DISNEY SET TO PURCHASE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT! GOOD OR BAD?
Hey Everyone, this is Jim Blasko, owner of c0micb00ks.com and I’ve got big news to share today!
On Monday, Disney announced they had come to an agreement to aqquire company Marvel Entertainment.
STOP THE PRESS!!! wait….. STOP THE COMIC PRESS!!!
Yes my friends it’s true- Spider-Man is about to be related to Mickey Mouse and Kermit the Frog…
Disney wants to aquire Marvel Comics pretty badly, enough that they’ve aggreed to give Marvel’s stock holders, four billion dollars in cash and disney stock!
Just check out all the zero’s in Four Billion: $4,000,000,000.00
I think Uncle Scrooge just had a heart attack…
As a true Marvel Comics fan, at first thought you may think Disney buying Marvek is a bad idea right?
Well it’s not a bad idea, this is a good idea, and I’ll tell you why in just a minute.
Right away many of you might think the Marvel guys are just selling out to the almighty Disney Dollar, and that they have no concerns as to what happens to Marvel Comics after the sale, and if you think that you should know this: The current Marvel Entertainment CEO, Isacc Perlmutter, who is also set to receive the largest amount of cash in this major deal, (1.5 billion personally ) is staying onboard with Disney to continue overseeing the Marvel properties. He’s not taking the big money and running away with it. Isacc Perlmutter is the same guy who raised Marvel Comics from the dead and gave them new life. He has saved Marvel from bankruptcy several times with a strategic business system. Isacc saved a failing comic company and that led to the rebirth of the comic buying and selling industry. Many of you may remember when the comic market was completly dead. It was Isacc Perlmutter’s plan that changed all of that.
In my mind, Perlmutter is super-hero, he saved the entire Marvel Universe, and then he made it better then it ever was. He didn’t do it alone, but ask Avi Arad (CEO of Marvel Studios’), and Avi will tell you that ”Ike”(Permuttler) is the man that made it happen.
So when I heard about the sale of Marvel Entertainment on Monday, I immediatly thought about how it would affect the comic fans and collectors. I wondered if fans will accept Disney as the owner/maker of our beloved comic titles. After all, Disney is a company best known for Mickey Mouse and it’s G rated movies. Will the fans turn on Marvel and start reading DC just because they don’t want to read comics that may now become governed by the corporate mouse giant known as Disney. Disney’s popular G rated media is best known for it’s ethical suitable natures that target a specific demograpic audience, young children of all ages as well as the parents of these children. I thought about it this for three days, because Marvel characters appeals to all ages, and mainly the age market that has already outgrown Disney’s Media (Single Males aged 13-25) - so it makes sense that Disney would want to tap into a market they are largely missing out in. I figure for Disney, it wouldn’t make any sense to change something that is already working so well, meaning, I don’t expect to many changes at Marvel Comics. My theory is only my thought, however, I highly doubt many Disney / Marvel cross overs. I really hope I’m right here, because I for one don’t want The Power Rangers. vs. Venom to ever happen- the mear thought of this idea still has me cringing and thinking of starting to prey more often. With that said, Spider-Man and Mickey Mouse together in comics will happen, and there is no stopping it now. Don’t worry it won’t kill us, well maybe at first it will, and I think the initial sales will support their idea of a spidey-mickey cross over, but follow up appearances won’t sell much(obama appearance in other issues proved that), eventually things will be right back to normal. Marvels current business model has proven that it works, it sells, and it makes alot of money, Disney probley isn’t looking to change anything.
I know many of you are still frowning at Marvel for this sale, just for the sake of the chance that something could change within the Marvel Universe, but fear not, I trully believe we won’t have to deal with too many changes at Marvel Comics. Disney is smart, so I doubt any real noticable policing of the Marvel Comics and their story lines. Altering them into G rated comics just wouldn’t work well, and Disney is in now in the comic business to make money, not lose it.
Look at it this way, had the current CEO Isacc Perlmutter not stepped in and taken over at Marvel when he did, we would not have all the great Marvel super-hero movies and comics as we have today, there probley wouldn’t even be a Marvel Comics Company today, period.. You have to acknowlege what Permutter has done to bring Marvel back from the brink of destruction. Many comic industry writters claim very few people have ever known Marvel’s CEO, Isacc Perlmutter, the man who took Marvel comics out of bankruptcy, however, I’m one writer that can can say I have personally known him. The man who I’ve always known as “Ike”, along with his wife, Laura, are two of the best people I’ve ever known. They are what I call, “Good People” and I believe Ike worked this huge deal out with Disney only to make Marvel Entertainment even better then it is now. I say thanks to Ike, for saving and now preserving Marvel, he had the power to do it, and he made it happen. In 1996 when so many other investors wouldn’t stand behind Marvel and bankruptcy was all that was left, Isacc Perlmutter bought the soon-to-be defunt Marvel, and he did it with Thor’s hammer in his hand. (Ok so the Thor’s hammer is an exaggeration, but the rest is 100% true)
With all that said, you still might not believe me that Disney buying Marvel is a good idea, and earIier in this article I mentioned that I would explain why Disney taking over Marvel is good, so here is the reason I feel this way:
Marvel Comics is now setup to maintain in business pretty much forever. Spider-Man and Marvel Comics, are something we want our kid’s, kid’s, kids, to enjoy right? Well, Super Hero Perlmutter just made sure that Marvel Comics will never be in jeopardy again as Disney will always be there to make sure you can buy a Spidey comic.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind seeing what guys like David Finch could do with a version of Mickey Mouse.
What are your thoughts? I’m leaving this thread open for user comments.
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