In a recent announcement at the ComicsPro retailer expo, editors-in-chief C.B. Cebulski of Marvel and Marie Javins of DC Comics revealed that the two companies will collaborate on a crossover event later this year. Although specific details, such as artwork or a creative team, were not disclosed, it has been reported by ComicsBeat’s Heidi MacDonald that the event will feature two one-shot publications titled Marvel/DC and DC/Marvel.
Historically, Marvel and DC have partnered on various crossover projects. During the 1970s and 80s, they released one-shots featuring battles such as Spider-Man versus Superman and the Teen Titans against the X-Men. The late 1990s saw the introduction of DC Versus Marvel and the Amalgam Age series, where characters from both publishers faced off against each other, sometimes with outcomes determined by reader votes. The Amalgam universe merged heroes from both companies, resulting in new characters like Dark Claw (a combination of Wolverine and Batman) and a Wonder Woman/Storm hybrid, situated in alternate universes designated Earth-9602 by Marvel and Earth-496 by DC. There was also JLA/Avengers, a collaboration by George Pérez and Kurt Busiek in 2003, initially approved in 1979, where heroes from both universes teamed up to rescue each other’s worlds.
These classic crossovers have been reprinted in recent years, seemingly laying the groundwork for this latest partnership. Further updates on the Marvel/DC and DC/Marvel one-shots are anticipated as more information becomes available.