Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC

by Reed Tucker

Overview

The first in-depth, behind the scenes book treatment of the rivalry between the two comic book giants.The most bruising battle in the superhero world isn’t between spandex-clad characters; it’s between the publishers themselves. For more than 50 years, Marvel and DC have been locked in an epic war, tirelessly trading punches and trying to do to each other what Batman regularly does to the Joker’s face. Slugfest, the first book to tell the history of this epic rivalry into a single, juicy narrative, is the story of the greatest corporate rivalry never told. It is also an alternate history of the superhero, told through the lens of these two publishers.Slugfest combines primary-source reporting with in-depth research to create a more fun Barbarians at the Gate for the comic book industry. Complete with interviews with the major names in the industry, Slugfest reveals the arsenal of schemes the two companies have employed in their attempts to outmaneuver the competition, whether it be stealing ideas, poaching employees, planting spies, ripping off characters or launching price wars. Sometimes the feud has been vicious, at other times, more cordial. But it has never completely disappeared, and it simmers on a low boil to this day.The competition has spilled over to the even the casual fans, bisecting the world into two opposing tribes. You are either a Marvel or a DC fan, and allegiance is hardly a trivial matter. Perhaps the most telling question one can ask of a superhero fan is, Marvel or DC? The answer often reveals something deeper about personality, and the reason is wrapped up in the history of both companies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478997405
Publisher:	Hachette Book Group
Publication date:	10/03/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)

About the Author

Reed Tucker is a freelance journalist and writer and has lived in New York since 1999. He writes mostly about pop culture and entertainment, most recently as a staff features writer at the New York Post. He has written hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles for everyone from Esquire to USA Today to Oprah.

Editorial Reviews

10/23/2017
Pop culture writer Tucker (The Osbournes Unf**king Authorized) delivers a well-written and entertaining look at the decades-long battle between the two titans of the comic book business, Marvel and DC. Tucker knows his history, and he starts with an excellent overview of how DC was “the undisputed leader in the spandex game” from its 1938 introduction of Superman until Marvel brought out the Fantastic Four in 1961. This helped the upstart company “establish itself as the edgier, hipper alternative to stodgy old DC.” Throughout, Tucker easily discusses both artistic and commercial issues, describing in detail how Marvel’s “new approach to storytelling” emphasizing realism “still provides the template today that has made superheroes a multi-billion, multi-media cash cow” and examining the myriad ways the two companies have spent years “clawing for market share and trying to kneecap each other in ways both above board and below.” Older comics fans will delight in Tucker’s astute telling of how Marvel kingpins Stan Lee and Jack Kirby spent the 1960s eclipsing their DC rivals, and newer fans will be fascinated by Tucker’s in-depth description of how DC’s gamble on grittier work such as Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns produced “what is perhaps the most fertile period in the company’s—and the industry’s—history.” This is an excellent history for comic book fans. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Reed Tucker masterfully dissects the REAL issue dividing us as a nation."
—Seth Meyers, host of NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers

"A smart, blow-by-blow narrative of the sometimes-friendly, often bitter rivalry between corporate comic-book behemoths...A wild haymaker for the masses, perhaps, but a knockout read for capes-and-cowls aficionados."—Kirkus

"This is a book for 'Fans.' I consider myself a 'Fan.' I love this book. I guess you could say I am a 'Fan' of this book. If you are not a 'Fan' of 'Things' then this is not a book for you. It is a book for me. GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!"
—Bobby Moynihan, comedian and former Saturday Night Live cast member

"Slugfest is the ringside commentator for the clash of the comic book titans. A must-read for all comic fans."
—Scott Sigler, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel Alive

"If you think comics are squeaky clean, you have no idea how down and dirty things have gotten behind the brightly colored scenes. Slugfest pulls back the curtain on the tireless work, masterful art, smack talk, underhanded tactics, and juicy betrayals that have both blessed and plagued the rivalry of a lifetime. It's meticulously researched and delightfully scandalous, like the lovechild of an encyclopedia and a soap opera. It's an Encyclopera. Which also happens to be my super hero name."
—AJ Mendez, retired WWE superstar and New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Is My Superpower

