DC vs. Marvel
DC vs. Marvel (issues #2–3 titled Marvel vs. DC) was a comic book miniseries crossover published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics from April to May 1996. Each company would publish two issues of the series, thus the title difference between issues #1 and 4 as "DC vs. Marvel" from DC and issues #2–3 from Marvel as "Marvel vs. DC". The series was written by Ron Marz and Peter David, with art by Dan Jurgens and Claudio Castellini. The special crossover series pitted Marvel Comics superheroes against their DC counterparts in battle. The outcome of each battle  was determined by reader ballot, which were distributed in advance to comic book stores. Plot. Two god-like Brothers who personify the DC and Marvel Universes each become aware of the other's existence, and challenge one another to a series of duels involving each universe's respective superheroes. The losing universe would cease to exist. The story had an "out of universe" component in that the outcomes of the primary battles were determined by the readers' votes. Numerous smaller, story-driven skirmishes occur throughout the series, not counted with the primary duels meant to determine the outcome between the  Brothers. There were 11 battles fought between the two universes. The result of the following six battles were determined by the miniseries' creative team: The result of the following five battles were determined by the readers' votes: Although the final victor of the fight goes to Batman, the new character of Access, a man capable of traversing between the two universes, infuses Superman and Captain America each with fragments of their respective universes before the Spectre and the Living Tribunal attempt to create a compromise by fusing the two universes together. This resulted in the creation of the Amalgam Universe , which sees various amalgamated versions of the heroes and villains acting as though they have been in existence for years. Access is eventually able to find the Dark Claw and Super-Soldier – versions of Superman and Captain America who have been 'amalgamated' with Wolverine and Batman, respectively – and use the fragments of the original universes in them to return the universes to normal. As the Brothers engage in direct battle, the Spectre and the Living Tribunal attempt to stop the conflict, but Superman and Captain America convince Access to take "them" to the conflict as well. Reading the minds of  Superman and Captain America as "they" try to stop the fight, the Brothers realize that the two men are essentially the Brothers in miniature, each one unique among their worlds, but with no interest in the conflict that the Brothers have engaged in. Realizing the pointlessness of the conflict, the Brothers withdraw and congratulate each other, with both of them saying together "You've done well". Collected editions. The series was collected into a trade paperback titled "Marvel versus DC/DC versus Marvel" (collects the miniseries and "Doctor Strangefate" #1 (April 1996); 163 pages; September 1996; ). DC vs. Marvel DC