Well, if I’m reading these stock forms correctly, Avi Arad’s stock holdings jumped about $10 million dollars yesterday with the stock bump.
And Issac Perlmutter’s stock holdings went up about $282 million, with his total holdings worth about $1,391,049,355. Put another way, when they say that Disney bought Marvel for four billion dollars, over a third of it goes to Issac. And since this is a 60% cash/40% stock deal, Issac pulls in $830 million in cash.
How big a deal was it? I don’t think Marvel sent out a single press package today hyping their comics. Usually, we get two or three of them a day.
The Beat has an excellent roundup of what we do and don’t know by now. But they don’t say much about other reactions. So what does the Internet think? Twitter, as might be expected, has gone crazy with the #disneymarvel and #disneybuysmarvel hashtags. Reactions can be broken down pretty easily into three categories, in order of increasing rarity:
People Trying to Be Comedians
poohbear151: So is everyone ready for the spider-man/fantastic four/x-men/high school musical crossover event?
smmEBob: Buzz Lightyear and the Guardians of the Galaxy
Warren Ellis (Writer, Astonishing X-Men): so I got this phone call from Joe Quesada and it was just the sound of him rubbing himself with money and now I am confused
(Broken Frontier has a strong round-up of other professional’s reactions in somewhat longer form.)
People Who Might Actually Know What’s Going On
C.B. Cebulski (Marvel talent liaison/editor/writer) Allow me to reassure you right now, guys, that Marvel’s going to continue to produce great comic books the way we always have.
Joe Quesada (Marvel Editor in Chief) If you’re
familiar with the Disney/Pixar relationship, then you’ll understand why
this is a new dawn for Marvel and the comics industry.
Marv Wolfman: Because I was both the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel as well as one of the
two founding editors of Disney Adventures Magazine, I’ve already gotten
numerous phone calls, including one from Forbes Magazine, asking what I
think about Disney buying Marvel. The easy answer is – nobody knows.
Certainly I don’t.
We’ll keep more stuff coming– we don’t think this story is going away any time soon.
One person we won’t name: “maybe this means i’ll be able to go into the disney store again without looking like a pervert”. Uh, if you have to ask, then the answer is NO.
So the mouse is eating the spider. What does it all mean?
Poke around the Internets and you’ll see a lot of hysteria. Comics fans aren’t happy; they’re worried Disney will Disnify the whole thing. Movie fans are worried the Marvel flicks will have all the weight and depth of your average Disney movie. Theme park fans are concerned about Universal losing their franchise just so Ant-Man and the Wasp can fit into “It’s A Small World After All.”
Calm down. Assuming the deal gets approved by Marvel’s stockholders – which is likely – and the government – which is likely but not as certain – contracts are contracts and Disney would rather spend the next five years buying other things than paying for litigation. Paramount will still release those next five Marvel Films films, Universal will continue to maintain their current lifespan (however long that might be) with the Marvel rides and that fat lady who’s knocking the poo out of Captain America’s winged head in those commercials, and the comic books will continue to be published.
Well, most likely.
Marvel’s been trying to pattern itself after the Disney business model for at least the past four or five owners, so it’s no surprise that the House of Mouse took preemptive measures. Disney can’t mess with their theme parks right now – I mentioned the contractual obligations and, quite frankly, business ain’t what it used to be. The Disney characters and the Marvel characters are not a good theme park fit: the latter are not grandmother-friendly.
I doubt Disney will interfere with publishing very much, at least not in the short run. They have a very bad track record in the publishing fields, and the racks are littered with their cancelled product. They’re in the licensing business; that’s what they do and what they know. If the overall comic book publishing field continues to deteriorate they might do what they did with their other product and simply license it all out. It would be wonderfully ironic if Mark Waid’s Boom Studios gets the franchise, and I’ll bet you Mark feels the same way.
If there are any changes, they are likely to take the form of a reorientation of the Marvel characters towards the teen-age male market. Disney is weak in that demographic and can use some bolstering up. And bringing Marvel Comics back to the teen-ager friendly arena isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It worked for Lee and Kirby and Ditko and Thomas and Buscema; today there are more than enough really good writers and artists to address that market in a contemporary manner.
