Marvel or DC....who will fold first???

[justiceleaguer]

Wondering which of these two powerhouses will be the first to fold eventually. I know marvel has gone through bankruptcy and is still around. Will the collectors of tommorrow want a company who has had pretty much the same lineups for decades, as DC has....or one that constantly changes its characters and does not believe in continuity, such as Marvel? Given that us current collectors continue to propel the back issue market, the next gen of readers small as they may be, will decide which type of format is still around decades from now. My choice obviously is DC, the characters staying power has already been proven.

 

 

Sal

[CosmicBob]

Now, I may be out of the Marvel loop, but I thought their big claim to fame was their strict continuity? Unlike DC which has had many holes in it's continuity.

 

Or does Marvel have just as many holes?

 

I don't think either one will fold any time soon. DC is owned by Time Warner and I think Marvel is owned by Sony (?). Big dough behind them. They may retool from time to time, but I don't think they'll go away.

[Mushroom]

Wondering which of these two powerhouses will be the first to fold eventually. I know marvel has gone through bankruptcy and is still around. Will the collectors of tommorrow want a company who has had pretty much the same lineups for decades, as DC has....or one that constantly changes its characters and does not believe in continuity, such as Marvel? Given that us current collectors continue to propel the back issue market, the next gen of readers small as they may be, will decide which type of format is still around decades from now. My choice obviously is DC, the characters staying power has already been proven.

 

 

Sal

 

It is not a simple matter of comics. Both these organisations obtain a lot of revenue from movies, cartoons, computer games, merchandising etc etc. I know that Marvel almost self destructed but in the end they didn't. Whatever the change in medium I am sure these companies will be at the pointy end. There franchises are too strong to just wither away. I am not sure that either of them will be for the bullpen any time soon.

 

As for the other comments. DC has Vetigo and other innovative labels....what do you mean that they don't come up with anything new (for eg Y- The last Man, Fables).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[minutekev@50]

Interesting topic. The recent movie hype as done a lot for Marvel. It's dying down a bit now because of the lackluster showings at the box office by LXG (although not a Marvel pub it was labled a comic book movie by the press), Hulk, Daredevil. Only X2 lived up to its billing.

I'm waiting for Spidey 2 and expect it to be big. However we only need to take a backwards look at the ruination of the Batman series to see that Spidey 2 needs to top the first one. And the third one needs to top the second one. Hits are a flash in the pan and people forget. You here the old adage 'it's not as good as the first one' and that's true in a majority of cases. (Where it's not? Empire Strikes Back, Godfather 2, above-mentioned X-2.)

Over at DC, I'm wondering just what the is going on? Someone needs to cut through the red tape and get some pictures rolling. New Batman. New Superman. Whatever.

Anyway, I can't really see where neither company will 'fold.' Marvel is, after all, Marvel. And DC is payrolled by Time Warner. Both DC and Marvel have characters that will be around for years.

Who knows? Maybe they'll eventually 'Gasp' merge into one giant corporation!!! CRISIS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

[Mushroom]

Now, I may be out of the Marvel loop, but I thought their big claim to fame was their strict continuity? Unlike DC which has had many holes in it's continuity.

 

Or does Marvel have just as many holes?

 

DC has continuity. Marvel changes continuity every 5 seconds.

[deathlok]

THe only reason Marvel had financial problems was due to ownership, as detailed in the book Comic Wars. If for some reason one of the big two falls on hard times, I'm sure the other will likely buy the rights to all the characters. Which would result in the merging of the two. However I can't imagine that happening any time soon. As stated above WB owns the DC label and will continue to milk it for all its worth. Remember WB also purchased all of the Hanna Barbera characters. Marvel, however thanks to Avi Arad, is in a renaissance it hasn't had in the past. It will very interesting to see what will happen when the films popularity wanes, and its effect in the printed medium.

 

Suffice to say, both publishers should be around for quite some time.

 

Oh BTW, Make Mine Marvel!!!

[minutekev@50]

As far as continuity issues go, this didn't bother me at first, but looking back at the first 30 issues or so of Batman once that title hit 400, does anybody else just totally get screwed up with the continuity?!??! On one hand, you have a re-vamped origin for Jason Todd, you've got Batman Year One. Then Year Two over in Detective. Then Year 3, in which Robin goes back to being Grayson. Batman's continuity jumped all over the place after Miller's 80s update!!!

[justiceleaguer]

Wondering which of these two powerhouses will be the first to fold eventually. I know marvel has gone through bankruptcy and is still around. Will the collectors of tommorrow want a company who has had pretty much the same lineups for decades, as DC has....or one that constantly changes its characters and does not believe in continuity, such as Marvel? Given that us current collectors continue to propel the back issue market, the next gen of readers small as they may be, will decide which type of format is still around decades from now. My choice obviously is DC, the characters staying power has already been proven.

