“good, intriguing covers were about all that mattered”: Shirrel Rhoades, A Complete History of American Comic Books (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2008), 46.
“It didn’t make any difference in the sales”: Stan Lee, interview, Comics Scene 3, no. 1 (May 2000).
“I think the Marvels are great for a very conceited reason”: “As Barry Jenkins, Ohio ’69, Says: ‘A Person Has to Have Intelligence to Read Them,’” Esquire, September 1966, 116–117.
“All of a sudden it hits me”: Otto Friedrich, “Up, Up and Awaaay!!!” Time, June 24, 2001, http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,148856,00.html.
“They could have been any kind of office”: Todd Klein, “Visiting DC Comics in the 1960s Part 3,” Todd’s Blog, http://kleinletters.com/Blog/visiting-dc-comics-in-the-1960s-part-3.
“The editors had this great little gentleman’s club”: Jon B. Cooke, “Orlando’s Weird Adventures,” Comic Book Artist #1, Spring 1998, 19–26.
The stories of his abuse number in the dozens: 4. Todd Klein, “Visiting DC Comics in the 1960s Part 1,” Todd’s Blog, http://kleinletters.com/Blog/visiting-dc-comics-in-the-1960s-part-1.
“His brother was worse”: Alan Moore, Jon B. Cooke, and George Khoury, “Alan Moore and the Magic of Comics,” Comic Book Artist #25, June 2003.
Action Comics and Superman sales: Jerry Franken, “Superman Crushes Steel But Never Hits a Lady,” PM, July 29, 1940.
“material that no respectable newspaper would accept”: Sterling North, Chicago Daily News, May 8, 1940.
“I pointed out that the average comic book reader”: Julius Schwartz, Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics (New York: Harper Paperbacks, 2000), 87.
“The Flash jump-started the whole superhero business again”: Carmine Infantino with David Spurlock, The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino: An Autobiography (Lebanon, NJ: Vanguard Productions, 2001), 54.
“The fact is that Marvel Comics are the first comic books”: Sally Kempton, “Super Anti-Hero in Forest Hills,” Village Voice, April 1, 1965.
“We were a company of copycats”: Stan Lee with George Mair, Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (New York: Fireside, 2002), 64.
“We tried to outdo Superman”: Roy Thomas and William Schelly, eds., Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2008), 174.
“If you get a title that catches on”: Blake Bell and Michael J. Vassallo, The Secret History of Marvel Comics: Jack Kirby and the Moonlighting Artists at Martin Goodman’s Empire (Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2013), 45.
Without the new distribution deal, Marvel would have likely died: Lou Mougin, “Roy Thomas,” in Comics Interview #66, 1989, 5–32.
“We didn’t want the competition”: Jack Liebowitz, unpublished memoir, quoted in Larry Tye, Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero (New York: Random House, 2012), 184.
“[Goodman] said, ‘Hey, maybe there’s still a market”: David Anthony Kraft, “The Foom Interview: Stan Lee:” FOOM #17, March 1977, 13.
“Martin felt in those days that our readers”: “Stan Lee’s Amazing Marvel Interview: Two Extraordinary 2005 Audio Sessions with the Man Who Spearheaded Marvel Comics,” Alter Ego #104, August 2011, 26.
“We tried to inject all kinds of realism”: Stan Lee, 1968 interview with WBAI-FM, transcribed in Danny Fingeroth and Roy Thomas, The Stan Lee Universe (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2011), 40.
“These are real people who just happen to have superpowers”: John Byrne, “John Byrne: Anatomy of a Phenomenon,” Comics Feature 1, no. 27 (January–February 1984), 24.
“I doubt you can imagine the sheer impact”: Alan Moore, The Untold Story, http://seanhowe.tumblr.com/post/32172785745/alan-moores-lost-stan-lee-essay-1983-part-1-of.
“A good influence”: Dr. Lauretta Bender, “Testimony of Dr. Lauretta Bender, Senior Psychiatrist, Bellevue Hospital, New York, N.Y.,” www.thecomicbooks.com/bender.html.
“How can a character as hopelessly healthy”: Sally Kempton, “Super Anti-Hero in Forest Hills,” Village Voice, April 1, 1965.
“Only a few short months later”: Alan Moore, The Untold Story.
“The thing that appealed to me”: Peter Sanderson, “Peter B. Gillis,” Comics Interview #27, 1985, 7–23.
“It’s a simple thing”: Stan Lee, interview, Comics Scene 3, no. 1 (May 2000).
“Marvel is a cornucopia of fantasy”: Stan with Mair, Excelsior!, 3.
“We were looking at this Marvel stuff”: Bob Haney, “Bob Haney Interview by Michael Catron Part Two (of Five),” Comics Journal, January 6, 2011, http://classic.tcj.com/superhero/bob-haney-interviewed-by-michael-catron-part-two-of-five/2.
