Amazing Spider... Mouse?!

Orignal story here, via Reuters.

I've been waiting for more news to post a real follow-up announcement about this, but there's really so little to tell. Everything I've read is really idle speculation.

In fact, if its any indication from his Twitter, even EIC Joe Quesada really has no idea what's going to happen in the Disney/Marvel merger. Many voices are derisive, though some, like Stan Lee, give it a blessing.... though, Stan hasn't been with the company for years, so take that with a grain of salt.

The most interesting views on the merger have been these:

- Constant and Faithful Marvel stock-backer The Motley Fool has expressed bewilderment and sadness, claiming that Marvel could have grown by more strides alone, and that if they were going to sell, they sold far too cheaply.

- Matt Seinreich, producer of Robot Chicken (and aire to Walt Seinreich, former Disney board member) gives a more fair and optimistic view, noting that not all of Marvel's latest projects have been good, and though they brought in slim returns, a single misstep much larger than, say, Ghost Rider, could have well sunk their franchise. Disney's fat cash gives Marvel the financial freedom to be a little more creative, and hopefully find their stride.

- Time Warner is obviously worried about the Merger, having immediately formed DC Entertainment, absorbing their own Comics branch directly into TW management. The effects of this are more immediately felt, as DC EIC Paul Levitz is moved to 'Publishing Advisor' and corporate takes over the EIC position, though the promotion of Harry Potter brand manager Dianne Nelson. Also as a result, DC has announed a new slate of films including Lobo. This is cool and all, but I hope they don't feel the need to slap-dash the films together. Taking their time with Batman and, arguably, Superman Returns has worked well so far. In fact, I'm more concerned about loss of quality from this move than from Disney.

- Its pointed out that, no matter what the changes, we won't see the results for sometime. Most of Marvel's film properties are already signed over to other companies for distribution for ages. With that in mind, it makes more sense why Marvel's board would sell: 4 billion in their pocket, and they still collect paychecks from many of Marvel's pre-established contracts. Regardless, the publishing arm will be the first to show changes, if any. Marvel also just recalled its animated Spectacular Spider-Man back from Sony, so expect a new series with Disney backing soon enough. In fact, Disney is now airing the first two seasons of that show.

Everyone seems to be worried in the fan-boy community. So many are afraid that Disney will neuter their favorite characters or instill a loss of quality on their favorite titles. I have two points to refute that.

First, have a good look at Pixar. I grant you, they tend to make more family friendly fare, anyway, but since their absorption by Disney, they claim to have been able to keep their creative integrity intact with a relative minimum of corporate interference. Disney has really purchased Pixar in order to capitalize on the branding. I don't think Marvel's buyout is any exception to that.
It seems to me that this can only be an attempt by Disney to 1. Profit on their purchase through merchandising. And Disney will Merchandise the shit out of Marvel. Hell, their characters are already on everything, now Disney just gets a cut. 2. Change their image. Afterall, we're all so afraid that Disney will turn comics all kiddy (because they're SO adult, right guys? I mean, they aren't failing because kids aren't picking up books anymore, right? Right?) But perhaps Disney just wants to show they are capable of grabbing the juvenile male audience as well, and that not everything has to be tainted by Donald and Goofy.
Certainly, when we think Disney, we dont' think of anything but the themepark and talking animals. Does Disney remind you of a huge corporate empire that produces varied entertainments?
How about this; Disney owns Touchstone Pictures. They don't slap their brand on it, as it might corrput the kid-friendly Disney label, but make no mistake, the following films were Produced by Disney: Apocolypto, The Prestige, The Life Aquatic, Royal Tenenbaums, 25th Hour, O Brother Where Art Thou, 13th Warrior, Con Air, and more. Not all are gems, but they have shown a history of letting good films be produced by quality creators.
And for those afraid of Disney Marvel crossovers, I remind you that it didn't take Disney to approve Punisher Meets Archie.

Second major point: have Marvel's comics been all that good lately? I grant you, I'm a bit apprehensive myself that the few MAX titles like Punisher might be censored; but I can't deny that Marvel's been mismanaging their brand for a few years now, and could maybe benefit from an outside party with a longer history of succesful business practice to have a look at what's working and what isn't.
For instance: Spider-Man selling his past to the devil to resurrect his 80+ year old Aunt, probably for a couple years at best. Nothing says heroism and love like condemning your wife to a hellish half-life and magically bringing your dead, ever-tormented best friend back from the grave to suffer again so that your Aunt, who's already died once, can get a couple extra runs around the track.
And when was the last time that X-Men was readable? Ah yes, when Joss Whedon wrote the book. Those were great issues...when they came out...perhaps once every four months.
The fact is that for all the bitching and moaning the fan-community does about their comic content being altered, Marvels sales have been slowly tanking month after month for ages. The bleeding was staunched briefly by the acts of Jiminez and Quesada, but even their decisions have been far from foolproof, and even the best selling books move at a fraction of what they did 15 years ago.
Would it be a bad thing if Disney noticed that super violent titles like Moon Knight are amongst the few still sold on Newsstands, and maybe replaced them with high-quality, all-ages titles like Runaways to try to entice some new readers? Maybe they should be looking at Shonen Jump's lower-quality, very readable format that rivals Marvel's top-selling titles, has a younger (re: longer-lived) audience, and has a far more accessible price point. One 250+ page issue of Shonen Jump costs the same as 2 of Marvel's 28 page issues.

As I said, its all speculation. I can't say I'm not a little apprehensive about the move, but then, Marvel really has nowhere to go from here but up. Marvel's movies have been doing well, but they are hardly reaching all the markets they could as fast as they could be. And the publishing arm, the core of the creative development of all those spin-off developments, has been imploding for years. Between lack of editorial guidance, higher price points for less content, high-profile creators refusing to release books on time, and generally poor productions, without help, its only a matter of time before Marvel Comics falls apart. The same could be said for DC. Perhaps this is just the shot in the arm they need.