News broke earlier today of Disney buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. (including all Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, etc.) for $4 billion in cash and stocks.
I’m sure news will come out in the weeks ahead of how this deal will affect Marvel’s publishing plans and their slate of movies currently in production or in development. This is definitely big news but from a comic book fan’s POV, I’m not so sure this is a good deal for comic fans and here are some reasons why:
Reason 1: Disney will have control over the Marvel Universe
Disney’s target market is children and young teens. While this is a great market for them to target in regards to introducing them to the comics Marvel produces, I can’t help but wonder if Disney will eventually exert any influence over Marvel’s editorial team in order to produce more children-friendly material.
Reason 2: Could have a negative effect on the direct market, specifically comic book stores
The biggest seller for the direct market (the direct market refers to comic shops and stores which order comics from the largest comic book distributor Diamond Comics) is Marvel Comics. With the number if Disney merchandising stores in malls throughout the world, if they begin to sell Marvel Comics, this will undoubtedly take business away from comic book stores.
Reason 3: Focus could be on more multimedia, less publishing
When people think of Disney, they think of cartoons, movies, toys- not comic books. While Disney won’t cease publishing comics based on their properties, I do think their main focus will be in bringing Marvel characters to their target market via movies, cartoons, toys, and the like.
These are just my initial thoughts on this Disney / Marvel deal. None of these may ever happen but I can’t help but wonder- and I am sure I’m not the only one.
Here are some thoughts / opinions on the Marvel / Disney deal if you want to learn more:
The Beat
The Comics Reporter
Comics Worth Reading
Blog@Newsrama
I truly hope the Disney / Marvel deal is similar to the Time-Warner / DC Comics deal in that there is little editorial influence from Time-Warner on DC Comics publishing line. Only time will tell. So what is your take on this deal? Let me and everyone else know in the Comments section below. Thanks!
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Geek Entrepreneur is Wesley Craig Green, an entrepreneur whom has wrote and published graphic novels, owns and operates a local online classified ad site and cleaning service- among other things. This is my personal blog dedicated to offering advice on blogging, social networking, entrepreneurship, and talking about inspiration, cool and geeky stuff, making dreams and goals a reality.