Could Panini UK publish Metal Hurlant?

When Panini UK lost the rights to originate Marvel Comics stories, many British comic creators and fans mourned the passing of an era, stretching back to the 1960s when British companies put their own spin on some major comic legends and characters.

 

Many wondered if Panini would continue originating comics in the UK - outside of its junior titles and Doctor Who Magazine - but now an intriguing possibility presents itself with the recently-announced launch of the Panini Media unit, which operates as part of The Licensing Machine and is focused on the TV distribution arena.

World Screen reports that Panini Media has a catalogue that spans sci-fi, crime, fantasy and drama, as well as animated series, history formats and documentaries. One of its lead titles, to be presented at the MIPTV trade fair, is Metal Hurlant Chronicles, a fantasy series adapting stories from the comic of the same name that has already been sold in more than 50 countries.

The show stars Scott Adkins, Rutger Hauer, Michael Jai White, James Marsters, Michelle Ryan and Kelly Brooke, and with a line-up like that you have to wonder if Panini UK might not be eyeing this up as a possible comic title, which perhaps could include an element of new stories from British creators as well as reprinting Metal Hurlant tales.

Let me stress right now that this is pure speculation on our part here at downthetubes and we are not privy to Panini's new title list! Some Metal Hurlant stories have, of course, started appearing in STRIP Magazine.

Another Panini show is Signs, a drama written by Ysé Brisson. Julien Mutter, Randy Bradshaw, Patricia Harris Seely. Jordskott is a mystery crime series set in present time, though its starting point is the stories and characters from Scandinavian legends.

“Panini Media aims to become a globally recognized provider of quality family entertainment and is very proud to be revealing our extremely exciting portfolio of titles at MIPTV 2012 under our new Panini Media banner," said Bruno Zarka, the head of Panini Media's sales and acquisitions.

Surely extending some of those brands into print for this major European publisher has to be on the cards...

 

 

Sneek Peek: X-Men versus Dracula by John Royle

Here's a sneek peek at an upcoming cover for Panini's Marvel Heroes title by fab artist John Royle.

John's also penciled the upcoming  X-Men and Dracula strip from what he tells us is a great script by Mitchel Scanlon, with inks by David Roach and "lovely colour" by John Charles.

"I'm just working on a two-issue Spider-Man story for Panini's Spectacular Spider-Man," he tells downthetubes. "It's a great action adventure featuring Spidey, Dormammu, Doctor Strange, Captain Britain, Spitfire, Union Jack and Megan!"

When not drawing Spider-Man or X-Men, John's also been busy this year for a variety of commercial clients.

A recent job was a one page comic strip ad for Benylin, commissioned by top ad agency JWT, which is now running in various magazines in the UK such as Closer and marks another appearance of "Chester the Mucous Monkey" seen in the brand's recent TV ads, brought to CGI life for the small screen by Leigh Brett.

The page went through several changes at art and lettering stages, but JWT and the client are delighted with the final look, which was deliberately intended to 'homage' classic comic storytelling, right down to the "Editor's note" in the main panel.

• Check out John's work at: www.johnroyleart.com

In Review: Comics at the London Book Fair

Last month the London Book Fair cranked up its coverage of comics and graphic novel publishing this year and David Baillie went along for downthetubes to see what was happening... LBF photos by Joel Meadows


The London Book Fair is an annual publishing juggernaut that attracts attendees and exhibitors from all over the world. They usually have a small, but notable, comics presence but this year promised to be the start of a new relationship between the event and the comics medium. Not only had they declared a section of the floor the 'Graphic Novel Pavilion', but the second day (of the four) also featured a schedule of industry-related panel discussions.

I've visited the LBF a couple of times in the past, usually trying to meet new publishers who I can scam for money... Erm... I mean investigate new work opportunities. It's never been the ideal venue for 'cold calling', as one of the main functions of the fair is the selling of foreign rights, but the main selling point of the LBF is the sheer number of industry people it draws together into a single location.

