Disney devours Marvel - Is nothing sacred?
Deep thread intro, Martin ;)
Regardless, as an avid comic book fan I don't see this as necessarily negative - the entire creative team at Marvel is ecstatic and I'd trust them on this before anyone else. Besides, when Warner Bros. bought DC in 69 it changed the comic book world for the better through the introduction of limited series, etc. Joe, the editor in chief of Marvel, has - and this is widely noted - reinvigorated the super hero genre over the past decade culminating into amazing series like Marvel Knights or the current Dark Reign story arc. If he's going along with this, and is happy about it, then I don't see what the problem is. Besides Pixar + Marvel + Disney financing = win. I will say that again. Pure. Win.
There is a gender angle to the transaction, making Disney more macho.
From the Toronto Star's business webpages:
(...) Analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak&Co. said the acquisition will help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theatres to see Marvel's superheroes in recent years. That contrasts with Disney's recent successes among young women with such fare as "Hannah Montana" and the Jonas Brothers.
"It helps Disney add exposure to a young male demographic it had sort of lost some balance with," Joyce said, noting the $4 billion offer was at "full price."(...)
Ain't that a relief?
I heard that the Disney theme parks get really persnickety about employees' hair and dress codes. Are they going to make Thor get a haircut and put on a suit and tie?
I realize this topic is rather dated, but this link is too funny not to post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyYb_r4cZHE&feature=channel_page
Been reading Marvel pretty good for the past year or so, eh, not discernable changes.
That was funny.
How many Marvel comic book characters are there? A dozen? Three dozen ? I think it means that Disney has effectively monopolized the cinematic telling of comic book lore from now on. It's a capitalist plot!