The Weirdest Marvel Crossover Ever???

Read: "Guiding Light"

Yes, that Guiding Light.

My Last Marvel/Disney Post (for now)

The "Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends" theme music is now stuck in my head for some reason. I'm serious, it's on its 100th loop right now.

Disney To Acquire Marvel

...according to WSJ (you gotta pay to read the article, natch)

Here is the text of the Wall Street Journal email alert:

Disney plans to acquire Marvel Entertainment through a cash-and-stock transaction valued at around $4 billion, or $50 per Marvel share. Disney said that Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel, including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters.

An investor conference call is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. EDT.

...that's a pretty impressive total roster of characters.

Will Marvel be producing Disney comics?
What about the Boom Studios license?
And, the most burning question: will there be a "Muppet Marvel Universe?"

If Comics Don't Change, They "Could Be Dead In 18 Months"

Devin Faraci from the website CHUD has written a article that I find particularly shattering. Granted -- he is really "a movie guy," not "a comic guy," so some may find his opinions a case of "the outside looking in." But as a former comic collector, and especially as an outside observer, I think Faraci's apocalyptic prognosis for traditional comics bears a look.

Faraci basically believes that "the new depression may be the best thing that ever happened to comics." He predicts the death of the "superhero," and gladly welcomes it. He accuses the mainstream comic companies of catering too much to the hardcore fans -- especially by pushing said superhero genre -- and not doing enough to encourage readers outside the "clique." And he feels that the 22-page floppy format, with its relatively hefty $4.00 price tag, is too much for people to pay for in this economy.

He ends the piece with this stark prediction for the future of the medium and the business:

"When Marvel and DC fall (and for me it's when, not if. I guarantee to you that ten years from now the idea of going to a comic shop to buy part 17 of a universe-spanning crossover event will seem as bizarre to readers as it would be for readers today to go to a grocery store to pick up Night Nurse), the world of comic books is going to be in serious disarray. Local shops that haven't already branched out into geek interests beyond comics will be destroyed almost overnight; hybrid stores that offer everything from video games to baseball cards and maybe have a social element - coffee shop for instance - will be left standing, but barely. Spider-Man will go on to star in five more movies, and there will be some sort of comic tie-in for them, but that'll be tertiary marketing. The Big Two will still be publishing something, but it won't be monthly pamphlets in the way we know them today - maybe we'll get endless reprint trades and occasional new graphic novels.

The comic world will seem like a wasteland for a while, but those independent mammals will have positioned themselves perfectly for the next phase. I don't think these books will become suddenly profitable overnight; I know that many creators struggle to make ends meet while producing their books. That won't change. People will still have day jobs and will write and draw on the side. But suddenly, without the superhero choking everything, these books will find the opportunity to grow. The artistic drive that makes people want to tell stories will continue, and a new economic model for these books will be created - hell, it's already being created. And I don't think that this means comic books will suddenly become an endless series of stories about being abused by your dad or about having no luck with girls; there will be adventure and science fiction and horror and romance. Getting into writing and drawing mainstream comics today is like being in a cover band - you want to do your version of Aquaman. When the superhero dies, it's going to be like being in a garage band. You do it because you love it, because you have songs to sing. And maybe somebody will take notice and you'll make some bucks off it."

Finally, Faraci says that if the mainstream comic book industry doesn't radically change its focus and methodology, they "could be dead in 18 months."

What do you think? Is he full of it? Or is he on to something?

Hat tip to Vactor

Joss Whedon: Most DC Heroes Can't Connect With Movie Audiences

Marvel vs. DC: which superheroes connect more with film audiences?

Joss Whedon, in a recent Maxim interview, explained why (in his opinion) Marvel characters "connect" better with audiences than DC characters:

"Because, with that one big exception (Batman), DC's heroes are from a different era. They're from the era when they were creating gods.

"And the thing that made [rival publisher] Marvel Comics extraordinary was that they created people. Their characters didn't living in mythical cities, they lived in New York. They absolutely were a part of the world. Peter Parker's character (Spider-Man) was a tortured adolescent.

"DC's characters, like Wonder Woman and Superman and Green Lantern, were all very much removed from humanity. Batman was the only character they had who was so rooted in pain, that had that same gift that the Marvel characters had, which was that gift of humanity that we can relate to."

