Over 20 years since there last crossover with JLA/Avengers in 2003 rival comic book companies Marvel and DC are set to once again cross paths in the pages of Deadpool/Batman releasing September 17 (followed by a DC-produced Batman/Deadpool in November). Despite there being a 20-year gap since they last joined forces DC and Marvel have a long history of crossing over with each other as well as other media franchises. Here are some weird crossovers from the House of Ideas and the “House that Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman Built” not counting Amalgam Comics, which combined characters from both companies
The Wizard of Oz was the first official team-up between DC and Marvel
Before they had their iconic heroes fighting each other Marvel and DC decided to put aside their rivalry to publish a 1975 adaption of the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie written by Roy Thomas. Marvel would later maintain the rights and publish more Oz comics after, but this one-shot was probably not what you were expecting for the first time the Big Two of comics teamed up
Silver Surfer visited Hank Hill
Back in the simpler time of 1998 Fox decided to do a little cross-promoting between one of their primetime offerings: The adult animated show King of the Hill and their probably block of Saturday morning cartoons: Fox Kids. The result was “Fox Kids Heads for the Hills” which features Hank Hill interacting with cast members from Fox Kids cartoon shows. One show that was on at the time was the short-lived Silver Surfer cartoon and so Hank Hill tried his best to sell the former herald of Galactus propane and propane accessories…
DC Heroes went Looney
The idea of DC comics heroes and Looney Tunes characters crossing-over is not too far-fetched as they are both owned by Warner Brothers, but the execution was a little weird. Instead of a more zany crossover leaning towards the style of Bugs Bunny and friends DC published a series of 11 one-shots in 2017 teaming different DC icons with Loony Tunes characters such as Joker/Daffy Duck, Jonah Hex/ Yosemite and others which ended up having a more serious bent like Batman meeting Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny in a noir-style story and Wonder Woman facing on against the Tasmanian devil in a story inspired by the ancient Greek Minotaur and it’s labyrinth.
Green Lantern visits the Planet of the Apes
One franchise follows a space cop roaming the galaxy and occasionally saving Earth, while the other involves an alternate Earth ruled by Apes, but in 2017(the same time DC heroes were meeting their looney compatriots) Hal Jordan visited the primates from the original Planet of the Apes movies to stop his arch-nemesis Sinestro in an adventure that involved Flash villain Gorilla Grodd and primates getting power rings.
The X-men Boldly Go Where No Mutant has Gone Before
You wouldn’t think the Merry Mutants from Marvel Comics and the crew of the Enterprise would have much in common, aside from Sir Patrick Stewart appearing in both franchises, but due to some time travel shenanigans they still managed to cross-over not once, but three times in two different comics one-shot issues featuring the X-men teaming up with the original cast of Star Trek in 1996 and then the cast of the Next Generation which was followed-up by a novel: Planet X
Punisher met the Real Slim Shady
Punisher has had a fair number of cross-overs from meeting Batman, to meeting Archie, but his weirdest cross-over might be with real-life celebrity Eminem aka Slim Shady aka Marshal Mathers. What begins with Frank Castle almost killing Eminem at one of his concerts ends with them teaming-up to fight the Punisher villain Barracuda. What’s Next? Beyonce meeting Wonder Woman?
Superman helped sell Nesquik
Product placement is hardly a new thing, but DC took in far with a 1987 one-shot featuring the Man of Steel teaming up with the mascot of Nesquik you may have forgotten, Quik the Bunny to fight Weather Wizard. I personally think a Flash/Energizer Bunny team up would have been better.
What is your favorite DC and/or Marvel Crossover? Let us know in the comments and if you wanna read more about crossovers check out these articles:
10 Bizarre Crossovers that almost happened
9 Actors who should bring their iconic roles together for a crossover
3 Star Wars Crossovers the actually happened and 3 that should
