Your Thoughts: The Muppet Show Comic Book

[Drtooth]

If you check out Marvel/Disney's plans for Pixar You'll know why I think this matter is GRAVE!

Reprints in a kiddy friendly magazine? A "presents" title? Not any independent little Toy Story, Incredibles or Cars comics? Foreseeably edited to fit pages and pages of adds? I'm sorry, but we ALL lost out on that one.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Marvel has kid friendly versions of their own characters (which often are more enjoyable than the stale antics of the adult stuff), they have no business or desire to sub-licensed kiddy fare. They haven't since the mid-90's when they canceled the Ran and Stimpy comic.

The Muppets should have stayed at Boom. I don't want to see reprints in a magazine 4 times a year that will be canceled after the second issue (what one of these kids magazines even lasts a full year?) I want new stories, great freelance artists and writers, and above all, no 20 pages of ads in a 30 page issue.

Seriously, we're putting the fate of this in the hands of a company that's so strapped for readers, they kill off 60% of their characters only to bring them back anyway...

 

[j3h]

I'm willing to bet and hope that Boom gets the Muppets at least for a little longer or maybe Marvel gains the Muppets due to the company's previous history with the characters.

Either way who ever gets the gang, lets hope that Roger Landridge is involved with the team again.

unfortunately all signs point to you losing any bet with you saying boom! will get the Muppets for a little longer.

Also Marvel getting the license has nothing to do with the company's previous history with the characters and has everything to do with the company's present history, that being now owned by Disney, who also owns the Muppets.

I do very much hope some way, some how Roger's 4 seasons arc gets published. I also very much want the muppet motion comics based on his work.

I agree that I'm not thrilled with the (probable) transfer to Marvel, but I'll try to be optimistic.

I am hoping that the Boom! collected editions do not go out of print right away either.

 

[Drtooth]

Roger planned to leave anyway. Let's get that out of the way right now. Even if Boom still had the license, he felt like he went as far as he could go with the project.

Secondly, I reiterate, if all we get from the move to Marvel is stuff that was already released in a kiddy magazine, and mark my words... if it IS, we'll get that one issue a month before the movie comes out and then NOTHING else... if that's their plan, I'm going to change my opinion of their handling of the Muppet property back to the "Oh NO"-ness of 2005.

The fact of the matter is, it seems like any NEW Pixar based stories aren't likely to happen, and they're a contractual obligation to be reprinted as movie merchandise. No new writing, no new artwork... truncated versions of what's already available in a magazine... not even a true comic. Again, they have kid friendly Spider-Man and Avengers comics, why would they need to make a Cars series?

This seems like an almost nepotistic move, and truly a bad one. Boom has done a terrific job, better than anyone else who had the Disney license, with their line. Not just the Muppet Show. To toss it away for a cheap consolidation of power with ties to another company they own that will offer nothing new or special to the relationship is nothing short of cheap.

Mark my words, the future of Muppet comics is very bleak indeed. I want someone to get in touch with someone so we can complain our heads off so they can renegotiate with Boom or anyone else at this point. Even if they don't plan to pawn this off as a kiddy magazine merchandise thing, I can see a series running 3 issues at MOST.

 

[frogboy4]

Boom did a fantastic job with Disney's properties and tested the waters that a bigger distributor like Marvel is better capable of handling on a grander scale. That's not to say they will. I just hope that's the case.

From toy design to media and publishing, Disney likes to keep things in-house when possible. They need to take advantage of their Marvel ownership. This makes sense. Let's hope this means good things. If they do bungle it then I bet they'll shop it back to a very willing Boom.

 

[Drtooth]

From toy design to media and publishing, Disney likes to keep things in-house when possible. They need to take advantage of their Marvel ownership. This makes sense. Let's hope this means good things. If they do bungle it then I bet they'll shop it back to a very willing Boom.

Only if the Pixar line were able to be transferred fully. Disney ownership or not, Marvel has Spidey, Hulk, The Fantastic 2 1/2 or whatever it is now, Ironman, and all those others. And they can easily turn those into kid's comics, as they've done in the past. Look at Super Hero Squad. Now, I don't think even Cars or Toy Story can compete with that. And the thing that cannot be stressed enough is they have no intentions at this point to continue any of those lines, but rather to collect stuff into a kid's magazine and publish it quarterly. So, it's not even a comic book, you see... but a reprint magazine for little ones.

