Disney To "Shut Down" Marvel Comics?

www.bleedingcool.com/2019/03/09/sxsw-2019-marvel-from-comics-to-screens-reminds-filmfest-attendees-gasp-comics-exist/

[SXSW 2019] Marvel: From Comics to Screens Reminds FilmFest Attendees *GASP* Comics Exist
Posted by Andy Wilson March 9, 2019 Comment

Marvel Comics Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada and Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski took over a packed ballroom at the Austin Convention Center during SXSW (South By Southwest) on its opening day- Friday, March 9th- to deliver an important message to a rapt audience of cinephiles: READ YOUR COMICS.


During their hour-long presentation, they went through all of the various stories and creative artists and writers who inspired the blockbusters of today. No real surprises, but essentially a greatest hits collection of the various IP that has been mined to bring us the MCU.


First, Dear SXSW, this needed to be in a bigger room. This was one of the most hotly attended panels of SXSW Day 1, and while seats remained plentiful in some of the keynotes in the larger venues, this was packed to capacity. Second, given the giant interest and hype around all things MCU in the film world right now, Marvel should’ve brought their A-game. Cebulski and Quesda did just fine, all things considered, (they usually do) but they basically talked over a slideshow. Past Marvel presentations at SXSW have literally broken the internet (ok, well, just a few websites) when they rolled out major digital comics initiatives. And they did a great job in years past bringing in surprise guests– including Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson himself!) via Skype. Compared to that, this just felt anti-climactic.

Plus, given the panel taking place on the release date of Captain Marvel and International Women’s Day, there was a relative paucity of representation of women. Perhaps my view is tinged by the fact that Marvel followed a presentation by the editors of Cherrypicks, the critical aggregator of female film critics, and the general “Up With Women” vibe of SXSW Day 1 in general, but it still felt odd to just have sort of the same old show we’d expect at any old comic convention. This was a squandered opportunity for both SXSW and Marvel, even though there was nothing technically wrong or bad about it.

Ok, so enough of the kvetching– the panel was actually pretty fun and would be a great introduction to the world of comics for more casual MCU fans who only know the characters from the screen, which, ostensibly, a lot of the Film Festival attendees are. I’ve had a lot of great conversations in line the last few days talking with other folks, especially about Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, and even among a lot of these rank cinephiles, not many have actually read the books they’re based on.


However, the crowd in attendance may have been a little more in the know, as there were cheers for luminaries like Jack Kirby and how their visual style inspired so much of the look of comics and our films. But, perhaps surprisingly, the biggest cheers came for Christopher Priest, as Quesada explained how much of last year’s blockbuster was inspired by Priest’s run on the Black Panther comic.

There were also a few fun nods to other Marvel adaptation and how they’ve inspired the cinematic universe. The 90’s X-Men cartoon was a gateway for so many people who now work in comics and in the movies. Storm, specifically, was a touchstone for so many young women to see a leader who is a black woman. The value in that representation can’t be understated.

Speaking of animation, they also pointed to the turning point in time when the “Infinity Gems” of the comics were re-branded as “Infinity Stones” and it just so happened to be. . . The Super Hero Squad Show? Indeed. Luckily, Quesada was otherwise mum on the cringy moment in the cartoon when Reptil and Hulk make a joke about their “cheesy friend” Joe (who served as Executive Producer). Good thing. We didn’t need to be reminded of that. Wait. Yes, yes we do:


Another interesting and unexpected break was a discussion of Blade, which almost everyone forgets was a Marvel comic. Quesada pointed out that Blade never sold comic books, but the success of the first film led other studios to produce more comic book movies. Those first two Blade movies are pretty good, especially the Guillermo Del Toro helmed second one.

