NEW Disney Marvel MUPPET comics!

[frogboy4]

Actually, having thumbed through it at Toys R Us...while I hate the covers, and the paper is more on the cheaper side...it's very very awesome to have the TPB reprinted for people at $6. Not a lot of people would be as exposed to the comics as they may with this being at grocery stores and whatnot.

You hit the nail on the head right there with "having thumbed through [the Muppets comic book reissue] at Toys R Us...". How cool is that? It's at froggin' Toys R Us. Now the toddler-like covers and the economy-grade paper makes perfect sense. This reprint is for a different crowd.

Let's face it. The Muppets need young new fans if they are going to be popular again for the long term. This cancellation of Boom in favor of these reprints may have angered the Muppets' base fans in favor of gaining new ones, but they've already hooked us. We'll be back. This decision is smart and a little bit cold, but doesn't it warm your heart to know that a new generation of youngsters is going to learn all about Kermit and his friends? Maybe they'll even stop yelling "Elmo" at the screen when they seen Animal in the new theatrical trailers. Yes, this did happen to me recently.

What's happening with Disney:

The entire entertainment landscape is joining the rest of America by taking aggressive efforts at belt-tightening. Disney is no different. They're finding the best ways to make more bang for their buck. I wouldn't be surprised if this was their plan with Boom all along. Have then take the financial risk and test the waters. They're probably formulating a plan to keep things in house especially now that they own Marvel. That was a mammoth investment that will take years to recoup.

Disney is axing beloved soaps, popular dramas like Desperate Housewives and fairytale based films in order to maximize profits. All of these make substantial money. They're just not the next best thing. Entertainment is a fickle business.

I hope Disney does better by the Muppets in quality and fan appreciation. Right now it's about creating a new audience base in order to maximizing earnings.

 

[Drtooth]

You hit the nail on the head right there with "having thumbed through [the Muppets comic book reissue] at Toys R Us...". How cool is that? It's at froggin' Toys R Us. Now the toddler-like covers and the economy-grade paper makes perfect sense. This reprint is for a different crowd.

Let's face it. The Muppets need young new fans if they are going to be popular again for the long term. This cancellation of Boom in favor of these reprints may have angered the Muppets' base fans in favor of gaining new ones, but they've already hooked us. We'll be back. This decision is smart and a little bit cold, but doesn't it warm your heart to know that a new generation of youngsters is going to learn all about Kermit and his friends? Maybe they'll even stop yelling "Elmo" at the screen when they seen Animal in the new theatrical trailers. Yes, this did happen to me recently.

But frankly, you can see the SAME single issues of Kaboom comics at TRU as well. Sure, this crap is for the snot eaters that color the pages, but honestly, I don't think it's going to sell. I still see LOTS of Cars comics magazines sitting on the shelves. Other than adding them to grocery stores and Wal*Marts, there's no real improvement. No new stories, crappy stock paper, lousy covers... unless you didn't bother and missed the 3 reprints of them already, there's no use wasting money here. Sure, it's for kids... but kids don't read magazines anymore.

But there is NO EXCUSE for pulling the Disney Afternoon license. Pixar films are Disney's bread and butter, The Muppets, at the very least, have a movie coming out... their attitude has been "Oh, snap? We own Darkwing Duck? Huh!" and then go back to promoting the heck out of Disney Jr's TERRIBLE shows. We didn't get the full series on DVD, we got a crappy miscolored T-Shirt, there's an impossible to find, scalper price inflated DA Vynalmation set... that's it. The Darkwing Duck series was giving fans a sense of official continuity. We got closure after Darkwing was frozen in Maple Syrup when the show uneventfully ended. Comics aren't just merchandise... it's new media. Sure, Disney will jump to its feet to make a Cars 3, if the movie goes well, another Muppet project... but us Darkwing and TDA fans will have to go back to unofficial fan fics or complaining about the episode production caps. We didn't even get a satisfactory ending to Rescue Rangers, nor did we even get Talespin or Gummi Bears or any of the other TDA classics. I don't even think they're going to bother making crap reprints of that for kids who are 10+ years too young to remember them.