“We do $100 million a year”: Bob Haney, Comic Reader #196, November 1981.
“What was happening was the Marvel revolution”: “Bob Haney Interview by Michael Catron Part Two (of Five).”
“Marvel was doing very well”: Will Murray, “The Legendary Carmine Infantino,” Comic Book Marketplace #75, January 2000, 39.
“They’ve got problems too”: Marc Svensson, “My Greatest Adventures: A Candid Conversation with Arnold Drake, Co-Creator of Deadman and The Doom Patrol,” Alter Ego #17, September 2002, 3–20.
“I decided I want a superhero”: “Talking to Arnold Drake,” Newsarama, http://web.archive.org/web/20071011174524/http://newsarama.com/general/ArnoldDrake/DrakneInterview.htm.
“Don’t get your bowels in an uproar”: Jim Amash, “Arnold Drake Talks about the X-Men, His Time at Marvel—and the Doom Patrol!” Alter Ego #24, May 2003, 15–17.
“Not unless someone was looking”: Lou Mougin, “Arnold Drake,” Comics Interview #16, 1984, 5–17.
“I [initially] reasoned that there wasn’t enough”: Arnold Drake, interview, Alter Ego #24, May 2003.
“Brotherhood of Evil”: John Wells, American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960–1964 (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2013) 207.
“The last thing in the world I wanted”: Roy Thomas, “Stan Lee Talks to Roy Thomas about the Early Days of the X-Men—and Even The Doom Patrol,” Alter Ego #24, May 2003, 3–5.
“In those days comics were”: Jon B. Cooke, “Donenfeld’s Comics: A talk with Irwin Donenfeld, 1960s DC editorial director,” Comic Book Artist Collection, vol. 2 (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2002), 67.
“It was the stupidest idea we ever heard”: Rhoades, A Complete History of American Comic Books, 91.
“[Marvel] succeeded for two reasons primarily”: Arnold Drake, memo, reprinted in “A Memo to DCs Publisher,” Alter Ego #17, September 2002, 21.
“You’re as full of shit as a Christmas turkey”: Arnold Drake, Alter Ego #17, September 2002.
“I don’t want anybody to know who you are”: Jim Shooter, interview, Silver Age Sage, www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/shooter_1.shtml.
“Don’t bother trying to fool me”: Clifford Meth, Marvel Presents: The Invincible Gene Colan (New York: Marvel Comics, 2010).
“I was … watching these jerks”: Jim Amash and Eric Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2010), 110.
“Change had to come”: Amash and Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino, 113.
“They were hamisha [comfortable] people”: Jack Liebowitz, unpublished memoir, quoted in Larry Tye, Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero (New York: Random House, 2012), 188.
“They made me all kinds of promises”: John Wells, American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965–1969 (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2014), 192.
“I went into Jack Liebowitz’s office”: Amash and Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino, 104.
“Marvel was kicking the hell out of DC”: Carmine Infantino, “From There to … Infantino,” Back Issue #1, November 2003, 86.
“I like you a lot”: Amash and Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino, 92.
“Because they’re a bunch of spoongroins over at DC”: Clem Robins, “Here Comes Captain Relevant!,” Treasure Keeper, www.dialbforblog.com/archives/493.
“The cover sells that month’s issue”: Arnold Drake in Jim Amash, “Arnold Drake Talks about the X-Men, His Time at Marvel—and the Doom Patrol!” Alter Ego #24, May 2003, 15–17.
“When I went to DC, they wanted me to respond”: Jon B. Cooke, “Along Came Giordano,” Comic Book Artist #1, Spring 1998, 30–40.
“Wear a tie”: Gary Groth, “The Joe Kubert Interview,” Comics Journal, www.tcj.com/the-joe-kubert-interview/3.
“It was like walking into a bank”: Paul Levitz, “The Many Worlds of Joe Orlando,” Amazing World of DC Comics #6, June 1975, 2–13.
“What happened with DC was they ran out”: Gary Groth, “An Interview with Gil Kane,” Comics Journal #38, February 1978, 34–46.
a series of “weak and ill at ease impressions”: Grant Morrison, Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2011), 146.
Sell-through of the rebooted issues jumped: Jon B. Cooke, “Director Comments,” Comic Book Artist #1, Spring 1998, 6–14.
“Everybody was happy that Bob Kane was gone”: Amash and Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino, 103.
“Don’t you know what you got here”: Comic Book Artist Collection, vol. 2 (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2002), 25.
“Well, OK. We’ll miss you. Bye.”: Amash and Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino, 124.
“You squeeze them until there’s no juice left”: Lou Mougin, “William Woolfolk,” Comics Interview #29, 1985, 7–15.