Whedon also explained his side of the Wonder Woman movie fiasco:

"They didn't tell me to leave, but they showed me the door and how pretty it was. Would I like to touch the knob and maybe make it swing? I was dealing with them through [producer] Joel Silver who couldn't tell me what they wanted or anything else. I was completely in the dark. So I didn't know what it was that I wasn't giving them. I've moved on."

Between this interview and the ones he done for "Dollhouse," I really get the feeling that right now Whedon is a bit disillusioned by the whole Hollywood thing, period. He sounds really annoyed. He sounds tired and frustrated. I think "Dr. Horrible" has been his one pure creative joy in at least a few years.

Won't nobody think of Joss?

Carols Pacheco Returns To Marvel

Huh.

I'll always remember Carlos Pacheco for the following reason:

Pacheco drew the cover of an issue of Fantastic Four that my BF was holding on the first day I met him at Comic Con.

I had met him (BF, not Pacheco) for the first time earlier that day, but now I was leaving the convention, and spied him to the side reading that comic.

"HELLO!" I said. "IT WAS AWESOME TO MEET YOU!"

He looked up from the comic, nodded, and went back to reading the comic (or so was my perception at the time).

I thought (cue Roy Lichtenstein pose):

"He likes Fantastic Four more than he likes me! Sniff!"

Of course, that was not true. But every time I see that cover to Fantastic Four, I shake my fist and go, "Damn Pacheco Fantastic Four!"

That said, of course Carlos Pacheco is an excellent artist and re-addition to Marvel.

(Recently, while going through our old back issues, the BF held up that very issue of Fantastic Four. "Keep it?" he asked innocently)

(I have an ego, apparently, the size of a small planet)

Rumor Of The Week

From LITG:

"I understand that Marvel have been playing wargames on how to persuade Geoff Johns to jump ship at the end of his contract (over a year away) and what to do with him when they get him, so expect to see DC Comics fight back pre-emptively…"

dude.

Geoff Johns at Marvel?

Could that happen?

What would he work on?

I said it before -- I think Johns is the foundation of the DCU.

So if -- theoretically -- he was to go to Marvel, would he be engaged in similar "world-building?"

As always, this is just speculation.

Also, according to the same column, Shooter is back on "Legion."

And Nova isn't canceled, which makes the BF happy. :-)

Where I Will Be At San Diego Comic Con This Year

Well, since it's up on Heidi's blog (as well as I guess the convention's site), might as well...

If you want to see me at SDCC this year (outside of any theoretical OS meetup I might come up with), please be sure to visit:

SUNDAY, JULY 27
WHAT: Women in Marvel Panel
WHEN: 10:30am – 11:30am
WHERE: Room 6A
THE 411: She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel are powerhouses in the Marvel U, now meet the real women powerhouses who work in Marvel Comics today! Writers Robin Furth (DARK TOWER) & Marjorie Liu (NYX), Jen Grunwald (Editor), colorist Christina Strain (RUNAWAYS), and Occasional Superheroine’s Valerie D’Orazio are here to answer your question about their titles, announce new projects, and explain how more women are breaking into comics every day!

I know you might have questions, right now I can't give you answers -- but be sure to attend this panel and show your support for these talented women in the biz!

Marvel's Big Announcement On Their Summer Event

I've just been informed that Marvel said, via Twitter, that they are planning to make a big honking awesome announcement today. About their big honking awesome Summer event.

Stay tuned...

The OS Hot Ten For 1/31/08

10. Catwoman Lip-Ripping Cat-Fight Cover


9. Batman: Rest In Peace?


8. Marjorie Satrapi


7. Spider-Bitch
6. Joe Quesada on Colbert Report



5. LEAVE TIGRA ALONE!!!!!!


4. Transformers Anniversary Ad: "They Were Always Real To Me"


3. Return Of Ambush Bug

(If only Ambush Bug had his own series on the Cartoon Network! *sigh*)

2. Y: The Last Issue / Season Four of "Lost"

(Picture of Matthew Fox barely trumps picture of the awesome Brian K. Vaughan)

1. The Return of Captain America



There it is, the Hot List
Let the debating begin...

