Muppet Comics Cancelled?

[Luke]

The Muppet Vinylmation Series Two was supposed to be out by now, but for some reason it's been in a holding-pattern. I do think this is planned as the silence before the Muppet publicity storm that will begin late this summer. Right or wrong, that's just my take on what's happening. I do expect that Disney Stores will have that Kermit plush next to the Mickeys 3rd or 4th quarter of 2011.

From how I understand it, there is some kind of internal regrouping of the Muppets licensing going on ... it's not they have "dropped the ball". They need to get things nailed for the movie release so it's not an opportunity thats wasted (especially with the movie getting a prime release spot now with Diz) as there won't be many opportunities like this. Some of the time the licensing has been messy and unco-ordinated (things just ending up on shelves completely at a different time they were originally meant to be and not actually helping the Muppets and there not actually being the promotion there should have been to support them). I think you are completely right - 3rd or 4th quarter will see them do things a lot better .. i wouldn't say there will be the typical Disney "storm" as in a Toy Story, but definitely very high quality, highly visible but carefully chosen stuff.

I think Disney likes to think of The Muppets as their "connoisseurs" brand. Like fine art compared to Cub Penguin, lol. I never thought the art style/designs of the Muppet comics ever really fitted the way the brand is targeted at the moment, but they were quality stuff. Perhaps it was thought they had run their course.

 

[Drtooth]

I think you are completely right - 3rd or 4th quarter will see them do things a lot better .. i wouldn't say there will be the typical Disney "storm" as in a Toy Story, but definitely very high quality, highly visible but carefully chosen stuff.

Yeah, but they managed to keep Toy Story going well over a year in advance of the movie, using the other movies as leverage. I don't see how one plush Kermit or one Swedish Chef T-shirt will derail anything. Massive plush assortments, large scale clothing, random toys... those I'd agree with.

There was NO call for Diz to pull Boom's license. None. Especially with only 4 more issues to go. That's a waste. A waste of money, a waste of effort, a waste of time. Marvel isn't going to be publishing any new comics here... not even for Cars. And Cars has been a franchise they've been steadily milking for 5 years now. I'm glad Boom is freed up to do Darkwing Duck, Rescue Ranger, and Ducktales... I hope they continue bringing back TDA cartoons as comics and all, but we have 4 comics that are paid for, and all they need to do is clear the license and they're DONE! And as I've said often... A) Marvel has kid friendly versions of their own superheroes anyway and B) if they're not giving Pixar, their staple tentpole of a franchise, a series of comics under the Marvel banner, they're definately not going to do it with the Muppets.

 

[Andibcool]

Im sad about the Muppet comics, was the only comic i did read after many years without comics. I did try some other here in germany but i lost interest in them short while after.
Ah well that way i save some money again.

 

[ilovemusic]

Guys, lemme say one thing; In Holland the first 3 parts (langridge's comics)are only availible! And even if you order one, you'll get it after 2 months waiting...!

 

[MuppetMusings]

Why does it always seem like i'm the ONLY Henson fan in existence reading/loving/caring about these truly marvelous treasures? (All Henson fansite owners out there that never write about them yet devote page after page to Muppet/Fraggle comics, i'm especially looking at you)

I think the main reason that the major Muppet fansites don't cover the Farscape comics is because they aren't Muppet titles. It's the same reason their isn't much coverage of all the Sid the Science Kid or Dinosaur Train merchandise on the Muppet fansites.

 

[RedPiggy]

I think the main reason that the major Muppet fansites don't cover the Farscape comics is because they aren't Muppet titles. It's the same reason their isn't much coverage of all the Sid the Science Kid or Dinosaur Train merchandise on the Muppet fansites.

But this is something that has gotten on my nerves occasionally: this site HAS a fantasy world and other non-muppet boards. It just feels sometimes like those of us who liked that part of the Henson legacy are teased with inclusion only to be ignored when we show up to the party. If Muppet sites don't want to cover non-Muppet news or merchandise or whatever, then direct us to sites where we CAN talk about it instead of offer boards that sit largely unused.

 

[dwmckim]

It comes down to how each webmaster sees their home. Some are only interested in the cute cuddly Muppets and the only things their site will ever only cover are Disney Muppets, Sesame, and Fraggles. (Muppet Mindset is in this category). Some sites on this end of the spectrum get so tainted towards that aspect of Henson fandom that they can't even be bothered to mention nominations or wins for Dino Train or Sid as a footnote in their coverage of Sesame's Daytime Emmy wins. Others may use Muppet in the title of their site or call themselves a Muppet site but in their minds, the definition of "Muppet" or "Muppet site" is more of an inclusive definition meaning "Muppet/Henson". Tough Pigs often does include stuff from all of Hensondom (not as much now since Danny's time but they at least still do) as does MuppetCast (and because they DO make an effort to include the non-"Muppet" Henson stuff makes the exclusion of Farscape comic coverage all the more glaring) Muppet Newsflash was wonderful at covering all things Henson and why their departure from the Muppet fandom community is a hard blow.