For example, it's certainly possible to schedule four or five meetings with different publishers, and your agent, all in one day. It's a shame, then, that because of the recent volcano chaos, the Earls Court floor was very quiet indeed. Some publishers didn't make it at all and more than one stand had a business card taped to an empty wall alongside a post-it apology.

The Graphic Novel Pavilion was a quite small, with less than a handful of publishers - but certainly those that you'd expect and hope to see at this event - Panini, Titan Books, Self Made Hero and Turnaround. Unfortunately Dark Horse only managed to get a few flyers, posters and business cards to the fair. I think I'm right in saying all of these guys were exhibitors last year - so there wasn't actually any fresh blood per se - but it certainly makes sense grouping them together in one place. There were also a few comics publishers spread around the floor outside of the Pavilion - probably because they publish in a wider variety of media.

The London Book Fair is an expensive event at which to exhibit. This accounts for the shortage of smaller UK publishers you see elsewhere, and even homegrown companies dealing solely in graphic novels. I know that, for example, Sean Azzopardi inquired about attending with a selection of UK Indie comics, but couldn't justify the cost.

The talks were a welcome addition to the programming. My favourite one, and definitely the one with the best sound bites, was supposed to be about the future of publishing for the comics world, particularly with regards to digital distribution and consumption. It featured a diverse cast of experts, some of whom had little or no interest in the proscribed topic, which made it all the more difficult for Self Made Hero's Emma Hayley to moderate. (She did, however, do very well indeed.) Come to think of it, this reluctance the panellists had to do what they were told probably made for a more interesting talk.

Paul Gravett started proceedings by talking about the origins of the graphic novel and the evolution of the medium – concentrating on its relationship with the wider publishing market.

Ian Rankin was next up, and he related how he'd been attracted to working in the medium primarily because the first thing he read was comics. In fact, his initial attempts at writing were probably stick man comics when he was in school. He also bemoaned the lack of weekly and monthly comics available in British newsagents - he said he thought that this 'missing rung in the reading ladder' is largely responsible for the poor literacy rates for teenage boys. Apparently his son had recently begged to be taken to see Macbeth after reading the Manga version, despite previously showing no interest at all in Shakesperare.

David Fickling followed on and he spoke about working on the DFC story John Blake with Philip Pullman (whom he knew before he was at all well-known). Pullman, he said, is a brilliant storyteller, and both of them learned about storytelling from reading comics as youngsters. Apparently Pullman had jumped at the chance to write a comic when Fickling suggested it.

He then told us what a joy it was to 'open the cupboard' and find a wealth of comics talent here in Britain. He explained that children want to read to be entertained, and that if we achieve that we can keep them for life instead of 'pissing readers into the street'.

While everyone on the panel looked forward to the benefits of digital comics (although as Fickling noted, they're all already digital as everything is 'sent down the wire these days') there were some reservations about what might go astray in the transition. Rankin wondered if the double page spread reveal would be entirely lost if you were reading comics on a small device.

Emma said that when she was translating Self Made Hero's Cash GN to an iPhone-readable format, the artist had been hesitant because his page design, which is of course an important part of the storytelling, would disappear as the work was read panel by panel.

When the iPad was mentioned, it was also noted that if Cory Dotcorow had made it across the Atlantic he'd definitely be saying 'down with it' before anyone had a chance to sing its praises. Apart from the censorship and monopolistic issues, Ian Rankin also quipped that it meant an investment of five hundred pounds rather than the 'quid that 2000AD cost a few years ago'. The panel then discussed how, in a purely digital comics world, there would be no more comics swapping, which they mostly agreed was an important part of the reading culture.

In another talk that day Emma Hayley spoke about the beginnings of Self Made Hero - and how she saw a gap in the market back in 2004/2005. It was an article in the Financial Times which sparked her interest initially and she told us how surprised she'd been to go the newsagents two years later and find an article about the successful launch of her new Manga line on the front page of the FT. Self Made Hero now have 14 Manga Shakespeare editions in print, all by UK artists, as well the Eye Classic and Crime Classic lines. Their new Graphic Biography imprint has recently been launched leading with the warmly-received Cash (of course about Johnny Cash).