So I don’t think we’ll see Doctor Doom threatening The Little Mermaid. Don’t hold your breath for that Sinister Seven Dwarves movie. The Hulk probably will not stomp Goofy. Stan Lee will not be frozen and placed on the shelf next to Walt Disney and Jim Henson. All that’s a pity. Disney has no sense of humor. Just ask the Air Pirates.
The fact is, big business has never, ever been able to understand the American comic book industry. We defy the Harvard MBA mentality, and I’m proud of that. If DIsney does what Disney does best and the publishing business doesn’t implode, nobody will notice a thing. The Avengers 3 will make more money than publishing could lose.
Unless Dean Jones is cast as Nick Fury.
A 33 year veteran of the comic book industry, Mike Gold is ComicMix’s editor-in-chief. Portions of this blather appeared in today’s The Point podcast.
Everybody’s talking about Disney buying Marvel, but what does it really mean? Beyond all the speculation is there a real story yet? Plus we continue our visit backstage at WAREHOUSE 13. Meet the guy behind that oh so familiar face – noted character actor Saul Rubinek who is at the center of the new SyFy series. And it was a frightening box office tally this weekend, but it’s a good week in the comic store with some real treats waiting for you!
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Walt Disney reached an agreement to purchase Marvel Comics for a combined cash and stock deal valued today at $4 billion. According to a report at Marketwatch, the acquisition was approved by both Boards of Directors over the weekend and is subject to SEC approval.
In a statement, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said “adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation.”
Those holding Marvel stock are expected to receive $30 per share in addition to approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own.
A shareholders’ conference call was scheduled for later today and no doubt Marvel will have their own comments for the press. The deal is not expected to close for some time and how the integration will work, including the comics properties owned by Disney and Marvel will be announced in the future. In addition to Disney’s own characters, they purchased the assets of CrossGen some years ago and have done little with them, much I the same way as Marvel has yet to fully exploit the Malibu Comics characters they acquired in the 1990s.
Disney has been moving more into the graphic novel field through their publishing division, notably announcing works based on their forthcoming film The Prince of Persia, based on the video game. One can only expect Disney to entrust projects like this and others to Marvel.
Isaac Perlmutter, Marvel’s CEO, will continue to oversee the Marvel properties and is expected to be an architect of the integration along with Disney execs.
In the second episode of Crazy Sexy Geeks, our new weekly series meant for both die-hard fans and people new to comics, hosts Alan Kistler and Carrie Wright head to Barnes & Noble and then Midtown Comics for a two-pronged celebration.
It’s been 70 years since Marvel Mystery Comics #1 came out in 1939, featuring the Sub-Mariner and the original android Human Torch. Since then, hundreds of heroes and villains have been brought to the world through the pages of Marvel comic books.
At a Q&A panel at Barnes & Noble, fans got to speak with Joe Quesada, Klaus Janson, Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak and Chris Claremont. The gang gave some advice on artists and writers trying to make a career out of their hobbies and also spoke about recent projects such as Magneto: Testament, X-Men Forever and attempts to create a new Avengers ongoing cartoon series.
The party then continued at Midtown Comics (Times Square location) where Iron Man and Spider-Man mingled with fans as they looked over the newly-released The Marvels Project #1.
Enough talk. Now watch!
Alan Kistler has been recognized by major media outlets as a comic book historian. Along with writing freelance for ComicMix.com and MTV.com, he hopes to one day write for DC, Marvel and Doctor Who. He also intends to time travel. His web-site can be found at: http://KistlerUniverse.com
Marvel Comics, then Timely Comics, first opened its doors for business on August 11th, 1939, making it a septuagenarian as of today.
To celebrate, Marvel’s sponsoring parties at over 500 specialty retailers nationwide, all starting at 9pm local time tonight. As part of the festivities, they’ll have early copies of Brubaker and Epting’s The Marvels Project for sale.
If that’s not enough, seven Barnes and Noble stores across the country will also be having parties, with Marvel creators and special guests galore. My local Barnes and Noble here in New York City is promising signings and Q&A with Joe Quesada, Klaus Janson, Chris Claremont, Greg Pak, and Fred Van Lente, with special guests Iron Man and Spider-Man.
If this kind of thing floats your boat, face front, True Believer, check this link for full details!