“Carmine was trying to beat Marvel”: Jon B. Cooke, “‘Thank You & Good Afternoon!’ Talkin’ with Dick,” Comic Book Artist, http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/01giordano.html.
“They’re sensational”: Spurlock, The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino, 110.
“It was that simple”: Ibid.
“I used to wonder why he left”: Les Daniels, Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1993), 145.
“At DC, I’m given the privilege”: Jack Kirby, interview, Rocket’s Blast Comicollector #81, 1971.
According to Kirby, Infantino had initially asked him: Interview, Comics Scene 1, no. 2 (March 1982).
In Infantino’s telling, however, Kirby lobbied: 7. Infantino, “From There to … Infantino,” 87.
“We didn’t enjoy changing an artist’s work”: Spurlock, The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino, 111.
DC editor Mike Sekowsky once told Kirby’s assistant: Greg Stump, “Infantino Raises Questions About CBG Letters Policy Following Kirby Controversy Flare-Up,” Comics Journal #191, November 1996, www.tcj.com/infantino-raises-questions-about-cbg-letters-policy-following-kirby-controversy-flare-up-by-greg-stump.
“I know Stan Lee, I know you well”: Amash and Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino, 129.
A price war was what Goodman wanted: Stan Lee, Stan Lee: Conversations (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007), 147.
“[The distributors] were throwing our books”: Jon B. Cooke, “From Art Director to Publisher: The Infantino Interview,” Comic Book Artist, http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/01infantino.html.
“Screw them”: Christopher Irving, “Carmine Infantino’s Final Interview? No Way,” Graphic NYC, http://graphicnyc.blogspot.com/2009/07/carmine-infantinos-final-interview.html.
“My books sell, so I’m not pulling”: Jon B. Cooke, “Director Comments,” Comic Book Artist #1, Spring 1998, 6–14.
“You know that I will not in any shape”: Lawrence Van Gelder, “A Comics Magazine Defies Code Ban on Drug Stories,” New York Times, February 4, 1971, 37, 44.
create a “resurgence of the comics industry”: Comic Book Artist Collection, vol. 1 (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2000), 61.
Marvel was understandably none too pleased: Sean Howe, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (New York: Harper, 2012), 87.
“And if you think that’s gonna be a battle”: Stan Lee, “Stan’s Soapbox,” April 1976.
“After a while, I began to feel”: Stan Lee, Origins of Marvel Comics (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974), 73.
Although Len Wein was then in charge: Daniel Best, “Superman vs. Spider-Man: The Secret Artist Revealed,” Back Issue #11, October 2013, 26–32.
“You lost a million dollars last year”: Amash and Nolen-Weathington, Carmine Infantino, 131.
“a little like quitting comics”: Roy Thomas, Alter Ego: Centennial (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2011), 20.
“I have next to nothing favorable to say”: David Anthony Kraft, “Fear and Loathing with David Anthony Kraft,” Comics Journal #35, June 1977, A-7.
“of another generation”: Jenette Kahn, interview, Comics Journal #37, December 1977, 54.
The company’s sexual politics had always been: Rhoades, A Complete History of American Comic Books, 61.
Whit Ellsworth was tasked with “de-sexing” Lois Lane: Larry Tye, Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero (New York: Random House, 2012), 143.
“a wish dream of two homosexuals living together”: Fredric Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent (New York: Rinehart & Company, 1954).
“We sort of give the idea”: Stan Lee, 1970 WNYC radio interview, transcribed in Stan Lee: Conversations, 28.
“warm body theory”: Mike W. Barr, “You Can’t Spell ‘Implosion’ Without ‘I:’ A Bottom-Rung View of One of DC Comics’ Darkest Hours,” Back Issue #2, February 2004, 72–82.
DC’s spokesperson, Mike Gold, admitted at the time: “DC Announces Format Change 50¢ - 40 Page Books in June,” Comics Journal #38, February 1978, 8–9.
“Unless they do so well”: “Stan the Man Raps with Marvel Maniacs at James Madison University,” Comics Journal #42, October 1978, 45–55.
“More market share for us”: Mike W. Barr, Back Issue #2.
“Comics are sort of beneath him”: N. R. Kleinfield, “Superheroes’ Creators Wrangle,” New York Times, October 13, 1979, 25.
Cockrum, who was then illustrating the Legion of Super-Heroes: Jim Amash, “We Kicked the Whole Thing Around a Lot,” Alter Ego #24, May 2003, 34–47.
he “was very conservative”: Alter Ego #24, May 2003.
“There’s only two or three people”: Kim Thompson, “Roy Thomas Leaves Marvel,” Comics Journal #56, June 1980, 9–12.
“If Gene Colan is being positioned”: “Gene Colan Leaves Marvel,” Comics Journal #63, April 1981, 11–13.
