Disney to buy Marvel Entertainment for $4bil

[vynsane]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney ... 2009-08-31

i have very mixed emotions about this. on the one hand, disney is generally known to be very controlling of their IP, so if you thought editorial meddling was already too annoying, add a board of directors on top of that who all think they know what's best for the product. also, look at DC's issues with getting any movies off the ground due to being constrained to WB's production house. while marvel may have their own production house now, they have the freedom to share the costs with whatever other producers they can get, and have freedom to find the creative people that will do right by the product.

on the other hand, if there's anything disney knows, it's kids, which is what is sorely lacking in the comic book industry. if they can keep their hands out of what's currently working with the established fans, or improve any of it without alienating the core audience, while either starting a new larger line of younger-audience books (which marvel has tried and tried and tried...) then i think it will definitely be a boon to the entire comic book industry.

that said, there are still many many questions, such as: what is the nature of disney's controlling interest in pixar, and how does this affect the pixar comics currently coming out of BOOM! kids studios (who are currently producing a nearly full-line of comics based on pixar movies - cars, incredibles, finding nemo).

[Tom Foolery]

Thanks to the Coronavirus tanking the stock market, some people think Apple might take advantage and buy Disney.

[jjreason]

Not before Disney buys Warner & merges the comic universes!