People are reporting that new Disney head Rich Ross has pulled the last project his predecessor — Dick Cook – had in the hopper, a costly reboot of the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea franchise. Disney had already spent $10 million on preproduction — some models were even displayed at this year’s San Diego con — and Michael Chabon had been hired to polish the script.

Now, we’re fans of most of the previous versions of this story — including Kirk Douglas’s pants-to-the-armpits turn as Ned Land, Harryhausen’s marvelous Mysterious Island, and even Karel Zeman’s weirdo animated version — but we are STILL doing the happy dance over this movie’s journey to the dustbin behind Mickey Drive.

Why?

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This is not comics, too, but we’re all big Pixar fans here, right??? Plus one detects perhaps a bit of influence from some of our favorite Pixar-based cartoonists here, as well.

UPDATE: Artist Paul Conrad writes to give credits —

Eric Tan did the “Journey into the Wild” (with the dogs).

Craig Foster did the SAA South American Air (with the Lama).

Erik Evans did the “Paradise Falls” (with the bird).

I did the rest.

There’s more on the posters at Conrad’s blog.

Also, we’re trying to find out if they are for sale, but apparently they were just sent out as files to websites as promo. If we find out any more, we’ll let ya know!

Anyway to celebrate the release of UP on DVD and Blu-Ray, Pixar has released a series of retro posters. Click for larger images.

Recent SEC filings reveal more of how the Disney-Marvel deal went down. You can read the whole thing here, but if it gives you a headache,
Ben Fritz explains in layman’s terms.

In June, Iger made his intentions clear and the two companies embarked on a nearly three-month-long series of negotiations that involved four in-person meetings, numerous phone discussions and an intense back-and-forth over price that culminated in the $4-billion deal announced Aug. 31.

Plus, lots of Marvel execs made lots of money on the deal. No shock there.

Meanwhile, the search for a new Disney studio head goes on, following Dick Cook’s abrupt departure.:

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger must act quickly to replace studio head Dick Cook to avoid further destabilizing the Burbank-based movie operation.

Cook’s abrupt departure Friday is upsetting employees, many of whom are finding it difficult to focus on work because they are anxious about their future. In addition, stars and filmmakers do not like to face uncertainty and want assurances that their projects will remain on track.

High on the list: Disney Channels Worldwide president Rich Ross, who has overseen the rampant success of things like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. He’s also been instrumental in reaching the boys with Disney XD. Not too much to parse in regards to Marvel developments except that mark our words — DAZZLER: THE MUSICAL.

Well, it looks like the Mouse is in a mood for changes. as studio head Dick Cook made an abrupt departure on Friday. The move — dictated by Disney CEO Bob Iger — comes after a disappointing 2009 for Disney: combative hamsters (G-FORCE) and The Rock in a kiddie move remake (RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN) just didn’t cut it.

And now, who will replace Cook? We hear it’s Hank Kanalz. NO! Wrong rumours! But Marvel studio head Kevin Feige is being named as a possibility in a few places, as is John Lasseter, although he would have a hard time replacing Cook’s strong ties with live action actors. For instance, the LA Times’ Claudia Eller caught up with Johnny Depp and you can just imagine Captain Jack Sparrow’s eyeliner running as he questions whether he can go on with a fourth PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movie sans Cook. “There’s a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment,” Depp said.

Now THAT is sorrow.

Tchotchke-seeking crowds, bloggers dutifully covering every announcement, surprise Johnny Depp appearances, the first expanded “Disney Con”, D23 was a success and paved the way for Disney’s own version of Comic-Con.

After hitting the road to court fans at Comic-Con in San Diego this summer, Disney has found a way to do the same thing in its own backyard.

Over the past four days, Disney touted pretty much everything the company has to offer — especially its films and TV shows, theme parks and various merchandise lines, from wedding dresses to collectible pins — at the D23 Expo, the Mouse House’s answer to Comic-Con, held at the Anaheim Convention Center, across the street from Disneyland.

The crowd, between 10-20,000, was a bit smaller than hoped. Big news included a new Guillermo Del Toro run animated shingle, a new Muppets movie, the title of the fourth PIRATES film, and a new and expanded 3D Star Tours that will include characters from the prequels. While certainly D23 is not a substitute for Comic-Con, it is the first sign of studios splitting off and doing their own thing. Variety points out that economically, D23 is pricier, which may have contributed to the smaller crowd: a single day ticket was $37, four days $111, $81 for a child.