"Marvel Comics"
-- a report by Occasional Superheroine (age 12)
(I found this school report as I was going through some papers the other day. I wrote it in Junior High. It was typed on this old tall black manual typewriter and had pictures cut out from Marvel Age pasted on the cover. My teacher at the time was so flabbergasted -- not only that a female wrote this but that anybody my age remembered who Bulletman was -- that the next day he gave me oversized treasury editions of Superman & Batman. Here are excerpts. I don't know, I keep seeing this amalgam of Sally Brown & Napoleon Dynamite reading this in front of the classroom. "Ol Nessie...")

(from the Introduction)
The date was 1938. The comic was ACTION COMICS. The hero was SUPERMAN. He was the first real superhero, and he spawned hundreds of imitations. There was: Capt. MARVEL, WONDER WOMAN, Capt. AMERICA, DAREDEVIL, BULLETMAN, GREEN LANTERN, HUMAN TORCH, HAWKMAN, THE FLAME, BLUE BOLT, BATMAN, SHEENA, PHANTOM LADY, SUB-MARINER, and many more. It was the Golden Age of Comics, and they sold by the millions. The plots were small, the quality was low-but no one could beat the price-10 cents.

(Stan & Jack's big idea)
STAN LEE and JACK KIRBY had a big idea. The comicbook veterans thought of the most radical ideas in that time about comic books. Heroes that were human. Complex plots. Art that was more than just art. The critics thought they would fail, the rival companies (mainly D.C. Comics, of Superman fame) said it wouldn't last an issue. But Stan and Jack didn't care. They took the company that was Timely and then Atlas, christened it Marvel, and they, an artist called Steve Ditko, and a couple of inkers, started what is now known as the Marvel Universe.

(The origin of the Fantastic Four)
But cosmic rays bombarded the ship, and the four suddenly got superpowers! They reacted to this with nervousness, tension, stress, and in Ben's case, berserkness. The world was not reacting to this with clearheads, either. In the old days, this never happened. A normal man would be granted superpowers and act like nothing happened. The superheroes wouldn't fight amongst themselves. Not here.

(Spiderman)
When letting go of a crook because of sheer lazyness, his beloved uncle was murdered. By the crook he let go. In which he learned that "with great power comes great responsibility."

(Daredevil)
But this hero was something no major hero ever was. He was blind. This was never tried in the history of comics. But that was what Marvel was and still is. Radical.

(The Hulk)
But Marvel had its strange, inhuman keepers of the peace, too. In 1964, a big green behemoth joined the bunch. He was the Hulk, and there was a twist to this one. Not a mindless monster was he. When Prof. Bruce Banner got shot through his body with Gamma rays that was supposed to be used in nuclear bombs. He was a casualty of the Nuclear Age.

(Dr. Strange)
Dr. Strange was a master of the art of Black Magic. He traveled in different dimensions, fought psychic demons, the like. But the plots were very complex. You really had to think with this one.

(The Punisher)
The Punisher was a man right out of the army, ready to start a life with his wife and kids, when a crazed murderer kills them. The police tell him there is nothing they can do. Almost losing his mind, he dons a costume and becomes the Punisher, all-purpose vigilante. And this was before Bernhard Goetz.

(The Champions)
The Champions was comprised of members from other teams. They were the first team to disband because of poor financial management.

(Secret Wars)
1984 introduced Secret Wars a limited series that was a mega-success. A god-like entity called the Beyonder whisked away the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe and watched them fight. Believe me, it has more plot than you think. Anyway, it rejuvenated Marvel, who was sinking.

(The New Universe)
With much fanfare, in 1986, they introduced a new universe called, originally enough, the New Universe. It introduced 8 titles that had nothing to do with the Marvel Universe. Marvel says that this new branch is more realistic and down to earth. In any event, it did not live up to its hoopla, critics and readers agree. But it's not a total failure, since it's too early to tell.

(In conclusion...)
Thus ends my report, but not Marvel's success which at this point is guaranteed. Marvel dominates 60% of the market. It is branching in the areas of animation and Movies, and is doing well. So here's to Marvel, the company that saved comics from oblivion. Excelsior! Nuff' said.