20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Marvel
1. Marvel Declined The Option To Use DC Characters
The year was 1984 and Marvel was absolutely dominating the world of comic books. DC was fading fast so Bill Sarnoff, head of their parent company, approached Jim Shooter about licensing their entire library of characters to Marvel.
Jim Galton swiftly declined, thinking DC’s comics weren’t selling because the characters were bad. Shooter was taken aback, seeing the huge opportunity to write these misused characters and lobbied hard for Galton to reconsider. After hearing some sales projections, Galton eventually relented and agreed to pursue a deal.
But before they could finalize anything, Marvel was promptly sued by First Comics for anti-trust violations. With no one company allowed to hold more than 70% of the market share, and Marvel already holding over 69%, acquiring DC would create a near-monopoly for them, which is exactly what those laws exist to prevent. The suits in charge thought that devouring their next biggest competitor was a terrible way to combat these allegations and swiftly decided to back down.
What was bad news for Marvel was probably good news for readers in the long run, as the rivalry between the two companies has often fostered a sense of friendly competition that benefits them both.
What insane facts do you know about Marvel? Let us know in the comments.