 

[frogboy4]

I understand your thoughts on it and agree with a lot of your points, but I also understand Disney's reasoning. This is a bad short-term decision for fans, but they seem to be thinking long-term. Either way it's a done deal now. We can only hope for the best. I don't care what the label or if we only get reissues right now. I want these comics to sell well.

 

[Drtooth]

I understand your thoughts on it and agree with a lot of your points, but I also understand Disney's reasoning. This is a bad short-term decision for fans, but they seem to be thinking long-term. Either way it's a done deal now. We can only hope for the best. I don't care what the label or if we only get reissues right now. I want these comics to sell well.

Yeah, but you see, right now means that's ALL they're planning to do period. I'll graciously let the Muppet comics slide, but Marvel and Disney WILL NOT do anything based on Darkwing Duck. This is all just a cheap little keeping it in the family cash consolidation.

I do not see anything more than Pixar magazine reprints that don't sell (they don't! Trust me! They don't!) until they just give up on it, and then proceed on killing more Marvel heroes off and bringing them back to try to shake up a sluggish mainstream comics market. I do not trust Marvel with or without Disney to do anything licensed or sublicensed, no matter how we beg and plead. Indie is where all the licenses from Transformers to Shrek to Spongebob go. The Archie Mega Man comics are selling so well, even if I go on a Wednesday when it comes out, I'm not even guaranteed a variant cover no matter how early I am. With the Muppet and Disney Afternoon comics, I found myself having to leave earlier and earlier on a Wednesday to make sure I get them at all. That's how strong they sold. Where as, I see the same Cars magazines 5 and 6 issues deep shoved in between Tiger Beat and Tween Scream magazines. The print media is dying off, and magazines folded left and right. Even Nickelodeon doesn't publish them anymore.

Smart would have been letting Boom KEEP the license and having Marvel sub-licenses them fro rerpints. BOTH people would be happy, not just an imaginary focus group that won't buy them. Why favor a potential audience you're not guaranteed over loyal fans who would gladly skip eating to buy these comics? There HAS to be someone we can complain to.

 

[j3h]

Well, with all the reprinting, I hope they get a digital release....I want them on my iPhone. (still would love the motion comic too)

 

[Drtooth]

Seriously, does anyone know who I can send polite letter of disappointment to that's in charge at Disney and or Marvel? Maybe a letter writing campaign will light a fire under them to keep Disney Afternoon comics coming.

 

[j3h]

Didn't work directly talking to Joe Q at SDCC.

 

[Drtooth]

Didn't work directly talking to Joe Q at SDCC.

We got Mega Man Legends 3'd out of this, didn't we?

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

Yeah... several great comics that were hot sellers are being pulled out of the capable hands for the copyright owners to sit on. Maybe in 2 years, we'll get the same stories reprinted on toilet paper stock instead of new stories. What's not to like?

Um hows it feel or look like "toilet paper stock"? I feels just like a magazine! I hated how "hard" or sandy the BOOM! paper felt at 1st on 1st released comics!!!

 

[Drtooth]

Okay, it's more like Parade Magazine stock. That little magazine people get in Sunday editions of the paper....

Yeah, I hated when Boom had that terrible non-glossy paper stock, but that was a cost issue. Even the artists complained, because they lost a lot of detail and the colors started appearing off. Of course, they switched back, which is probably why their other non-Muppet lines... in fact all their lines now cost the extra buck. Not that I mind. Glossy stock has become the norm. But the comics I buy have pretty sturdy glossy stock.

The Muppet magazine stock is better than the Cars magazine (very thin and flimsy), but still not as good as comic book paper stock.

Still, I hope to see, even if it's a movie one shot, an official comic with NEW material. They have a habit of releasing magazines when a movie comes out, even to the extent of the Phineas and Ferb telefilm getting one. I desperately want that one. I hope Borders has some in stock while they're clearing stuff out.