Customer Reviews

The Marvel/DC Collection - Crossover Classics, Vol. 1

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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This book collects the first four DC/Marvel crossover stories and comprises 2 Superman/Spider-Man stories, Batman/Hulk, and X-Men/New Teen Titans. They're all excellent stories. Superman vs. Spider-Man while seems a silly story by today's standards is actually very entertaining and fun. Both of them really shine. It kind of set how crossover books are to be done though, heroes who don't know each other fight and then realize they've been duped then team-up against common foes. The second Supes/Spidey story is more on the serious side and somewhat better than the first but I felt Jim Shooter (the writer) tried to cram a lot of stuffs by including subplots and Wonder Woman and Hulk appearing. For those not in the know, it is in this story that contains the first ever battle between Superman and the Hulk. The third story is perhaps the most mismatched heroes, Batman vs. the Hulk. It sometimes feels more like a Batman story rather than a true Batman/Hulk story because of its tendency to shine more on you-know-who. Oh, and Bats practically beat the Hulk, you just got to read it to find out how. Lastly, the best of the crossover classics would have to be X-Men/New Teen Titans. Two of comicdom's favorite teams against the most dangerous villains of the DC and Marvel Universes: Darkseid and Dark Phoenix. Combine that with an excellent Chris Claremont story and you got a winner. Nuff said.

The stories collected in this book are before the comic book industry allowed money to be the sole purpose for publishing comics. The stories are written and drawn by comic book legends from the two greatest comic book publishers: DC and Marvel. I can read these stories over and over again. If you are into reading good comic book stories, then buy this book.

I've been aware of these 4 famous stories for quite some time, but only recently got around to reading them. I really bought this paperback for the Batman- Hulk issue, but the big surprise for me here is that I enjoy the 1st Superman- Spider-Man team-up the most.

Here's a breakdown of the contents...

1. Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, 1976. Ross Andru= penciler. Gerry Conway= writer. My favorite issue here. It features a great mix of large vs. small figure drawings. The large images of Superman & Spider-Man are the main reason I think this artwork still holds up so well today. And story-wise, I like that there's no huge explanation as to why these heroes are in the same universe.

2. Superman and Spider-Man, 1981. John Buscema= penciler. Jim Shooter= writer. My least favorite issue here. The figures & panels are very small in relation to the 1st meeting between these 2 great characters. I think of this as "bonus material".

3. Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk, 1981. Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez= penciler. Len Wein= writer. I like the way Batman is depicted here, with the Hulk looking good yet a bit too "human" in the face to me. Not quite as Hulkish as I'd like, if that makes sense. It's still a solid issue. I love the way Hulk constantly refers to Batman as "pointy-ears".

4. X-Men and The New Teen Titans, 1982. Walt Simonson= penciler. Chris Claremont= writer. A popular team-up. Walt Simonson really knows how to do superhero comics on a grand scale. His Thor run is especially among my favorites.

My copy has white cover images & states it's the 6th printing, 2001, list price= 24.95. I was fortunate to find it at a similar price. I do recommend people get this if they can, but be advised that it could easily pop in & out of print any time, and out of print copies tend to be expensive. Shop around for the best price!

This book is a collection of the stories that all fans of Marvel and DC comics wished would have been a regular event long before it happened for the first time. The stories feature at least one hero from the Marvel universe in collaboration with at least one hero from the DC universe. As is fitting for such powerful collaborations, the villains are all very powerful and there are often collaborations between them as well.
The oddest and yet most surprisingly successful story features a battle between the Hulk and Batman. Clearly, Batman has no hope of physically matching up against the Hulk, yet the story is so well done that when it is over you are impressed with the imagination of the creators. In a twist that is the spawn of pure genius, in another story Clark Kent takes a job working for J. Jonah Jameson and Peter Parker a job at the Daily Planet. All while Superman and Spidey join forces to battle the evil team of Dr. Octopus and Lex Luthor.
These stories are well blended, the dialog of the Marvel characters such as Spider-Man is pure Marvel and the dialog of the DC characters does not drift too far beyond what they say when they are pure DC. This is one of the best collections of comics I have ever read, largely due to the fact that it is so unusual. It is my hope that there is a crossover movie sometime in the future.

The Crossover Classics first volume is indeed, that. We see Superman and Spider-Man - how is that for a mismatch? Ouch! Easily this best part of this collection however, is the New Teen Titans and the X-Men story, that is most definitely entertaining, and what you want to see from one of these inter-company crossover type stunts.