I think one understated thing DC has been doing in the last few years is building Superman back up as a brand

I remember in the 2000s-2010s DC was really trying to make Green Lantern their third biggest name off the Johns run. I wish that energy/push could be given to a Wonder Woman or whoever else.
There is something to be said that those CW shows, headlined by Green Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, others, were able to successfully grow familiarity with those B to D list characters. Maybe there should be some consideration for more projects with similar restrictions. Peacemaker is fairly well recognized now, i feel, for instance.

Im a 90s kid from europe, DC was never really hitting in my country. It was mostly x-men and spiderman over here during that time

The biggest reason for Marvel’s dominance is probably the fact that still most comic fans are started reading comics decades ago. People who are in their middle age to even a bit older than that.
And during those decades, Marvel was undeniably the bigger and typically better comic company.

So still you have people who despite X-men or Spider-Man being hit or miss for decades, they still buy every issue

Thanks for the unique business-side perspective as always, Perch. Much appreciated.

Marvel also has a massive history that remains mostly coherent for its premium characters. Despite constant relaunches, Marvel does not have a single hard reboot yet.

The funny thing is, for the longest time, I thought that Marvel was the underdog, and they kind-of were, culturally. Thanks to the Superfriends cartoons and Superman movies (among other stuff), EVERYBODY knew who Superman and Batman were and most even knew of Aquaman. In comparison, NOBODY seemed to know who the X-men were. I'd mention reading Avengers comics and the response would always be "They made a comic about John Steed?" Then the 90s hit and everything reversed, probably due to the X-men cartoon.

I think this time DC could achieve holding on to no. 1 for far longer than usual, mainly because I expect Disney to not invigorate Marvel with the upcoming changes. Disney has kind of a habit of squeezing the lemon far beyond what’s healthy.

In the long-term sales data doesn’t matter nearly as much as the cultural impact of a given run or era in my opinion

I’m sure Zeb Wells entire ASM run outsold PKJ’s Superman, but Warworld Saga will for sure be adapted at some point and made more of an impact than any of that nonsense in the Wells ASM run. Also, more sales only means more collectors or speculators, not necessarily more readers, so I don’t really think sales numbers are all that relevant as long as the book stays above the cancellation line

I'd argue right now it isn't just Absolute Batman that is carrying DC (though it is the workhorse), it is the whole Absolute line. Looking at Prana's July chart (they cover 600 shops), five of the Top 10 books are all Absolute books.

Thank you Perches, young and old alike!

14:03 around the 2010s(?) Green Goblin and other Spider-Man villains got drastic makeovers and this costume is from that redesign. I believe Humberto Ramos was the designer of this Goblin

The Marvel characters were literally made in response to and as an improvement over DC. As long as both brands hover within range of their iconic versions, then Marvel will always have the advantage. Only through deviation from the standard at both companies allow a window for DC to win.

Another advantage Marvel has is it protects its characters better than DC. Half the time DC writers are having to clean up from some bright idea from a previous writer.

Brilliant!

A great companion video for this could be how DC's more artistic take affects collected editions sales. Will printings or new editions of Firestorm and Deadman be available for years to come?

I think Marvel is like Star Wars and DC is like Star Trek.  They are both popular but Star Wars will always be a little more popular because the emphasis is on blue collar fantasy where as Star Trek is about White Collar science.

If I went by the word of my LCS (and no, they don't use the UPCs to ring up our purchases), DC has been "beating" Marvel since the early 90s, and it's no coincidence that the clerks in the store all prefer DC.  Personally, I don't care.  I buy what I want, and since I was a kid in the 60s, I've had both publishers available to me.

But my thoughts are - at least in the graphic storytelling field - not being in the lead (even it's just perception) leads to taking chances that might create a diamond in the rough.  Nobody would argue that in 1987 DC was beating Marvel - but DC put out my favorite title THE JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL.  If the conventional line-up for the JLA was at the top, would we ever have gotten the JLI?  Would Batman have ever one-shotted Guy Gardner in the face for constantly running his mouth?

And speaking of c-listers crossing over with another c-lister - DC may do it more, but Marvel has the prize for the worst implemation - a 6 issue story arc (2 issues per title) of SILVER SABLE & THE WILD PACK crossing over with CAGE and TERROR, INC.

But one area you've left out of this video (and what probably should be included since you've gone so heavy into the economics of the two major publishers competition) is the reprints/collected editions/omni sales/etc.  The monthly floppies are not the only comics that are selling from these publishers.

Two thirds of my Big Two collection is DC and one third is Marvel. So, for me, the question has always been why DC doesn't outsell Marvel two to one overall, the way it does on my pull list. Perch nails the answer I would give, the answer that's been clear to me since I started collecting comics at 8 years old in 1980:   DC's goal is to be the company that makes the best comics. Marvel's goal is to be the one that sells the most. So, they're each "the best there is at what they do."

Marvel has been doing better branding to normies. Outside of the big 3 at DC, most normies couldn't name a single other character.