“I don’t really begrudge DC Marv”: “Marv Wolfman Now at DC,” Comics Journal #51, November 1979, 11.
Wein and Wolfman assembled a team: Keith Dallas, American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2013) 21.
“three refugees from Shooter-land”: Heidi MacDonald, “DC’s Titanic Success,” Comics Journal #76, October 1982, 46–51.
“systematically kept people away”: From Chain Reaction, quoted in Marvel Age #19, October 1984.
“That doesn’t really impress me”: “Marvel Unimpressed with DC’s Move,” Comics Journal #53, January 1980, 10.
They agreed to issue a joint press release: Dick Giordano’s “Meanwhile” column, January 1985.
“In my view … the JLA/Avengers”: Ibid.
“unfounded and foolish”: Marvel Age #19, October 1984.
“In a way, we were the laboratory experiment”: Les Daniels, DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes (New York: Bulfinch, 1995), 174.
“It began to be generally assumed”: Back Issue #2, February 2004.
DC’s first leaps into another medium: Bruce Scivally, Superman on Film, Television, Radio and Broadway (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2007), 25.
“We have people now working”: “Stan Lee at Princeton, 1966: Steve Ditko’s Departure Announced,” YouTube, posted December 28, 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=A73KehrmpOU5.
“Getting this on television”: John Romita Sr., “Off My Chest,” Back Issue #5, August 2004, 57–60.
“breakfast food” to “four, five, and six-year-olds”: Stan Lee, speech at Vanderbilt University, 1972, transcribed in Stan Lee: Conversations, 33.
Martin Goodman’s son Chip made a terrible deal: Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2004), 190.
“I’d be happier if the shows hewed”: Stan Lee, “Stan’s Soapbox,” November 1978.
“I felt like an idiot”: Jackson Ayres, “When Were Superheroes Grim and Gritty?” Los Angeles Review of Books, February 20, 2016, https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/when-were-superheroes-grim-and-gritty.
“It’s not a ‘comic book show,’ the stars insist”: Us, July 11, 1978.
The elder Salkind referred to the character as “Mr. Superman”: “Movie Might Have Been Different,” Dispatch, December 23, 1978.
“It’s not a good property for a film”: Ilya Salkind in Jake Rossen, Superman vs. Hollywood: How Fiendish Producers, Devious Directors, and Warring Writers Grounded an American Icon (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2008), 60.
“When the script for the first Superman film”: Spurlock, The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino, 124.
“It’s a movie for adults that children”: Susan Heller Anderson, “It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Movie!” New York Times, June 26, 1977, www.nytimes.com/1977/06/26/archives/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-movie.html.
“We had a very expensive film”: Al Jean Harmetz, “The Marketing of Superman and his Paraphernalia,” New York Times, June 21, 1981, www.nytimes.com/1981/06/21/movies/the-marketing-of-superman-and-his-paraphernalia.html.
“unhappy, unfunny, unexciting”: Roger Ebert, “Supergirl,” RogerEbert.com, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/supergirl-1984.
“The first Superman movie had a lot”: Chaffey College Mountain Breeze, October 10, 1987.
Rumor has it that in 1966: Vartanig G. Vartan, “Batman Fad Aids Stock Rise,” New York Times, March 20, 1966, 148.
“The method of producing”: “The Dick Giordano Interview (Part One of Three),” Comics Journal, http://classic.tcj.com/superhero/the-dick-giordano-interview-part-one-of-three/2.
“There are comic book readers who want to be sold”: Comics Scene 1, no. 7 (January 1983).
“Most of the complaints come from older readers”: David Anthony Kraft and Jim Salicrup, “Marv Wolfman,” Comics Interview #3, May 1983, 19–30.
“We’re not going to just sit there”: Kim Thompson, “DC Creates New Royalties System for Freelancers,” Comics Journal #69, December 1981, 16–17.
“I didn’t think they wouldn’t follow”: Comics Journal #69, December 1981.
“It really cost us a fortune”: “Marvel Offers Own Royalty Plan,” Comics Scene 1, no. 3 (May 1982), 10.
“Tell me what it is that you would really like to do”: Jennifer M. Contino, “A Chat with Kahn,” Sequential Tart, www.sequentialtart.com/archive/may01/kahn.shtml.
“Ronin provoked in me not only disappointment”: Kim Thompson, “Run of the Miller,” Comics Journal #82, July 1983.
“What’s in it for Warner Com”: Memo, JimShooter.com, http://jimshooter.com/2011/08/superman-first-marvel-issue.html.
“a Swedish movie with no subtitles”: “Clash of the Comic Book Giants,” New York City Business, February 11–22, 1985.
“Don’t put conflicting books on the stand”: Jay Zilber, “An Interview with Martin Pasko,” Comics Journal #37, December 1977, 37–46.