Geoff Boucher has more analysis of the D23/Comic-Con comparison, pointing out that Disney is the only studio that has the resources to put on such an elaborate show:

The event feels very different than Comic-Con International and not just due to size. This Expo started with Disney’s polish and intense appetite for control (which, it must be said, has served the company well at times) which makes its sensibility very different than the scruffy, fan-ruled Comic-Con. You won’t see fans sitting on the floors during presentations, and you certainly won’t hear Kevin Smith or Samuel L. Jackson dropping F-bombs from the main stage. On Friday, even press weren’t allowed to bring their laptops, cell phones or cameras into the presentation by Disney Studios chief Dick Cook which is major departure from the digital freewheeling spirit of Hall H at Comic-Con. Comic-Con wants to be everywhere via You Tube; D23 wants you to know that if you weren’t in the room than you missed something special. Comic-Con is like Grateful Dead encouraging fans to swap bootlegs, D23 is more like, well, a Hollywood studio gripped by piracy concerns and the fear of seeing amatuer-quality versions of its product.

Also, it occurred to me today, there’s a big track-meet quality to Comic-Con with so many competing studios, companies and dreamers looking to win over the audience. That creates a kind of lovely chaos that’s missing from the one-company show here in Anaheim. The “surprises” at D23 will be elaborate stage moments that are carefully choreographed, such as the delightful Muppets musical number on Friday. The surprises at Comic-Con feel more like a rock concert where the crowd is more actively involved in the ultimate fate of the show.

Of course, if you’re gonna talk about Comic-Con….next year, Disney will have Marvel!

We know that you are all tired of Disney Marvel mash-ups, but Is Animator Jeffrey Thomas’s Twisted Princess portfolio close to how Marvel might handle classic princess characters?

NOTE: We really screwed up when we first posted this. We picked it up from another blog that called it how Marvel would handle Disney Princesses, but it’s a completely independent project from earlier this year. It is kinda funnier with the attribution, though. Anyway, very nice concept designs!

While the timing was not ideal, today’s Cup O’ Joe Q&A does give Joe Quesada a chance to tell what he can about the new Marvel. Such as his impressions of Bob Iger.

My initial feeling about Bob was that I could see right away why he’s been so successful and a visionary for the company. He’s incredibly smart, relaxed, personable and extremely likable. He was really interested in our group, our staff and what we did for a living and was looking to us, as the shepherds of our content, to continue doing what we do. He kept stressing several things, content is king, quality-quality-quality, it’s about people and that he wants Marvel to be Marvel in the same way that Pixar remains Pixar. We have our culture, it has been successful for us and he wants to preserve that. And at the end of the day, isn’t that the smart thing to do?

To that point, Bob was just here on Thursday and addressed the New York staff. It was a fantastic meeting as Bob took questions from staff members about the merger and what it would mean to Marvel. Once again, he stressed that he was looking to those of us here for guidance as to how to continue to run our business in the same successful manner it’s always been run.

There are many areas that Quesada can’t speak on, but this exchange with Kiel Phegley on the viability of the original graphic novel as a money making enterprise is interesting:

I’ve stated publicly on many occasions that I’ve never seen the benefits of original graphic novels. The economics just don’t work and are poor for both the publisher, retailer and the creator, especially during this Marvel regime when so much of what we do gets compiled into a collected edition anyway. While I would never discount doing one, I don’t see the outward benefits nor does the model work.

Just look at it from the eyes of the uninitiated, or the neophyte who walks into a comic shop or bookstore. When they decide on a hardcover, do you think it matters to them or that in some cases they even know that it’s an original graphic novel or a collection of a six-issue story?

Yet from an economic point of view it makes tons of sense to release the material in serialized form first because it then allows you to sell the product in several different formats. Also, from the point of view of a creator having their material reach the widest possible audience, the price of an original graphic novel can be too steep for many. That’s why you don’t see OGN’s selling in the hundreds of thousands of copies. Yet, if the story is strong enough, you can certainly serialize it and have that many eyeballs looking at your work in installments. At the end of the day, you can work for a year on a mini series that gets collected later or spend that entire same year on the OGN. I promise you, more people will read your mini series when it’s all said and done and that year of your life will have been spent in reaching the widest possible audience. And from an exposure and marketing point of view, you work for a year on a graphic novel, it comes out and you get one big promotional push and then it’s done. If it’s serialized, you get a push every month a new issue hits the stands and then another when it becomes a trade and then another for the hardcover.

