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Seems (and this us just IMO, no research) DC is more high/low. Characters (regardless of popularity, tier, alignment) are either solid class 95 and above, or class 25 and below. With exceptions of course.
Marvel seems to have the bulk of characters that fall in a strength class thats above 75 but below 100.

Agree or disagree? Examples/theories either way, would be great.

These days I feel like everybody's above 100

Haha, okay.

Looking back pre-DCnU and pre-crisis I always saw DC as having the most heavy hitters in terms of real powerhouses, at least when looking at characters who appeared reasonably regularly and were in team lineups.

DC had a lot of top-level super strong characters running around like Superman, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, Black Adam, Supergirl etc. On top of vast strength they had incredible speed, flight, a high degree of invulnerability in most cases, and a host of other powers. Then there were a whole lot of exotic guys with crazy powers like Green Lantern, Firestorm, Doctor Fate, Flash, Captain Atom, and so on.

Marvel had a few high-end bricks like Hulk and Hercules. And Thor had limited flight and exotic powers as well. None of them were speedsters. Then there seemed to be a whole heap of strong guys like Thing, Colossus, Sub-Mariner, She-Hulk, Wonder-Man, Sasquatch etc - strong but not quite considered top level.

Most of the Marvel strong guys didn't have much else power-wise. And a lot of the other non-strength types were kind of mundane compared to DC. A lot of classic Avengers lineups seem kind of low powered when compared to classic JLA linueps.

Later on in Marvel Gladiator was introduced, Hulk went on to crazy levels, more and more Hyperions showed up, Sentry, Blue Marvel... now Marvel has a whole bunch of mainstream Superman types with strength, flight, eyebeams, speed. She-Hulk, Cage and others got big boosts. Feats started getting crazier. Mutants got completely out of control. The current Avengers lineup is probably the most powerful and diverse ever. The heavy hitters aren't as well established in most cases but they are close to DC these days.

I was more of a Marvel than DC reader (though I did follow some DC titles) because even though I saw DC as more powerful I preferred the stories at Marvel. These days Marvel has really upped the power levels and have kind of gone crazy. I actually don't follow any DC post-reboot and I've pretty much given up on Marvel's new direction as well.

Kind of rambling but that's it...

Traditionally, DC has had two main settings, the street, typified by Batman, a peak human (and thus most street characters will be within Batman's ability to compete with) and the wider world, typified by Superman, thus any non-street characters must be incredibly powerful in order to be relevant alongside/against Superman. That's a gross oversimplification, but I think it helps account for the missing middle in DC.

Marvel on the other hand, has its street typified by Spider-Man, a metahuman character with 10 ton (and later 20 ton) strength and low level super-speed, thus its street characters tend to be more powerful than their DC counterparts because their benchmark is more powerful, while its non-street characters are all over the place. Meanwhile, the Marvel Cosmic verse is awash with heavy hitters like Surfer, Gladiator, and Super Skrull.

I do enjoy the more powerful DC characters, but I really wish DC had invested in more powerful street/meta-level characters. I think this would happen if they gave up the tired, non-sensical "Batman has no powers but can hang with Superman's enemies" shtick and just made Batman create powered armor for himself.

Great post, basilisk, thank you.


The above is what i really had in mind, especially the bolded part.
You dont really see that at DC.
Maybe its Superman throwing off the curve?

Aquaman is arguably at that level.

I really loved his fight with She-Hulk in JLA/Avengers, I thought it was one of the most interesting matchups in the whole crossover.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
Aquaman is arguably at that level.

I really loved his fight with She-Hulk in JLA/Avengers, I thought it was one of the most interesting matchups in the whole crossover.
Agreed. He's one of the characters i thought of who fall under that "MU strength umbrella"...

I can think of a few, like Doc-midnite, some titans and so on. But yeah, none of the bigger names fit that bill.

I also feel like more marvel characters have innate abilities where as DC people often rely on serum, power objects, etc.

Doc Mid nite of the JSA?

Do you mean Midnighter?

No, for some reason I remembered doc midnite having some kind of strength serum, not sure why...

You were thinking of Hourman?

Originally posted by Omega Vision
You were thinking of Hourman?

Yes, and this is the third time I make this mistake...

Oh, okay, Hourman.
See, thats another guy who i'd put at sub 25 ton.

Dc has been filling it's meta streets lately. Especially with the fusion of Wildstorm.

Even

Both houses have the exact same characters...yin and yang

Non Villain based

Marvel has (Earth based)

Hulk
Thor
Blue Marvel
Hyperion
Nightmask
Sentry
Strange

These are all the high tier beings. Herald levels that are on a team that isn't outside of Herald levels.

DC

Superman
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Frankenstein
Captain Marvel
Flash

Seems like Marvel has the more powerful heavy hitter whereas DC has MORE heavy hitters on Earth. I didn't even include Star Brand along with others.

Originally posted by carver9
Non Villain based

Marvel has (Earth based)

Hulk
Thor
Blue Marvel
Hyperion
Nightmask
Sentry
Strange

These are all the high tier beings. Herald levels that are on a team that isn't outside of Herald levels.

DC

Superman
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Frankenstein
Captain Marvel
Flash

Seems like Marvel has the more powerful heavy hitter whereas DC has MORE heavy hitters on Earth. I didn't even include Star Brand along with others.

A decent Marvel list but Sentry can't be classed as Earth based any more. He hasn't really been anywhere near Earth recently besides from travelling in Space. Perhaps put Starbrand in his place like you said.

Good thread idea Riv

You guys are just counting the mainstream ones. Both have many obscure ones, but DC has too many top tiers on earth and in space that aren't mainstream. DC generally has the more top heavy hitters.

