Disney buys Marvel
Posted by Peter Bangs on Monday, November 9, 2009
Okay I know this happened a while back but I think we're starting to see results from it now. Disney XD, the rebranded Jetix aimed at boys, now has an all Marvel Superhero segment on Saturday Mornings and Iron Man, Armoured Adventures as a key series on the channel. Admitedly the segment is made up of new Iron Man alongside old X-Men and Hulk cartoons, but it's a step towards Disney making some use of it's new aquisition.
Disney XD's UK launch saw viewing figures in the region of half a million, even if that drops by 50% on average that still means that more kids in the UK are going to know Iron Man as a teen genius then know Tony Stark as a 30 something alchoholic genius globally. On top of that Armoured Adventures is a good cartoon. Probably the best thing Marvel have had to date artistically and seems to be a reasonable hit among my daughters friends who are all in the 7 to 8 age bracket.
DC in the meantime are now an integral part of Warner Entertainment instead of a forgotten stepchild. They've had some very popular cartoons, particularly the various Batman ones. DC, under Paul Levitz, made some attempt to capitalise on these cartoons with their Warner Kids comics line.
If the popularity of the cartoons becomes obvious to the new corporate management, how long before the comics are changed to reflect the cartoons? Will the old comics remain in production as expensive items for a limited collector
market ?
Both Disney and Warners have shown a willingness to try anything to make money out of the brands and properties. Look at Warners Loonatix and Disney's Tinkerbell movies. (remember Tinkerbell is the murderous fairy who tried to kill Wendy when Peter Pan took too much of a liking to her)
In an ideal world the results of all this will be that comics pamphlets and superheroes become popular with kids again, freed of decades of continuity, while stories for adult fans will continue in some sort of more expensive format, perhaps original graphic novels. In the worst scenario I guess nothing changes and pamphlets and superheroes die out as a comics form. Probably it'll be something in between but it'll be interesting to watch either way.
Disney XD's UK launch saw viewing figures in the region of half a million, even if that drops by 50% on average that still means that more kids in the UK are going to know Iron Man as a teen genius then know Tony Stark as a 30 something alchoholic genius globally. On top of that Armoured Adventures is a good cartoon. Probably the best thing Marvel have had to date artistically and seems to be a reasonable hit among my daughters friends who are all in the 7 to 8 age bracket.
DC in the meantime are now an integral part of Warner Entertainment instead of a forgotten stepchild. They've had some very popular cartoons, particularly the various Batman ones. DC, under Paul Levitz, made some attempt to capitalise on these cartoons with their Warner Kids comics line.
If the popularity of the cartoons becomes obvious to the new corporate management, how long before the comics are changed to reflect the cartoons? Will the old comics remain in production as expensive items for a limited collector
market ?
Both Disney and Warners have shown a willingness to try anything to make money out of the brands and properties. Look at Warners Loonatix and Disney's Tinkerbell movies. (remember Tinkerbell is the murderous fairy who tried to kill Wendy when Peter Pan took too much of a liking to her)
In an ideal world the results of all this will be that comics pamphlets and superheroes become popular with kids again, freed of decades of continuity, while stories for adult fans will continue in some sort of more expensive format, perhaps original graphic novels. In the worst scenario I guess nothing changes and pamphlets and superheroes die out as a comics form. Probably it'll be something in between but it'll be interesting to watch either way.