Keskustelujen arkisto

About fifteen years or so ago:
http://coa.inducks.org/country.php?c=us&view=2#Marvel
The longest lasting of which was 16 issues. Boom's just a few months away from passing that.
I guess I'm negative on the idea of Marvel getting the property because, well, I've been reading Marvel for the last thirty years, and I've never hated them more than I have for the last ten. For every good thing Joe Quesada has done (ie restoring some book's legacy numbers) he's done about ten bad ones, from turning Iron Man into a supervillain for a few years, to shoving Wolverine on every single team, to his disdain for happily married redheads--the fates of Jean Summers and Mary Jane Parker were in mind when I made the Mickey Mouse and Magica joke (Mary Jane's marriage was retconned, Jean's husband was playing tonsil hockey with a barely-reformed villainess and Victoria's Secret product placement over Jean's freshly dug grave).
I just plain don't want these Mickey, Donald, and Scrooge anywhere near Marvel.
I fear it's inevitable, though. Western Publishing managed to hold on to the Warner Brothers characters for a few years after Warner bought up DC Comics, but once they got out of the comic game, DC is where Bugs Bunny and the Loony Tunes went. DC's had their own Loony Tunes title that's now approaching number 200.
Is is possible that if Marvel hires the right editor, and Joe Q basically takes a "hands off" approach, that the books won't suck? Yeah, it's certainly possible. I just don't think it's likely.
I also guess I'm biased by not hating what Boom's doing as much as many of the rest of you. I hope they manage to pull through, and hold onto the Disney stuff at least long enough for Joe Q to get hit by a truck and have to retire.

The issue with Boom isn't so much one of quality (except in the case of their very bland Uncle Scrooge) but one of market presence. The low sales and pending cancellation of certain titles belies their inability to market these books to a wide enough readership. The best books in the world don't matter if a company can't get people reading them, and I meet fellow fans every day who've never heard that these comics exist.
The fact of the matter is, Disney is too big a license for a tiny publisher like Boom. I'm not worried about Marvel putting out lackluster books, because Disney publishing oversees all of these titles anyway, and is probably just as responsible, if not more, than Boom for the quality. I have no doubt the books would be the same at Marvel...just able to reach a wider audience than Boom could ever deliver.

Quote from user: stavnerQuote from user: VesuviusMost likely it's pre-emptive spin to cover the fact that the Muppet and Pixar lines are being cancelled due to low sales. It'll be branded as some kind of retooling of the line, I'm sure. Boom has been slipping in sales every month, the only hit they have is Darkwing Duck.

I hope Disney realizes how badly Boom has handled these book and has marvel publish them.
Those sales numbers are for the direct market. It makes sense that the direct market numbers would go down, since direct market customers who want Disney books mostly want nostalgia.

Disney and Boom! are also trying to appeal to kids, and have gotten the books in some bookstores, like Books A Million. Sales numbers for bookstores are usually only available on pay databases. Is there any place where you could look up Publishers' Yearly Statements of Sales?
The problem with newsstand sales is that they're all returnable. Boom hasn't been successful in marketing to kids at all, which is why I imagine they're suddenly scrambling to appeal to collectors with all this "2.0 the classics are back!" hype. It really looks like they're trying to keep the line from tanking, or going somewhere else.

I still maintain this is too big a license for a tiny company like Boom to handle. They're barely a blip on the radar as market share goes, their distribution is spotty at best, and it doesn't seem they have the budget to get the word on these books out there.

I welcome the return of classic material, but I don't know how successful it will be. Still, it's nice to see Boom surrender to fans after having such a cocky, "these aren't your father's Disney books" approach in the beginning. The question is, will they actually be able to properly market them this time so that people know they exist?

Quote from user: stavnerI saw that Topolino has about 150 pages. Why don't they go the Shonen Jump route, or pry open spaces near the cash register from Archie?
Topolino has 164 pages, and it's weekly!

But then again they have an average circulation of 300,000+ copies (in December 2007 according to this source).

Personally, I don't think the issue is the company producing the comics, but rather Disney itself. The bottom line is that these comics have been handled by how many publishers in the last 30 years? Five, not counting Gladstone's two separate tries? Marvel even had a crack at things 20 years ago.
These titles have little or no support. Can you find them at grocery stores? Can you find them at Walmart, Disney stores or theme parks? Heck, you can't even subscribe to the comics without spending several hundred dollars a year. Sorry, but those factors are going to cripple your ability to move product.
These titles need several things to even have a shot at succeeding. They need exposure - tv series, characters at theme parks, video games, etc. They need merchandise. They need to be readily available and affordable. And, for at least the short term, they need a large company that can absorb the lose the products will take while they are being established. The latter is where a company like Marvel may have to come into play.

Quote from user: steetQuote from user: MustangRockstarPersonally, I don't think the issue is the company producing the comics, but rather Disney itself. The bottom line is that these comics have been handled by how many publishers in the last 30 years? Five, not counting Gladstone's two separate tries? Marvel even had a crack at things 20 years ago.

These titles have little or no support. Can you find them at grocery stores? Can you find them at Walmart, Disney stores or theme parks? Heck, you can't even subscribe to the comics without spending several hundred dollars a year. Sorry, but those factors are going to cripple your ability to move product.

These titles need several things to even have a shot at succeeding. They need exposure - tv series, characters at theme parks, video games, etc. They need merchandise. They need to be readily available and affordable. And, for at least the short term, they need a large company that can absorb the lose the products will take while they are being established. The latter is where a company like Marvel may have to come into play.
+1 to all these!!!

I would also add the bad image the current Disney company has to the general crowd (thanks to their over-abuse of "Disney princesses", "High school musical", "Winnie the pooh", "Mickey mouse clubhouse" and so on brands, that are very demographic specifics and as such, give a VERY wrong image of the classic characters and of the company)
I truly believe that Disney comics can work in the states. Will they ever match the numbers of the 1940s or 1950s? No. But no one can even argue that Disney appears to be seriously trying to sell its comic books. If I were only a casual fan, I can't say that I would even know if they exist.

Disney is like a very bright, but lazy, child. When it is motivated and willing to work hard, it produces some amazing work. But it goes through prolonged periods of laziness. That lack of motivation shows in the product.

Eh, the prices didn't bother me too much. We have so few hardcover Disney collections to begin with in the states. I thought the books were nicely done, nice dust jackets, solid overall quality.
The challenge with the Life and Times series is that it was done fairly recently by Gemstone. As such, it isn't incredibly hard to find online.