I didn't get much of a chance to investigate many other publishers on the floor as I had to return to Colchester for my artist residency (and neither did I manage to take advantage of the free back massages on offer!) but it did seem much quieter in general than recent years. There was also a noticeable absence of 'booth babes' (as I believe they're affectionately known in the trade) so I don't know if they're flown in from abroad especially.

All things considered I think this was a successful first outing for the Graphic Novels Pavilion and comics programme at the London Book Fair. Fingers crossed next year for a larger response from publishers and a lack of volcanic eruptions....

• David Baillie was recently artist-in-residence for firstsite, Colchester, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Panini's Marvel Deal Under Threat?

Back when Disney bought out Marvel Comics, here at downthetubes we speculated Panini, which reprints Marvel titles across Europe, may find their titles under threat.

Now, news site Bleeding Cool reports that as Disney has now finally taken charge of Marvel’s international licensing, those concerns might have some substance.

Panini license Marvel extensively outside of the US, across South America and Europe, with a range of titles on sale on the UK news stand. But the problem with licensed titles is that the majority of fans of a license, assuming the quality of product is maintained, simply would never notice the company publishing their comic has changed.

If Disney now decides to withdraw Panini's license and develop its own publishing operations - as it does in countries such as India - this could leave a gaping hole in the European company's finances.

While there's no suggestion at this stage that Disney is considering such a move, Bleeding Cool notes that in Italy, for example, Panini and Disney are "sworn rivals in the comic book arena", which may not bode well for a publisher that has successfully developed the Marvel brand in Europe for many years.

In a separate development, Cynopsis Kids reports Marvel is shifting its book market distribution in an effort to aggressively grow its book business, and is also extending its direct marketing deal. It has just signed a worldwide book deal with the Hachette Book Group, who already distribute a wide range of manga titles, to sell and distribute its books, which will begin in September.

One piece of good news for existing Marvel partners - and comic fans - Marvel has also signed a deal with Diamond Comics Distributor to extend its exclusive Direct Market Service Agreement, which will see it continuing to distribute Marvel's product to the comic shop market in the UK and elsewhere.

Tube Surfing: Marvel, Disney, Stan Lee and possible iTablet launch

• Marvel Entertainment stockholders approved the company's merger with Disney at a special meeting held last Thursday (31st December). Under the agreement, valued at an estimated $4.3 billion, Marvel becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney. Whether this will ultimately have any impact on Panini's license to publish Marvel material in the UK, given that Disney's preferred European publishing partner would seem to be Egmont, remains unknown at this time.

• As well as acquiring Marvel, media site Cynopsis reports that Disney has developed its existing relationship with Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment (Purveyors of Wonder) by taking a 10% equity stake in POW! for $2.5 million. Disney entered into a first look deal with POW! in 2007, and under the new deal includes enhanced rights to the creative output of POW! and certain exclusive consulting services.

• Is Apple's long-rumours iTablet about to be announced? The Financial Times reported that the company has booked the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco on 26th January to make a special announcement to the media and is widely expected to unveil a tablet-style touch screen computer that presents videos, magazines and newspapers with a iPhone-like interface. The New York Times published some detailed titbits about the device just before Christmas, reporting that Apple supremo Steve Jobs is apparently very happy with the device - which may launch as iSlate.

Apparently, if you have an iPhone, you’re carrying around a mini version of an early Apple tablet. Expect the first iTablets/iSlates to be shipped in March, according to this rumour round up.

Disney Marvel Buy Out - What now for Marvel Reprints in the UK?

No, it's not a hoax, not an imaginary story -- media giant the Walt Disney Company, no slouch itself in the comics publication department, shook US comics publishing to the core late last week with the news that it had agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, in a stock and cash transaction.