While you can’t fault Quesada’s logic based on the business model that Marvel pursues, Disney’s publishing strategy includes many, many books that people work on for months and then promote once. We’d guess that as the merger evolves, the Disney pocketbook and resources would allow more experimentation in that direction, if suitable projects could be found.

With the comics industry being shaken up on a minutely basis, if you want to step away from your computer for a little bit, you’ll want to be back at 4 pm E.D.T./1 p.m. P.D.T. when Marvel e-i-c Joe Quesada’s account of the Disney acquisition and Iger site check — with details and anecdotes! — will be posted at Comic Book Resources.
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• Bob Iger held a meeting with Marvel folks yesterday morning, and by all accounts, it went over very well. C.B. Cebulski tweeted :

“The essence of Marvel, that lives mainly in its comic books, will remain as is.” - Disney’s Bob Iger speaking at Marvel this morning.

And then, the usually unstoppable tweeter Cebulski….fell silent for the remainder of the day.

• Rich Johnston had an excellent piece on the European situation. Basically, Disney is an overseas powerhouse, and the biggest publisher in many European countries — however, its market share has been slipping of late. BUT, Marvel is distributed by Panini, a rival of Disney’s Italian office and a company that was once OWNED by Marvel but came out of the deal one of the biggest comics licensors in Europe. This one is going to be rough!

• It has been a busy week! I recorded two interviews yesterday! One with Mike Melia for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer’s Art Beat blog.

And another with Scott Hinze for Fanboy Radio , who also nabbed Rich Johnston, Rick Marschall, and Media Professor, Dr. Derek Kopare of SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.

Obviously, this is going to be a big story for, like, well…forever. Although Marvel has been acquired and batted around many times in its 70-year history, Disney is…the final redoubt. Once you enter the House of Mouse, you stay there, especially when they flew you out for $4 billion. The acquisition/merger is even being seen as a kick start for the entire economy — it’s certainly the biggest deal of the post Great Recession world. CNN writes:

But if Monday’s mergers are the start of a trend, that might be an even stronger signal from Corporate America that the worst could be over. “It has been a slow period for mergers and it’s not that different from other recessions. But we’re cautiously optimistic about the deal pipeline. Hopefully, Monday’s deals portend good things to come,” said Mike Shannon, co-manager with the Merger Fund, a mutual fund that invests in stocks involved in takeover situations.

Yet, it’s with a bit of sadness that we contemplate the end of Marvel the rebel, Marvel the renegade. Marvel, whose public stock offerings and financials were readily available at a moments notice. The Marvel that hired Michael Kupperman and Jason and Johnny Ryan. That Marvel may stay around for a while, but it is far less likely to be a priority under the guidance of the biggest IP corporation on Earth.

We’re still collating reactions and speculations, but here’s a little cheat sheet:

• Movies: The NY Times has details. Current deals will stay in place, thus Marvel’s remaining five picture distro deal with Paramount — but Disney will want its piece of that pie.

Over the long haul, Paramount has the most to lose, as Disney works Marvel into its system. Only last September, Paramount, a unit of Viacom, announced an agreement to distribute five Marvel films, including two “Iron Man” sequels, over several years.

Disney said it would honor Marvel’s studio contracts, but the goal was clearly to bring “Iron Man” and others in-house over time.

“We believe Viacom is unlikely to retain distribution rights to Marvel films after the agreement,” Michael C. Morris, a UBS analyst, wrote in a research note.

In addition, the piece points out how Marvel was having some difficulty financing its own films — obviously a deal with Disney will clear that problem right up.

• TV: Here things look golden, as

Disney XD, a new cable channel aimed at boys, already licenses 20 hours of programming a week from Marvel. As Disney seeks to expand that channel, particularly overseas, Marvel will play an even greater role.

Disney was hoping to snag more boys with Disney XD, but until Marvel came along wasn’t doing too hot. Marvel has lots of TV deals but they are more short term and Disney’s existing TV animation infrastructure will be a boon here.

• Theme parks: Universal’s Adventure Island may be on shaky ground here. Perhaps when existing licensing deals run out, the Hulk ride can be rebranded as the Jolly Green Giant? Obviously, Disney will want to get the Marvel characters into its domestic parks (internationally, Marvel does not have deals in place) but it could take a long time.

