NEW Disney Marvel MUPPET comics!

[Drtooth]

I can't say I'm great with comic lables, but it makes sense.

What's popular right now? Super Heroes. Marvel and DC have their own super heroes that built their brands... those super heroes are the most popular. They're also popular with kids. What do you think is more profitable for the major companies? Something they'd have to pay for a license that's moderately popular, or something they own that's much more popular?

Again, with an indie company, the licensed comic can thrive. The name of the franchise actually helps the company out. Plus, you can always luck out and get artists and writers that are fans of those licensed characters.

Long story short,sure... The Muppets could benefit from a name brand, but it's not like they weren't benefiting from Boom already. I swear, had the license continued, it would have been reprinted as a free comic book day title.

The Muppets don't really need Marvel, and Marvel certainly doesn't need the Muppets.... they got like 3 movies a year... and they usually aren't that good.

 

[frogboy4]

I can't say I'm great with comic lables, but it makes sense.

What's popular right now? Super Heroes. Marvel and DC have their own super heroes that built their brands... those super heroes are the most popular. They're also popular with kids. What do you think is more profitable for the major companies? Something they'd have to pay for a license that's moderately popular, or something they own that's much more popular?

Again, with an indie company, the licensed comic can thrive. The name of the franchise actually helps the company out. Plus, you can always luck out and get artists and writers that are fans of those licensed characters.

Long story short,sure... The Muppets could benefit from a name brand, but it's not like they weren't benefiting from Boom already. I swear, had the license continued, it would have been reprinted as a free comic book day title.

The Muppets don't really need Marvel, and Marvel certainly doesn't need the Muppets.... they got like 3 movies a year... and they usually aren't that good.

I get you. Part of me still feels that this debacle is part of why Landgridge left the Muppet comics even though he admitted some other personal factors. He really rebuilt the Muppets in comic form through his writing and direction, but likely only earned a fraction of what he's worth for it and now he'll likely get shafted on the reprinting. This is all speculation on my part. I'm not quite sure how this structure works.

I'm also not sure Boom has the same abilities to widely publish and market like Marvel. Archadia makes sense for the Fraggle and Henson niche market, but the Muppets are no longer being given the niche treatment. That's going to bring about both good and bad things that ultimately will make them more popular in a larger sense.

I'm curious to see what will happen to Marvel and the Muppets. Disney bought the company for a fortune so it makes sense that they're trying to make the most out of it. Because of that I'm not sure if we can go by any track record as an indicator. Then again, Disney's purchase of Marvel could put them in grave financial jeopardy if they don't make a swift success of it. I'd hate to see the Mouse up on the auction block. They've been able to avoid that for years so it will probably be okay. It's this love of the Muppets and Disney animation that inflates my support for Marvel. I just hope it all works.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

The Muppets don't really need Marvel, and Marvel certainly doesn't need the Muppets.... they got like 3 movies a year... and they usually aren't that good.

Some are quite good! Some are pretty awesome! The ones in that category this year will be called "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" (As a superhero fan of both Marvel and DC, I just had to mention those- I'm quite excited for both!) And I should also mention "X-Men: First Class" and "Green Lantern" (Yay! A DC Comics character other than Superman and Batman getting a movie! Though I love Superman and Batman and can't wait for their new movies too!) - I had some doubts about them at first, but after learning more about them and seeing some trailers, I'm pretty excited for them too now.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm curious to see what will happen to Marvel and the Muppets. Disney bought the company for a fortune so it makes sense that they're trying to make the most out of it. Because of that I'm not sure if we can go by any track record as an indicator. Then again, Disney's purchase of Marvel could put them in grave financial jeopardy if they don't make a swift success of it. I'd hate to see the Mouse up on the auction block. They've been able to avoid that for years so it will probably be okay. It's this love of the Muppets and Disney animation that inflates my support for Marvel. I just hope it all works.

I'd be far more worried about the Muppets under Disney than Marvel. Other than consolidating licenses (it's more about money going out than money coming in, even if money coming in is wroth way more), there was no major call for this. Again, it isn't just about the Muppet comics, but the Pixar ones too. I'm glad I didn't have the money or time to get into the Incredibles... they ended Mid-Story.

As for Disney's ownership of Marvel... 2-3 movies a year, 2-3 cartoon series on television, countless action figures on toy shelves (movie, cartoon and classic merchandise), and of course the comics themselves... I'd say they're completely fine. They probably made back what they spent on the Iron Man 2 merchandise alone.

