Marvel Zombies

[samurainoir]

The difference is, Todd McFarlane's Twisted Oz isn't licensed on diapers and tricycles.

Chris

But the Oz characters have been beloved children's icons for much longer than Spiderman and co. They have adorned children's product for decades more than most of the Marvel characters.

Santa, Mrs Claus, Rudolph etc are also beloved children's characters that he's managed to turn into adult collectibles recently.

Someone's buying this product. Otherwise it would just go away.

I'm not saying that it's "right" or "wrong", but Comic Stores and even traditional Toy Stores have been trending this way long before Marvel Zombies. I mean look at the output of the Spawn action figures... many characters in that line have been comparable to the "scariness" of the Marvel Zombies stuff and have been sold to kids for over a decade now in the toy stores.

[palitoy]

But the Oz characters have been beloved children's icons for much longer than Spiderman and co. They have adorned children's product for decades more than most of the Marvel characters.

Santa, Mrs Claus, Rudolph etc are also beloved children's characters that he's managed to turn into adult collectibles recently.

They're almost unrecognizable compared to known (copyrighted) versions of the characters and I'm not sure I want to know a person who owns that Dorothy figure.

I mean look at the output of the Spawn action figures

What about it? He's a zombie character who my kids have no connection with, they don't even notice the toys. It's not a character they love and are marketed to as a monster murdering their wife.

All I ever hear about comics is "We need to get the kids back!".

[The Toyroom]

All I ever hear about comics is "We need to get the kids back!".

Agreed...not that DC's perfect either but I think their attempts with the Johnny DC line can counter the zombification of Marvel's classic heroes somewhat.

At the comic shop I go to the first thing you see when you head back to the comic section are spinner racks and long boxes of kids comics (DC/Archie/Disney). The more adult stuff (mostly independents) are separated from the mainstream comics on spinner racks. The mainstream books are on stands but something like a Marvel Zombies title is usually poly-bagged by them to keep little hands from thumbing through unwittingly and being shocked. As for merchandise with this trend what little they do have is up front behind the counter by the register, not prominently displayed.

[samurainoir]

They're almost unrecognizable compared to known (copyrighted) versions of the characters and I'm not sure I want to know a person who owns that Dorothy figure.



What about it? He's a zombie character who my kids have no connection with, they don't even notice the toys. It's not a character they love and are marketed to as a monster murdering their wife.

All I ever hear about comics is "We need to get the kids back!".

I totally understand where you are coming from given the fact that you are a father who shares his love with his kids.

I'm simply pointing out that since the mid-nineties, you can walk into any toy store action figure aisle aimed at kids and encounter Spawn (often marketed as a Superhero of sorts) right next to Spiderman. If Marvel is jumping on that bandwagon, it's because others like MacFarlane have made bucketloads of money on it already selling it to youngsters. As frightening as the thought is, even if your kids don't have an affinity to Spawn, there is currently a generation out there that have already grown up with that connection to the character and will be sharing their love of this murderous soul escaped from Hell with their own kids.

Comics have gotten kids back in the form of manga.

Marvel itself doesn't really need to get kids back to comics. As a multimedia licensing company, they already have them in the form of movies, animated series, videogames and merchandising.