Alan Moore’s artist’s proof of the Randy Bowen sculpted Marvelman/Miracleman statue has been donated to the Comix4Sight.com auction to benefit comics’ legend John Ostrander. The benefit auction will be held Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 PM at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, as part of this year’s annual Chicago Comic-Con.
John Ostrander is a 30-year veteran of the comics field and a playwright facing the possibility of blindness from glaucoma. He is in the midst of a series of difficult operations to protect his remaining eyesight and, like a growing number of Americans, needs to supplement his insurance in order to cover the surgeries.
“With Marvel Comics having announced in San Diego that Marvel has acquired ownership of all rights to the Marvelman/Miracleman character, bringing him back to the public after more than 20 years, and knowing Neil Gaiman’s support for the Comix4Sight efforts for John, we thought that nothing would be more in demand than a high end Marvelman/Miracleman item.” program coordinator Adriane Nash stated. “By good fortune, Ken F. Levin, attorney for Neil Gaiman’s Marvels & Miracles company, is a long-time close friend of John’s. Neil Gaiman has also been most supportive of our efforts. When Ken heard about the auction, Ken spoke to Neil and Alan Moore, and Alan– also a John Ostrander friend– gave the statue to us for John’s benefit with Alan’s blessing.”
The statue is an extremely rare Randy Bowen “Artist’s Proof,” which almost never make their way to the marketplace. As an added bonus, the statue itself has been signed by co-designer Neil Gaiman. Finally, to further identify the statue’s uniqueness, the lucky buyer will also receive a certificate of authenticity from Marvels & Miracles, identifying it as Alan Moore’s own. “We greatly appreciate the support and assistance from Neil, Alan and Ken, particularly right when the Marvel Comics agreement has been announced,” Nash stated. Ken F. Levin has agreed to be on hand to personally auction the piece.
The auction will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, next to the Chicago Comic Con being held at the Rosemont Convention Center. The event is being co-sponsored by Wizard Entertainment, publishers of Wizard Magazine, and is being covered live at getthepointradio.com.
With the Chicago Comic-Con and WorldCon both around the bend, you may be tempted to waste your days away at the panels off the main floor. But I say, gentle geeks… NAY! Why waste your precious con time in stuffy rooms with stale ice water and tons of other mouth-breeders, when you can peruse the artist alley (where local, hip and trendy comic creators like to be… ahem…), grab schwag at the big booths (or not if YOUR local con has no big booths this year… epic fail…) or spend all of your inheritance on the dealer floor!
But Marc, you plead, I’m tired! I want to make my voice heard! I need to learn hot new tips and skills on how to make my portfolio Marvel worthy! Well, I said it once, and yes… I say it again: NAY. Why, you ask? Because ALL panels at comic conventions break down into one of these top 6 over-done panels:
1. “Mondo-Nation-Neighborhood-Universal-Pow-Wow” Yup, this is the stalwart gotta-go-to panel they hype and hype and hype. Hey! Do you want HOT, never-seen-before, uber-rare, special sneak previews of all the things to come?! Well cart your XXL self on down to Hall H for a sensational panel that’s sure to knock your sock and sandals combo clear off! Drooling yet? Well, sop it up, fanboy. Thanks to the interwebs, all you’re gonna get is a rehash of the solicits you read about months ago on ComicMix, IGN, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, CSN, or a hundred other places. And those special sneak peaks you’re just vibrating to see? Yup… posted on the artist’s message boards about the same time you were reading those months-old solicits! And you were counting on some tantalizing rumors about all your favorite characters? Well Bucko, are you in for a treat! Turns out the big boys can’t tell you anything you can’t (and most likely DID) read in Wizard itself, last month. Sounds fun? Sounds to me like 2 hours of time you could have spent waiting in line to get that Red Hulk Sketch Holofoil Variant Cover 17B signed, kiddo.
Well, if I’m reading these stock forms correctly, Avi Arad’s stock holdings jumped about $10 million dollars yesterday with the stock bump.
, 
In the second episode of Crazy Sexy Geeks, our new weekly series meant for both die-hard fans and people new to comics, hosts Alan Kistler and Carrie Wright head to Barnes & Noble and then 
Alan Moore’s artist’s proof of the Randy Bowen sculpted Marvelman/Miracleman statue has been donated to the 
With the 