On the other hand….can you imagine what Disney’s Imagineering could do with Galactus and the Silver Surfer? WOW.

• Publishing: Well, that’s a good question. We’ll have more on that tomorrow.

For a more informed take on all the above, check out Marv Wolfman’s blog. Wolfman is a former Marvel E-i-C and is the founding comics editor for Disney Adventures, so he has a good take on the bigger picture:

Publishing. Well, that’s the big one, isn’t it? At least for us. Actually, only for us. The big ones in reality are movies, TV and video games. One major video game hit can make more money than 95% of all movies. But let’s talk comics. What division will that fall under? Publishing? Movies? Consumer Products? Something else? What happens to Marvel Comics will depend on which Disney company it falls under and as of 1:30PM, I don’t know the answer to that.

On Wall St. reaction has been surprisingly mixed. Some people think Disney paid way too much for Marvel. The Motley Fool, however shares our sadness, and Tom Beyer, a long time Marvel stock enthusiast, is downright mournful, titling his post Mickey Mouse Robs Spidey

I’m going to make a lot of money today, and I’m happy about that. But as it so often happens with the very best businesses, this one is being taken out too soon, at too cheap a price.

Another poster on this financial message board rivals a Newsarama poster for outrage:

This is like disgusting in many levels……..

Disney has always been in their entire existence to buy out the competition or aquire it and then ruin the foundations it was based on. Although it may be a “sweet deal” to everyone who has stock Marvel will forever be a Disney product and I will not buy anything from Marvel again. 4 Billion is “chump change” to Disney, Marvel will “lose” out again in making more money on their own!!!!!!

I think this is a “bad” idea for Marvel to “sell out” to Disney I mean the reason Marvel is doing well is because of us “kids” who are now in to their 40’s and 50’s who still appreciate the characters we grew up with and totally support all of the merchandise involved with Marvel heroes.

Also, although Disney is the world beater in terms of licensing IP might, as this story on Disney’s handling of the Muppets, from the NY Times shows sometimes, licenses fall out of fashion despite the best efforts of all involved.

Ms. Breier said recent focus groups indicated that some children could not even identify Kermit and Miss Piggy, much less ancillary characters like Fozzie Bear and Gonzo the Great. The wisecracking, irreverent Muppets (a combination of puppets and marionettes) also don’t fit that neatly in the Disney culture, as they differ from most of the company’s bedrock characters in two big ways: Kermit and coterie were primarily created to entertain adults, and they live in the real world. Henson was so insistent that they stand apart from his “Sesame Street” creations in personality and tone that he (misleadingly) titled the 1975 pilot that would boost their careers “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence.”

The linkage on this story will soon over take the world, but here’s a few more to keep you going:

Brian Heater looks at how Marvel might profit from Disney’s online might

Both companies would do well to invest themselves more fully in the digital space, as print media continues to decline. While most diehard Marvel fans are no doubt frightened at the concept interference that might result at the hands of a company like Disney (the term “Disneyfication” was not coined in a vacuum), Marvel could work such an acquisition in its favor.

After all, Disney no doubt wants a return on the estimated $4 billion it’s shelling out to buy the comics publisher; it’s certainly in the company’s best interest to see Marvel succeed. What Disney brings to the table in such a deal are tremendous resources in a number of areas, not the least of which is the digital space. From ESPN.com to Club Penguin, The Disney Interactive Media Group is a tremendous undertaking with the knowledge of what it takes to succeed in the online space.

• A David Lewis makes with the photoshop, from which the above image was taken. More good stuff in the link.
• A prequel: Sorry, Marvel — Disney’s the Superhero Stock
• An animation observer’s take
• Craig Yoe rolls’ out Jack Kirby’s take on Mickey

Two from the indispensable John Jackson Miller,
A Marvel Comics Timeline

And a concise, educational history of the history of Marvel’s attempts to become their own studio. A must read to get more historical context.

To think this day started out with Future Mr. Beat shaking me and saying, “Heidi, you’ve got to get up! Disney bought Marvel!”

Quick thoughts off the top of my head:

§ Disney has always wanted strong boys properties. They rule the pink world with their princesses, but have had a historic weakness with older boys that they’ve tried to bridge. This is obviously a slam dunk for that.

§ Marvel has been rumored to be for sales for years and years, and Disney was a frequently mentioned potential buyer for the reason cited above. With Marvel making a ton of money and successfully launching their movie studio — and September the usual time for stock plunges, and the market still uncertain, there was never a better time than now.

