DC vs. Marvel

DC vs. Marvel
The cover to the first issue of DC vs. Marvel. Art by Dan Jurgens.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Hitchens
Publication date(s)	April – May 1996
No. of issues	4
Creative team
Written by	Ron Marz Peter David
Penciller(s)	Dan Jurgens Claudio Castellini
Collected editions
DC versus Marvel Comics	ISBN

DC vs. Marvel Comics (issues #2–3 titled Marvel Comics vs. DC) was a comic book limited series crossover published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics from April to May 1996. The series was written by Ron Marz and Peter David, with art by Dan Jurgens and Claudio Castellini.

Two godly brothers who personify the DC and Marvel Universes become aware of the other's existence, and challenge one another to a series of duels involving each universe's respective superheroes. The losing universe would cease to exist. The story had an "out of universe" component in that the outcomes of primary battles were determined by readers voting.

Numerous smaller, story-driven skirmishes occur throughout the series, not counted with the primary duels meant to determine the outcome between the brothers.

There were eleven battles fought between the two universes:

There were other primary battles, with the outcomes determined by a vote by the readers:

Although the fight ends with the apparent 'victory' of Marvel, the new entity of Access, a being capable of traversing the two universes, infuses Batman and Captain America with fragments of the true universes before the Spectre and the Living Tribunal attempt to create a compromise by fusing the two universes together. This resulted in the publication of the twelve-issue Amalgam universe, which sees various amalgamated versions of the heroes and villains acting as though they have been in existence for years.

Access is eventually able to find Dark Claw and Super-Soldier - versions of Batman and Captain America who have been 'amalgamated' with Wolverine and Superman respectively - and use the essence of the original universe in them to return the universes to normal. As the Brothers engage in direct battle, the Spectre and the Living Tribunal attempt to stop the conflict, but Batman and Captain America convince Access to take them to the conflict as well. Witnessing the minds of Batman and Captain America as they try to stop the fight, the Brothers realize that the two men are essentially the brothers in miniature, each one unique among their worlds, but with no interest in the conflict that the brothers have engaged in. Acknowledging the pointlessness of their conflict, the Brothers withdraw.