Let’s face it, we live in a hyper-capitalist society. Everything’s a commodity, and the worlds of business and entertainment are so inextricably linked that items about business deals have all but become entertainment in their own right.
And that’s cool when a spinoff of a story is also another form of that story, as with the Superman: Doomsday DVD or the upcoming DVD coming out from Eagle One Media based on the Voltron: Defender of the Universe comics from Devil’s Due and utilizing those books’ content from the comic books from Devil’s Due Publishing. (Apparently Voltron is big business — not only is the "animated digital comic production" DVD due in June, but World Event Productions is developing "a new interactive series and the release of the first-ever OVA," and there’s even talk of a for-really movie.)
But when Marvel Entertainment decides it’s going to "own 2008" with tie-in products for the Iron Man and Hulk movies due out next spring, and signs deals with Hasbrow, Hallmark, Fruit of the Loom and other companies that make all sorts of stuff that isn’t storytelling — well, it just makes one hope that kids (and adults) who buy the stuff are busy making up their own scenarios as they’re being owned.