§ After some tentative starts, Disney had become more enamored of the comics/graphic novel medium of late, including not only their licensing deals with Boom! for kids comics, and Ahmet Zappa’s Kingdom Comics line, but their own in-house comics division. However, the real gem at Marvel was the licensing.

§ Pure speculation: Although Disney has become a lot looser in recent time, launching non-character branded businesses like Hyperion and ESPN, their handling of licensed characters is still pretty traditional — and hugely hugely successful. Although Marvel had risen quickly to become the fourth largest brand worldwide, with $5.7 billion, they are dwarfed by the #1 Company, Disney, which logged $30 billion in licensing revenues.

§ UPDATE: Johanna Draper Calrson offers thoughts on the conference call.

We’ll keep updating this post with reactions as the biggest comics story of, well, the century ripples across the industry.

Back in the day, Disney never ever exhibited at SDCC in any big way. We used to argue that Disney had no need to attend the San Diego Comic-Con because they had their own convention that ran every day and in four different locations.

Well, times have changed. In the LA Times, Geoff Boucher and Dawn Chmielewski write that D23, Disney’s upcoming fan convention, is very much an outgrowth of the Comic-Con formula.

Will the success formula of Comic-Con International work for a Mickey Mouse operation?

The leadership at Walt Disney Co. hopes so as it moves forward with the D23 Expo, a four-day event next month in Anaheim that will celebrate — and sell — all things Disney with celebrity appearances and slick sneak previews of upcoming films, television shows and theme park attractions.

[snip]The event at the venerable Anaheim Convention Center will be a chance for Disney to promote feature films such as Burton’s “Alice,” “The Princess and the Frog” and “A Christmas Carol” but also will serve as a big tent for Disney’s varied empire. Attendees will not only be offered the chance to buy new teen-pop CDs and vintage animation cels, for example, they also will be pitched travel packages for the Disney Cruise Line.

The whole article is full of useful info. We’ve long wondered if movie companies would tire of the consumer-based spectacle of Comic-Con, but probably only Disney has the technical support and experience to launch their own big event right out of the box.

Are you going to D23? Send us your reports!

Speaking of Carson van Osten, we really just mentioned him so we could reprint, again, his guide to comics storytelling which is as simple and direct yet essential, in its own way, as Alex Toth’s Wally Wood’s 22 Panels that Always Work. Although it is specific to Disney characters in some ways, the universal truths it captures will stand many a young cartoonist in good stead.

See the whole thing here.
In the link, van Osten explains the history of the guide, which has been used by cartoonists and teachers for over 30 years to demonstrate the rudiments of comics storytelling:

I wrote and drew those sketches around 1975 and I’m so tickled to know that people still find them helpful today. It started as a slide presentation for my boss to show at the Disney meeting in Frankfurt. It went over so well that he asked me to expand on it when he returned. They printed 2000 copies and mailed it to all the Disney offices. My friend John Pomeroy asked for some to give to the animators at the studio. that was the time when the animation training program was going on. Frank Thomas saw it and used it for an animation class he was teaching at the Screen Cartoonists Guild. That’s how some sketches wound up in the book that he and Ollie wrote, “the Illusion of Life”.

You may enjoy this piece in the LA Times covering musicians who make comics, including Zak Sally (above) Archer Prewitt, and Gerard Way. There are a few obvious names missing, like James Kochalka, and a few more obscure ones, like Carson van Osten, who quit Todd Rundgren’s band, The Nazz, in 1969 for a busy career writing Donald Duck comics. How did that one happen, anyway?

A few people noted that San Diego’s schedule included a Disney Press panel that included Jordan Mechner, creator of the acclaimed Prince of Persia video game series, and such comics folk as Todd McFarlane. While some might have connected the dots already, we can officially confirm that Disney will be publishing a PRINCE OF PERSIA; SANDS OF TIME graphic novel, to tie in with the film of the same name.

The 120-page book will be written by Mechner and include six interrelated prequel stories set in the world of the game/film. McFarlane provides the cover; Niko Henrichon, Bernard Chang, Cameron Stewart, David Lopez, Tommy Lee Edwards, and Tom Fowler have also signed on for the interiors. The book comes out in April from the Disney Press imprint, as part of a new initiative for graphic novels at Disney. More about all of this at the Disney panel, Friday at 11:30 in San Diego.

