Is Disney going to shut down Marvel Comics?

[MajorHoy]

. . . Sooner than later Marvel-more Disney is going to realize they don't need comic book stores either. Don't they own something called the Disney store? Disney publishing? 100+ resorts?
In other words Disney could tell Diamond & comics book store to buzz off and do it themselves. Including getting a deal with Wal-Mart of Target to stock the books (not floppies).

Disney Stores aren't located in every shopping mall, and how much of the stores would they allocate to the comic books? Would comic books be as much a priority there as they are at comic book shops?
As for deals to get Walmart or Target to stock their tpb collections, how much would they have to give up in the deal to get the stores interested in that? How much space in a typical Walmart or Target would the stores allow for stocking and displaying those tpb collections? And what about the fact that many of those tpb collections are currently available at Barnes & Noble stores or through amazon.com? Might that make the tpb distribution less appealing to Walmart or Target if they didn't have exclusive deals?

[Mister Mets]

So Disney plans to shutdown comics in a subsidiary that costs them no actual money and plan to do this in the midst of various events and active titles which is keeping hundreds of people employed and has effectively cornered the market in regards to publishers..... yeah that doesn't compute.

A reminder, if Marvel was to go under tomorrow, all Disney would do is put it on their taxes. That's it.

EDIT: You can actually google the figures. Some of them are public but we simply don't know digital sales which has also proven to be enough to keep books afloat. Books also have something of a bar at 20,000 and even that's lowered over the years seeing as Marvel has enough money to keep some things going or they sell well in trades.

Marvel will also be acquiring a lot of franchises presumably from Disney and just got Conan back. They have no reason to shutdown especially seeing as it costs Disney nothing. The website that speculation is from also believes it's shutting down because of a panel about comics to cinema. So basically hosting a panel about how comics translate to film is a sign of the end days? Bullshit.

One way to look at comics is a research & development division that makes money. Why on Earth would they shut it down?

[9th.]

This always sounded like a bunch of nonsense to me.

[kingaliencracker]

I have no idea how true or not this rumor is, and I certainly wouldn't trust Joe Quesada or Dan Didio in what they have to say about this topic because no CEO of any company is going to come out and say "we're shutting down" prior to it happening.

Having said that, I've long argued that the direct market is a dying entity and it was only a matter of time before the doors closed permanently on the floppies.

[Prof. Warren]

Having said that, I've long argued that the direct market is a dying entity and it was only a matter of time before the doors closed permanently on the floppies.

The direct market has been "dying" according to doomsayers since before many of today's comic fans were even born.

Will the industry collapse one day in the future? Maybe. But as its end has been falsely predicted for so many years now, I think it's better to just relax and enjoy some comics rather than continue to worry about an imminent collapse that never seems to actually arrive.

[kingaliencracker]

The direct market has been "dying" according to doomsayers since before many of today's comic fans were even born.

Will the industry collapse one day in the future? Maybe. But as its end has been falsely predicted for so many years now, I think it's better to just relax and enjoy some comics rather than continue to worry about an imminent collapse that never seems to actually arrive.

The fact is print is a dying medium across the board, not something specific to comic books. The dwindling numbers and closing shops is pretty indicative of a dying model. This isn't being a "doomsayer" as much as just telling you that there's no way you're going to be buying floppies 20 years from now except perhaps niche characters or in niche locations. Everything will ultimately go digital.

I'm not saying "worry" about it per se. I haven't been worried about it for several years. But I do find some irony in fans exclaiming that the industry is broken, quality is down, and something needs to change, yet turn around and create a thread like this where we're up to 10 pages of panic.

[skyvolt2000]

I have no idea how true or not this rumor is, and I certainly wouldn't trust Joe Quesada or Dan Didio in what they have to say about this topic because no CEO of any company is going to come out and say "we're shutting down" prior to it happening.

Having said that, I've long argued that the direct market is a dying entity and it was only a matter of time before the doors closed permanently on the floppies.

So until that day-can we just enjoy the books?

