For almost as long as superhero comics have been in existence, there have been characters crossing over into other comic books. Most notably in 1940, when the comic Marvel Mystery Comics #8 featured a fight between the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch. A few months later, DC Comics followed their lead and introduced The Justice Society of America in the comic All-Star Comics #3 starring the Flash, the Green Lantern, the Hawkman, the Spectre, Dr. Fate, the Hour-Man, the Sandman, the Atom and Johnny Thunder. Today we see characters crossing over into other books all the time, especially characters within the same publisher. But these days the crossovers don’t stop at comics -- there is a Marvel Cinematic Universe based on solo character movies with character cameos which progress to Avengers team films. Although DC has not yet matched the success of Marvel in this area, they too are building a cinematic universe based on character crossovers.
So, would we ever see Batman in a Spider-Man movie? Although we wouldn’t put it past Disney to own just about anything these days, it seems highly unlikely we would ever see the DC and Marvel universes colliding on-screen. However, in the comics, cross publisher collaborations happens more often than you might think. Some of these collaborations make sense, like the Spawn/Batman crossover, however, some of these team-ups have us scratching our head. In this list we take a look at all types of comic crossovers and pick out 10 of the most bizarre team-ups that actually worked, and 10 that should’ve just stayed as a wild idea.
20 WORKED: SUPERMAN/MUHAMMAD ALI
In 1978, DC came up with a very bizarre crossover that pitted Superman vs Muhammad Ali in a boxing match that had world saving implications. It is hard to comprehend this story working, but the men tasked to tell it were heroes in their own right, the legendary comic book creators, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams.
The writing team impressively constructed a tight narrative that set up Superman and Ali in a fair boxing match. The fight took place on another planet, so Superman’s strength advantage was taken away. Even though the titular men were brawling on the cover, they were actually on the same side, another brilliant strength of the plot. Somehow O’Neil and Adams turned this wacky concept into an incredible comic story.
19 DIDN’T WORK: PLANET OF THE APES/GREEN LANTERN
In 2017, DC Comics and BOOM! Studios teamed up for the crossover comic, Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern. Around the time of this comic’s release, DC had been quite successful with strange cross publisher collaborations, producing a couple well received comic books, seen later in this list.
The series received mixed reviews, which is understandable because these properties don’t work well together, evident in the tedious story. Hardcore fans of either world might find it amusing, but when looking at it as a whole, there is little to enjoy. It was slow to start and rushed at the end, exposing a number of plot holes. We found it tough to care about any character. Yeah, this crossover should have stayed as an idea.
18 WORKED: JUSTICE LEAGUE/POWER RANGERS
Another 2017 DC Comics and BOOM! Studios crossover comic was Justice League/Power Rangers. This mix of characters makes little sense at first glance because the Justice League is so much more powerful than the Power Rangers. However, the creative team figured out exactly how to make it work. They centred the story on the Power Rangers, keeping the witty, fun and action-packed nature of the Power Rangers BOOM! Studios comic.
The two teams jived incredibly well together, creating a number of hilarious moments between them. By the end, the stakes felt high as the two teams joined forces to defeat Brainiac and Lord Zedd. This is a team-up we would be happy to see again.
17 DIDN’T WORK: EMINEM/PUNISHER
Eminem’s sixth album was primed to top music charts all over the world in May of 2009. Strangely, two weeks prior to the album’s release, Eminem was also scheduled to hit comic stands alongside the Punisher in a collaboration between Marvel Comics and XXL Magazine.
While Eminem has stated that he is a huge comic book fan, this crossover is clearly just a marketing ploy. The story is off-the-wall bananas, but not in a good way, more in an incomprehensible way. At times it feels like whoever wrote the page you are reading didn’t read the previous page, or any other page for that matter. This idea should never have made it to print.
16 WORKED: MARVEL ZOMBIES/ARMY OF DARKNESS
Robert Kirkman ported his Walking Dead concept over to Marvel in 2005 and wrote a series called Marvel Zombies. The comic was set in a world where the superhero population was infected with a virus that turned them into zombies. In 2007, Marvel revived the idea, but this time they paired with Dynamite Entertainment to create a crossover event with the Army of Darkness universe, bringing the fan favorite Ash to the Marvel Universe.
The comic maintained the original series’ wit and added Ash’s sarcastic quips to the book. The original Marvel Zombie comic was always gory, which the Army of Darkness universe fits right into. In the end, an idea that had fans worried from the start turned out to be tons of fun.
15 DIDN’T WORK: STAR TREK/X-MEN
In 1996, Marvel Comics released a one-shot comic titled Star Trek/X-Men as part of their Paramount Comics imprint. The comic crossed the world of the original Star Trek crew, lead by James T. Kirk, with a seven member X-Men crew including Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Beast, Gambit and Bishop.
