Copycats: the twin characters of Marvel and DC
From the chatty mercenary to the red-suited speedster: the characters the two publishers have "shared" for decades — and who got there first.
Marvel and DC have spent 80 years inspiring each other — and, let us say, "inspiring" with very tight quotation marks. The result is a gallery of twin characters separated at birth. These are our favorites, with the debut dates that decide who copied whom.
The regenerative mercenary
DC created a tactical assassin with a healing factor and a sword. Years later, Marvel answered with a mercenary with a healing factor, a sword… and a sense of humor that broke the fourth wall. The copy became so popular that it now outshines the original in fame — the parody beat the model.
The lords of the sea
Two kings of Atlantis, two difficult temperaments, two tridents. Marvel's version arrived first by a matter of months, back in the golden age of comics. Curiously, it was DC's version that became a movie icon decades later.
Teams of outcasts
A group of marginalized heroes led by a wheelchair-bound genius: the formula appeared at both publishers within months of each other, and to this day historians argue over who published first. The debate is part of the fun.
In comics, copying is a compliment with an expiration date: you have a decade to turn the copy into something better.
The final lesson is friendly to both houses: the entire industry grew on this creative ping-pong. And we readers came out ahead with both versions.
