DC and Marvel have just released a company crossover, Batman/Deadpool #1, by creators Grant Morrison and Dan Mora.
The crossover comic comes with several extra stories (and has been offered with several variant covers): Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson team up with Hayden Sherman for a magical Constantine/Doctor Strange tale; Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo bring you an epic Nightwing/Dick Grayson and Laura Kinney/Wolverine story; Mariko Tamaki and Amanda Conner smash Harley Quinn and the Hulk together; and G. Willow Wilson and Denys Cowan tell an electrifying Static and Ms. Marvel yarn.
Some, like David Ferguson, would describe Batman and Deadpool as a weird choice for a crossover. But it’s not the weirdest crossover in the world of comics, and David has been inspired to look into five of those, below.
Sadly, Uri Gellar’s appearance in Daredevil and David Lettermen’s appearance in Avengers didn’t make the cut, and it is largely a DC only list. “I thought I was more of a Marvel Zombie,” David admits!
(All collection links are Amazon UK Affiliates)
Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978)
Created by Dennis O’Neil, Neal Adams, Terry Austin and Dick Giordano
Originally published as a one-shot, as part of DC’s oversized series All-New Collectors’ Edition in 1978
Collection: Superman vs. Muhammad Ali Hardcover (2010) | Superman vs. Muhammad Ali Collectors’ Edition Facsimile Edition (2025)
Muhammad Ali wasn’t the first real life athlete that Superman gone up against. He had already faced professional wrestler Antonino Rocca in 1962. Perhaps not as well-known as Ali, Rocca was best known for working for Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which became what is now known as World Wrestling Entertainment. He was a huge draw in the North East and garnered large crowds at Madison Square Garden.
Neal Adams is a legendary artist, but he was not the first choice for this project. This was another legend, Joe Kubert. There are conflicting stories as whether it was Ali’s team or DC who did not like Kubert’s initial art or whether Kubert was just going to be the cover artist. A sketch of Kubert’s cover exists, though without the celebrities that ended up on the Neal Adams’ version. There was a lot of back and forth on celebrity likenesses, with some being disguised when approval was not forthcoming. Joe Kubert, along with other DC talent, ended up appearing on the cover at least.
In the story, Lois and Clark attempt to interview Ali when aliens appear. The aliens want their champion to fight Earth’s champion. Ali faces a depowered Superman to determine who that champion will be.
Ironically, due to delays on the book, Ali was no longer world heavyweight champion when the book came out, having lost to Leon Spinks. (Spinks had his own comic book crossover with Marvel’s She-Hulk, albeit on episode of The Simpsons, a possible nod to this situation).
Why it works: The star power involved and comics should be silly and fun sometimes.
• Neal Adams and Superman vs. Muhammad Ali – Interview from Comic Book Artist Special Edition
Archie Meets The Punisher / The Punisher Meets Archie (1994)
Created by Batton Lash, Stan Goldberg, John Buscema, and Tom Palmer.
Originally published by Archie Comics as Archie Meets The Punisher and by Marvel Comics as The Punisher Meets Archie. Both one-shots were published in August 1994
The story involves The Punisher following a drugs smuggler named Red from New York City to Riverdale. In Riverdale, Red adopts a new alias and uses legitimate business to get involved with industrialist Hiram Lodge. Hiram’s daughter, Veronica, decides to go on a date with Red, who coincidentally looks a lot like Archie Andrews. This is to get revenge on Archie, her frequent suitor.
Archie artist Stan Goldberg worked with Marvel artist John Buscema on art with Goldberg working on the Archie creations and Buscema on the Punisher. Inker Tom Palmer inked both artists.
The story ends with The Punisher heading to Gotham City, a nod to Frank Castle’s next crossover.
Why it works: The characters are all on model and it is played straight, somehow managing to bring vastly different worlds together.
Alien / Superman (1995)
Created by Dan Jurgens and Kevin Nowlan
Originally published as a three issue Superman / Aliens mini-series from July to September 1995.
Collection: Superman / Aliens (1996)
It may be surprising to hear but Dark Horse, who had the publishing rights to the Aliens franchise in the 1990s, initially weren’t interested in a crossover with the Man Of Steel. Speaking on a Superman and Supergirl panel at Terrificon, which was recorded for the Word Balloon Comics Podcast, Dan Jurgens said that they only changed their minds after the huge success of The Death of Superman storyline (1992).
The story sees Superman investigating a Kryptonian distress call from somewhere far from our sun. This means his powers are depleted, which allows an Alien to injure him. He is rescued by a girl named Kara (who is implied to be Supergirl, who had been removed from continuity following John Byrne’s Man of Steel).