The comic was a complete mess. There were a number of confusing exposition dumps, which made it difficult to follow. The book included an old X-Men villain, Proteus, who hadn’t appeared in comics in over a decade and an Enterprise crew member, Gary Mitchell, who appeared in one episode, early in the first season. The inconsistent art didn’t do the book any favors either. This was an idea better left on the shelf.
14 WORKED: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES/X-FILES
IDW launched a comic series in 2013 titled The X-Files Season 10. The series brought back the fan favorite characters The Lone Gunmen, who also were at the forefront of the spinoff comic The X-Files: Conspiracy. The spin-off focused on the Gunmen investigating a number of urban legends including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
What appears to be an odd pairing on the surface is very simply set up. The comic doesn’t take itself too seriously, often poking fun at its properties, which works in the book’s favor. The simple transition into the universe crossover and the amount of enjoyment the all-star creators Ed Brisson, Michael Walsh and Jordie Bellaire put into this book make it a success.
13 DIDN’T WORK: SUPERMAN/FOOD MASCOTS
DC Comics produced a promotional book in 1987 crossing the likes of Superman and the Quik Bunny. In this comic, Superman was frozen by the Weather Wizard, but thankfully the Quik Bunny and his group of sidekick children were able to save Superman and drink a lot of Quik.
As bizarre as this comic was, it wasn’t the first time Superman teamed up with a food mascot. In 1979, a free comic, given away to Marc’s Family Restaurant customers starred the movie version of Superman and Marc’s mascot, Big Boy. In this comic, Christopher Reeves was playing the Superman character who was filming a scene flying beside Big Boy. The scene was directed by Richard Donner. Please, no more Superman/Mascot team-ups.
12 WORKED: JOKER/MASK
In 2000, DC Comics teamed up with Dark Horse Comics for the comic Joker/Mask. A comic that has Joker finding the Mask of Loki from the 1994 movie The Mask. Although Jim Carrey starred in both The Mask and Batman Forever (as the Riddler), it still seemed like an odd crossover choice.
The magical mask is intended to bring out the wearer’s deepest desires, but Joker already wears his deepest desires on his sleeve. However, the comic actually worked and even used this similarity against the Joker to aid Batman in his victory. It is a silly comic with cartoon art style, but if you go into the book knowing this, you will be pleased with the outcome.
11 DIDN’T WORK: SPIDER-MAN/SNL
In the early days of Saturday Night Live, when John Belushi, Bill Murray and Jane Curtin were taking the stage every week, Marvel Comics attempted to cash in on the buzz. In Marvel Team-Up #74, Chris Claremont constructed a story where Spider-Man takes Mary Jane to an SNL taping to watch Stan Lee as the guest (which is surprising enough).
The comic has Belushi, playing his famously funny character Samurai Futaba, mistakenly receiving a ring meant for Silver Samurai, who then shows up to claim it. This is a great idea for a crossover plot. However, the comic is not funny, which is the inherent problem with a comic trying to match the comedic prowess of the funniest sketch comedians in America.
10 WORKED: STAR WARS/SOUL CALIBUR
In the 2008 popular fighting video game Soul Calibur IV, fans were able to play as guest characters Darth Vader, Yoda and Starkiller. This was an exciting feature for a franchise that is mainly weapon-based.
A month after the game’s debut, an online comic was released titled Star Wars: Visions of the Blade. It is a prequel to the video game, establishing that Vader, Yoda and Starkiller all received visions of a mystical blade and were drawn to battle for it. The comic also has a number of battles between the Star Wars characters and the Soul Calibur fighters. It was done really well and became a must-read for fans of the game.
9 DIDN’T WORK: TRANSFORMERS VS G.I. JOE: THE MOVIE ADAPTATION
Remember that Transformers vs G.I.Joe crossover movie? No? That’s because it doesn’t exist. So why did Tom Scioli release a comic called Transformers vs G.I. Joe: The Movie Adaptation in 2017?
Scioli’s idea for the comic is to answer the question, “what if a comic was adapted into a movie and then that movie was adapted back into a comic?”. Confused yet? So are we. The point of the joke is that you would lose all the essential plot points and it would end up being a highlight reel of impressive action sequences. A pretty clever idea from Scioli, but perhaps a little too ambitious and gimmicky for a one-shot comic book.
8 WORKED: MARS ATTACKS/POPEYE
In January of 2013, the Mars Attacks comics were scheduled to cross over with five different comic titles: Ghostbusters, Transformers, KISS, Zombies vs Robots and Popeye. The most bizarre and enjoyable of these is Mars Attacks Popeye. The comic works because it spends most of the time with Popeye, nailing his characterization.