Sure, we ALL want to think that there's safety and stability with a brand name comic company like DC and Marvel. They're fickle. You can never tell if a license is going to last 40 or 4 issues. And the fact that every major licensee is independent and or third party based also attests to that fact. Look at 3rd party Archie.... the Sonic the Hedgehog comic lasted almost (and prepare to feel old as heck on this one) 20 years. It came out before either cartoon series. Bongo was created expressly for publication of Simpsons comics. Those have been around for a while. There's a lot of care and detail that indie companies take when it comes to licences.

Let me put it this way. If you have characters that are humongously popular in their own right, what's the point of licensing more? And if they decide to, what are you going to put more detail in? A massive mega hit that's been around since the 50's, or some at the moment cartoon or toyline that you can just get staff writers and artists to factory pump out?

Marvel hasn't had an outside licensed comic since 1996's failed Mighty Heroes one shot. Disney or no Disney, that tells you something.

And even if Disney forces a Pixar title in there for marketing sake, they're not going to have a separate title for Cars, Toy Story, and 3 others going at once. If the comic itself were a "presents" title, we'd see crummy short stories (ala Disney Adventures) and none of those edge of your seat 4 part arcs. To be fair, Disney DID have a line of comics at Marvel some time in the 90's, but it was very short lived... they even truncated several series into Disney Tales, and as I said, short stories, staff writers and artists...sometimes a full issue story.

Add to that, Pixar is much further up on Disney's totem pole than the Muppets (Toy Fair being the key evidence in that one), I don't even see plans as ambitious as quarterly reprints. Maybe one issue before the movie of reprints and that's it.

Boom has been a boon to us. Reprinting Italian stories, long lost Ducktales comics in Uncle Scrooge, bringing back Darkwing and Rescue Rangers in epic fashions... and yes, managing to give the Muppets 2 series of great comics, probably the best thing we've seen since the virals. To sever the partnership for a lame nepotistic move like that when they're offering nothing new or interesting? I hate to be the negative one here, but there's nothing making me believe otherwise.

EDIT: On some happier news: A New Ducktales series has been announced.

 

[j3h]

Marvel hasn't had an outside licensed comic since 1996's failed Mighty Heroes one shot. Disney or no Disney, that tells you something.

Sorry to say, that info is incorrect since right off the top of my head I can say Halo and Stephen King's Dark Tower...and I don't read any marvel books, but I know there are more. Both were very successful for marvel.

Anyway....
As I said earlier, hopefully marvel will publish Roger's unreleased 4seasons material which he has done some work on and has been paid for (by boom).

No, I'm not thrilled by the change since boom has been great, but it's probably premature to completely decide that the sky is falling and I don't want to put down your concerns.

One thing i found interesting, So far marvel has not notified any of the pixar creators who's work is being reprinted in the first volume, but they might not have to depending on the contract terms. I keep thinking somehow Roger getting paid for the unpublished work ties into this.

 

[Drtooth]

Sorry to say, that info is incorrect since right off the top of my head I can say Halo and Stephen King's Dark Tower...and I don't read any marvel books, but I know there are more. Both were very successful for marvel.

I forgot the word "Kid's" but those are 2 exceptions. They may have a few here and there, they may be successful, but I've never heard of or seen them. But then again, I could care less about Steven King, and I hate Halo with a passion.

The only good thing about the lack of Muppet comics is with Rescue Rangers, Ductkales, Darkwing Duck, Mega Man, and Fraggle Rock (I have no idea if they're going to continue it beyond the next issue yet, though... and 2 come out in May) at least that's 2 titles less I have to buy.

 

[j3h]

I wonder if marvel will be able to release the comics digitally as well?
(providing of course that doesn't interfere with the motion comics)

 

[Drtooth]

At the risk of sounding negative or anything.... I don't care about the motion comics. Never did. They were a cute idea and everything, and maybe a nice way to get interest in the comics... though that's going to be absolutely unnecessary now...

The Sherlock Holmes TPB is out, and that's basically the end of an era. I would HATE to see the Muppets regarded as reprint kiddy fare instead of all new stories, and since that's what they're doing with the more important Pixar stuff, it's safe to assume they'll be delegated to such.

 

[j3h]

Fair enough that motion comics aren't your cup of tea, but I do enjoy the format quite a bit and have all the ones dc comics has done saved on my iPhone.

The idea that the muppet ones are to use some of the actual performers for the voice has me very much waiting on word of their fate.