The House of Ideas was purchased by the House of Mouse yesterday.
I’m not sure how to feel about that.
My free spirit laments the idea that Marvel has lost its independence to a giant media conglomerate. With both Marvel and D.C. owned by mega-corporations, the entire landscape of the comic book market has changed.
On the other hand, Marvel’s been run by a bunch of greedy bastards for years now anyway. So what’s one more money grubbing hand in the pot?
The first vision of terror that comes to mind is of the Mickey Mouse logo in the top left corner of my comic books. That universal signal that says “Kid Friendly Fun Inside”. I see gritty New York underworld setting of Daredevil replaced with something resembling Ducksburg (or, more accurately, St. Canard). A setting where Stilt-Man would actually not look out of place.
This is an irrational fear, of course. Marvel isn’t owned by Disney. It’s owned by Disney Company. And while Disney is a soulless corporate entity dedicated to manufacturing the fondest memories of our childhood, Disney Co. is the soulless corporate entity dedicated to the much more non-descript goal of total world domination.
Disney might make overly pandering kids films, but Disney Company owns Miramax, and they put out Kevin Smith films. Yes, Disney has owned Jay and Silent Bob since 1993. Disney hasn’t been completely awful in recent times either. The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy is among the best films of modern times.
For all the hubbub, odds are good that this buyout won’t result in much of anything noticeable to the average reader. Disney has made it pretty clear that they want Marvel to keep doing what they’re doing. Whether THAT is a good thing or not is debatable but that’s for another time.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Patch Day Ruins WoW, again!
It was patch day this Tuesday in World of Warcraft-land. As the servers came back on-line, Azaroth was abuzz with activity not seen since the last time there was a major content update.
While the champions of the Alliance and Horde faced off against giant new beasts and flooded the jewel crafting market with epic gems, there was a continued cry throughout the player base about the latest horror Blizzard has done to ruin the game.
Namely, letting people play it.
Now that the fabled Emblems of Conquest drop from mere heroics, every newly level-capped Paladin and Death Knight now has access to the powerful equipment that will make them not completely useless in the latest round of end game content. And all they need to do is to run Heroic 5-Man instances... dozens of times... for each piece of gear. Seriously, it’s a lot of emblems.
Naturally, this new development is a total slap in the face to everybody who ran end-game content before it stopped being end-game content. After all, why shouldn’t newer players or alts have to run Naxx for six months before they’re allowed to step foot into Ulduar? Being able to essentially skip ahead now that there is a different end-game instance has obviously made the time people spent in Naxx completely worthless. Right?
To get to the end game now, players should have to do what we all did back then. Which was... run heroics. Wait. Crap!
While the champions of the Alliance and Horde faced off against giant new beasts and flooded the jewel crafting market with epic gems, there was a continued cry throughout the player base about the latest horror Blizzard has done to ruin the game.
Namely, letting people play it.
Now that the fabled Emblems of Conquest drop from mere heroics, every newly level-capped Paladin and Death Knight now has access to the powerful equipment that will make them not completely useless in the latest round of end game content. And all they need to do is to run Heroic 5-Man instances... dozens of times... for each piece of gear. Seriously, it’s a lot of emblems.
Naturally, this new development is a total slap in the face to everybody who ran end-game content before it stopped being end-game content. After all, why shouldn’t newer players or alts have to run Naxx for six months before they’re allowed to step foot into Ulduar? Being able to essentially skip ahead now that there is a different end-game instance has obviously made the time people spent in Naxx completely worthless. Right?
To get to the end game now, players should have to do what we all did back then. Which was... run heroics. Wait. Crap!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Con: Preview Night
Even before I landed in San Diego yesterday, the pull of Comic-Con was already bringing me closer to my people.
Aboard the little plane flying from Los Angeles there sat a young woman in the row behind me who was very clearly heading for Comic-Con. While my keen insight accurately picked up on her general geekdom, my own affiliation was apparently less detectable.
Upon flying over downtown San Diego I saw the convention center sitting happily on the coast, unaware of the onslaught soon to ravage its halls. Believing that this would be of interest to my fellow con-goer, I pointed it out from the window.
The young woman, who’s name I would learn to be Rachel, virtually exploded in her cramped airplane seat. I soon discovered that Rachel was not only going to Comic-Con, but this would be her first time here.
With years of Comic-Con experience under my belt, I happily answered Rachel’s questions about the con and offered advice on where to eat and how early to get in line. We made a tentative agreement to meet again at the Farscape 10th Anniversary panel before going our separate ways after the landing.
So yes, even before the convention starts. Nay, before my feet even touched the ground of San Diego, Comic-Con brings geeks together.
As of right now, I’m sitting in front of the convention center waiting for Preview Night to start. It will be a 12 hour wait, but the promise of a break for breakfast and the distraction of free wi-fi should keep me happily amused.
Aboard the little plane flying from Los Angeles there sat a young woman in the row behind me who was very clearly heading for Comic-Con. While my keen insight accurately picked up on her general geekdom, my own affiliation was apparently less detectable.
Upon flying over downtown San Diego I saw the convention center sitting happily on the coast, unaware of the onslaught soon to ravage its halls. Believing that this would be of interest to my fellow con-goer, I pointed it out from the window.
The young woman, who’s name I would learn to be Rachel, virtually exploded in her cramped airplane seat. I soon discovered that Rachel was not only going to Comic-Con, but this would be her first time here.
With years of Comic-Con experience under my belt, I happily answered Rachel’s questions about the con and offered advice on where to eat and how early to get in line. We made a tentative agreement to meet again at the Farscape 10th Anniversary panel before going our separate ways after the landing.
So yes, even before the convention starts. Nay, before my feet even touched the ground of San Diego, Comic-Con brings geeks together.
As of right now, I’m sitting in front of the convention center waiting for Preview Night to start. It will be a 12 hour wait, but the promise of a break for breakfast and the distraction of free wi-fi should keep me happily amused.
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
Comic-Con has started putting out programming schedules! Oh happy day!
Comic-Con International is what I would describe as a geek mecca (not to be confused with a giant robot). Conventions by definition are a change of pace in our geekly sub-culture, but for the rural geek the contrast is beyond imagination.
Imagine trying to explain the specifics of Joe Quesada’s continuing crimes against the Marvel Universe to a random person in your town of a few hundred people. Now imagine a mile long building filled with 125,000 people and knowing that odds are good that any one of them not only know who Joey Q is, but understands exactly where you’re coming from.
For those of us that converse more over DSL lines than face-to-face, it is a very singular experience. One I recommend to anybody that can scrounge up a couple thousand bucks for the best week of geektastic fun of the year.
I will be there, of course. I may even update while I’m there (because I’m so good at that on normal days...)
Comic-Con International is what I would describe as a geek mecca (not to be confused with a giant robot). Conventions by definition are a change of pace in our geekly sub-culture, but for the rural geek the contrast is beyond imagination.
Imagine trying to explain the specifics of Joe Quesada’s continuing crimes against the Marvel Universe to a random person in your town of a few hundred people. Now imagine a mile long building filled with 125,000 people and knowing that odds are good that any one of them not only know who Joey Q is, but understands exactly where you’re coming from.
For those of us that converse more over DSL lines than face-to-face, it is a very singular experience. One I recommend to anybody that can scrounge up a couple thousand bucks for the best week of geektastic fun of the year.
I will be there, of course. I may even update while I’m there (because I’m so good at that on normal days...)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)