[From E+D, the Mercury's new Spring Eat & Drink Guide!]
FOR DECADES, obnoxious nerds such as myself have fought one of the stupidest fights in the world: Marvel vs. DC.
In years past, this inane argument was about which comic book company was best: While Marvel sells Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Avengers, DC offers Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League. Once, these shameful, squeaky-voiced debates about funny books were held in hole-in-the-wall comics shops—but now, in 2016, when costumed superheroes dominate the entire pop culture landscape, the same humiliating fight is happening everywhere, from Hollywood boardrooms to couches where couples squabble over Jessica Jones vs. The Flash.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand," Abraham Lincoln declared in 1858, shortly before holding aloft his Merry Marvel Marching Society membership card. ("For, upon judicious examination, we find the gentleman called 'Spider-Man' is, in truth, the everyman," Lincoln added.) We have been divided for too long; let us settle, for once and for all, which is better: Marvel or DC.
And sure, why not: Because this is the Mercury's Eat & Drink Guide, let's do so by comparing and contrasting two authoritative texts: 1977's Stan Lee Presents the Mighty Marvel Superheroes' Cookbook and 1981's DC Superheroes Super Healthy Cookbook.