DC/Marvel comics crossovers

[EJA]

Being a big fan of both DC and Marvel, I've read nearly all of the intercompany crossovers produced where characters from both fictional universes met up. Some stories have characters from one universe travelling into another, while others portray both realities as the same. The thing is though, there were two particularly big crossovers that impacted on both realities - they were the DC vs Marvel event, which introduced the character of Access, and then there was the much later JLA/Avengers crossover, some of the events of which were later referenced in the regular DC universe. But now I'm not so sure if the DC vs Marvel event is still canon anymore, as JLA/Avengers makes absolutely no reference to it and the characters from the DC and Marvel 'verses appear to become aware of each other for the first time. Access isn't mentioned either, and someone so pivotal to both 'verses should logically have put in some sort of appearance.

EDIT: Access briefly cameoed in an issue of DC's Green Lantern, sans any Marvel characters.

 

[jep316]

The DC vs Marvel crossover is aparently not cannon in either Universe now and JLA/Avengers was only cannon in the DC verse for a short time,I guess you could say everytime the two Universes cross and then separate everyone forgets except for characters like the Joker who remembers them.

 

[EJA]

What about Access' appearance in Green Lantern? And when did JLA/Avengers stop being canon in the DC 'verse? They did follow up on Krona being transformed into a cosmic egg at the end of the crossover. Does anyone in DC remember the events that led up to this?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I would suspect any references would be deliberately vague. Kurt Busiek would probably be the only writer interested in addressing it.

 

[captcalhoun]

i bought the Marvel VS DC series and correctly called all the winners, except Robin VS Jubilee, whichi was BS. Jubes should've beat Robin.

 

[Kibbin]

what with her razzle dazzle ?
Nah Robin won that one fair and square, the only fight that annoyed me was Logan vs Lobo, which was the equivlant of behind a couch with funny noises and random objects flying over.

 

[Jetfire]

So can Rogue absorb Superman's powers?

Super Rogue!

 

[Showdown]

But now I'm not so sure if the DC vs Marvel event is still canon anymore, as JLA/Avengers makes absolutely no reference to it and the characters from the DC and Marvel 'verses appear to become aware of each other for the first time.

Alternate universes, maybe. In some universes, they never met, some where they are best friends, and some where they are bitter enemies. Some universes are so similar you can spend a life time trying to find any differences. Oh wait, wrong one.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The Batman/Hulk crossover was recently voted at CBR as one of the best Len Wein stories ever told.

(Personally, I don't think the first appearance of Wolverine belongs on this list. It's perhaps one of the most influential comics Wein ever wrote, but far from his best. That goes for GS X-Men #1 as well.)

 

[Skywalker]

Anyone else remember the Amalgam Comics crossover? I thought there were some fun combinations in that.

 

[captcalhoun]

oh, yeah. i got the issues of the first bunch, but the trades of the second. my faves were Super-Soldier (Cap America and Superman), Bruce Wayne: Agent of SHIELD (Batman and Nick Fury) and Legends of the Dark Claw (Batman and Wolverine)

 

[Python Trek]

The "VS." stuff was mostly crap, especially when Aquaman dropped an orca on Namor, knocking him out cold. Namor has gone toe-to-toe with Hulk, with Hercules, with Iron Man, he's been blasted by the Torch's fire, been shot by tank shells...he's taken blows from Thor's hammer!....and a whale knocks him out? That's nonsense!

Anyway, as to whether or not any of the crossovers were canon...I'd say that the VS., Amalgam, and JLA/Avengers ones were, because they had ramifications (however tiny) in the continuities of the two universes. The main reason they don't get referenced in the stories is a legal one.

 

[EJA]

Just remembered something which may or may not be of some importance: In one of the JLA/Avengers issues, Hawkeye of the Avengers remarks that there's something familiar about the DC heroes, but he can't quite put his finger on it. A possible reference to the previous crossover?

Oh yeah, anybody remember that scene early on in the first issue of DC vs Marvel, where Spider-Man has just been teleported into the DC 'verse? He's in Gotham City and meets the Joker, who apparently recognises Spidey from a previous encounter, but Spidey has no memory of ever meeting him before.

 

[Silvercrest]

Hawkeye's probably referring to the Squadron Supreme or Squadron Sinister. If you met either Squadron, and then met the Justice League, it would look distinctly familiar!

 

[ClayinCA]

I've forgotten where I read this, but yeah, that's supposed to be a reference to the Squadron Supreme/Sinister; at least, that was what Busiek intended.

 

[Showdown]

Hawkeye called them Squadron Supreme wanna-bes.

 

[Davros]

I think X-Men Teen Titans was one of the best crossovers.

 

[Kibbin]

Oh yeah, anybody remember that scene early on in the first issue of DC vs Marvel, where Spider-Man has just been teleported into the DC 'verse? He's in Gotham City and meets the Joker, who apparently recognises Spidey from a previous encounter, but Spidey has no memory of ever meeting him before.

I thought that was due to Spidey swapping over at that point, due to the whole Ben Riley thing, which meant that this spidey, literally wasn't the same as the one who didn the crossover last time.
I could be wrong about that though

 

[EJA]

There's also a reference to Access in the Superman/ Fantastic Four crossover. When Superman is told that Galactus destroyed Krypton (actually a deception by the Cyborg-Superman), he knows that he must travel to Earth-616 to confront Galactus, and he remarks that he needs Access to do that. I think Access gets namechecked in the Superman/Silver Surfer crossover too. These stories show that the heroes of both universes remember meeting one another in DC vs Marvel.

Now, supposing we assume that both big crossovers did happen, and occured on Earth-616 and the mainstream DC Earth, then is there any explanation why the inhabitants of both universes had completely forgotten about each other when they met again in JLA/Avengers (and possibly again after the crossover; Scarlet Witch remembered her twins in JLA/Avengers, but had forgotten them again prior to the events of Avengers Disassembled.)

 

[captcalhoun]

Oh yeah, anybody remember that scene early on in the first issue of DC vs Marvel, where Spider-Man has just been teleported into the DC 'verse? He's in Gotham City and meets the Joker, who apparently recognises Spidey from a previous encounter, but Spidey has no memory of ever meeting him before.

I thought that was due to Spidey swapping over at that point, due to the whole Ben Riley thing, which meant that this spidey, literally wasn't the same as the one who didn the crossover last time.
I could be wrong about that though

that was the Ben Reilley Spidey, so you could be right.