Goodbye Marvel

[tattuchu]

I'm not sure just how much influence Stan Lee had on the comics when he owned or was in control of Marvel. He may have been little more than a carnival barker-like huckster. In the early days, artists like Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby created all the characters, and would typically plot and draw an entire comic, which would then go to Lee, who would write in the dialogue. The artists, while receiving more credit than those at other companies, still didn't get their due, and were generally treated poorly. Also, under the work-for-hire system, anything created automatically became the property of Marvel. No creative rights were retained. So you had someone like Jack Kirby who created, plotted, and drew most of the Marvel superheroes. In the 60s, he was quite prolific, and a creative powerhouse. And yet Marvel reaped the profits from his efforts, and he merely made a living. The only way to make a decent wage drawing comics was to work very fast (you got paid per page), and to put in long hours. Kirby did alright, but eventually became disillusioned. He wasn't too keen on Stan Lee taking all the credit for his work, and he ended up leaving for DC. Dunno what happened to Ditko, but he seems to have quit Marvel as well.
In the seventies, fans of Marvel had come of age. Many who had been inspired by Marvel went on to become artists and writers, and got their dream jobs by being themselves hired by Marvel. Some pretty cool stuff came out in the 70s. Still, it wasn't like the 60s. With Ditko and (especially) Kirby gone, no new great characters were being created. And one by one, confronted with the reality of the working arrangements, one by one this second wave of creators would leave Marvel as well. At some point, Marvel seems to have gotten bought out. Not sure exactly when. But a fellow named Jim Shooter was appointed editor-in-chief in the late seventies or early eighties, and over the course of the 80s he sucked the soul out of the company. He succeeded in turning Art into Product.
Marvel was never the same.

As far as this buyout, it's really not a big deal. Marvel has changed hands from one corporation to the next numerous times. I don't think being owned by Disney will have a detrimental effect (does anyone even read the comics anymore anyway?). Pixar is owned by Disney, for instance, and yet produces the finest animated films around. At this point, I think the Marvel characters are mostly film properties. Therefore, it may actually be a good thing to have the strength of Disney behind them.

[tattuchu]

Does this mean Phil Collins will be doing the music for Iron man II ?

Fucking Randy Newman, you mean. He seems to do the soundtracks for everything. Did you know that Andy Partridge of XTC was originally going to do the soundtrack to James and the Giant Peach? Dunno what fucking corporate suit decided to nix that idea and put Newman on the project

[Sisifo]

[Trolldor]

Image.

[Sisifo]

Good bye to some of my loves:




I will miss you, girls...

[leo-rcc]

Okay, necromancing a thread is not nice but this had me laughing.



btw, check out his channel, he does great videos with those action figures.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ItsJustSomeRandomGuy