Debate The Superiority Between Marvel & DC

We are Jonathan and Joseph Garcia, twin brothers born and raised in Denver, CO, and lifelong fans of DC and Marvel, respectively. As children, in our effort to differentiate ourselves as unique from each other, we established a sibling rivalry that goes on to this day. Growing up together, we would often spend time debating the outcomes of battles between the fictional comic book characters. On our 30th birthday, we decided we would start a podcast based on the conversations we were already having on a consistent basis.

Dynamic Duel: DC vs. Marvel began in January 2016. In the show, we debate the superiority between Marvel and DC through reviewing films based on their comic book characters and through pitting the characters against each other in statistical fight simulations.

Our listeners are primarily male (90%), fall in the 28-44 age range, and typically tune in from the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. They are comic, film and television fans who consume lots of superhero and sci-fi/fantasy media.

With the emergence of DC Films in 2016, we knew that DC was starting a shared film universe that could rival Marvel's already impressive movie lineup, and that more people in the world would become aware of the Marvel vs. DC fan rivalry. We figured that time was a good opportunity to get our unique voice out there and appeal to fans who shared the same question of which company was superior and who could beat whom in a fictional battle.

Our first episode was published within a week from the show’s conception. We didn’t really have any buildup because we had no idea how to promote the show at the time.

Dynamic Duel is a weekly show that publishes episodes every Tuesday. From conception to completion (including planning, outlining, researching, writing, recording, editing, uploading, promoting and engaging), each episode takes approximately 30 to 35 hours of work between the two of us. We make time typically in the late hours of the night, leaving our weekends and evenings as open as possible for family and friends (though we're both probably lacking on sleep).

Monetarily, we spend approximately $290 a year on audio and website hosting expenses. Our recording equipment in total can likely be valued around $350 (not including our computers). We fund this ourselves, however the show is now earning enough through Patreon, merchanise sales and sponsors to more than cover the costs of production.

Our first sponsorship was from Marvel and Stitcher, who asked us to promote their new Wolverine podcast. At the time, we were getting about 850 downloads for each episode's first 30 days. Nowadays, we get anywhere from 1600 - 2200 downloads in an episode's first month. Sponsors have exclusively reached out to us via email.

The primary benefit we get from podcasting is getting to share our passion with other people and connecting with other fans.

We have two condenser mics and record using our own Zoom H4n Pro recorders. We edit in Apple's Garageband and host our show through PodBean. We prepare each episode by first outlining the episode and then researching, which involves reading comics and watching Marvel and DC's films. Our format rarely allows for guests, but when we do feature them, we each record our own parts and communicate through Zoom.

We market our show primarily through social channels including Facebook, the /marvelvsdc subreddit, and Twitter. In every episode, we ask our audience a ‘Question of the Week’ and get responses via email and social media. We award our favorite answer with a prize illustration that we feature on Instagram. Each drawing gets turned into a T-shirt that listeners can buy on our TeePublic shop. We also create a video of each episode that viewers can watch on YouTube.

We could have discussions for hours on end about our topic, and thought that meant we were 90% there. The truth is, although most conversational podcasts appear to be a candid chat amongst friends, a "normal conversation" plays out and feels much differently than a "podcast conversation" as you're recording. You slowly develop a sort of on-air personality that better suits the needs of your audience.

Editing is key. This is what I wish we did more of in the beginning. The show's early stuff was full packed full of stutters, "ums", "ahs", and "likes". If you don't have strong public speaking skills, your show is potentially going to have this problem as well. The conversationalist podcasts you listen to that don't have a lot of speech disfluency are either created by exceptional speakers, or they're heavily edited. Our show is the latter, and we've learned enough editing skills to ensure my episodes move along at a nice clip. Uncut, our recordings are about 2 hours long. Tightened up, they end around the 40-minute to 1-hour mark.

This is more of a personal preference, but make sure your show actually has a purpose. People have come to us asking me to listen to their show, and nothing will make us turn it off faster than "a show about nothing, just two friends discussing whatever they want!" Find a niche, a theme, a subject. Teach us something, or be unlike anything else out there. Not that there's anything wrong with recording your friendly conversations for posterity, but these shows have a much harder time finding an interested audience, and holding our attention.

Make sure to get a website. For the longest time, we didn't think a website was necessary. When directing people to listen to the show, we'd just say, "Go wherever you listen to your podcasts." But not only can a website direct your listeners to their app of choice, it provides them with a visual feel of your show that can help with the listening experience. A site also helps your audience learn more about you and opens your show up to potential PR, advertising and other marketing opportunities you wouldn't have otherwise.

Also, whatever your release schedule is, stick to it and be as consistent – to the minute – as possible. we've found that releasing an episode even an hour late makes a noticeable difference in our analytics for weeks due to a variety of factors. I mean, perhaps a late upload means the East Coast commuters don't get their chance to listen to that week's episode, continue living their life, and forget about your show forever. Don't run that risk. Make sure you're there for your audience when they expect you to be.

You can learn more about our podcast at dynamicduel.com.

Podcast website: dynamicduel.com
Facebook: facebook.com/DynamicDuelPodcast
Instagram: instagram.com/dynamicduelpodcast
Twitter: twitter.com/Dynamic_Duel
YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCJXg7wyvqow8lZNdvKLZ-rQ
Patreon: patreon.com/dynamicduel
PayPal: paypal.me/dynamicduel