"Insanely readable...An amazing comic-book story."—Houston Press

"The story of Marvel's David toppling DC's Goliath is a fun one, and Tucker tells it well."—Associated Press

"Tucker uses extensive interviews with major players within the two comics giants to provide a blow-by-blow account of its victories and defeats."—Shelf Awareness for Readers

"A great read for anyone interested in the history of two companies that have had a massive impact on pop culture."—Library Journal

"Tucker delivers a well-written and entertaining look at the decades-long battle between the two titans of the comic book business."—Publishers Weekly

"Slugfest takes readers inside the decades-long beef between DC and Marvel comics."—Newsweek

"Lively and engaging."—Weekly Standard

"This really is a fascinating story, especially when you remember that the competition between DC and Marvel isn't just about comic books; it's about pop culture itself."—Booklist

"As colorful as the characters you see in halftone every Wednesday on New Comics Day."—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Captivating."—National Review

"Slugfest is at its best when it becomes a virtual oral history of the Big Two comics publishers after Frank Miller and Alan Moore alter the entire industry in the mid-80s through their epic Batman and Watchmen titles."
—Washington Post

From the Publisher

11/01/2017
This work about comics publishers DC and Marvel by entertainment journalist Tucker is a must-read for comics fans, but keep in mind that many readers might not agree with what the author has to say. Tucker goes through the history of both companies, one at the top for a period of time, and then the other jumps ahead. His main point comes across: both companies need each other in order for comic books to survive. Tucker establishes a personality for the two companies. DC is stuffy, bureaucratic, by-the-numbers, and Marvel edgy, punkish, and with a take-no-prisoners approach. Currently, thanks to the success both companies have in Hollywood, they are more similar in their organization. Tucker states in the beginning that he is a neutral party, though his tendency to elevate DC's mistakes while downplaying Marvel's is questionable. Comic books have been around for decades, and as Tucker states, they will be here for years to come—let the rivalry continue. VERDICT A great read for anyone interested in the history of two companies that have had a massive impact on pop culture. Recommended for fans of comics, rivalries, and Blake J. Harris's Console Wars.—Ryan Claringbole, Wisconsin Dept. of Pub. Instruction, Madison

Library Journal

2017-07-12
A smart, blow-by-blow narrative of the sometimes-friendly, often bitter rivalry between corporate comic-book behemoths.When Superman debuted in 1938, no one could have predicted that he and his underwear-on-the-outside brethren would eventually come to dominate the entertainment landscape. Journalist Tucker (co-author: Duke Sucks: A Completely Evenhanded, Unbiased Investigation into the Most Evil Team on Planet Earth, 2012) makes a compelling case that the rise of the superhero in popular culture is perhaps best understood by exploring the evolution of the two companies that created and proliferated those heroes: DC Comics, the upright and staid publishers of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and Marvel Comics, the hipper, edgier purveyors of Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the X-Men. The author provides an essential primer on how these companies' comics evolved from four-color funny books for kids to complicated, carefully curated content aimed at an aging comics cognoscenti to intellectual property laboratories for multinational entertainment conglomerates. Comic-book fans will revel in the minutiae of Tucker's account, from stories of artists using pen names in the early days of the rivalry to collect a paycheck from both sides without incurring the wrath of their primary employer to alleged acts of spying in the wake of both companies simultaneously publishing stories of startling similarity (on multiple occasions, no less). Comics neophytes will undoubtedly get lost in the voluminous list of creators cited throughout the book and be astonished by the lack of business acumen displayed by various editorial regimes. However, even they will be able to appreciate the salacious significance of DC's secret overtures to Stan Lee at the height of his Marvel fame and the way in which each company's corporate culture, not to mention the machinations of their parent companies and investors, contributed to the current state of superhero ubiquity—even as the comic publishing industry itself dwindles. A wild haymaker for the masses, perhaps, but a knockout read for capes-and-cowls aficionados.

Kirkus Reviews