Disney/Marvel to buy DC

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Lou Szabo
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Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by Lou Szabo »

There are rumors that DC may be up for sale and Marvel or Disney have an interest. If true, any thoughts.

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SprangFan
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by SprangFan »

If so it would be ironic, given that about 25-30 years ago the shoe was on the other foot, with DC considering swallowing up a failing Marvel.

Part of me wouldn't mind a shot at decent films for the DC pantheon, or the story potential of mixing all those characters. But a bigger part of me is dismayed at the way Disney is swallowing everything -- Marvel, Star Wars, Muppets, Etc -- and I have an ingrained opposition to monopoly. It would be nice to see another buyer, if they're really up for sale.

On the other hand, if it were my money, I wouldn't spend a nickel on 'em. If ever there was a time where the phrase "caveat emptor" applied, this is it.
"You were right again, Batman. We might have been killed."
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Scott Sebring
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by Scott Sebring »

Don't confuse the comics with the movie rights. WB would probably hang on to the DC media properties/rights rather than the comics themselves as that is making more money for them rather than comic book sales. Doubt Disney would fork over enough money to buyout the movie stuff as they failed to get Spider-man completely back from Sony.
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AndyFish
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by AndyFish »

Yeah what Scott says-- it's more likely Disney/Marvel would buy the publishing rights to the characters. Having seen firsthand what Disney ownership of Marvel is like I'd have to say :(
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SprangFan
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by SprangFan »

If all it gets them is the publishing rights, then they'd be crazy to spend the money. Unless Disney's dream is to own literally everything, I don't see any real benefit to acquiring the comics. There's more to DC's decreased sales than the current owners' incompetence: monthly "floppies" are basically a format with no long-term future, with characters that have been milked dry.

At this point, the only reason to keep publishing comics is to keep alive copyrights for intellectual properties that are more lucratively exploited elsewhere. The comics themselves are useful as a sort of R&D for future movie and TV adaptations, but beyond that they have a shrinking audience and I have to think are getting prohibitively expensive to produce.

Again, selfishly I wouldn't mind seeing an outfit like Fantagraphics acquire the rights to publish quality reprints of DC's vintage material, but other than that it won't make much difference to me whether DC Comics per se still exist a year from now.
"You were right again, Batman. We might have been killed."
"Or worse. Let's go..."
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Keith Mayo
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by Keith Mayo »

Just announced: Disney replacing Iger.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/disney- ... t-ceo.html
"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
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NJ_Batfan
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by NJ_Batfan »

I don't want to add fuel to the speculation fire, but here are some true anecdotes of the past:

DC's comic sales were moribund in the late 70s and according to Dick Giordano, a Warner executive asked, "Do we have to publish Superman comics to license the character?'

While she was being interviewed for the Publisher position, Jenette Kahn was asked if it would be wise to limit DC's output to reprints as a way of keeping the properties alive for licensing.

In the early 80s, Marvel publisher Jim Shooter was said to approach DC with the intent of offering to have Marvel package their comics for them.

During John Byrne's run on the Fantastic Four, he included a character named Gladiator who had some similarity to a certain Man of Steel. A letter fan wrote that Byrne should handle Superman's adventures. The letter was answered that "the idea of that familiar red and blue logo with a "First Marvel Issue" banner brings a tear to your eye."

In the 90s, Image Comics, founded by writers and artists who left Marvel en masse over creator rights, took over the production of Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man. The books barely lasted a year before the Heroes Reborn event was followed up with Heroes Return.

It is true that comic sales are low, but then so is all printed media. It is the age in which we live. The fact that comics are sold in boutique like venues (Walmart DC books notwithstanding) does not help their distribution. It is an aging business model, but I like to believe that like Batman and Robin, DC Comics will find some way to continue.

Like Sprang Fan, DC only takes my money from collected editions of classic material, but I hope that new stories can still be around for those who enjoy them.
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John Mack
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by John Mack »

This is all premature. But I think if Disney did buy DC we'd see more cool, and detailed (not bubble headed, large silly looking) 1966 related figures. And maybe even the elusive complete soundtrack.
Just heard Bob Iger has stepped down at Disney, so I'm not sure what could all happen (or not) now.
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SprangFan
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by SprangFan »

It is true that comic sales are low, but then so is all printed media. It is the age in which we live. The fact that comics are sold in boutique like venues (Walmart DC books notwithstanding) does not help their distribution. It is an aging business model, but I like to believe that like Batman and Robin, DC Comics will find some way to continue.
It seems to me that even though the emergence of comics shops saved the industry 30+ years ago, by this point it's a doomed model for distribution. For generations, comics were easily accessible in drug stores and groceries and newsstands, waiting to be discovered by kids who could be hooked young. Now you have to (1) have a comic shop in your area (2) know what a comic shop even is and (3) have an available mode of transportation to get to said shop and make a purchase. That lets out a lot of folks in areas with no shops and a lot of kids with no cars. It also pre-supposes an existing customer base on Day One (It's no longer: "Hey Kids, Comics!" it's more, "You want comics? Then you'll have to get out there and find them"). There's little chance of a new generation accidentally stumbling across comics like the old days, the way we found them next to cheap rack toys and bubblegum cards. It's no surprise that the vast majority of readers today are older males whose interest developed a long time ago, who have disposable income and who have their own transportation. And they aren't going to live forever. Judging by the looks of some of them, maybe not much longer at all.

