Spidey Goes to Disneyworld

All of my nerdy friends (and let's face it - that'd be pretty much all of them) are upset over Disney's recent purchase of the Marvel Comics empire.

While I'm not wild about the implications, I'm not nearly as surprised by this move as some people seem to be. In recent years, Marvel has patterned itself pretty openly after Disney's model. Both companies have long been more concerned about keeping their properties marketable than telling good stories. That's not to say that their books and movies are never entertaining, many of them are. But it is almost a happy coincidence when that happens; a means to an end rather than the ultimate goal.

I've heard all the rants about large conglomerates being anathema to the making of art. I think too many fans want to view the characters and stories they love as something sacred, as "Art" with a capital "A". As if the people who hold the copyrights to those characters are mearly acting in the public trust. But large media conglomerates exist to sell product, and as fans we are merely consumers of that product, nothing more. Some conglomerates see the music or stories their artists produce as their product. Marvel doesn't. Marvel sees the iconic characters themselves as the product. The comics they produce on a monthly basis are simply a tool to keep these characters fresh and viable, because they know the real money is almost anywhere but in the comics. Do you think a successful run on the Iron Man comic has even a tiny fraction of the impact on their bottom line that the movie had?

Years ago there was a rumor running around that Marvel was giving serious consideration to "farming out" the actual production of their comics. Although it was never confirmed, they reportedly discussed allowing other companies to produce the actual comics for their characters, while they concentrated on the more lucrative business of licensing. It made a certain amount of sense, even though it never came to pass. Instead, Marvel got into the movie business and that turned out pretty well for them.

Except for one disastrous attempt in the 90s, Disney has not produced comic books. It has simply licensed its characters to other companies and then reaped the benefit that came from the increased exposure by raising their licensing fees. But Disney's primary business was never making comics. It was making films. Marvel, on the other hand, is primarily a comic book company that has recently gotten into film making and shown their characters, their "properties", could be wildly successful outside of the fairly insular comic book market. Is it any wonder that Marvel attracted Disney's attention?

One of my friends posted that these were "dark days" for Marvel. Considering this is the company that has gone survived the regimes of Ron Pearlman, Roger Corman and Bill Jemas, that's quite a statement. I personally don't see that many dramatic changes, at least not in the short term. Marvel has been very successful lately and Disney is paying too much money to mess with that success. Luckily Disney has deep enough pockets that they won't be forced to do anything drastic to earn back that four billion dollars they ponied up for Marvel Entertainment.