The PRINCE OF PERSIA: SAND OF TIMES movie comes out May 2010 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal.

It looks like kids’ comics licenses are the new hot thing, as two new licenses were revealed yesterday: BOOM! Studios will be picking up the Disney Comics license formerly at Gemstone, and Archaia has just signed a pact with the Henson Company.

§ Disney first. As revealed by the online September previews, BOOM! will publish WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND STORIES #699 by Riccardo Secchi and Stefano Turconi, and MICKEY MOUSE AND FRIENDS #297 by Stefano Ambrosio and Lorenzo Pastrovicchio. This is picking up the numbering right from where Gemstone left off. But it also looks like BOOM! will be marketing these books in a more kid-friendly format, like its successful launch of the Pixar books, THE IINCREDIBLES and CARS. Arthur de Wolf at the DCW website (a dedicated source for Disney comics news) gives this a bit of perspective:

It looks like Boom! is completely abandoning the collector’s concept and going a different route. The first new issue of Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories will have only 24 pages and will sell for $2.99, the same price and size as its Pixar titles. And that’s not all, it will have the first part of an Italian-produced multi-part series titled Ultraheroes. These three-tier stories (stories with three rows are usually used in smaller pocket-sized books, while full-sized comics have four rows) aren’t anything like the material that has been published in WDC&S in recent years. Ultraheroes is a series with a total of 240 pages, so it looks like this is going to be the new style of WDC&S for at least its first 10 issues.

Gemstone always published Disney Comics more for the extremely niche adult collectors market that’s more numerous in Northern Europe than here; a switch to a kid-friendly line could make for a larger potential audience.

§ The other news was Archaia picking up the Henson license, with such properties as FRAGGLE ROCK, THE DARK CRYSTAL, LABYRINTH, MIRRORMASK, and THE STORYTELLER. PW has more details. With Archaia recently refinanced and revitalized, this is their first significant licensing deal, and shows that they’re fitting right in with the model of the modern comics publisher.

Unanswered questions from THIS announcement: what about Toykopop’s license for manga-esque versions of things like LABYRINTH? According to a post by author Jake Forbes at Comics Worth Reading, the fourth volume of RETURN TO LABYRINTH is still coming out.

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The lovable canard is 75 years young, and as cranky as ever.

[Image via Cover Browser.]

A few quick notes on notables things:

§ BOOM! has announced that its line of kids comics will be carried at Disney’s Soda Fountain Studio Store on Hollywood Blvd. BOOM!’s kids line includes books based on the Muppets and Pixar properties. We can’t attest to what the intervening 10 years have meant, but back when we worked at Disney, getting into Disney Stores with comics was always a big deal, so this is a nice way to get comics in front of an audience that has children and some spending money.

§ Brandon Graham’s KING CITY is one of the Tokyopop original GNs that was left unfinished in the downsizing of their OEL/OGM/whatever you want to call it program. However, it is coming back:

The deal is set. Tokyopop and Image comics are putting out my KING CITY book
in twelve 32 page chunks starting on August 19th
It’s going to be printed wider than standard comics size. BIG!
Golden age size. Ivan Brandon’s Viking book just came out the same size I think.

So Image will put out a once manga sized book as a periodical comic and then collect the whole thing again? That’s pretty progressive. While the details of the workings of the deal aren’t known, internet hopes that Becky Cloonan’s EAST COAST RISING will also go this route are high.

§ This is kind of a catchall, but Robot 6 has an excellent list of links to all kinds of e-publishing news. One of them concerns comics selling well on iTunes, and we just happened to make this snapshot tonight of iTunes best selling “Book” apps which includes comics:

Of course we have no idea of what the actual sales numbers on these are, but Twilight and the Bible are very popular in general, so you can see comics are holding their own. STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN’s popularity has been previously noted, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are also in there. So…this thing is happening.

Topolino, Italy’s long running digest-sized Disney comics mag, has just celebrated its 60th anniversary. The magazine is one of the most popular in Italy, read by both adults and children, and special issues can sell one million copies…in a week. Mama mia!

The 60th anniversary is celebrated in this week’s special issue (#2784). Readers can win a trip to Disneyland Paris and there’s a special website where people can vote on their favorite stories from the last 60 years. After the initial votes a list of 12 stories has been compiled, and readers can now read and vote on these 12 stories online (to view them visit the website then click on ‘vota’). Among the finalists are Romano Scarpa’s The Flying Scot (1957) and Mickey’s Inferno (1949) by Guido Martina and Angelo Bioletto. Both of these stories were published in the United States in Uncle Scrooge 315 and Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories 666 respectively.

