Disney Buys Marvel

[samurainoir]

On the flipside... HOWARD THE DUCK can go back to his old pantless look and maybe crossover with Donald and Uncle Scrooge. *sigh* That's one I would have loved to see Steve Gerber write.

and likewise an outlet to bring Disney characters to comic books.

Once the existing licenses run out I would imagine. Too bad... I was really enjoying those BOOM titles. Maybe Marvel can still publish those, but farm out the production to Boom (ala Marvel Knights, Heroes Reborn). Does Disney still control the Muppets?

And does SLG still have a bunch of licenses? I know Gargoyles and Alice and Wonderland were there.

Who's got TRON?

Expect an AVALANCHE of Marvel themed Disney merch... Mickey as Spiderman, Goofy as Captain America etc.

I wonder what happens with the Marvel stuff over at Universal Studios?

[WheresRICHARD]

As someone else mentioned, what a great idea it would be for Disney to have Marvel do an "INCREDIBLES" comic book.

[Tothiro]

Hopefully with Disney calling the shots we won't see anymore Zombies.

Because Pirates of the Carribean much?

I'm on the fence myself because I can't predict the future on this one. It could be great, it could be legal horror, it could mean no appreciable change in development...

Disney already has a "if it ain't broke" quote out on the topic of Marvel Studios. Word is though that Lasseter may have already talked with Marvel Studios about future development... Disney has been fairly hands off with Pixar... who knows.

Disney has released, through their Buena Vista arm, such kid friendly titles as An American Werewolf in Paris, Indecent Behavior III, and who could forget 1993's epic, Bare Exposure?

Sure, the years were bad when Disney was under Eisner but I think Roy E. Disney had helped out quite a bit with his second Save Disney campaign.

[johnnystorm]

Once the existing licenses run out I would imagine. Too bad... I was really enjoying those BOOM titles. Maybe Marvel can still publish those, but farm out the production to Boom (ala Marvel Knights, Heroes Reborn). Does Disney still control the Muppets?

And does SLG still have a bunch of licenses? I know Gargoyles and Alice and Wonderland were there.

Who's got TRON?

Expect an AVALANCHE of Marvel themed Disney merch... Mickey as Spiderman, Goofy as Captain America etc.

I wonder what happens with the Marvel stuff over at Universal Studios?

Disney still has the Muppets. Yeah, by Christmas I expect to see those figures announced or in stores, at least at the theme parks. At the very least a T-shirt line of Spider-Mickey & Hulk Goofy.

I think the Slave Labor stuff is over with. Didn't they just release the final Gargoyles stuff as a graphic novel. Thought I heard that. I didn't follow those too much, but I did buy the Haunted Mansion books which were pretty good, just..different. In a good way, I mean that, I liked them very much. Problem was they came out sporadically, and nobody knew what to make of them. They seemed like they should be in that Johnny the Homicidal Maniac vein, and yet they were Disney. Retailers just avoided them I guess, since they wrre neither, SLG & Disney were not a good match, I guess.

I expect Disney has the upper hand here concerning Universal...Universal has a great deal tied up in Marvel attractions. Disney can build a new Marvel Universe park or area off Hollywood Studios and until it's completed, allow the licenses with Universal to continue. Then when the contract is up (coincidentally very close to completion of the Disney park), they take the characters away...leaving Universal with 1/2 an empty attraction. Could Universal negotiate with say, DC to replace the Marvel heroes with the JLA? I dunno if Warners would be interested in being the replacements and having everyone knowing that they were second choice. Universal certainly could refurbish the attractions as Universal movie themed properties though, but losing the Marvel stuff to their rivals is rough. And having to pay Disney until it happens as well, basically funding the rival park's creation.

[kryptosmaster]

Oh and as someone else said, it now actually gives Marvel the money to buy the rights to Superman if the Siegel family is interested in selling once the copyrights revert to them in a couple of years.

Put that date down as the day I quit buying new comic books forever!

I've been joking about this, but put me in the corner that thinks this is a GREAT thing. It gives Marvel money it's needed for years, allows them an avenue to bring lots more of their characters to TV, and likewise an outlet to bring Disney characters to comic books. I see little down side to this.

Honestly I could care less. I stopped reading Marvel over 10 years ago. The movies are ok but the comics...well they just aren't the same ones I started reading.

Rich

[WheresRICHARD]

Put that date down as the day I quit buying new comic books forever!



Honestly I could care less. I stopped reading Marvel over 10 years ago. The movies are ok but the comics...well they just aren't the same ones I started reading.

Rich

But see THAT is why I think this is a GOOD thing.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Lots going on here.

>The movies are ok but the comics...well they just aren't the same ones I started reading.

