Disney and Marvel: Acquisition Complete!
New Year’s Eve 2009 didn’t just bring many promises for personal resolutions for 2010, it also brought the official sale of one of the biggest houses of creative and entertainment property to fruition. The Walt Disney Co. officially completed its $4.24 billion dollar acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. on Thursday. With that, the mouse and company are now home to thousands of fictional characters that have proved popular and indelible in the public consciousness for several decades. Read more
Comic Book Previews for October 7th, 2009
Before you punch your ticket to Baltimore, Maryland for this weekend’s Baltimore Comic-Con, be sure to stock up on plenty of reading material for your plane, train or automobile travel! You certainly won’t lack for pages and pages of action this week, and DC kicks things off with an explosion of Bat-titles! Kicking this off is the first issue of new limited series Batman: Unseen, which promises us a new supervillain to add to Batman’s formidable rogues’ gallery. Batman Annual #27 and Batman and Robin #5 also drop into stores this Wednesday, and fans should look for a new printing of the landmark graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, the book that redefined former Batgirl Barbara Gordon’s role in the DCU. Read more
Comic Book Previews for September 30th, 2009
For those who get paid at the end of the month, this Wednesday is your lucky day! Go green and save some gas by running to the back with your check and then head over to your local comic book shop to pick up this week’s latest and greatest new releases! DC this week features an 80-page GIANT special titled Justice League of America, which shows the super team scattered throughout time and battling various foes from across times, locations and forms of combat. Teen Titans reaches a milestone this week with issue #75, and be sure to jump aboard here, as new writer Felicia D. Henderson makes her mark on this DC staple. Also look for Justice Society of America #31, as the traitor in the team’s midst stands revealed! Superman #692 continues a new direction for the title, as the Science Police become more of a force! Read more
Jack Kirby’s Family Seeks to Reclaim Rights From Disney, Marvel
Acclaimed comic book artist Jack Kirby was responsible for co-creating some of the most memorable characters in comic book history, as well as illustrating some of its iconic and classic battles. Now, Kirby’s children are possibly creating an epic battle of their own. According to the L.A. Times, the late Kirby’s four children have filed what has been referred to as “notice of copyright termination” for 45 characters to companies such as Marvel Entertainment, Disney, Universal Pictures, the owners of Hulk distribution rights, and 20th Century Fox, owners of the movie rights to distribute X-Men and Fantastic Four films. Read more
Disney Marvel Acquisition Nightmares
I woke up Monday morning to read the news that Disney was acquiring Marvel, and while I guess this could be a good thing for the future of Marvel Comics, I’m also a little bit scared. I couldn’t help but immediately envision the following Disney Marvel acquisition nightmares.
Breaking: Disney Acquires Marvel
Wow, talk about blockbuster Monday news: The Walt Disney Co. just announced that it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock. That means the 5,000 Marvel characters will be part of Disney.
The deal will pay Marvel shareholders $30 per share in cash and 0.745 shares of Disney for each Marvel share they hold. The deal has been approved by both Marvel’s and Disney’s boards.
“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation.” said Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger.
The recent success of Marvel films such as Spider-Man and Iron Man most likely made Marvel an attractive candidate for Disney. With such a deep library of characters, the movie possibilities are endless.
Stay tuned for more on this story.
Free Comic Book Day 2009 Top Ten Comic Books
Ever since 2002, comic book stores have participated in Free Comic Book Day, an event geared to promote new titles, interest in comics, and generally just the joy and fun of comic books for readers of all ages. In the past, several issues have proven to be sleeper hits that went on to become collectible, The Umbrella Academy being one that springs immediately to mind, while other issues have been the premier issue of ongoing series. Several publishers participate, and there’s usually something for every type of reader, the genres spanning superhero, kids, how-to, compilation and sometimes the more mature titles.
Free Comic Book Day 2009 will be held on Saturday, May 2nd. Since some comic book stores may be limiting how many books you can take, it’s crucial that choices be made carefully! We here at ComicBook.com are dedicated to serving you, our loyal readers, so with that said, here are 10 not-to-miss comics from this year’s event, based on five general categories.
Witch Mountain Director To Helm Monster Attack Network Movie
Director Andy Fickman will be leaving the Las Vegas desert to explore the Pacific Ocean. According to Entertainment Weekly, the Race to Witch Mountain director signed a deal with Disney Studios to helm the film Monster Attack Network.
The deal comes fresh off the huge opening weekend for Fickman’s re-imaging of 1975’s Escape to Witch Mountain. Fickman’s version took in $25 million dollars to earn the weekend’s top spot at the box office. The Disney film also had the distinction of dethroning the Watchmen movie, which lost about 67% of its opening weekend ticket sales from the week before. Watchmen earned $18.1 million over the weekend.
Monster Attack Network will be based on the 2007 AIT/Planet Lar graphic novel of the same name. Written by Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman, Monster Attack Network is about a rescue team that defends a small Pacific island from frequent attacks by sea monsters.