(Yay! A DC Comics character other than Superman and Batman getting a movie! Though I love Superman and Batman and can't wait for their new movies too!) -

Well, Jonah Hex had a movie. I guess I have to remind everyone since literally no one saw it.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Oh, I was quite excited for the Jonah Hex movie- I was thinking of going to see it- but there were other movies I wanted to spend money on seeing instead... And it's not like he's one of my top favorite characters, but I do know who he is- and it was great to see a minor DC character get a movie. I also don't like the character's origins though, so that's another reason why I probably wouldn't bother with it.
But yeah- there have been a few other DC superhero movies with varying degrees of success. I don't bother to count stuff like "V for Vendetta", "The Losers", "Watchmen", etc. - since those aren't really in the mainstream DC comics continuity. If you want to count "The Spirit", I guess there's that- but from what I've heard, Frank Miller's 2008 movie looked pretty cool- but just didn't come together. The 1987 TV-movie version with Sam Jones might be a better version...
And then there's the 2004 classic, "Catwoman". Yay! (yeah- that was sarcasm. Wow- I don't really have anything against Halle Berry as Catwoman, though she probably wouldn't have been my first pick- but that movie's costume was horrible, as was the storyline. She wasn't even Selina Kyle in the movie...I don't get that.)
And there's the 1997 classic, "Steel"- with Shaquille O'Neal, at the height of his acting prowess. If they could tone down all the cursing in that movie, it actually could have been a fun little movie- I mean, he did look the part and the hammer was pretty neat. I wish they had gotten the "S" on his chest on there though.
And of course- there is also the 1984 "Supergirl" movie, which Helen Slater was perfect for. I really enjoy that movie pretty well too, alongside the Christopher Reeve "Superman" movies.
(But technically, "Catwoman" falls under the "Batman" family and "Steel" and "Supergirl" fall under the "Superman" family).
And of course, I can't forget the 1982 "Swamp Thing" and 1989 "The Return of Swamp Thing" movies. Those were pretty good- and the TV show (all of which starred the same actor, Dick Durock) was great too.
For another technicality, you could add the 1959 "Green Mansions" movie, which is loosely based on "Rima, the Jungle Girl". (though it's tricky to say if she's really considered mainstream DC comics continuity- but she has been in the past, but this movie seems to be based more on a book of her public domain adventures...)
And if you want to count the serials, there's also a number of others that could be added- like "Blackhawk", "Spy Smasher", "Hop Harrigan", "Vigilante" and probably the most famous of them- also considered to be one of the best serials ever- the 1941 "The Adventures of Captain Marvel".

 

[Drtooth]

If I didn't see that episode of Batman TAS that had a flashback with Jonah Hex in it, I wouldn't even have known it was a comic book character, tell you the truth.

There are quite a lot of DC characters, no question... but the question is, how do you make a coherent movie out of them? Me? I'd love to see a fully animated Plastic Man film based on the Kyle Baker (or whatever the heck his name was) comics that they WERE going to make a show of, but it got turned down, and all we got was the pilot. What a pilot! but a pilot no less. But I'd like to see them do a DTV or something in that style... that I WOULD see.

But the real topic here is Marvel. Every year we see one or two Marvel based films (one unfortunately always from Fox... I have zero faith in First Class), and their characters continue to find new media and forms to appeal to wider fans than just comic guys... sometimes stuff that directly alienates them, leading to nonstop complaints about how everything is terrible.

As far as kids go, which is what they're going for here, they have several TV shows and no doubt several comics based ON said TV shows. Like Super Hero Squad. I actually picked up a 50 cent promotional copy yesterday with my Fraggle Rock #3. It's actually funny and very kid friendly. I just don't see how even Pixar characters can compete with that. Even if they're owned by the same company now, I just don't see why they'd need to make comics for kids that feature any characters but their own Marvel brand... Disney or no Disney.

Now, if things were different, I still could only see a "Pixar Presents" title, similar to the Disney presents tilte from the 90's... meaning short stories directly written for a younger market. No multilevel story arcs serving as small continuations in between movies or for movies that don't have a sequel planned. We wouldn't have what BOOM had done... Buzz Lightyear of Star Command characters were retconned into the plot of a Toy Story arc! Well... Booster, anyway... XR was mentioned in passing... that's something that Pixar didn't do with TS3. Their Monsters Inc series bridged the gap between TS and MI... tying them together in universe (though again, these are comics and out of canon) From what I read of The Incredibles, they had some pretty grown up, on par with the movie, concepts. The kiddy comics I've read of Incredibles have all been just that... kiddy. It was a very dark movie.