This line in particular makes me sad. It's a popular sentiment these days, and one I can't really empathise with. Why would you want a story/character/series to be the same? 'Course, with the Marvel characters you have to differentiate WHICH same you're referring to, since they've been made over more than a few times over the years. (Not as much as the DC cast, but then again, they're not nearly as old.)

>I've never been into the darker Marvel stuff anyway. I like it just like it was in the 70's.

Like that; with Son of Satan, Satanna, the Rampaging Hulk.... "Dark" isn't new to Marvel. They were puishing things in the ealry 70's.... mostly 'cos horror was popular and the Warren mags were doing well. (Which is why they released stuff like the Rampaging Hulk I bet.) Really, it's cyclical. Light/dark/kind friendly/"grownup"....

>The same characters are marketed to adults and children.

True; but in Marvel's case the books have generally been marketed to an older crowd.... 14 to 20. The MERCHANDAISING has been aimed at kids.

>You can't have it both ways.

I disagree, partly because they HAVE had it both ways, and partly because of how the model works. In the past, the toys were the seeder industry: they got the kids interested in the characters. The books would hold them for a few more years after they outgrew the toys. Nowadays it seems like the comics have been forgotten by the parent companies 'cos they don't generate anywhere's near the revenue the toys did. It worked the other way around when Marvel was it's own entity 'cos the comics WERE what they did. Once they became part of a conglomerate they turned into another department. Marvel proper does comics, but they're one part of Marvel Entertainment.

>the Zombie Stuff is Already Marketed for Adults only

That too.... and really; the Marvel Zombie stuff wasn't that bad. There IS a lot of heroism in the story; especially by part 2. It's NOT all doom and gloom. The stakes are a lot higher than most books, since people ACTUALLY die; but for me that just makes the heroes MORE heroic since they're fighting a more desperate fight.

I don't understand a lot of the current "comics SHOULD BE for kids" hate either. (Some of it I do, but that's 'cos the stories are poorly done, not 'cos of the subject matter.) What confounds me is how many folks who expose this also see the 80's as the pinnacle of superhero comic; and see stuff like the Watchmen and Dark Knight as peaks of comicbokkedness.... considering THOSE are the books that STARTED it all.

>Not at my LCS....on the shelf with the mainstream stuff

Which would seem to be more of a problem with the store than the books.

>Hopefully with Disney calling the shots we won't see anymore Zombies.

Unles they decide to keep Marvel it's own separate little outfit, and the execs decide that Zombies are the next big thing. "Say, the Distinguished Competition" is doing something with zombie superheores too; aren't they? And that OTHER zombie comic was just made into a tv show? Well then, our choice is clear...." Then it's all undead all the time!

*sigh*

>To me, it's bad marketing to have Zombie Spidey co-exist with pre-school Spidey on merchandise.

Maybe, unless you go back to the old model wherein the kid merchandaise brings them in and the "zombies" keep them around longer.

>Punishers gonna get wussified again

That's all part of the cycle too: sometimes he subdues the bad guy with "mercy rounds," sometimes he kills them in a hail of oddly bloodless gunfire....

>I think it's been a few decades since Disney has espoused abstinence.

Didn't see the Jonas Brothers episode of South Park, did you? There's a good article on Disney and sex in the book "How To Read Donald Duck."

>I'd say there aren't going to be huge changes with the comic books since it's pretty much not where the real $$$ resides

I think we're gonna hafta wait and see, but I kinda agree with this one. Seems like the comics themselves account for a really small amount of the bucks any more.

Say! Disney's been releasing the Miyazaki films over here, right? Maybe they'll decide THAT'S the route to go with the Marvel characters!

Don C.

[BlackKnight]

It IS somewhat Comical to Read seemingless Endless complaints on Marvel Zombie Stuff ..., Considering there really is not that Much of it out there,.. Compaired to The Endless "Stuff that isn't or Directed Towards Children" .

There's like What,.. Maybe 25 Books right now,.. with Probably 30 Different Covers,.. & a Couple of Trades,.. & Only Half of those Books Even Had Zombie Spider-Man in them...

3 Action Figures
3 Busts
3 Statues
About 10 Mini-Mates
A Couple of Shirts & Posters ...

& I think thats about it...
Now Can Anyone Really List ALL Of the Endless Other Marvel Comics, Toys, Statues, Busts, Posters, Shirts & Clothing ?

Didn't think So..

[jds1911a1]

So we are going to get either Lil' Wolverine (Teeny X-Men?) or Disney Zombies?

Rich

marvel has been marketing kiddie versions of the xmen and spidey to preschoolers for years (and decades for spidey remeber when Morgan Freeman was easy reader on Electric company so was Spiderman)

[WheresRICHARD]

marvel has been marketing kiddie versions of the xmen and spidey to preschoolers for years (and decades for spidey remeber when Morgan Freeman was easy reader on Electric company so was Spiderman)

Yep and there was even a regular Electric Company "Spidey Super Stories" comic book. If Disney Marvel came out with something like that today, you can bet people would forget about the 70s "Spidey Super Stories" and say "Oh no, look what Disney is doing to Spiderman!"

