Universes are described by parallels, dimension, portals, and in long running literary universes; changes. All these can be used to describe and compare the universes that house the comic macrocosm that is Marvel and DC.

In any universe definition that has to accommodate fifty plus years of stories and characters and maintain some describable and defensible continuum, there are elements that at times contradict, befuddle, and take a proverbial literary license' with facts and details.

Escape and meaning in these worlds is facilitated by belief in the characters and the worlds they live in. Neither needs to be believable in isolation only in the context of their mythology and continuity.

Early on DC comic's characters existed independently, not interacting nor acknowledging the other's existence as if in parallel and non-intersecting worlds. Slowly that changed and crossover of characters added to the complexity of their respective universes. Stan Lee in writing numerous books together in the early sixties had stories across titles with interactions of characters and shared locations. By the late sixties editors where linking events and timetables between titles and characters acquired were added not only to the current action but also explained into their place in the history of that universe.

With thousands of heroes and villains in numerous locales over a growing period of time understanding the complexities became a burden for editor, writers and readers. In the eighties characters and even whole worlds and universes had to be reset with new timelines and histories as the old one became too unwieldy, contradictory or convoluted. Stories like Crisis on Infinite Earths' or Identity Crisis' where to hit a reset on story lines and books retelling of origins or early adventures like Year One' story lines help reset early history of characters for new generations of readers.

With crossovers occurring in some regularity and concepts and similarity being borrowed and adopted between comic companies the collective comparisons of universes may depend on time frame and context in which they are taken. And further blurring of any distinctions between the drawn worlds and a visual comparison to ours is the objective of the movie companies as they move these characters to the big screen.

But some general contrast exists between the Marvel and DC universes when looked at in its collective context. From a location perspective, Marvel seem to predominate in real locations, such as the dominate use of New York as a base of operations, their characters were done with reference more to, and based on, their surroundings. Whereas DC seemed in general more fantastical, with other world references and scenes more predominate through the comic universe. Additionally DC cities, like Gotham City, Metropolis and Keystone City where not meant to be real cities, but instead characters of cities.

The richness of the universe helps the believability of the story and the character, but the current story line brings in the new reader and leads to a continuity of readership. And if you wait long enough the universe will change to accommodate the story line not the other way around. But that's the distinction between a literary universe and the universe we live in.

Learn more about this author, Chuck Moyer.
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