 

 

Sal

 

It is not a simple matter of comics. Both these organisations obtain a lot of revenue from movies, cartoons, computer games, merchandising etc etc. I know that Marvel almost self destructed but in the end they didn't. Whatever the change in medium I am sure these companies will be at the pointy end. There franchises are too strong to just wither away. I am not sure that either of them will be for the bullpen any time soon.

 

As for the other comments. DC has Vetigo and other innovative labels....what do you mean that they don't come up with anything new (for eg Y- The last Man, Fables).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your absolutely right mushroom, at this point Marvels movie blockbusters are keeping them profitable, along with video games, clothing, etc. What happens to them when all of their franchising money dissapears? Are they going to shrink up and dissapear like Mirage studios did when the Turtles era vanished? Hollywood has been known to go through 4-5 yr runs of particular movie genres...the ultimate test is whether Marvel can survive on the staying power of characters who will likely be "out of fashion" when their movie careers end, and whether they can avoid another bout with bankruptcy. A Batman or Superman movie is long overdue, ill grant you that, but even without the silver screen these two characters still do strong sales of their respective clothing, toys, accessories lines, etc. When the movie era runs dry, and all the characters have been tapped out...... which comics will survive the test of time???

 

Sal

[CosmicBob]

As far as continuity issues go, this didn't bother me at first, but looking back at the first 30 issues or so of Batman once that title hit 400, does anybody else just totally get screwed up with the continuity?!??! On one hand, you have a re-vamped origin for Jason Todd, you've got Batman Year One. Then Year Two over in Detective. Then Year 3, in which Robin goes back to being Grayson. Batman's continuity jumped all over the place after Miller's 80s update!!!

 

Plus all the freakiness with Catwoman!

[Room 237]

If I was owner by AOL | Warner I don;t think I'd worry about going bust... I think Marvel is the one who would most be at risk....

[THE_BEYONDER]

DC is going to introduce ULTIMATE SUPERMAN..........and then BOTH companies will collapse

[Mushroom]

DC is going to introduce ULTIMATE SUPERMAN..........and then BOTH companies will collapse

 

 

 

[HarrisonJohn]

I see kids all around with Hulk toys and t-shirts. 20 years ago that was me. I think a lot of the DC and Marvel characters are now like Disney and Warner Brothers/Bugs Bunny characters and there will always be money to be made. Marvel should open a chain of theme restaurants or amusement parks.

[Lockjaw]

There already is a theme park in Florida with comic themed rides. Marvel opened up a restaurant years ago (I ate at the one that was at Universal City's City Walk, and I still have my Marvel Mania Hulk souvenier shot glass that is shaped like a beaker), and that did not work out (was a cool restaurant with decent food though).

 

I think Marvel is just going to stick to licensing their characters, films, and of course comics. It would be foolish spend massive amounts of money a second-time to open another chain of restaurants (which are notoriously expensive to run).

[minutekev@50]

As far as continuity issues go, this didn't bother me at first, but looking back at the first 30 issues or so of Batman once that title hit 400, does anybody else just totally get screwed up with the continuity?!??! On one hand, you have a re-vamped origin for Jason Todd, you've got Batman Year One. Then Year Two over in Detective. Then Year 3, in which Robin goes back to being Grayson. Batman's continuity jumped all over the place after Miller's 80s update!!!

 

Plus all the freakiness with Catwoman!

 

No kidding! Selena the hooker!

[awe4one]

I see kids all around with Hulk toys and t-shirts. 20 years ago that was me. I think a lot of the DC and Marvel characters are now like Disney and Warner Brothers/Bugs Bunny characters and there will always be money to be made.

 

But how many successful comics do you find on the racks for WB or Disney characters? Sure there will always be money to be had from the major characters via licensing but that doesn't mean that comics will be published. Also, I don't think the majority of Marvel characters have the visibility and long term desirability of the WB or Disney characters. Stop the comics....and the visibility of practically every Marvel character after Spider-Man and, possibly, the Hulk becomes less prominent in the public mindset. Even though they were "hot" at the time, who really remembers the Hercoloids, Bird-Man, etc...that came out of HB in the 1960s? Space Ghost was the only survivor with long term visibility and it can be argued that it's only a result of "dumbing" the character down and making him a cliche. Similar things are due to Marvel characters I fear. DC will have similar problems as well but to a lesser extent due to having established pop culture icons in the big three; Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Marvel is much more dependent on the comics being published to keep their characters alive in the public eye in my opinion. And the most to lose if they stop. The movies will stop at some point and will probably do so leaving a bad taste in the public's mouth (a'la Batman and Robin).

 

Most likely scenario.....Marvel or DC will not fold. On the otherhand, it's very possible that a corporation could buy Marvel and redesignate the characters as their own similar to Turner dropping the Hanna-Barbera brand from the cartoons.

 

 

Jim

[savagetales]

Correct LockJaw. Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure has a Marvel Comics inspired "land" that is very cool. The Hulk is one of the best roller coaster's I've been on and starts with a full speed blast off almost straight up before the first drop. Spider-Man ride is also sweet, kind of a 3D semi-coaster. Defenitely worth checking out if you're ever in Orlando.