This was a fun panel and a nice walk down memory lane of all of the comics that inspired the films that we love so much. But SXSW can do much better by putting this is the larger venue it deserves and bringing in a broader subset of Marvel talent. The panel begged the question of “Which Marvel storyline from today will inspire the movies of a few years from now?” Let’s bring in the creative teams behind The House of Ideas– even if just in a video montage let’s hear from folks working on some of their top stories. You know who would draw a GIANT crowd at SXSW (especially as politically-oriented as the festival is this year?) Ta-Nehisi Coates. Or here’s an idea– get some of the filmmakers from the MCU to talk about their favorite comic books. Don’t just tell us how much of a comic book nerd Kevin Feige is– do a trivia contest between him and Tom Breevort and let’s see how he does! Bring in Ryan Penagos and Lorraine Cink and have some banter. (Not that Quesada and Cebulski aren’t fine, but. . .)

I’m glad I attended the panel. But I hope if Marvel returns in 2020 they do so more like they have done in the past, and they bring in newer, more diverse talent. And SXSW better put them in the biggest room possible.

cosmicbook.news/joe-quesada-disney-closing-marvel-comics-rumor

JOE QUESADA RESPONDS TO DISNEY CLOSING MARVEL COMICS RUMOR
Matt McGloin Posted: 03/02/2019

Yesterday I posted an article questioning if Disney is contemplating shutting down Marvel Comics, with the thought behind the reasoning due to several factors including that Disney's Consumer Products division, which includes Marvel Comics, is the only division within Disney to be losing money. In addition, the recent comics retailer summit saw Marvel Comics blamed for the comic book industry being in a present state of shambles.

Bleeding Cool actually put it forth that Marvel Comics might be trying to save and convince Disney not to end the company, as it is known Marvel Comics Chief Creative Officer and Editor-In-Chief C.B. Cebulski are headed to SXSW to hold a panel highlighting how Marvel Comics inspires other forms of media that do make money.

In addition, Disney has already set a precedent for licensing out their products that don't make money in-house with their video games, which Disney CEO Bob Iger recently confirmed. It's also known Disney already licenses out some of their comic properties to IDW Publishing, so Disney doing the same with their Marvel comics is a possibility.

While it may seem as if the writing is on the wall regarding the problems surrounding Marvel - there is no question comic book sales are dwindling - Joe Quesada took to Twitter to shoot down the thought of a "conspiracy."

"Must be a slow news day. Ladies and gents I give you the dumbest comics conspiracy of the week," Quesada posted about the BC article. "Sometimes a panel is just a panel."

Quesada then proceeded to joke about the notion, "Well we'll be passing a hat at the panel so if we can dredge up enough coin, I don't know if it'll save Marvel, but maybe CB and I can muster up enough for bus fair back to NYC."

Quesada also added, "Totally see your point, but I choose to see the glass as half full and look at it as widening the number of people that see this kind of conspiratorial garbage for what it is."

So of course Joe Quesada is going to fire back against the negative publicity (what else he is going to do? confirm it?), but how about he responds to the allegations that Marvel Comics is killing the industry?

Again, Brian Hibbs, who is well known around the comic book industry, previously wrote for Comic Book Resources and has owned a comic book shop for 30 years offered the following during his speech at the comic retailer summit:

"National sales are very poor – there are comics in the national top 100 that aren’t even selling twenty thousand copies. A significant number of stores have closed — perhaps as many as 10% of outlets," Hibbs said. "Want a clear and current example of Marvel’s preposterous 'flood the zone' strategy? War of the Realms is supposed to be their major Q2 project in 2019, but in the first month alone they’re asking us to buy into TWO issues of the series being released with no sales data, as well as FOUR different tie-in-mini-series. All six of these comics (which are built around a six-issue storyline) will require final orders from us before we’ve sold a single comic to an actual reader. Is there anyone in this room thinks that this is good? That this is sustainable? That this will sell more comics to more readers? That this will sell any copies to people who aren’t already on board Marvel’s periodicals already?"

So what is your response Mr. Quesada? Is Disney going to sustain a company that continues to lose money? What are you going to do to turn things around?