Terry Beatty’s artwork creates the classic Popeye atmosphere, making this comic feel like an extended comic strip, in which the martians are invading a Popeye comic and need to be stopped. The comic also places a lot of focus on punchlines instead of plot. This crossover proves that if you execute a bizarre idea with a high standard of quality, it can work.
7 DIDN’T WORK: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG/IMAGE COMICS CHARACTERS
Sonic the Hedgehog is a cartoon hedgehog that can run fast and has a strong sense of morality. He stars mostly in children’s comics. In Sonic Super Special #7 he crossed over with some the most mature ‘90s Image Comics characters, in possibly the most bizarre crossover on this list. Spawn, The Maxx, Savage Dragon, Velocity and Shadowhawk all made appearances in the comic.
The clash of characters may have worked if the comic approached it as camp, but it did not and the result is simply an awkward story with a number of mismatched characters. Before giving the green light on this crossover, Archie Comics and Image Comics should have decided what audience it was for.
6 WORKED: BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
Originally crossing over in 2015, this team-up was so successful they met again in 2017 to continue the action. In the original comic, the Turtles were transported to Gotham and had to spend their time fighting off the Gotham rogues gallery. The Turtles worked well opposite the famous Gotham baddies, who were almost all present in the first iteration of this crossover.
The writer of the story, James Tynion IV, did a fantastic job integrating the two worlds, with the climax involving a number of Batman villains being exposed to the mutagen and turning them into humanoid animals. Where else are you going to see Two-Face as a baboon? This crossover turned out to be a surprising success.
5 DIDN’T WORK: SPIDER-MAN/REN AND STIMPY
On the cover of The Ren and Stimpy Show #6, Spider-Man is swinging towards Powdered Toast Man, who is Ren and Stimpy’s closest depiction of a superhero. Across the top of the cover it reads, “Because No One Demanded It!” which remains the comic’s most self-aware moment. Due to Ren and Stimpy’s surrealism, it simply does not play in the same sandbox as the more realistic Spider-Man.
This is a concept more adept to Deadpool, who at the very least can (in continuity) acknowledge he is in a Ren and Stimpy comic. The writer of this comic, Dan Slott, later went on to write The Amazing Spider-Man for many years. This comic will stand as a bad idea and possibly the strangest writing audition ever.
4 WORKED: BATMAN/ELMER FUDD
In 2017, DC launched a number of Looney Tunes crossover comics. Batman/Elmer Fudd was not only the best of these crossovers, it was one of the best single issues of the year. This comic is written in a noir tone, treating Elmer Fudd as brutal and relentless. However, the writer, Tom King, still keeps Fudd’s speech impediment, which reminds readers of how silly he normally is.
With this narrative trick, King is able to write a seriously good noir comic and have the humor inherently present in the way he tells the story. This comic also just happens to have the best art of any DC comic all year. Somehow this silly idea turned into one of the best comics of 2017.
3 DIDN’T WORK: JERRY LEWIS/DC SUPERHEROES
Not only was Jerry Lewis in a comic book, he was the titular character of a DC comic book that ran 124 issues between 1952 and 1971. That sounds like enough to make this list, but it didn’t stop there -- DC crossed over a number of their superheroes into this comic book.
In 1966, Jerry Lewis met Batman and shortly after that Superman made an appearance. The Flash and Wonder Woman also showed up, along with a number of other DC characters over the years. Most of these crossovers involved Lewis dressing up like the famous hero to either get into trouble or out of it. The silly plot paired with DC’s serious heroes didn’t work the first time and should never have been repeated.
2 WORKED: ARCHIE/PREDATOR
There has been a lot of success in the past placing the idealistic Archie kids in some sort of dreary and violent timeline. Comics like Afterlife with Archie and even the Criminal arc “The Last of The Innocent” have been greatly successful following this formula. There is something about the juxtaposition between the Archie characters and horror that resonates.
Perhaps the most enjoyable of all these is Archie vs Predator. A comic that keeps Archie and the gang true to their frustratingly upbeat attitudes while letting a Predator roam free in their world. If you like horror comics and are familiar with the genre tropes this book is extremely enjoyable.
1 DIDN’T WORK: GODZILLA/CHARLES BARKLEY
In a 1992 Nike television commercial, a giant Charles Barkley plays basketball against Godzilla in downtown Tokyo. Despite Barkley committing what seems to be an offensive foul in the commercial, it was received well by Dark Horse Comics who decided to adapt the commercial into a one-shot comic book.
The comic was silly at best, and we're not sure who this comic is for. We don’t think there was a large untapped market of Barkley fans who were also comic lovers, while the Godzilla fans would be wondering why and how he can dunk a basketball. Although the concept can sustain a 30-second commercial, it proved it could not support an entire comic book.