The real money seems to be in publishing trade paperback collections made up of 6 or more issues of what first saw print as monthly "floppies." Certainly it seems like individual issues are written with the intent of ending up in these collections, since almost none of them tell a complete story on their own. So I gather the value of monthlies to DC and Marvel -- if any -- is to produce content one "chapter" at a time, leading to a bunch of little paychecks instead of one big fat one, and letting them sell content twice in a short span of time: first in serialized form and then a couple months later as a complete collection.

I think it's likely they'll find a way to jettison the "monthly" part and focus on releasing trades and hardback "novels" directly to general-interest bookstores. In fact, I think they might've made the leap already if it weren't for all the ill will it would generate from "turning their backs on" the direct sales market, made up largely of mom-and-pop operations around the country. But some day, they'll have no choice.

Which is to say, I don't think sequential storytelling will ever die out, and superheroes will stick around as long as they continue to be valuable IP, but monthly periodical-type "comics" as we once knew them -- those floppy little tracts with staples in them -- are living on borrowed time.
"You were right again, Batman. We might have been killed."
"Or worse. Let's go..."
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Keith Mayo
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by Keith Mayo »

TPBs flood places like Ollies. Don't think they'll save the industry.
"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
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AndyFish
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by AndyFish »

When I was in one of Will Eisner’s classes in the 80s he warned us that there will always be calls that the industry is dying and that comics will go away.
His opinion was that comics have been around since man drew on cave walls and that it will always exist in one way or another. I agreed with him then and I do now; Digital eliminates the need of a middleman and while that might hurt comic shops the industry as a whole will go on.
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by Lou Szabo »

https://youtu.be/s7p3u3ONnUo

More takes on DCs future
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by Lou Szabo »

SprangFan wrote: Wed Feb 26, 2020 9:38 am
It is true that comic sales are low, but then so is all printed media. It is the age in which we live. The fact that comics are sold in boutique like venues (Walmart DC books notwithstanding) does not help their distribution. It is an aging business model, but I like to believe that like Batman and Robin, DC Comics will find some way to continue.

The real money seems to be in publishing trade paperback collections made up of 6 or more issues of what first saw print as monthly "floppies." Certainly it seems like individual issues are written with the intent of ending up in these collections, since almost none of them tell a complete story on their own. So I gather the value of monthlies to DC and Marvel -- if any -- is to produce content one "chapter" at a time, leading to a bunch of little paychecks instead of one big fat one, and letting them sell content twice in a short span of time: first in serialized form and then a couple months later as a complete collection.

Which is to say, I don't think sequential storytelling will ever die out, and superheroes will stick around as long as they continue to be valuable IP, but monthly periodical-type "comics" as we once knew them -- those floppy little tracts with staples in them -- are living on borrowed time.
Funny, in the 1800’s Lewis Carrol, A.C. Doyle had their stories published periodically in Chapters, then after they became popular, these were collected into Books...

Many of these stories today are too adult for kids, so parents won’t buy them. It’s a sad state of affairs, Will Superman or Batman make it to 100. Bruce Wayne May not if the 5G works...
Some days you just can't get rid of a ... SHARK!
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svl
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by svl »

Corona may make all conjecture a moot point. Your LCS is going to have a hard time coming back if massive shutdowns occur...
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Keith Mayo
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Re: Disney/Marvel to buy DC

Post by Keith Mayo »

AndyFish wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 3:15 pm When I was in one of Will Eisner’s classes in the 80s he warned us that there will always be calls that the industry is dying and that comics will go away.
His opinion was that comics have been around since man drew on cave walls and that it will always exist in one way or another. I agreed with him then and I do now; Digital eliminates the need of a middleman and while that might hurt comic shops the industry as a whole will go on.
In the 80s nobody foresaw the demise of print media, the proliferation of video games nor the multiple platforms available to consumers. Just as Doc Brown was incredulous when Marty told him that in 1984 who the POTUS was ("Ronald Reagan? The ACTOR?"_, the world has changed dramatically. Comics seem to have become the realm of 20something nerds and middle aged former nerds. Just as a church requires an influx of youth to keep going the same applies to comics. Go to any elementary school and offer the kids a box of comics or a hand held video game and see which you end up schlepping back to your car.
"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
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