NEW Disney Marvel MUPPET comics!

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

hey MC gang,

Marvel and Disney Publishing will debut DISNEY•MUPPETS
PRESENTS: MEET THE MUPPETS, a giant-sized comic featuring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzy, Gonzo and the Muppet gang. Hitting stores in July 2011, this 96 page comic features stories from acclaimed writer/artist Roger Langridge (Thor: The Mighty Avenger). (All ages, $5.99)

more here on MY website: www.DisneyDigitalFiles.com

 

[dwmckim]

Not new. Looks like the original four just republished by Marvel.

And they don't even care enough to spell Fozzie's name correct in their press release. Yeesh. Yawn. Wake me when they publish something truly new.

 

[Slackbot]

$5.99 for 4 issues' worth? Please tell me the printing won't be awful quality. The artwork deserves better than that.

I guess they're trying to get The Muppets a wider distribution as part of a publicity push leading up to the movie. If so, I hope it succeeds... but I'd much rather have new, good stories to read.

 

[Drtooth]

$5.99 for 4 issues' worth? Please tell me the printing won't be awful quality. The artwork deserves better than that.

I guess they're trying to get The Muppets a wider distribution as part of a publicity push leading up to the movie. If so, I hope it succeeds... but I'd much rather have new, good stories to read.

I already said some of what I said before, and I'm going to write an article for the Mindset in time, but disappointment isn't even the word.

 

[frogboy4]

My thinking is that these particular 4 issues reintroduce the Muppets and the 4 most iconic characters. That's probably why they were chosen for wider-reprinting by Marvel. It's probably more for the newbies than the fans and the price point kind of reveals that. It doesn't make our first-printings from Boom less valuable. In fact, it could make them even more sought-after by collectors.

 

[Drtooth]

My thinking is that these particular 4 issues reintroduce the Muppets and the 4 most iconic characters. That's probably why they were chosen for wider-reprinting by Marvel. It's probably more for the newbies than the fans and the price point kind of reveals that. It doesn't make our first-printings from Boom less valuable. In fact, it could make them even more sought-after by collectors.

Other than the fact it makes the comics more accessible to newbies and kids, this really does nothing for all of us that followed it from the beginning. Yes, it's a good start for... ugh... this sort of thing to reintroduce the characters, but for everyone that followed the comics to the abrupt and unsatisfying end (Sherlock Holmes) it's almost an insult.

Plus, I DID see the reprinted GN's sold at Disney stores. They didn't even have the Pixar ones.

There's an article I wrote to the Mindset that I think sums up what I have to say... but I agree with dw on this one. It's not like these are long lost, completely forgotten, have to pay 10 bucks plus for mint condition series from the 80's, these are scarcely 2 years old, and the reprints and GN's are still available and pretty easily accessible.

Again, it doesn't matter that they're reprinting stuff rather than publishing new works (like the Phineas and Ferb magazine), but the fact they ended a successful license with an indie company so they could toss out a meh reprint product. That's the magic of TMSCB... we had NEW Muppet Show stories. If I want old material, I'd rather them get Seasons 4 and 5 out there.

Boom treated The Muppet Show Comic Book as a special medium of its own, Marvel's treating it as merchandise. Think about it.

 

[frogboy4]

Other than the fact it makes the comics more accessible to newbies and kids, this really does nothing for all of us that followed it from the beginning. Yes, it's a good start for... ugh... this sort of thing to reintroduce the characters, but for everyone that followed the comics to the abrupt and unsatisfying end (Sherlock Holmes) it's almost an insult.

Plus, I DID see the reprinted GN's sold at Disney stores. They didn't even have the Pixar ones.

There's an article I wrote to the Mindset that I think sums up what I have to say... but I agree with dw on this one. It's not like these are long lost, completely forgotten, have to pay 10 bucks plus for mint condition series from the 80's, these are scarcely 2 years old, and the reprints and GN's are still available and pretty easily accessible.

Again, it doesn't matter that they're reprinting stuff rather than publishing new works (like the Phineas and Ferb magazine), but the fact they ended a successful license with an indie company so they could toss out a meh reprint product. That's the magic of TMSCB... we had NEW Muppet Show stories. If I want old material, I'd rather them get Seasons 4 and 5 out there.

Boom treated The Muppet Show Comic Book as a special medium of its own, Marvel's treating it as merchandise. Think about it.

I respect the care Boom took, but I want the Muppets on major labels now. If that means re-issues then go for it! The quality of the art and writing is still there in these issues and at a very affordable price point. This has impulse purchase written all over it and that could be a great thing! If these Marvel printings aren't front and center in supermarkets and/or Disney Stores then I will be disappointed in this decision. Otherwise, I still think it's great.

People are cheap and lazy. Let them see the large-sized, 100 page Meet the Muppets by the checkout stand at a $5.99 price point rather than hidden away in a comics shop or online at an exorbitant fee. Don't hide their shine! Boom has sold out of the soft cover printing and their hard cover costs $24.99. That means secondary markets with an increased price point and Disney gets none of that extra cash. Incidentally, that's something that always annoyed me about the Palisades figures. The gougers ended up making the bulk of the profits on those! Friggin' vultures.

I agree with the naysayers here in wanting new stories and it would be great if they were doing them now. But for the Muppets to be solid they need to think about their financial future rather than focusing on a niche of die-hard fans. That's what they're doing here. They're sharing what we already know to the masses and we shouldn't fault them for it. Right now their not reinventing a wheel they don't need to quite yet.

