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Time to put in for that EiC job, Nathan!

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I can hazard a guess as to what his first act would be.

"I just don't see using two publishers bought by Disney, one of which was all but dead in the water, as evidence that they'll shut down the comic division of Marvel and farm it out to someone else."

Given that these sorts of deals ALWAYS result in cost-cutting and restructuring, I'd be very surprised if Disney doesn't take a hard look at Marvel's publishing schedule.  Depending on how big or small the ongoing profit margin is, taking some cost-savings right now might seem like a great idea corporately.

Completely closing down comic publishing seems extreme, but how much would you cut before licensing characters out is a better deal?  And how much of Marvel's current output could be cut before it starts a ripple effect, crippling the whole industry?

Mike

But what we really need is:

VS

QUOTE: Marvel is "doing well" only when everything is scaled against the diminished expectations that have become commonplace in the industry. When scaled against real world publishing, Marvel reads as exactly what it is: shrinking returns based on a shrinking audience base.

Marvel is actually doing very well when compared against other real world publishers--

For instance, despite being a lull period, in the second quarter '09 its stock exceeded expectations (   http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2009/08/ 04/the-entertainment-stock-with-a-monopoly-on-superheroes.as px ). You can see from this breakdown ( http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090704-marvel-2q-2009-earnin gs.html ) that the company as a whole is exceeding expectations, and that publishing figures are right there in the same ballpark as licensing and film. According to this business piece at CNN, "At Marvel Entertainment (MVL), the industry's largest player, revenues for its print wares have been growing in double digits for the past three years and profit margins have been running at close to 40%." ( http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/10/news/companies/siklos_marvel .fortune/ )

Few players in print are doing as well. I work in print. I know what our profit margins are. I know what our competitors' profit margins are. I know the print margins of major magazines. They ain't 40%.

The same piece notes the steep increase in its stock, nearly 90% in the last five years, which is WAY above the 30 to 50% declines other media giants are experiencing. Even Dreamworks is down 35% in that period.

It also reiterates the specific success of the publishing division, saying "it expects revenue growth in publishing between 3% and 7% for the year, and margins between 37% and 40%."

Those are heady profit margins even by the already high standard of print.

"DC Comics, in the same boat as Marvel where declining sales and interest is concerned, functions as R&D for Warner Brothers."

It really doesn't.  How many DC-related films has Warner produced lately?  There's been  steady stream of super-hero cartoons, but how many of them have had jackall to do with what's actually being published?  Outside of The New Frontier, I'm not sure ANY recent DC books or storylines have been adapted to other media.  And Disney understands better than anyone that you don't have to produce new content to maintain the economic value of established intellectual property.

Mike