My current frustration with Marvel

[enyawd72]

I know most of you old school DC fans are not happy with the ongoing New 52 stuff, but at least DC doesn't ignore it's past with great little gems like Batman '66 and now Wonder Woman '77, not to mention releasing every single classic TV series and cartoon from their vaults.

I'm really getting frustrated with the way Marvel refuses to even acknowledge their classic stuff. Adam West, Lynda Carter, Christopher Reeve and Michael Keaton have now all been immortalized in statues and toys, but 40 years after the fact we still don't have a single Lou Ferrigno Hulk ANYTHING, and Marvel pretends like the Nicholas Hammond Spider-Man series and all it's 60's, 70's and 80's cartoons don't even exist.

Everything is Marvel NOW, and I'm really sick of it. WHY are they so hellbent on ignoring their older stuff? They even suspended their trade paperback Marvel Masterworks because they apparently don't want them competing with their new comics. That's just asinine, IMO.

[Hedji]

Can we have an AMEN and HALLELUJAH?

I'd love to see them respect their elders, but yeah, I don't think that's where the money's to be made.

Hulk lasted 5 seasons and made a pretty big pop culture impact.
John Romita established a look for Spider-Man that has never been equalled.
"How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" was a bible of sorts, a style guide for excellence and consistency.

If you are nostalgic for old school Marvel, eBay is your only resource, and I hope your wallet is full.

[enyawd72]

I really think Ferrigno Hulk merchandise would sell like crazy. The show still has a huge following, even overseas. I am still holding out hope...with SMDM seeing a resurgence, maybe the Hulk will have it's day.

[palitoy]

The latest issues of Spider-Man featured Japanese TV Spider-man and '67 animated. So they're not completely ignoring the past.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think part of the problem is Marvel didn't have a huge corporate entertainment parent until now, and they farmed off their properties to different studios, producers, etc. So it would take more hoops to get the rights to Hammond, Ferigno, etc. DC had to do that with Batman '66, but the Carter Wonder Woman and Reeve Superman were always theirs to play with, since they've been under the same umbrella as Warners since the 70s.

Chris

[enyawd72]

^That's true, but it's still no excuse, especially for the Hulk. I'm sure Bill Bixby and Jack Colvin's likeness rights could be had for next to nothing. All Disney/Marvel has to do is work out something with Ferrigno/Universal. It's waaaay less complicated than the Batman '66 licensing mess was, and Disney definitely has the money to do it.

At this point in my life, I'd just love to see a Hulk '77 comic and at least one lousy action figure.

[hedrap]

Chris is pretty close to the answer. Marvel was bought and sold every few years from late 70's through late 90's, so the ownership is everywhere.

The main difference though is in the current level of success. WB crushed everything they were producing or licensing that diverged from the Nu52 branding. When Man of Steel didn't top Avengers, Time-Warner looked at how much ground they were losing to Disney-Marvel and ordered a restructuring. That made WB bail on the Nu52 branding and diversify, hence Batman '66, Super Friends/Powers, Arkham, etc...that forced DC to drop Nu52 and go into multiversity.

But Marvel has had massive success with the Favreau movie model, so Disney streamlined for that uniformity.
just look at the Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man cartoons. Character and story have been made to adhere to the image of the movies, or consider a number of Marvel pieces were bought by Disney years before the merger through different acquisitions, and they've done nothing with them since the merger.