Marvel & IDW: Coincidence or Copy-cat?

There was a time when Marvel Comics was known as the “House of Ideas”. Lately, with so many concepts close to something that’s been done before, some Marvel critics among the comics fans have been thinking of them as the “House of Someone Else’s Ideas”. One of the more recent have been solicits for an upcoming “Dead Avengers” title that is reminiscent of DC’s Blackest Night/Brightest Day events.

While they may put some of their own spins on it, Marvel still appears to be getting their concepts from DC. That’s why something in last week’s Comic Shop News (#1209, if you have it) caught my attention.

First there’s IDW’s solicit for a miniseries entitled 5 Days To Die.

5 Days to Die follows Ray Crisara, a tough cop who has to make an impossible decision with just five days to live. Available every Wednesday for the month of September, each issue will feature a new day and new challenge for Ray. Raves fan-favorite writer Christos N. Gage, “this is the stuff crime noir fans love!”…

Upon surviving a terrible car accident, Ray is left a widower and his daughter is in critical condition. Believing this was a planned hit by the city’s drug lord he’s been pursuing, he must decide to track the killer or stay with his little girl. With a brain injury that leaves Ray less than a week to live, how will he decide to spend his last days on Earth?

Now compare this with the solicit for Marvel’s upcoming miniseries, Heroic Age: One Month To Live.

In a world of unlikely heroes, Dennis Sykes is about to become Marvel’s unlikeliest. Banker by day, struggling parent by night – and unhappy about it all. But when a tragic turn of events gives Dennis a 30 day death sentence, he discovers his accident comes with super-powers. And as the weeks in Dennis’ life tick down, he sets out to leave a mark one way or the other – – even if he has to go through Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers to do it. Everyone is the hero of their own story…but not every hero is a good guy.

Now there are some obvious differences. In the Marvel version, it’s an accident that give Sykes superpowers at the cost of a lower lifespan. It doesn’t appear that his wife dies or his daughter is in a coma like in the IDW version. However, both are stories where the protagonist has to decide what to do when events give them a shortened lifespan. In IDW’s case, it’s whether to go for revenge or to be with his daughter in his final days (and hopefully not her’s). In Marvel’s case, it’s a more classic comic situation, “what do I do now that I have superpowers?”. But the basic premise is there.

Also there? Both titles are a five-part miniseries released weekly starting this week. So both companies are releasing a five-part weekly comic miniseries about someone who has only days to live and have to decide what to do with it, with only the decision and origin changed. There’s a lot of coincidence in there, and given Marvel’s recent reputation (see also Secret Invasion versus DC’s old Millennium miniseries), this doesn’t look good for them.