Musings From New York

Disney + Marvel = Dismal?

The interwebitubes have been all a-twitter (hah!) about the Disney-Marvel deal today (BTW, hats off to TechCrunch - they posted the first story I saw). A lot of folks have tried to wonder what the mash-up may lead to ... here are a couple of my favorites:

- From @muskrat_john: Bambi's mother was killed...BY WOLVERINE!

- From @pvponline: The Incredibles can meet the Fantastic Four now.

And other combos I could think of included:

- The Cars fight Magneto!

- The Beast meets Beast!

- Hannah Montana meets Jubilee!

Apparently Stan Lee thinks this is a good deal. In short, I disagree ... somewhat.

Let's face it, Disney's current roster of IP & Franchises appeals to young kids, and girls. I'm sure there's boy-centric material in there, but I'll be darned if I know what it is. The typical Disney fare is "wholesome family" entertainment, focussed on driving home a message or moral. Marvel's roster does include "lighter" versions of their popular heroes but a significant chunk appeals to an older, more mature, primarily male population. No disrespect meant to the girls, but I think Emma Frost or Mystique are drawn to satisfy raging hormones. And that pretty much goes for most comic book characters anyway. DC is no different.

On the face of it, you could argue that the two companies supplement, not complement, each other. The combined entity will have content that appeals to younger kids, girls, and boys. To me, that's the danger - the two companies' products appeal to different demographics, and need different marketing techniques. There's a very real danger that unless Marvel retains editorial control, that they'd need to tone down their edginess, possibly leading them to shelve or sell off some of their more "mature" IP like The Punisher.

Where the deal does make sense is if you look at Disney as a collection of content delivery channels. Disney of course has its own venerable film & animation studios (which have woefully languished since the 90's and ceded the crown to Pixar). Disney owns a suite of TV channels, including ABC Family & XD. The latter already carries the superhero fare, and ABC Family carried a host of direct-to-TV content developed by Marvel in the late 90's (leading to a lawsuit, even). Disney also does publish in the dead-tree space, but I'm not sure how large that arm of the business is, or how large it is in comparison to Marvel.

Thus in my mind, what makes the most sense is Marvel acting as an independent studio, using the Disney brand & marketing platform to deliver that content. But that's only if Marvel can keep Disney from interfering with the content.

On a personal note, I hope to blog more often. I realize the blog's fallen by the way side since I got married ... ah heck, who am I kidding, since I found Twitter! But I want to write more, and hopefully I can stay motivated! As always, comments and encouragement help!

All a-twitter!

I've added a Twitter panel to the right, showing my last 10 tweets.

OMFG!

I cannot believe I didn't know about this website until today!

These are the cartoons I grew up with. These are the cartoons I hope my nephew watches and marvels at. This is the reason I love Superman (and comic books in general) so much. I mean, just look at the scenery & backdrops and the art in general - Max Fleischer is a GOD!

This episode, in particular, was the first I ever saw. I think I must've been 5 or 6 years old, in Nigeria, with just a few cartoons and other video cassettes (now you know why I can recite the dialog to Star Wars episode IV verbatim) to pass the evenings. To a little boy, the whole "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, the man of steel ... Superman!" bit was a surefire way to hold my attention! This was also the first time I heard the phrase "This looks like a job for ... Superman!". Ooh, I got a shiver down my spine just typing that out!

In Which I Explain Why People Think I'm Always On Facebook

It's called Twitter, and Facebook's Twitter application. Explaining Twitter is a bit difficult. It's ... a microblog ... a messaging application ... a refuge for the technocrati and technosnobs. In other words, it's my refuge. I typically "tweet" (as it is known) once or twice a day, and the tweets are automatically pushed to my Facebook status. Oh, and the interesting challenge in tweet-ing is that there's a 140 character limit, so one has to choose one's words very carefully! Twitter is starting to get a little traction from businesses, especially hi-tech ones, who use it as a medium to get their word out to the tech-savvy.

