Comics- Fictional Or Real Cities

Why does DC comics have fictional cities while Marvel comics have real ones?

Marvel has its fair share of fictional locations. Marvel has Latveria, which is where Doctor Doom is the ruler. I’m pretty sure Latveria doesn’t exist.Also, there is definitely no Wakanda, which is where Black Panther is from.Both of these comic universes have fictional and actual geographical locations for events that happen within their books.Now if you’re asking why is Superman in Metropolis, Batman in Gotham, Wonder Woman in Themyscira, Flash in Central City, Green Arrow in Star City, and so on and so forth, then this could have been a choice in order for the very first readers imagine their own cities as the location/battleground for all the amazing things happening in the comics.

What are the real life versions of the fictional cities represented in DC Comics?

Gateway City is East St. Louis, IL.Midway City is in Michigan, probably originally intended to be Detroit, but now, according to some writers, in the Upper Peninsula.Opal City seems not to be on the coast, but on a large river, and is in territory that was part of the US in the early 19th Century, during which time it was raided by pirates, so...Baton Rouge, maybe? New Orleans? Or if we put it on the coast, possibly Savannah?St.Roche is obviously New Orleans.Ivy Town is probably Cambridge, MA. If not, then New Haven, CT or Princeton, NJ.Fawcett City is Mineeapolis/St. PaulCivic City, home of the JSA, has always been a puzzle to me. It's not Washington DC, and it's not New York. Maybe Boston or Philly?

Why did DC Comics create completely fictional towns and cities while Marvel Comics opted to use names of real towns and cities?

Although both companies have been around since the mid-late 1930s, Marvel has been essentially two different companies over that period of time. By contrast, DC has been the same company since that time.And that regard, DC comics as we know it predates Marvel comics by almost 30 years.So much was different between the time that DC comics got it stored in the time that Marvel became a household name. The legal issues between Superman and Shazam are but one example. By the time Marvel came along, laws were different and that is one of the reasons why the Marvel universe is now full of Superman clones, where Fawcett comics was sued for Captain Marvel, even though he differs from Superman in more ways than all of the Marvel “Super-clones”.Another thing that was different during the early days of DC comics is the thought behind using real names of cities. Where comics are written about things that are based on death, violence, and distraction, the general public frowned upon the idea of having well-known cities being destroyed in the story-lines. In other words, a giant mechanical robot cannot destroy New York City in 1940. But it could do so in 1962 and not get people riled up.The attack on the industry, by Dr. Fredric Wertham, a noted New York City psychiatrist, would further the idea against comics in general and the belief that they invoked violence in children. In other words, they’re not real. Therefore, the cities they destroy shouldn’t be real either. It went much deeper but this is in direct response to your question.DC has actually experimented with some changes, taking away the outer-trunks from Batman and Superman was but one idea. But the fact that they’ve now returned points to the fact that DC comics characters attract a more traditional-minded audience. Thus the reason for the resistance to change. DC even experimented with real cities for a minute. Wonder Woman was based in Boston. Kyle Rayner was in LA, and then NYC.Again, Marvel offered a fresher look at superheroes and was able to “push the envelope” a bit by the time current Marvel started in 1961. They were not affected by the “War on Comics” as DC was in the 1950s.

Do people reading comics care if the place/location is fictional but related to the real world or referenced in real life?

I think it goes both ways. Marvel typically has its characters inhabit real places (often New York, but there are other superhero hotspots as well), and I suspect that makes those stories feel a little closer to “real life.” But it limits the scope of the stories as well, because if you depict the realistic consequences of super-powered violence, the collateral damage can be immense.The first Civil War crossover graphically illustrated this by having a super-villain kill over 600 people (including a school full of children) in a huge explosion in Stamford, Connecticut. That city, to Marvel readers, calls to mind the same feelings as real-world locations that have suffered such terror (e.g. Columbine).I think this cuts both ways. On the one hand, having real-world places anchors the action to a certain extent in the real world, but modern superhero action isn’t just catching bank robbers, and has tangible consequences that impact the fictional history of that world, and can make it harder for new readers to come up to speed. If a character in a Marvel comic references the “Stamford incident,” long-time readers will recognize this as a sort of shorthand for calling to mind horrific acts of terror without having to talk about real-world events, but this will be completely lost on a new reader.In fact, this kind of indiscriminate collateral damage formed part of the inciting plot in 2016’s Superman vs Batman, where Superman’s battle with Zod so infuriated Bruce Wayne that he set out to kill the man of steel:It could be argued that since this occurred in Metropolis, not New York or Chicago or Philadelphia, it’s easier for the event to resonate with residents of any large city. In a sense, you could say that DC tends to deal more in metaphor than their marvelous competition.But there’s always an exception. The one that comes to mind in this case is poor Montevideo, Uruguay.As part of the (excellent IMHO) DC One Million crossover event, the villains destroy Montevideo in a shocking nuclear conflagration. This event, which I’m sure had a significant impact on any Uruguayans who read the story, had lasting consequences within the DC universe and became part of the historical context that future writers would have to deal with for years to come (until they rebooted their continuity, because presumably the Montevideo of the New 52 is safe and sound).

Why do DC Comics cities have fake names?

At first, this was so people could substitute their own homes into the fictional cities.Metropolis and Gotham are both analogs for New York, but you could really imagine them as any city int eh early days.As time went on the writers realized this also meant they could do things to and with these cities that they couldn’t do to real ones. These cities CAN be destroyed, completely wiped off the map, and have been on occasion…You can also provide them their own mythologies, Gotham in particular has a deep and detailed history full of crime, treachery, madness and the supernatural.Or you can take them i n weird new directions, make them “experimental” cities, like Metropolis, which has become a weird city of the future, with rising roadways, and floating cars and maglev trains and such.There area lot of good reasons behind it.It does make for some awkward geography at times, like Both Metropolis and Gotham are in New Jersey for instance…

Why is Black Panther living in a fictional city? Why not a real city?

Wakanda is a country, not a city. And it’s not the only fictional country in fiction. Why single out Black Panther?And why use a real country and possibly offend citizens of that country?(A2A)

Is it better for superheroes to exist in fictional cities like Gotham and Metropolis, or fictional versions of real cities like NYC or Manhattan?

Advantages of fictional:1. Can have whatever layout the story demands (ideally, while still maintaining continuity). Need a harbour? Ok. A football stadium? Sure. etc, etc.2. Can involve any architecture that fits the character e.g. Gotham3. No whining from people about how X street doesn't really intersect with Y streetAdvantages of real:1. No wasted time designing the background for stories. Pick a place you like and use it.2. No need to explain where a city is located in relation to other real world places