Try to hold off that day by actually buying books instead of letting trolls who don't ruin everything?

Because somebody is buying products and keeping stores open is not worried about what is or is not selling. Because you can't control a stores's RENT be it leases or insurance. The two things no comic book company controls over a store.

[kingaliencracker]

So until that day-can we just enjoy the books?

I never said not to.

[skyvolt2000]

The fact is print is a dying medium across the board, not something specific to comic books. The dwindling numbers and closing shops is pretty indicative of a dying model. This isn't being a "doomsayer" as much as just telling you that there's no way you're going to be buying floppies 20 years from now except perhaps niche characters or in niche locations. Everything will ultimately go digital.

I'm not saying "worry" about it per se. I haven't been worried about it for several years. But I do find some irony in fans exclaiming that the industry is broken, quality is down, and something needs to change, yet turn around and create a thread like this where we're up to 10 pages of panic.

Whose panicking? Not me. Because I don't let entitlement groups tell me about quality of a book. Because the only person who defines quality for what I read is ME.

Nothing can be fixed until EVERYBODY grows up. And leave the racist and sexist agendas at HOME.

I can't do anything about Diamond offering products to stores that have already been on the shelves of Target, Wal-Mart and others MONTHS in advance.

I can't stop a store owner from over ordering books.

I can't help a store that is surround by other stores that sell comics CHEAPER.

I can't stop a store owner who WON'T order certain books.

I can't help a store that has high rent or is in a bad location.

These are legit issues where race nor sex nor book quality come to play.

This is what is killing your stores SLOWLY.

Entitlement fans and groups are killing them faster. Because normal folks are seeing grown men act like children over comics and comic movies.

[williamtheday]

Whose panicking? Not me. Because I don't let entitlement groups tell me about quality of a book. Because the only person who defines quality for what I read is ME.

Nothing can be fixed until EVERYBODY grows up. And leave the racist and sexist agendas at HOME.

I can't do anything about Diamond offering products to stores that have already been on the shelves of Target, Wal-Mart and others MONTHS in advance.

I can't stop a store owner from over ordering books.

I can't help a store that is surround by other stores that sell comics CHEAPER.

I can't stop a store owner who WON'T order certain books.

I can't help a store that has high rent or is in a bad location.

These are legit issues where race nor sex nor book quality come to play.

This is what is killing your stores SLOWLY.

Entitlement fans and groups are killing them faster. Because normal folks are seeing grown men act like children over comics and comic movies.

Hear, hear!

[catbellysqueezer]

There are a lot of people saying they aren't buying anything from Marvel, but they can't tell me which series they did not enjoy.

So I'm thinking they are just doing what someone is telling them to do instead of trying the series out themselves.

[Username taken]

There are a lot of people saying they aren't buying anything from Marvel, but they can't tell me which series they did not enjoy.

So I'm thinking they are just doing what someone is telling them to do instead of trying the series out themselves.

My thoughts exactly.

I'll have to second the others that Marvel is in a golden age of some sorts.

Between Daredevil, Immortal Hulk (this run is right up there with some of the best ever), The Mighty Thor, Captain America, Amazing Spider-man, Venom, Guardians of the Galaxy e.t.c, there's a lot of good to great stuff out there.

[chamber-music]

Doubt it. Marvel Comics are their R&D department for the Marvel properties. It's where they workshop new storylines and characters they can use for TV and film.

Yep.

The comic publishing arm of their business still generates content for licencing, marketing, other forms of media and so on. There is more to the comic publishing than just selling physical comics.

[chamber-music]

There is a Disney store in my local shopping mall but I've not be in it.

Are Disney stores not selling Marvel comics?

Seems like a strange missed opportunity if Disney stores aren't selling comics. I could understand them not selling floppies but I would of thought they would sell trades at least.

[Miles To Go]

There are a lot of people saying they aren't buying anything from Marvel, but they can't tell me which series they did not enjoy.

So I'm thinking they are just doing what someone is telling them to do instead of trying the series out themselves.

Whatever suits your head canon.