“It was to get revenge”: Keith Dallas, American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2013), 130.
“When people think of DC”: Mark Waid, “Beginnings and Endings,” Amazing Heroes #66, March 1985, 23–30.
“overlap the premiere of the DC series”: “Clash of the Comic Book Giants.”
The reason for the purchase, he sheepishly admitted: Comics Interview #20, February 1985.
“Let’s be honest. Secret Wars was crap”: Paul Howley, “Paul Howley’s Story: Parts 70–79,” http://paulhowleysstory.blogspot.com/2009/12/part-70-79.html.
“Each time [Marvel] puts out a book like that”: Mitch Cohn, “Bruce Conklin,” Comics Interview #28, 1985, 47–56.
Besides sending a clear signal to the readership: Kevin Dooley, “The Total Marv Wolfman Interview,” Amazing Heroes #135, February 1988, 22–45.
“stodgy Wall Street Journal image”: Gary Groth, “Brushes and Blue Pencils: An Interview with Dick Giordano,” Comics Journal #62, March 1981, 44.
“A company with the resources of DC”: Calum Iain Johnston, letter, Comics Journal #85, October 1983.
“DC is Marvel and Marvel is DC”: Martin Pasko, “Messages from a Curmudgeon,” Comics Scene 1, no. 11 (September 1983), 38–40.
“The reason [for hiring Byrne]”: Dwight Jon Zimmerman, “Steve Gerber,” Comics Interview #37, 1986, 6–17.
“The modern audience now wants”: Paul E. Akers, “Bring Back the Real Superman,” Washington Post, December 31, 1988.
“Nobody noticed, so they dropped it”: Rita Kempley, “Superman,” Washington Post, November 2, 1985.
“If he fights, it’s in a way that leaves”: Abraham Riesman, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Superman and Batman,” Vulture, March 2016, www.vulture.com/2016/03/batman-v-superman-c-v-r.html.
“They hated it”: Ethan Alter, “‘The Dark Knight Returns’ at 30: Frank Miller on His Comic Book Classic,” Yahoo! Movies, January 15, 2016, www.yahoo.com/movies/the-dark-knight-returns-at-30-frank-miller-on-151604704.html.
“We’ll probably copy every one”: Dwight Jon Zimmerman, “Mark Gruenwald,” Comics Interview #54, 1987, 5–23.
“I think DC, sooner or later”: Chaffey College Mountain Breeze, October 10, 1987.
“Quality became the motivation”: Mike Richardson and Steve Duin, Comics: Between the Panels (Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 1998), 121.
“DC Comics publishing something”: George Khoury, Kimota! The Miracleman Companion (Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2001).
At a 1985 Chicago Comicon panel: James Vance, “R. A. Jones,” Comics Interview #48, 1987, 47.
“Such creatures were almost nonexistent”: Mike Cullen, “Real Life Super-Villains,” Amazing Heroes #186, December 1990, 6–8.
“Marvel is a backward-looking corporate behemoth”: Darcy Sullivan, “Marvel Comics and the Kiddie Hustle,” Comics Journal #152, August 1992, 30–37.
“It seems to me that Marvel is in the same place”: Cory Strode, letter, Amazing Heroes #168, July 1989.
Batman was able to tap ancillary dollars: Graeme McMillan, “Batmania—The Merchandise,” io9, June 21, 2009, http://io9.gizmodo.com/5296771/batmania—-the-merchandise.
McFarlane was more of a jock: “‘ … That’s the Spice of Life, Bud’: The Todd McFarlane Interview,” Comics Journal, http://www.tcj.com/thats-the-spice-of-life-bud-the-todd-mcfarlane-interview/2.
“I mean, fuck, I didn’t let”: Ibid.
He was soon earning $85,000 a month: Alec Foege, “The X-Men Files,” New York Magazine, http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/3522.
Grant Morrison, the Scottish writer behind the hardcover: Lance Parkin, Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore (London: Aurum Press, 2013).
Newsweek wrote an influential article: “Superfans and Batmaniacs,” Newsweek, February 15, 1965.
DC’s contract was reported to have come: Eric Reynolds, “The New Dynamics,” Comics Journal #177, May 1995, 9–19.
“We won!” the page read in massive red type: Brian Cronin, “Comic Book Legends Revealed #461,” Comic Book Resources, www.cbr.com/comic-book-legends-revealed-461.
“I liked it when the two companies hated each other”: Sridhar Pappu, “As the $139 Million Spider-Man Debuts in Movie Theaters, Joe Quesada, the Trash-Talking Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics, Spins,” New York Observer, April 29, 2002.
“Somewhere somebody wrote down”: “AICN Comics: Gray Haven Interview Bill Jemas of Marvel Comics!!!,” Ain’t It Cool News, August 17, 2001www.aintitcool.com/node/9897.
