DC / Marvel: Superman / Spider-Man

#1A

Jorge Jiménez Regular

Release:	Mar 25, 2026
Cover:	May 2026

Creators

Writer	Sean Murphy, Jeff Lemire, Mark Waid, Matt Fraction, Tom King, Christopher Priest, Gail Simone, Greg Rucka
Artist	Daniel Sampere, Belén Ortega, Rafa Sandoval, Jorge Jiménez, Sean Murphy, Nicola Scott, Steve Lieber
Cover Artist	Jorge Jiménez
Penciller	Jim Lee
Inker	Scott Williams
Colorist	Alejandro Sánchez, Alex Sinclair, Tomeu Morey, Jordie Bellaire, Simon Gough, Marcelo Maiolo, Nathan Fairbairn, Ulises Arreola
Letterer	Clayton Cowles, Pat Brosseau, Tom Napolitano, Ariana Maher, Becca Carey, Lucas Gattoni, AndWorld Design, Willie Schubert

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50 – *sigh* – years ago, DC and Marvel had their first crossover event featuring Superman and Spider-Man. Given that a new era of crossovers began last year, it only seemed fitting that the two companies would mark that anniversary with a new crossover.

I missed that first Treasury Edition crossover when it first came out – I was only four – but I saw the house ad for it many, many times years later in some of the older comics that came into my possession and always er, marveled at it.

I did pick up their second crossover when it happened, albeit in mass-market paperback form. That was lost to the ages years ago, though I did pick up the Treasury Edition at a con back in 2019. I’ve also since scored the facsimile edition of the first crossover, though I also have that reprinted in the DC vs. Marvel omnibus.

Anyway, that’s the past, so let’s focus on the present.

The main event from Mark Waid and Jorge Jiménez features Supes and Spidey teaming up against Doctor Octopus, who was one of the antagonists in the first crossover, and Brainiac, who was not one of the antagonists in the first.

Brainiac enlists the aid of Doc Ock to help rid himself of a virus he’d picked up while collecting the remnants of some alien civilization by broadcasting said virus into the minds of the people of Earth.

Honestly, the thing I liked most about the story was that we got an appearance from Dr. Jenet Klyburn.

The rest of the story was fine but felt kind of rushed (and also featured the most abhorrent pun I’ve ever encountered).

As with the other books that have come out in this new era of crossovers, there are multiple shorter stories featuring residents of the DC Universe pairing up with residents of the Marvel Universe accompanying the main story, and for the most part they all suffer from feeling rushed, too.

There are a couple of stories that just…end. There’s no actual resolution – though the heroes seem to be optimistic about their chances of success – the story just seems to run out of pages.

The other pairings are:

• Lois Lane and Mary Jane – This one is a stinker. Total dud.
• Superboy-Prime and Spider-Man – An interesting concept that utilizes Prime’s reality-punching power and his knowledge of comics to interesting effect, but it’s one of the stories that just ends.
• Superboy and Spider-Man 2099 – The Superboy in question is young Clark, who has an encounter with a time-traveling Miguel O’Hara while time traveling himself tracking down the cause of a change he found to the 31st Century where he was visiting his pals in the Legion of Super-Heroes. The time where – when? – they meet is the past for Spider-Man 2099, but still the future for Superboy – and us – and they also encounter a legacy hero native to the time as well as his mentor. Another story that just ends.
• Jimmy Olsen and Carnage – This one reunites Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber with Superman’s Pal and has the same humorous spirit as their previous stories featuring Jimmy, but there’s not a lot to it.
• Jonathan Kent and Ben Parker – Just two good guys from very different backgrounds coming together through the power of being two good guys. It’s fine.
• The Daily Planet and The Daily Bugle – A televised debate between J. Jonah Jameson and Lois Lane on the topic of media bias. Had potential but didn’t have the space it needed.
• Power Girl and The Punisher – Gail Simone got the chance to make the Punisher do what she once broke the internet by suggesting he ought to do more often. Best story of the bunch in my opinion, though, again, a bit rushed.

One thing the book has going for it is that the art is great across the board. Every artist did a fantastic job.

As I noted, the real problem was that none of the stories really had room to breathe.

Well, except the Lois and MJ story. There was no salvaging that one. Not even with the gorgeous art from the team of Jim Lee and Scott Williams. Sorry, Tom King. This one was just a dog.

Overall, I think I liked it more than either of the last two crossover books, and one of the reasons for that is that most of the stories – except the Superboy-Prime/Spider-Man one – didn’t bother with explaining how these characters from different companies and continuities could exist side-by-side. They just were. It was more in keeping with the original crossovers.

I will say, though, that I liked the original two Superman/Spider-Man crossovers more than this one.

However, as with the previous crossover, this was only one half of the event. Marvel’s Spider-Man/Superman is scheduled for next month.

We’ll see how that one goes.

Also, you can check out the variants of this issue I picked up here.

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