Jurgens and Claudio Castellini.

American comic book tropes are common elements and literary devices related to American comic books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humberto Ramos</span> Mexican comic book penciller (born 1970)

Humberto Ramos is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as Impulse, Runaways, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and his creator-owned series Crimson.

The popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series has led to several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Innovation Publishing, Trident Comics, Avatar Press and WildStorm Productions. After the success of Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake film in 2003, New Line Cinema created their House of Horror licensing division which licensed the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to Avatar Press for use in new comic book stories, the first of which was published in 2005. In 2006, Avatar Press lost the license to DC Comics imprint, WildStorm Productions which then published several new stories based on the franchise before their license expired as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudio Castellini</span> Italian comic book artist

Claudio Castellini is an Italian comic book artist.

<i>Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness</i> 2007 comic book limited series by Marvel

Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness is a five-issue 2007 comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in association with Dynamite Entertainment, an intercompany crossover in which Ash Williams, hero of the popular Evil Dead film and comic book, finds himself in the Marvel Zombies setting, a world of flesh-eating zombified Marvel Comics heroes.

<i>Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man</i> 1976 American crossover comic book

Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century is a comic book jointly published by Marvel Comics and DC Comics in March 1976. It was the second co-publishing effort between DC Comics and Marvel Comics following their collaboration on MGM's Marvelous Wizard of Oz, and the first modern superhero intercompany crossover.

<i>Superman and Spider-Man</i>

Superman and Spider-Man is an intercompany comic book jointly published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics in July 1981. Number 28 in the Marvel Treasury Edition series, it is a "sequel" to 1976's Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Breeding</span> American artist

Brett Breeding is an American comic book artist who was active in the industry in the 1980s and 1990s, primarily as an inker. He is most well known for his work on the DC Comics character Superman.

References

  1. "GCD :: Issue :: Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man #[nn]". www.comics.org. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  2. ""Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash" #1-4 Reprint Covers". CBR. 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2023-07-01.