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I don’t think it should come as a big surprise to anyone that DC and Marvel publish super hero stories. Super heroes comprise the bulk of their stories, and what each company is traditionally known for. Yet, like other businesses they diversify in what they sell. Sometimes it works and sometimes it flops. At what point do we say Marvel and DC should stick to hero stories and leave everything else for other companies? Is there ever going to be a time when the only good stories being produced by Marvel and DC involved heroes?

My gut reaction is no. Comics are a great medium to tell a story, Marvel and DC made a name for themselves by using comics to tell hero stories. While that gave them name recognition it also trapped them. The social consciousness is that comics are all super hero stories. Real comic readers know this isn’t true. The last thing I’d like to see is for Marvel and DC to only write super hero stories. Doing so would only reinforce the idea that comics only have wildly gifted heroes in them and they can’t tell any other kind of story, which isn’t true.

Both DC and Marvel have tried to change that view in many ways. Each has been creating stories that are for mature readers. DC created the Vertigo line, which publishes books like “Y the Last Man, American Virgin, Fables, etc”. Marvel has the Max line, which publishes “Alias, Terror Inc, Punisher MAX, etc.” These are the lines in which writers can choose to take heroes, or other characters, and place in them in mature stories. These lines also exist for writers to try a hand at not writing super hero stories and writing something else. Sometimes there are great stories in those lines and sometimes there aren’t, but I think the medium of comics is better because of it.

When there are outlets that encourage people to try something different it can become a chance to further creative projects in new and different directions. If comics were only allowed to be about super heroes then there would be no way of escaping the currently held stereotype that comics can’t tell good stories. There are some instances where great hero writers come from other genre writing. Ed Brubaker writes a great Captain America story, but he also writes great crime stories. I can’t imagine a place where Ed Brubaker would not have as many opportunities to write hero stories because he writes great crime stories.

Marvel and DC should diversify but should be careful to not do it at the expense of their super hero stories. We shouldn’t get to the point where Marvel and DC are looking for the best new thing at the expense of what made them great. The last thing I want to see is a lack of great hero comics.

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