“Mickey’s Inferno” is, as you might expect, a takeoff on Dante’s Divine Comedy, only with Mickey and other beloved Disney characters going to Hell. That wouldn’t fly here in the US, but the Europeans love it!

[Thanks to Tireless Torsten for the link.]

Yesterday’s rumblings of Gemstone giving up both the Disney and EC licenses have been answered by an official statement from Diamond, confirming what we’d read in the comments, that much of the Gemstone staff had been laid off, but saying that it isn’t the “end of Gemstone.”

“In the past few days, there have been a number of rumors circulating about Gemstone Publishing. As has been the case with many businesses across a wide array of industries, there has been a reduction in staff at Gemstone, and this included the departure of many valued employees. This, however, is not the end of Gemstone Publishing,” said Steve Geppi, President of Gemstone Publishing.

“Our flagship title, The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, remains a vital tool for comic book collectors throughout North America and around the world and it continues to be a highly profitable item for the retailers who carry it. I look forward to making announcements regarding new developments for the Guide’s 40th anniversary next year,” Geppi said.

“At this time, no final decision has been made regarding The EC Archives or our comic books featuring Disney’s standard characters, but it seems certain that both lines will continue in some form,” he said. “We all anticipate resolving the issues facing us and moving forward, and I will be happy to announce the specifics once things have been finalized.”

ICv2 has a slightly different version of the statement but the details remain the same. Reading between the lines confirms what we’ve heard from other sources–that the Disney and EC licenses are definitely being shopped around.

Disney has been quietly ramping up its own comics publishing program under Rich Thomas and Steve Behling (Former DC editor Nachie Castro also came on board last year) but they’ve been concentrating on graphic novels, not periodicals. BOOM! recently launched their own line of Pixar Comics, and scored a newsstand distribution deal, so they could be in a good position to pick up even more Disney licenses. (Tokyopop has — or had — a bunch of Disney Channel licenses like Hannah Montana.)

Or they might think the risks are just too great, as every US publisher in the last 30 years has come up dry publishing Disney Comics in the US — including Disney itself with the short-lived Disney Comics line of the early ’90s.

Gemstone’s take on the Disney books was to aim it heavily at hardcore Disney collectors, a strategy that The Mouse often uses itself, but probably one with less inherent sales potential than aiming comics at Disney-friendly kids. However since they were reprinting material that originally appeared in Europe aimed at a mixed audience of kids and adults and fantastically successful — in certain parts of Europe, Don Rosa is practically a household name, as bizarre as that seems to us.

At any rate, it’s a pretty sure bet that SOMEONE will pick up the Disney license — it’s a potential goldmine.

Technorati Tags: Diamond

Numerous reports today that Gemstone, the publishing arm of Diamond Distributors, is ending its Disney license, meaning that the core Disney characters once again have no American publisher. According to a post on

The Disney Comics Blog:

Gary Leach, who has been doing art and editorial work for US Disney comics for over two decades, reported on the DCML yesterday that “Gemstone is not renewing the Disney comics license, and won’t be putting out any more issues”. This sad news means the end of Disney comics in the United States, at least those with classic Disney characters like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Gary added that “Disney is looking for someone else to take the license” and he believes that they do have some candidates, although nothing is nailed down at this point.

A mailing from Diamond indicated the following cancellations:

Donald Duck Adventures: Lost In The Andes/Return To Plain Awful The The Daan Jippes Collection Volume 2: Donald Duck Family
The Don Rosa Library Volume 1: 1987-1988
The EC Archives: Tales From The Crypt Volume 4
The EC Archives: Vault Of Horror Volume 2
Uncle Scrooge Adventures: The Mysterious Stone Ray/Cash Flow Walt Disney Treasures - Donald Duck: 75 Unlucky Years
Walt Disney’s Spring Fever Volume 3
Walt Disney’s Vacation Parade Volume 6
Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade #5
Walt Disney’s Comics And Stories #699-on
Uncle Scrooge #384-on

The loss of the Rosa volume is especially saddening to long time fans.

In February, it was announced that Gemstone was closing its Missouri office, but publisher Russ Cochran was moving to Erie, Pennsylvania to continue work on Disney and EC archival editions.