And frankly, I don't see a Muppet comic series, reprint or original, outside a one shot magazine.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

We wouldn't have what BOOM had done... Buzz Lightyear of Star Command characters were retconned into the plot of a Toy Story arc! Well... Booster, anyway... XR was mentioned in passing... that's something that Pixar didn't do with TS3. Their Monsters Inc series bridged the gap between TS and MI... tying them together in universe (though again, these are comics and out of canon) From what I read of The Incredibles, they had some pretty grown up, on par with the movie, concepts. The kiddy comics I've read of Incredibles have all been just that... kiddy. It was a very dark movie.

That's pretty cool- didn't know that. Nice that BOOM maintained some continuity with "Toy Story" and the "Buzz Lightyear of Space Command" cartoon.

If I didn't see that episode of Batman TAS that had a flashback with Jonah Hex in it, I wouldn't even have known it was a comic book character, tell you the truth.

There are quite a lot of DC characters, no question... but the question is, how do you make a coherent movie out of them? Me? I'd love to see a fully animated Plastic Man film based on the Kyle Baker (or whatever the heck his name was) comics that they WERE going to make a show of, but it got turned down, and all we got was the pilot. What a pilot! but a pilot no less. But I'd like to see them do a DTV or something in that style... that I WOULD see.

I'm a comic book fan and I've read a lot of comics- and paged through a number of them at the comic book shop- but yeah, I have to admit that Batman: TAS was my introduction to Jonah Hex too.
You know that the 1970s Plastic Man cartoon series got released to DVD, right? The Plastic Man pilot you're talking about was included on that DVD. But yeah- I've read some of the Kyle Baker Plastic Man comics and that would be really cool to see a movie based on that. Of course, I'd be happy for any kind of a Plastic Man movie- it could be a really fun thing. But I'm always happy to see any DC or Marvel superhero character to make a live action debut. (Though technically Plastic Man had sort of a live action appearance on the '70s cartoon show- they had some live action bits in between cartoon where Plastic Man showed up in the flesh...)

 

[Drtooth]

That's pretty cool- didn't know that. Nice that BOOM maintained some continuity with "Toy Story" and the "Buzz Lightyear of Space Command" cartoon.

The story was about Andy getting another Buzz Lightyear figure by mistake, and then returning it to the store. Unfortunately, THAT Buzz Lightyear was as bad as Buzz when he first reached Andy, and Andy's actual Buzz got packed up in the box to be returned... Andy returned it for a Booster, and even mentioned him and XR earlier.

The events of the comic seem to take place between TS and TS2, as Jesse and Bull's Eye weren't with the group yet.

Sigh... I miss these great stories, Muppet AND Pixar already. If they take away the Darkwing license, I'll go ballistic.

 

[minor muppetz]

IF Marvel does do an original Muppet comic story I'm hoping Tough pigs interviews whoever the writer is (I assume Tough Pigs will, seeing as they've interviewed practically ever Muppet and Fraggle Rock comic book writer and artist since those comics began) and makes sure the writers care as much as Boom and Archia Comics do (maybe if we'll lucky Marvel will actually hire somebody who wrote one of the Muppet Classics comics).

 

[Drtooth]

All I'm asking for is a Muppet Magazine, even a one shot full of new comics and new articles. Something that makes me WANT to buy it and support it. Dave Álvarez... remember him and his wonderful Muppet Fan comics? Wouldn't you love to see large one page of comics similar to his? Wouldn't you love to see Roger called back to make short comics? We all deserve new Muppet stories, no matter what.

Seriously, wouldn't we all rather something on par with These instead of lackluster reprints?

Now, I did some research. Marvel has magazines of Super Hero Squad and even Spidey and Iron-Man as well. Even if they do reprint old comics for a kiddy audience (can't imagine anything more kiddy than Super Hero Squad, though) they still publish the others for fans who still want to buy the comics. I think that's the key. A compromise can be struck. A new Muppet comic (or at least printing the last arc as a 4 issue miniseries) for the fans, a magazine for people who only shop at super markets and Wal*Mart. We can all be happy or satisfied, but it's all up to Marvel... and let's hope they see it that way.