I'm thankful that your blog archives some of their interviews - if someone didn't do it, they'd be lost. I just wish more of Newsflash's archives were stored and rescued somewhere (also the delphi MC forum posts which are now forever lost)

But back on topic, whatever is going on with the Muppets comics is outside of Boom's hands and they've been nothing but supportive of The Muppets. I just wish that more of the existing fansites would step up to the plate at this time and say "even though this is a (hopefully temporary) loss, keep in mind Boom's been equally wonderful bringing us the Farscape comics for an even longer amount of time not only giving us new Farscape material but also canonical continuations of the story written by the series' creator with all the laughs, tears, shocks, and surprises as the television show and now might be a good time for fans to check 'em out while they don't have the Muppet titles to pick up right now."

 

[Drtooth]

Dw... you're not going to blame me for not grabbing the Farscape Comics and reviewing them for Muppet Mindset, are you? Ditto Dark Crystal or Labyrinth stuff... firstly, I love Farscape, don't get me wrong, but I didn't really see all that much (I only caught several episodes when they were rerun in syndication for that oh so short period of time)... plus I'm not a really good judge of what good sci-fi is. My sci-fi favorites are ALF, Futurama and Star Wars (one serious one). Plus, with the new wave of comics coming out, I don't think I'd have the money (I barely was able to get the 2 muppet comics every month... and having bad experiences, I had to get them the DAY they came out... I virtually have no money on weekdays).

 

[dwmckim]

Well first of all, you usually have a real good take on anything cartoon or comic related with a great background to back it up so i'd personally enjoy reading a review you wrote of them even if you were newer to the world (that in itself could be a bit fun, seeing a longtime Henson fan but still someone "newer" to Farscape's take on things. Actually reminds me of one of Danny's first articles on Tough Pigs where he did a roundtable review of a week of Farscape which he was watching for the first time along with myself and another huge farscape fan)

But no, it's not your "fault". If you didn't do it yourself, someone else could if that's what was ulimately wanted. But exclusively covering only Disney Muppets, SST, and FR was pretty much an editorial decision on Ryan's part from the beginning. Like i pointed out, even stuff like overviews of Sesame's performance at each year's Daytime Emmy Awards never even note how well Sid the Science Kid or Dinosaur Train did as a footnote.

 

[Drtooth]

That's good to know.

I'm debating if I'm going to bother with the Skrumps or not... it looks like a pretty steep price tag (I'm cheap, I'm poor, I still have to buy these things myself!) if they are indeed only releasing it in a hardback.

I'm going to start reviewing old Muppet babies comics I bought for some reason in college at some point. I have a Marvel Fraggle Rock, but I'm waiting to see the episode it's based on to be fair.

I would try Farscape, but I'd be too far in, and I really am a better judge of cartoony comedies (You don't want anyone in sci fi who admits to a liking of a certain Star Wars prequel character)... but I may just pick a few up if I can find them.

Anyway, back to the subject, the Muppet comics got me back into seriously buying comics. Usually, I'd just wait until there was a sale and buy up whatever back issues caught my fancy (I have an extremely incomplete Sonic X collection)... maybe get the weird stuff from the bulk back issue bin (found a LOT of classic TMNT's there) but to actually wait a month for certain titles... I didn't do that since I was in high school and got Ren and Stimpy and Animaniacs comics. To some extent the Cartoon Network ones (but I missed a couple Space Ghost issues... the best ones... and I just gave up).

To hold back 4 issues... 4 last issues... seems very halfmuled. It's not going to help or hurt the license any way if Boom can get a 4 issue extension (again, I thought they had a 2 year contract or plans or something... 4 issues of each short of that). Even if they just bought up the 4 issues and reprinted it in their... ugh ... magazine plans, holding back a great finale to the Roger Langride comics is inexcusable. They're done and paid for, and only they need the license to print them... it's a waste of money at both ends. Now, that's not to say it hasn't happened before with certain other comics, that something was finished but couldn't be published... there was problems with the Dreamwave TMNT comic, but that was because the owner of that company was an arrogant moron, and he bankrupted the whole company to death... but this time, it's a license snafu that happened when the writer/artist had some personal problems.... now, Boom has been very respectable towards that. Remember the delay Muppet Peter Pan had because Amy was moving at the time? They gave her that extension, they gave Roger that extension... too bad Disney didn't see things that way and give them the extra couple months.