“DC could do a Spider-Man comic”: “AICN Comics: Don’t Ask Bill Jemas!!,” Ain’t It Cool News, March 20, 2002, www.aintitcool.com/node/11806.
“Those who love him say it’s”: Bill Jemas, “Introduction,” in Jim McLaughlin, 2000–2001 Year in Review: Fanboys and Badgirls Bill & Joe’s Marvelous Adventure (New York: Marvel Comics, 2002).
“What the fuck is DC anyway?”: “As the $139 Million Spider-Man Debuts.”
label him “Bill Jemas Lite”: “Topic: DC’s Single Biggest Mistake?,” Byrne Robotics, www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18585&PN=0&TPN=1.
“Our characters were created”: George Gene Gustines, “Recalibrating DC Heroes for a Grittier Century,” New York Times, October 12, 2005.
Bendis was left to jokingly lament: “Another Reason Why DC Sucks!,” www.classicmarvelforever.com/phorum_archive/read.php?3,21658,21697; and CBR, www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&old=1&id=4075.
“It would be great to get your take”: Tasha Robinson, “Stan Lee,” A.V. Club, June 20, 2001, www.avclub.com/article/stan-lee-13719.
“The definition of a meme”: Brian Hiatt, “Grant Morrison on the Death of Comics,” Rolling Stone, August 22, 2011 www.rollingstone.com/music/news/grant-morrison-on-the-death-of-comics-20110822.
The genre raked in some $1.9 billion in 2016 alone: “Box Office History for Super Hero,” The Numbers, www.the-numbers.com/market/creative-type/Super-Hero.
A 1988 edition lists in the works a tantalizing array: Comics Scene 3, no. 13 (1988).
“Batman was a big deal on television”: Kevin Melrose, “Stan Lee Wishes Bob Kane Were Alive to See Marvel’s Film Success,”Bloomberg Television, April 3, 2014, www.cbr.com/stan-lee-wishes-bob-kane-were-alive-to-see-marvels-film-success.
“Studios were behind the curve”: Robert Greenberger, “The Path of Kahn,” Back Issue #57, July 2012, 3–38.
Spidey was optioned in 1985 for a reported $225,000: Janet Shprintz, “Spider-Man’s Legal Web May Finally Be Unraveled,” Variety, August 19, 1998, http://variety.com/1998/film/news/spider-man-s-legal-web-may-finally-be-unraveled-1117479641.
“The Spider-Man movie has been the longest”: “Stan Lee Discusses Marvel Screen Projects at Sales Conference,” Amazing Heroes #167, June 1989, 15.
“Invent a new word”: Carl DiOrio, “Spidey’s Webbed Feat Rewrites Record Books,” Variety, May 5, 2002, http://variety.com/2002/film/markets-festivals/spidey-s-webbed-feat-rewrites-record-books-1117866452.
“It wasn’t until Marvel started making”: Back Issue #57, July 2012.
“We’re not going to let that happen”: Ben Fritz, “Warner Bros. on a Caped Crusade,” Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2014.
Critics roundly trashed Catwoman: “Me-Ouch!,” Time, July 28, 2004.
“Look, this is what I want to do in the movie”: Ben Child, “Christopher Nolan ‘Took 15 Minutes’ to Win Batman Begins Job,” Guardian, September 23, 2013, www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/23/christopher-nolan-batman-begins-christian-bale.
“What I wanted to do was to tell the Batman story”: Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor, Superheroes: Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of Comic Book Culture (New York: Crown Archetype, 2013), 283.
Marvel reportedly took in a piddly $25,000: Sean Howe, “Avengers Assemble!” Slate, September 28, 2012, www.slate.com/articles/business/the_pivot/2012/09/marvel_comics_and_the_movies_the_business_story_behind_the_avengers_.html.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be very happy”: Kim Masters, “Marvel Studios’ Origin Secrets Revealed by Mysterious Founder: History Was ‘Rewritten,’” Hollywood Reporter, May 5, 2016, www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/marvel-studios-origin-secrets-revealed-889795.
“That’s not my idea of what I want to see”: “Robert Downey Jr on ‘The Dark Knight’: ‘Fuck DC Comics,’” Huffington Post, September 17, 2008, www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/17/robert-downey-jr-on-the-d_n_119414.html.
“It isn’t just about a single approach”: Ben Fritz, “Warner Bros. on a Caped Crusade,” Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2014, www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303626804579505421209271680.
“It would have been disingenuous”: Edward Wyatt, “DC Comics Revamped Under a New President,” New York Times, September 9, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/business/media/10warner.html,
“People make an assumption”: Diane Nelson, “DC: We’re Not Marvel,” IGN, September 21, 2010, www.ign.com/articles/2010/09/21/dc-were-not-marvel.
