Can you image something like this happening these days? I certainly can’t. With the corporate grip on both of the big two and the desperate need for both of them to milk their own intellectual properties for as much money as they can without giving the competition any help, I’m pretty certain the only way we’ll see a DC/Marvel crossover any time soon is if Disney buy DC.
This was a big deal in 1996, though, as comic fans got to see some of the biggest names from both companies facing off against each other.
Across both Earths, heroes and villains are disappearing from one and appearing on another, and it’s a safe bet it’s got something to do with a glowing box held together with tape being guarded by some random bloke in a baseball cap. I mean, this is just a sample of the characters involved:
And while some of the characters ended up landing straight into a fight, one or two had a potentially different outcome:
There’s no real indication of the timescale but I’m guessing we’re talking days at a minimum as very quickly we find that J Jonah Jameson has replaced Perry White as editor of the Daily Planet and Ben Reilly aka Peter Parker aka Spider-Man has just been employed as a new photographer there.
Clark Kent writes a piece for the Planet that namechecks a bunch of heroes and wonders what’s going on – this clearly isn’t some Secret War, but rather an even that the public of the DC world know about.
It all finishes with two enormous beings, mirrors of each other, becoming aware of one another, before it’s to be continued.
DC VS MARVEL was fun – the editors/writers decided who would win a number of bouts before the main events were voted for by the public and the results shown in issue #3. And the best thing to come out of this whole event (at least in my opinion) was the Amalgam Universe and the one-shots that appeared in the weeks between issues #3 and #4 of this title.
Ah, simpler times . . .
Crisis on Earth-Prime 
Oh man, yeah that’ll definitely probably never happen again unless one company buys out the other. Such a weird, but wild & exciting time that was back then. The dream matches turned out to be every bit as divisive & controversial as expected, but still fun to see play out. The villains were lame & not really well developed or thought out, but then again, for such a popcorn event, I guess that wasn’t really wanted was it? I still remember those Marvel/DC comic bags my local comic shop had to hand our for every comic purchase. I still have one left over from that era. Good times.
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Yeah, I think the sight of the heroes battling it out was the main point of the story, regardless of the two cosmic brother types and the existential threat.
Like I said, though, the Amalgam universe (certainly the first time around) was a mostly good idea.
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It definitely was, as I remember being really inspired by the various combinations of characters the writers & editors made up back then.
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Access doesn’t get enough credit. I guess he succeeded because the only crossover events happening now are between other universes and fan works like Super-Team Family and..something Crisis Prime Number or something? Not important, but they really screwed up his story in the final appearance with evil Access.
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There was an evil Access? What was that in?
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The final one, DC/Marvel: Unlimited Access. https://bwspotlight.com/2015/05/29/yesterdays-comic-marveldc-unlimited-access-4/ The bum was also another version of Axel instead of the latest person to bear the job. Thought that was a missed opportunity.
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It’s been many years since I read that series so I’d forgotten evil Access.
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