Why it works: The plot device that reduces Superman’s powers is very clever and allows the stakes to be higher and creates a tense conclusion. Plus it’s Dan Jurgens on Superman.
Amalgam Comics (1996 – 1997)
Created by Peter David, Dan Jurgens, Mark Waid, Dave Gibbons, Ron Marz, José Luis García-López, Gary Frank, Bill Sienkiewicz, John Byrne and more.
Originally published as Amazon #1, Assassins #1, Doctor StrangeFate #1, JLX #1, Legends of the Dark Claw #1, Super-Soldier #1, Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, Bullets and Bracelets #1, Magneto and the Magnetic Men #1, Speed Demon #1, Spider-Boy #1, X-Patrol #1, Bat-Thing #1, Dark Claw Adventures #1, Generation Hex #1, JLX Unleashed #1, Lobo the Duck #1, Super-Soldier: Man of War #1, Challengers of the Fantastic #1, The Exciting X-Patrol #1, Iron Lantern #1, The Magnetic Men featuring Magneto #1, Spider-Boy Team-Up #1 and Thorion of the New Asgods #1 in 1996 and 1997.
Collection: DC Versus Marvel: the Amalgam Age Omnibus: The Amalgam Age Omnibus (December 2024)
Okay. I had to include one DC / Marvel crossover and this has to be the weirdest. Instead of characters fighting each other, as is the norm, characters were merged and a new universe is created under the imprint of Amalgam Comics. It was presented as if the company had existed for decades and refers to a fictional history including retcons and reboots. For example, it refers to Secret Crisis of the Infinity Hour (an amalgamation events including Marvel’s Secret Wars and Infinity Gauntlet and DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths).
There are too many stories, characters and creators to go through so I am going to give a sample:
Super-Soldier (Clark Kent). An amalgamation of DC’s Superman and Marvel’s Captain America. Super-Soldier #1 was written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Mark Waid is known, amongst other things, for his Captain America run.
Dark Claw (Logan Wayne). An amalgamation of DC’s Batman and Marvel’s Wolverine. Legends of the Dark Claw #1 was written by Larry Hama with art by Jim Balent and Ray McCarthy. Larry Hama had a very successful run on Wolverine.
Amazon (Princess Ororo of Themiscyra). An amalgamation of DC’s Wonder Woman and Marvel’s Storm. Amazon #1 was written and drawn by John Byrne. John Byrne is known for both his X-men run (featuring Storm) and his Wonder Woman run.
Iron Lantern (Hal Stark). An amalgamation of DC’s Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Marvel’s Iron Man. Iron Lantern #1 was written by Kurt Busiek with art by Paul Smith. Kurt Busiek is quite familiar with Iron Man with his years on Avengers and has also written some Green Lantern. He famously worked on another crossover JLA / Avengers.
Why it works: Brilliant amalgamation choices and a stellar list of creators, many of whom are very familiar with the source characters.
Batman / Elmer Fudd Special (2017)
Created by Tom King and Lee Weeks
Originally published as Batman / Elmer Fudd Special in 2017.
Collections: DC Meets Looney Tunes (2018). “Pway for Me” is reprinted in Batman by Tom King and Lee Weeks Deluxe Edition Hardcover (2020) and Batman by Tom King: Book One (2024).
The book was published as part of a DC Meets Looney Tunes crossover event featuring DC heroes and villains teaming up with the Looney Tunes. What makes this book interesting to me is that Tom King and Lee Weeks had collaborated on Batman already. The issue has two stories “Pway For Me” and “Rabbit Season.”
In “Pway For Me”, Elmer Fudd confronts Bugs “The Bunny” at a bar called Porky’s. Bugs has murdered his lover, Silver St. Cloud. Bugs manages to convince Elmer to spare him by telling him that millionaire Bruce Wayne hired him to kill St. Cloud. Fudd knows that St. Cloud had previously had romantic feelings for Wayne. Fudd goes to Wayne Manor to confront him.
“Rabbit Season” is a version of the famous 1953 Warner Brother’s cartoon, “Duck! Rabbit, Duck!” Instead of the iconic Rabbit Season, Duck Season argument, we get a Rabbit Season, Bat Season one. Batman taking the place of Daffy Duck.
Why it works: The first story is played so seriously with Lee Weeks rendering humanised versions of many iconic Looney Tunes characters. The second is a fun twist on a very well-known cartoon.
David Ferguson
David is a writer of stuff on comics and pop culture for GCN.ie. He is also a contributor and editor (Hugo nominated) for Journey Planet | Follow David on BlueSky
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