[kryptosmaster]

Hmmmm....

Lots going on here.

>The movies are ok but the comics...well they just aren't the same ones I started reading.

This line in particular makes me sad. It's a popular sentiment these days, and one I can't really empathise with. Why would you want a story/character/series to be the same? 'Course, with the Marvel characters you have to differentiate WHICH same you're referring to, since they've been made over more than a few times over the years. (Not as much as the DC cast, but then again, they're not nearly as old.)

Don C.

Let me elaborate:
I'll use Fantastic Four for an example. I bought FF for many many years. I have a huge run and love these characters that started in FF #1 and ran through #400-something. Then Marvel ditched everything and started over with #1 and these aren't the same characters. Oh sure they are Mr Fantastic and the Thing and Torch and Invisible Woman (or did they revert back to Girl?) but they're NOT the same ones I was reading before that. let's call them the Earth-2 version for argument's sake: similiar yet not the same and the previous 400+ issues don't count.
That's what I meant.
Rich

[samurainoir]

Yep and there was even a regular Electric Company "Spidey Super Stories" comic book. If Disney Marvel came out with something like that today, you can bet people would forget about the 70s "Spidey Super Stories" and say "Oh no, look what Disney is doing to Spiderman!"

And how quickly we forget about the more contemporary versions of "Spidey Super Stories" they have put out over the years... with a particular emphasis on the "Marvel Adventures" line and the aggressiveness that they have put these manga/digest sized volumes into kid/teen sections of bookstores and libraries in the past half-decade!

There is plenty of Kid-Friendly Marvel Comics. If everyone who complains about the inaccessibility of the "mainline" stuff actually bought the kid friendly stuff over Amazing/Spectacular/Ultimate, I'm guessing we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

I mean look at how many different incarnations Marvel has produced to access that market over many many years...





















I for one love the fact that there are now sub-brands like Spiderman and Friends and Tiny Titans that I can introduce to my niece and nephew. There were certainly not things like this for them in the 80's and 90's for pre-schoolers. Or even the sixties when Stan and co were pushing for older teen and college age readership.



I don't think anyone has to worry about Disney "Disneyfying" the Marvel characters, because Marvel has already gone and done it.

Anyone read Pet Avengers yet? Any good?



and one of my favorites for readers of ALL ages...


Hopefully the folks who are enjoying Tiny Titans are getting a kick out of the Franklin Richards series as well.

[WheresRICHARD]

Wow, I hadn't seen MOST of these! Marvel has apparently been "Disneyfied" for some time already!

[samurainoir]

And for comparison sake, let's look at a video rental store like Blockbuster...

Look at all the different Batman products spread out across all the age demographics in various sections around the store...

Regular Release on the wall along with the rest of the Grown Up movies



Action Adventure Section


Comedy or Classics section?


Over in the Anime section you've might have this one...


Kids Section




Finally Video Game Section...




Is anyone complaining that it's inappropriate to have The Dark Knight DVD or Arkham Asylum Video Game in the same store as Batman Brave and Bold?




Now by comparison. You go to Toys R Us...




Now go to a comic store, behind a Glass Case, probably up high with a price tag of $150...

And let's not even pretend the the contemporary comic store is necessarily making anywhere near their bulk profits in sales of comics for kids. ALL of these places cater to the adult collector. Who in their right mind is going to buy their kid a $150 Spiderman Zombie statue? And if the store is one of the rare places that happens to carry kids stuff, more often than not, I've seen them (at least the good places you'd even consider taking a child to) has a separate kids section, just like a video store or a book store. If your local comic store is putting The Walking Dead trade paperbacks next to Disney's Cars comics, it's time for a new comic store!

Let's face it, the average child has a better chance of seeing that freakin' scary Heath Leger Joker Poster from The Dark Knight on a Subway ad or at the Movie theatre while catching the latest Disney movie than they will ever catch a glimpse of the Marvel Zombies statue within their childhood.



Why no public outrage at how inappropriate The Dark Knight or Batman begins is for five year olds? Common sense seems to prevail within Movie Theatres, Video Stores and Bookstores where age-appropriate material are marketed and classified accordingly.

[Earth 2 Chris]

As scary as Ledger looks, it doesn't compare to a zombified Spidey who looks to have stuck his hand THROUGH his bride in that statue. That statue was the offender that I spoke of earlier. And it was down low, in a case, right under a cash register.

Also, the Joker was created as a scary serial killer. DK harkens back to the earlier, and modern comic versions of the characters. I don't think Lee and Ditko ever intended for Spidey to disembowl and eat people.

Chris