I'll complain if they only re-run these old stories or release sub-standard work in the future. Nobody's landed yet so why worry about something that hasn't happened yet? I think a lot of us are still pretty sore that the Muppets lost their faithful Boom support.

 

[dmoss]

I agree that we should let Disney do what they know how to...The Muppets won't be at the top again over night. Look at all the faith they've put into them this far, and imagine how far they can take them. Disney has proven their ability to provide fan service, just by licensing them to folks like replica lines, and comic books. We can only hope that they continue gaining momentum and new, younger fans. In time, we will start to see new and fun Muppet things for familiar fans, and I think we might even see more items for lesser-known characters, such as how the Pigs in Space crew was included with the Vinylmation release...

 

[Drtooth]

I respect the care Boom took, but I want the Muppets on major labels now. If that means re-issues then go for it!

Every single licensed comic, with the exception of anything by Warner Bros (Scooby-Doo, DC comics animated series, Looney Tunes) is licensed by smaller, outside, third party companies. Everything from Transformers to Shrek to Star Wars (and I can't think of any bigger names than that) and they all benefit from being the staples or big names holding them up. With a powerhouse like Marvel, what do they need anything like that for? They got Spider-Man and the Hulk and whatever character they decide to do a movie of that year. Sure, Marvel did do licensed kiddy comics long, long ago... but that was before they realized they could make kid friendly versions of their own characters and cut out the middle man and licensing fees. besides, other than Heathcliff, ALF, and Ren and Stimpy, none of those lasted very long, and most were just factory made.

The quality of the art and writing is still there in these issues and at a very affordable price point.

It's there because they don't care to spend any money doing something NEW. That's like saying the quality of writing is still in a rerun.

I'll complain if they only re-run these old stories or release sub-standard work in the future. Nobody's landed yet so why worry about something that hasn't happened yet? I think a lot of us are still pretty sore that the Muppets lost their faithful Boom support.

I'd complain. There's clearly NO PLANS to release anything beyond magazines, not with the Muppets, and not even with their bigger seller, Pixar. Again, they have kid friendly Spidey comics and Marvel Super Hero Squad to work with. Unlike Boom, Marvel has a lower tolerance for how many issuses of something they can sell because they are a bigger company. Look at the Mighty Thor series Langridge did... that lasted an issue. Even if they were to release new Muppet comics (mark my words, they won't), they'd be staff written, cranked out, lacking in quality and last 2 issues. Trust me on that.

But there ARE no plans for that... and I doubt this cheap little crummy Muppet reprintstravaganza is going to have more than one issue, even if it sells. Now, if the shoe were on the other foot and either Marvel got a sublicense to reprint the comics, or even make new ones... sure, a for everyone else that missed it and didn't care kiddy magazine is fine exposure.... but the fact that we LOST a great comic series due to the license being pulled so nothing constructive can be done with it is an insult. This is tantamount to a movie studio buying the rights up to a movie, and just making a slapdash, terrible film because the license is going to expire.

 

[frogboy4]

Every single licensed comic, with the exception of anything by Warner Bros (Scooby-Doo, DC comics animated series, Looney Tunes) is licensed by smaller, outside, third party companies. Everything from Transformers to Shrek to Star Wars (and I can't think of any bigger names than that) and they all benefit from being the staples or big names holding them up. With a powerhouse like Marvel, what do they need anything like that for? They got Spider-Man and the Hulk and whatever character they decide to do a movie of that year. Sure, Marvel did do licensed kiddy comics long, long ago... but that was before they realized they could make kid friendly versions of their own characters and cut out the middle man and licensing fees. besides, other than Heathcliff, ALF, and Ren and Stimpy, none of those lasted very long, and most were just factory made.



It's there because they don't care to spend any money doing something NEW. That's like saying the quality of writing is still in a rerun.



I'd complain. There's clearly NO PLANS to release anything beyond magazines, not with the Muppets, and not even with their bigger seller, Pixar. Again, they have kid friendly Spidey comics and Marvel Super Hero Squad to work with. Unlike Boom, Marvel has a lower tolerance for how many issuses of something they can sell because they are a bigger company. Look at the Mighty Thor series Langridge did... that lasted an issue. Even if they were to release new Muppet comics (mark my words, they won't), they'd be staff written, cranked out, lacking in quality and last 2 issues. Trust me on that.

But there ARE no plans for that... and I doubt this cheap little crummy Muppet reprintstravaganza is going to have more than one issue, even if it sells. Now, if the shoe were on the other foot and either Marvel got a sublicense to reprint the comics, or even make new ones... sure, a for everyone else that missed it and didn't care kiddy magazine is fine exposure.... but the fact that we LOST a great comic series due to the license being pulled so nothing constructive can be done with it is an insult. This is tantamount to a movie studio buying the rights up to a movie, and just making a slapdash, terrible film because the license is going to expire.

I'm not saying Mavel needs the Muppets. I think the Muppets can benefit from Marvel's exposure.

Of course your deep knowledge about the history of comics from all labels far transcends my own, but who at Marvel said they have no plans to release anything new? Who says this indicates anything other than Marvel republishing a popular recent out of print comic that establishes the characters? I'm known to be quite critical when it comes to Muppet product, but I just can't hop on the wagon for something that hasn't happened yet. All my energy and focus is geared toward the new movie and new products we have yet to hear about. I'm impatient too, but nobody's landed yet.