Clash of the Industry Titans: Marvel, DC and the Battle for Market Dominance
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 8-21-2013 12:00 AM Clash of the Industry Titans: Marvel, DC and the Battle for Market Dominance Caitlin Foster The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Joseph Wlodarz The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Film Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Caitlin Foster 2013 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Foster, Caitlin, "Clash of the Industry Titans: Marvel, DC and the Battle for Market Dominance" (2013). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 1494. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/1494 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLASH OF THE INDUSTRY TITANS: MARVEL, DC AND THE BATTLE FOR MARKET DOMINANCE (Thesis format: Monograph) By Caitlin Foster Graduate Program in Film Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Caitlin Foster 2013 Abstract This thesis examines the corporate structures, marketing strategies and economic shifts that have influenced the recent resurgence of the comic book superhero in popular Hollywood cinema. Using their original texts and adaptation films, this study will chronologically examine how each company’s brand identities and corporate structures have reacted to and been shaped by the major cultural and industrial shifts of the past century in its attempt to account for the varying success of these companies throughout their histories. Beginning with the superhero’s first appearance on screen in the 1940s, this study traces the development of Marvel and DC’s distinct brand identities through their major franchises including Superman , Batman, Captain America, X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk , and The Avengers . In particular, this thesis links cultural and commercial dominance of Marvel’s independent, vertically integrated corporate structure to its proliferation of blockbuster film adaptations over the past decade. Key Words Comic Book, Superhero, Popular Culture, Cultural Studies, Adaptation, Hollywood Cinema, American Cinema, Blockbuster, Action Genre, Action Films, Entertainment Industry, Timely Publications, Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Studios, National Comics, Detective Comics, DC Comics, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros., AOL Time Warner, Superman, Man of Steel, Catwoman, Watchmen, Batman, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Captain America, Hulk, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man . ii Acknowledgements This project would not have been completed without the wisdom, patience and guidance from my supervisor, Dr. Joseph Wlodarz, whose brilliance has been a great source of inspiration to me over the last five years. Also, neither this thesis nor this degree could have been completed without the help and support of Western’s film department. I would also like to thank Jen, my own personal Wonder Woman who read even my most incoherent drafts and understood what I was trying to say. Thanks to the staff at Heroes Comics, for guiding me through decades of complicated publishing histories, and helping me reach the books on the top shelf. And of course, thanks to my parents for their love and support, and for helping me finance this endeavor. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. v Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Origin Stories: The Birth of the Comic Book Industry in the 1930s-1940s ................................. 15 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 32 Super-Seal of Approval: DC’s Proliferation of Family Values & The Comics Code of America ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 42 Mighty Marvel: The Emergence of Marvel Comics in the 1960s and 1970s ............................... 42 Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 58 Marvel Rises, Superman Dies: The Transformation of Comic Book Heroism in the Reagan/Bush Era ................................................................................................................................................. 58 Chapter 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 79 The Battle for Market Dominance: Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Rebranding in the New Millennium .................................................................................................................................... 79 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 100 Curriculum Vitae ........................................................................................................................ 118 iv List of Figures Fig. 1 Cover of Batman #1 (Spring, 1940) ................................................................................... 18 Fig. 2 DC’s first official logo used from 1976-2005. ................................................................... 19 Fig. 3 Cover of Action Comics # 58 (March, 1943) ..................................................................... 24 Fig. 4 Cover of Wonder Woman #2 (Fall, 1942) .......................................................................... 24 Fig. 5 Superman Promotional Items ............................................................................................. 68 Fig. 6 Frank Miller’s Batman and Michael Keaton as Batman .................................................... 71 Fig. 7 Bane and Sylvester Stalonne in Rambo III (MacDonald, 1989) ........................................ 75 Fig. 8 The DC 'Swoosh' Logo (2005-2011) .................................................................................. 87 Fig. 9 DC's 'Peel' Logo (2012-present) ......................................................................................... 98 v 1 Introduction “In 1998, only two of America’s 50 highest-grossing films were based on a comic book” (Bloom 9). Today, however, comic book adaptations—specifically superhero comic book adaptations— have become an integral part of Hollywood’s summer ‘tent-pole’ releases. Superhero comics, which were once relegated to the fringe subcultures of society, have recently exploded into mainstream popular culture. The reasons for the recent resurgence of the comic book are twofold: First, much like other cultural texts such as film and television, which were often subject to artistic and academic ridicule in their early development, the comic book has slowly been recognized for its ability to both reflect and shape our understandings of society. As Jason Bainbridge aptly notes, the critical potential of comic books lies precisely in the fact that they offer a kind of wish fulfillment; therefore, a study of comic book superheroes can also be seen as a “study of the perceived deficiencies in society” (Bainbridge 64). For example, characters such as Superman and Captain America emerged and gained popularity during the events of The Great Depression and World War II in part because of the ways they addressed the needs of the American public. At first, the nature of the comic book’s adventure fantasy narratives provided Americans with a much needed sense of escape and emotional uplift from the harsh realities of their daily lives. Later, as America entered the war, superheroes became patriotic role models that reinforced America’s belief in the values of truth, justice and freedom. While there has been much popular and scholarly work linking the comic book’s rise to fame to the socio-cultural and political events with which they were engaged, there have been fewer investigations into the corporate and industrial structures of the markets and companies that produced them.