Originally posted by Golgo13
You guys are just counting the mainstream ones. Both have many obscure ones, but DC has too many top tiers on earth and in space that aren't mainstream. DC generally has the more top heavy hitters.

Like who?

Originally posted by carver9
Like who?

Josiah Power
Chimera
Mark Antaeus
Black Alice
Fate
Arion
etc...

Don't forget about midnighter for Marvel

Let's not forget about the numerous mystics DC has:

Parliaments of Earth (Parliaments of Flame, Trees, Decay, Vapor, Waves, Stones, etc...)

Avatars of Rot, Red, White, Metal, etc...

Uncle Sam who is the living embodiement of America (Fought Spectre at full power).

Shade (Trans level as well)

Alan Scott, Obsidian (Full Power)

I think that DC has the more powerful and more of those powerful heroes and villains on DC Earth compared to Marvel. Which imo is a bad thing, as most stories don't make sense if Earth is in danger etc. Marvel has maybe lesser and fewer powerhouses but they make a bigger impression and hav potentially better Stories. If we count in everything, the whole Universe, than Marvel would come out top, as they have a better celestial chierarchy and cosmology foodchain imo.

Originally posted by Prof. T.C McAbe
I think that DC has the more powerful and more of those powerful heroes and villains on DC Earth compared to Marvel. Which imo is a bad thing, as most stories don't make sense if Earth is in danger etc. Marvel has maybe lesser and fewer powerhouses but they make a bigger impression and hav potentially better Stories. If we count in everything, the whole Universe, than Marvel would come out top, as they have a better celestial chierarchy and cosmology foodchain imo.
It actually makes perfect sense when you consider there are simply dozens of existential threats to the Earth at any given time occupying all those heavy hitters.

Originally posted by Prof. T.C McAbe
I think that DC has the more powerful and more of those powerful heroes and villains on DC Earth compared to Marvel. Which imo is a bad thing, as most stories don't make sense if Earth is in danger etc. Marvel has maybe lesser and fewer powerhouses but they make a bigger impression and hav potentially better Stories. If we count in everything, the whole Universe, than Marvel would come out top, as they have a better celestial chierarchy and cosmology foodchain imo.

Celestials are weaksauce

Originally posted by Prof. T.C McAbe
I think that DC has the more powerful and more of those powerful heroes and villains on DC Earth compared to Marvel. Which imo is a bad thing, as most stories don't make sense if Earth is in danger etc. Marvel has maybe lesser and fewer powerhouses but they make a bigger impression and hav potentially better Stories. If we count in everything, the whole Universe, than Marvel would come out top, as they have a better celestial chierarchy and cosmology foodchain imo.

Just because Marvel's cosmic hierarchy makes more sense/more neat, doesn't mean they come out on top. While DC/Vertigo is somewhat more of a mystery, which is what it should be, IMO.

Why is everyone so mean to me sadwalk

Originally posted by Omega Vision
It actually makes perfect sense when you consider there are simply dozens of existential threats to the Earth at any given time occupying all those heavy hitters.

Yeah, DC has a large amount of comics featuring heavy hitters (WW, Superman, GL, Flash, etc...), while Marvel only has a few (Thor and Hulk) at a time, which opens the doors for DC to introduce more cosmics/heavy hitters.

You guys went ALL over the place with this.

Justconcerned with class 75-95 or so. I think Marvel has way more than DC, as per the OP.

Originally posted by riv6672
You guys went ALL over the place with this.

Justconcerned with class 75-95 or so. I think Marvel has way more than DC, as per the OP.

Which characters do you find 75-95? List them and I'll see if I can list some on the other side.

CL 75-95?

Ok

Marvel

Arkon
Tiger Shark
Sandman
Rhino
Ironclad
Wonderman
Earth Lord
Titania
Namora
Ms. Marvel
Mr. Fixit
IronMan
Ronan
Captain Britain
Executioner
Doc Samson
Colossus
Thing
Sasquatch
Firelord
Terrax


DC

Pre-DCnU Aquaman
Donna Troy
Superboy (Kon)
Starfire
Big Barda
Cheetah
Captain Comet
Apollo
Atom Smasher
Major Force
Pre DCnU Frankenstein

Britain at 95?

Not since 2008

Originally posted by Prof. T.C McAbe
CL 75-95?

Ok

Marvel

Arkon
Tiger Shark
Sandman
Rhino
Ironclad
Wonderman
Earth Lord
Titania
Namora
Ms. Marvel
Mr. Fixit
IronMan
Ronan
Captain Britain
Executioner
Doc Samson
Colossus
Thing
Sasquatch
Firelord
Terrax


DC

Pre-DCnU Aquaman
Donna Troy
Superboy (Kon)
Starfire
Big Barda
Cheetah
Captain Comet
Apollo
Atom Smasher
Major Force
Pre DCnU Frankenstein

Good list. Don't forget Iron Munro, Steppenwolf, Wonder Girl, The High, Captain Nazi, Freddy Freeman (SHAZAM), Mary Marvel, etc....

http://www.comicvine.com/iron-munro/4005-25330/

You can probably add Felix Harmon to that list as well.

DC with the solid cast. Not counting the fringe players, because, well, they're fringe players. I think OP wanted as mainstream as possible without having to dig up that one annual from 1983 where Tiger Shark and the Executioner traded blows that one time...

Main, fringe, all characters are up for grabs.
Still think you'll find more class 75-95 at Marvel.

Originally posted by Golgo13
Good list. Don't forget Iron Munro, Steppenwolf, Wonder Girl, The High, Captain Nazi, Freddy Freeman (SHAZAM), Mary Marvel, etc....

http://www.comicvine.com/iron-munro/4005-25330/
Thanks I tried to include only the better known chars. Yeah Freddy and Mary would qualify too. I thought about Captain Nazi but would range him in the 50 Ton class or lower ^^.