The Difference Between Marvel Comics & DC Comics' Villains

Marvel comics & DC comics had a different formula for their villains, and this is really a reflection of the style between the two comic book publishers and not so much anything to do with the powers or stories of the villains themselves. Marvel comics liked to have their characters show emotions, weaknesses, cunning and the never say die approach, while DC preferred characters & story lines that were more static who never really varied that much since their conceptions.

Marvel comics often had their villains escape the clutches of the law, even when they were vanquished by their arch enemies. They often slipped through the cracks to plot and fight another day. This type of escape often highlighted the weaknesses of law enforcement or the hero in containing or eliminating evil. DC comics on the other hand often featured their villains as being caught, punished, and awaiting trial they often managed to escape to try and cause havoc with the hero, only to be caught, punished and sent back to their holding cells.

In fact, this type of plot for DC comics villains created the famous Arkham Asylum that is often featured in the Batman series. This Asylum is on the edges of Gotham City and houses villains from around the DC universe. It's most famous residents include the Joker, Two Face, and numerous other villains. The Asylum is used in comic books that range from Batman to Alan Moore's Swamp Thing. In fact, the Asylum has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times in it's history. And the reason it keeps getting restored? It's actually very simple DC comics has to have somewhere to house it's comic villains once they are vanquished.

Marvel comics, on the other hand, doesn't have an Arkham Asylum and odds are that if it did then the Asylum probably would have been destroyed, because in order for Arkham to be featured in their story lines then it would be impossible for an Asylum to survive very long because Marvel doesn't like to have it's villains caught and put away.

This style between the two comic book powerhouses has been ongoing for at least the last 40 years and the artists and writers that are new to the comics find themselves following the established story lines. Why? Well, when they were children they followed the story lines of Marvel & DC comics and they learned from writers such as Stan Lee at Marvel what the expectations were for the villains in the Marvel & DC comics universe. So this style, this thought process, will continue to show in the stories from both houses because it is a tradition that has been firmly engrained in the comic book companies themselves.

The difference between Marvel & DC comics villains seems to be that there is more of a desire for the villain to be human, that is truly three dimensional, in Marvel and the villain to be something two dimensional in the world of DC. Marvel likes it's villains to be cunning, evil, and truly human, while DC likes it's heroes to be something other than "us", something that can be safely identified, locked away, and not considered part of normal society.