You can find me at: http://twitter.com/bloreboy ... The Lady is at /NamrataM (she wants me to plug her work account /EMCMAGELLAN) ... And here are some of the folks I follow on Twitter:

/Malz ... Taz Snow
/patricknorton ... panel-member of TWIT, and tech reviewer
/THErealDVORAK ... John C. "I Get No Spam" Dvorak
/ltshaw711 ... A funny chap in Boston
/sidsays ... The Lady's Brother
/leolaporte ... The Chief TWIT
/wilw ... Ensign Wesley Crusher's alter-ego
/darthvader ... someone with a great sense of Star Wars humor, and way too much time on their hands

Any other readers have Twitter accounts? Let me know!

For those curious, I use Hahlo on my iPhone to write out Tweets.

My Geek Welcome

My zip code is apparently changing. It's due to increased postal volumes going through this area. I realized that it would be the 4th zip code I've had in as many years in New York ... and the geek in me remembered the delight at my first zip code - 10010.

Yup, I was 18, and in New York.

Oh ... My ... Freaking .. God!!

It's only the sequel to one of the greatest RTS games EVER!!

Not Just Cinquo de Mayo

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. Why I have not heard of this before, I do not know. As a matter of fact, I learnt about it through the New York Times (an article about comics in the NYTimes! How could I *not* click on that link?). As I was in Boston at the time, the Lady took me to a small New England Comics store off Commonwealth Ave (that area happened to be Boston University, her alma mater, and I got a bit of the nostalgic tour too, so it's all good).

Prior to this visit to a comic book store, I'd sourced my comics in graphic novel format (i.e.: collections of comic books covering a story arc forming a complete read without having to flip through multiple books) ... and mainly from stores such as Borders or Barnes & Noble. I'd visited Manhattan Comics a few times, but hadn't really spent much time browsing through there ... not really sure why the store never appealed to me. When I visited the store, I finally understood the importance of the local comic book store. To be able to converse with a knowledgeable comic book lover, I was quickly guided to titles I might find interesting ... Hellblazer, The Goon, and The Sandman (shamefully, I have not yet read The Sandman). I ended up buying quite a bit that day (most comics were on sale for the occasion) ... a couple of issues of Futurama, "The Sandman Vol. 1", and "Hellboy - Seed of Destruction". I also picked up a couple of free comics - titles that I'd never heard of

The Lady chose to continue her nostalgia trip by picking up a couple of Archie Digests. Most readers here are well into adulthood, so I'll pose this question to you - how long has it been since you settled back in your favorite chair/ recliner/ pillow-pile, and read an Archie?

Exactly.

On the subject ... of late, I've become a HUGE fan of Hellboy, most likely as it bases its stories in mythology and folklore, two boyhood fascinations of mine. As a result, the plots do not have to stretch themselves to seem ... for want of a better word, plausible. I mean, have you read a JLA comic book lately? Most JLA I've read in the last few years are too crap to even bear mentioning. And Hellboy isn't as dark, bleak, or ... angry, as Spawn or Batman. It's actually quite funny, in its own way.

Well, I finally took the plunge ...

... And ordered an iMac.

20" iMac, 2GHz Core 2 Duo Processor, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, 256 MB ATI Radeon X1600 graphics card, wireless keyboard & mouse, and Final Cut HD. All with Apple's measly 6% discount through the Employee Purchase Program.

It should be with me by the end of the week.

I'm a first time Mac owner (used my friend's a few times, to surf and such). I shiver in dreaded anticipation.

Attention Comic Book Lovers!

Attention true comic book lovers! LXG:III is coming out next year!

Be warned, LXG (the comic) is not meant for the faint of heart. It's probably not meant for anyone under the age of 18, either. It can be pretty ... umm ... intense, unlike the sanitized, bastardized Hollywood movie.

Pick up a copy ... or two ... and see for yourself.

PS: I also found this while fishing around Amazon.com

Found via Wil Wheaton.