“We don’t like to toot our own horn”: “My brother had to send a letter to a company for a class project so he picked DC Comics. He just got a reply today thought you guys would be interested,” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/1unxy2/my_brother_had_to_send_a_letter_to_a_company_for.
“We had the flag there first”: Brian Gallagher, “Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige Talk Avengers 2, Ant-Man and Thanos,” MovieWeb, http://movieweb.com/joss-whedon-and-kevin-feige-talk-avengers-2-ant-man-and-thanos.
“Maybe our reconnaissance wasn’t great”: Jeff Labrecque, “‘Superman versus ‘Cap’: The Superhero Showdown that Everybody Won,” Entertainment Weekly, August, 7, 2014, http://ew.com/article/2014/08/07/superman-versus-captain-america-the-superhero-showdown/?hootPostID=6381940b4456a21ce99819d9cad96d61.
“the foundation right on DC”: Stephen Galloway, “Warner Bros.’ Chilly Summer Puts Execs in the Hot Seat (Analysis),” Hollywood Reporter, August 19, 2015, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-chilly-summer-puts-816176.
“A stink bucket of disappointment”: Alex Abad-Santos, “Batman v Superman Review: This Movie Is a Crime Against Comic Book Fans,” Vox, March 23, 2016, www.vox.com/2016/3/23/11291550/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-review.
“It’s about as diverting”: A. O. Scott, “Review: Batman v Superman … v Fun?” New York Times, March 23, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/movies/review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-when-super-friends-fight.html?_r=0.
“After they announced Batman v Superman”: Patrick Brzeski, “‘Captain America: Civil War’ Director Joe Russo on the Film Industry’s Chinese Future,” Hollywood Reporter, April 22, 2016, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/captain-america-civil-war-director-886842.
“Suicide Squad is bad”: Richard Lawson, “Suicide Squad Isn’t Even the Good Kind of Bad,” Vanity Fair, August 2, 2016, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/08/suicide-squad-review.
a former Warner Bros. employee calling herself “Gracie Law”: Gracie Law, “An Open Letter to Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara About Layoffs, Zack Snyder, and Donuts,” Pajiba, September 11, 2016, www.pajiba.com/think_pieces/an-open-letter-to-warner-bros-ceo-kevin-tsujihara-about-layoffs-zack-snyder-and-donuts.php.
“Mistakenly in the past”: Ben Fritz, “Warner Bros.’s New Strategy on DC: Lighten Up, Superheroes,” Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2016, www.wsj.com/articles/warner-bros-s-new-strategy-on-dc-lighten-up-superheroes-1473350000.
“I think the other part that separates”: Shirley Li, “The Defenders: Jeph Loeb on Whether the Show Will Connect to Marvel’s Films,” Entertainment Weekly, January 13, 2017, http://ew.com/tv/2017/01/13/defenders-marvel-cinematic-universe-crossover-jeph-loeb.
“They’re the competition!”: Vaneta Rogers, “Tom Brevoort Says ‘Marvel Better Off When DC Is Strong,’” Newsarama, September 7, 2011, www.newsarama.com/8309-tom-brevoort-says-marvel-better-off-when-dc-is-strong.html.
Tech Times ran an article entitled: Robin Parrish, “Are Marvel’s ‘Secret Wars’ and DC’s ‘Convergence’ the Exact Same Story? We Look at the Similarities,” Tech Times, March 25, 2015, www.techtimes.com/articles/42145/20150325/summer-event-comics-secret-wars-convergence-exact-same-story.htm.
“In these tough economic times”: Jason Cranforoteague, “Marvel Bribes Retailers to Destroy DC Comics,” Wired, August 10, 2011, http://archive.wired.com/geekdad/2011/08/the-great-marvel-comics-rip-off.
“a response to everything Marvel’s been doing”: Jevon Phillips and Geoff Boucher, “Marvel vs. Burbank-based DC Comics’ ‘New 52,’” Glendale News-Press, March 13, 2012, http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2012-03-13/the818now/tn-818-0313-marvel-vs-burbankbased-dc-comics-new-52_1_avengers-chief-creative-officer-dc-title.
“Stop trying to be a bad Marvel clone”: Sean T. Collins, “Quote of the Day | Tom Brevoort: DC Is ‘the Charlie Sheen of Comics,’” Comic Book Resources, July 14, 2011, www.cbr.com/quote-of-the-day-tom-brevoort-dc-is-the-charlie-sheen-of-comics.
“To be clear—DC is not a market-share-chaser”: John Rood, “Counting Down to DC Comics—The New 52: A Note from John Rood,” DC Comics blog, August 29, 2011, www.dccomics.com/blog/2011/08/29/counting-down-to-dc-comics-the-new-52-a-note-from-john-rood.
“Marvel Now! starts with the creators”: Axel Alonso and Kiel Phegley, “Inside Marvel NOW,” Comic Book Resources, www.cbr.com/inside-marvel-now.
“putting the highest priority on the direct market”: DC press release, “DC Entertainment Reveals First Details of ‘Rebirth’ to Retailers at Comics Pro 2016,” DC Comics, February 18, 2016, www.dccomics.com/blog/2016/02/18/dc-entertainment-reveals-first-details-of-%E2%80%9Crebirth%E2%80%9D-to-retailers-at-comics-pro-2016.
“DC compulsively reboots: Jules Rivera (@julesrivera) on Twitter, https://twitter.com/julesrivera/status/690717540490735616.
Fox demanded a royalty on sales: Erik Larsen (@ErikJLarsen) on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ErikJLarsen/status/722319604597411840.
When it comes to the box office: Marvel Comics, Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=marvelcomics.htm; and DC Comics, Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=dccomics.htm.
“I don’t know if their stuff has deteriorated”: Paul Gambaccini, Amazing Spider-Man #7.
“There is, however, one company which puts”: Robert Wilczynski, The Flash #161.
“Have you noticed the sorry mess”: Stan Lee, “Stan’s Soapbox,” October 1965.
“That’s why everyone calls his magazines”: Mort Weisinger, World’s Finest #156, March 1966.
“No competition Marvel winds”: 3. “Marvel Is Better Than DC” Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Marvel-is-better-than-DC-163079197046288.
“They can argue all they like”: The “DC Is Better Than Marvel” Facebook page, www.facebook.com/DcIsBetterThanMarvel.
“I could take my grandma and put her in a cape”: Kevin Jagernaurth, “‘I Could Take My Grandma and Put Her in a Cape … Anybody Can Do It’ Says Jason Statham About Marvel Movies,” I 400 Calci, June 5, 2015, www.indiewire.com/2015/06/i-could-take-my-grandma-and-put-her-in-a-cape-anybody-can-do-it-says-jason-statham-about-marvel-movies-263255.
“It’s Jason Statham”: Kat Ward, “Mark Ruffalo Thinks He Could Take Jason Statham,” Vulture, June 9, 2015, www.vulture.com/2015/06/mark-ruffalo-thinks-he-could-take-jason-statham.html.
“Spider-Woman has better hair”: Graeme McMillan, “Why All the Wonder Woman Hate?” June 7, 2009, http://io9.gizmodo.com/5272808/why-all-the-wonder-woman-hate.
“I know this is part of the whole Marvel v. DC”: Smith Michaels, “Stay Classy, Brian!,” Blurred Productions, June 8, 2009, https://blurredproductions.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/stay-classy-brian.
“I’m going to speak frankly”: Josh Wilding, “Geoff Johns Confirms DC’s Lack of Plans for a Justice League Movie!,” Comic Book Movie, October 8, 2010, www.comicbookmovie.com/justice_league/geoff-johns-confirms-dcs-lack-of-plans-for-a-justice-league-movie-a23674.
“dc sucks big hairy monkey balls”: tony_von_terror, “Our Characters Are Bigger than Marvel’s,” IGN, October 8, 2010, www.ign.com/boards/threads/our-characters-are-bigger-than-marvels.196547041/page-2.
“I smell a lot of Marvel bitches up in here!”: Lan Pitts, “The Rock Calls Out Marvel Stars on MTV Movie Awards,” CB WWE, April 10, 2016, http://comicbook.com/wwe/2016/04/11/the-rock-calls-out-chris-hemsworth-on-mtv-movie-awards.
“We were trying to pick a DC vs Marvel fight”: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (@TheRock) on Twitter, https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/719321185499160577.
“I feel like Batman and Superman are transcendent”: Jen Yamato, “Zack Snyder: Sorry Marvel, ‘Batman v. Superman’ Transcends Superhero Movies,” Daily Beast, September 10, 2015, www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/10/zack-snyder-sorry-marvel-batman-v-superman-transcends-superhero-movies.html.
“Do I want to fire some shots”: Dave Trumbore, “‘Captain America: Civil War’: Sebastian Stan Talks Winter Soldier, Returns Fire at Zack Snyder,” Collider, September 18, 2015, http://collider.com/captain-america-3-sebastian-stan-zack-snyder-comments.
“I think Marvel has figured out a way”: Russ Burlingame, Comicbook, February 13, 2015, http://comicbook.com/2015/02/14/samuel-l-jackson-says-marvel-has-figured-out-something-dc-hasnt-/.
“I ain’t afraid of Sam”: Tom Cox, “Marvel ‘Bitches’ V DC Battle Triggered by the Rock Dressed as Superman on MTV Awards,” Movie Plot, April 22, 2016, https://moviepilot.com/posts/3864294.