The news sent shockwaves through the industry and became a key debating topic among fans over the weekend, with both the future of Marvel Comics and its many film projects both matters of discussion.

What impact the deal will have on Marvel's licensing deals in the UK - where Panini has long reprinted many of its titles after buying Marvel UK's assets in the 1990s -- is, as yet, unknown. However, Panini publishing rival Egmont is Disney's European licensee, so there may be some major changes ahead when licensing deals for Marvel material come up for renewal.

The Marvel-Disney merger is described as a "hands off" arrangement, in the style of Disney's arrangement with animation giant Pixar, meaning Disney would not necessarily take a role in day-to-day editorial decision making at Marvel Comics. However, over on Bleeding Cool, which also features a collection of creator reaction to the news, Rich Johnston pondered the impact the deal would have not just on Marvel's more adult brands such as the Punisher, but the wider commercial ramifications, such as Disney's own distribution deal for its printed products which might mean, ultimately, that Marvel Comics might no longer be distributed by Diamond.

Former Marvel head and creator of many of its most enduring characters Stan Lee has welcomed the news. "To me, becoming ‘Disneyfied’ is not a bad thing," he told Reuters. "I mean, look at movies like Pirates of the Caribbean... Disney knows how to do movies.

"They know how to do colourful characters and I think the fans, if they think about it, they’re going to love it."

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company.

“[Marvel CEO] Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

As Kim Masters points out on The Daily Beast, Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of Marvel made $1.5 billion for its eccentric CEO Ike Perlmutter, so he's unlikely to see problems with any aspect of the deal, and for the most part, many fans have reacted positively.

The merger means Marvel will also see its profile raised in emerging markets where Disney has already gained wide exposure, such as India and the Far East - more than compensating for the billion dollar price tag. Appointments to Marvel's board earlier in the year already indicated this was one of the company's aims.

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Iger continued.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

Reaction to the merger from finance pundits has been mixed. The Wall Street Journal, for example, notes that on the face of it, Marvel should be an ideal fit for Disney with its array of assets -- movie studio, theme parks, cable channels and consumer-product business -- and long experience exploiting characters.

But investors may want to ask what return on investment Disney hopes to achieve from the $4 billion it is paying for Marvel.

"The problem is Disney's ability to take control of some of the best-known characters quickly is limited," notes Martin Peers for the newspaper. "Many already are licensed to other companies for use in film, television, DVD animated features, theme parks, publishers and even promotions for other companies."

The Guardian argues the tie-up unites two companies with similar business models. They both take characters which capture the popular imagination and promote them vigorously around the world on every possible media platform and through third-party licensing deals.

While Disney has traditionally been known for its wholesome family creations ranging from the Little Mermaid to Lion King, Hannah Montana and Pocahontas, the purchase of Marvel adds an edgier, more violent element since Marvel's characters tend to chime particularly well with teenage boys and young men, while Disney has been stronger in appealing to a female audience.

While the move has been seen as positive by many, some comics professionals also have words of caution. "A Pixar-like hands-off deal?" challenged former Comics International editor Dez Skinn. "Sure, and Disney will really love The Punisher, et al!

"[This is a little] like when Egmont (the European Disney licencee) was seriously embarrassed by having Judge Dredd in its portfolio," he notes, worrying how some characters may be affected by the new arrangement that will have a major impact on western comics for years to come."

"I see a wonderful symmetry between old animation studio rivals Warner Bros and Disney each controlling the old comic company rivals DC and Marvel," counters comics journalist Alan Woollcombe. "Plus, it settles once and for all any question who will be producing American Disney comics once whatever current deal there is runs out or who will be distributing future Marvel studio films once the Paramount deal (currently five films to go) ends.

"And, in cultural terms, there is an argument to be made that Stan is the nearest contemporary equivalent to Uncle Walt. The house that Stan (and Jack) built joins the House of Mouse (and Walt)? Seems a good match to me."

Links


• Official Press Release


News Stories

• The Guardian: Disney buy Marvel Entertainment

• Los Angeles Times: Disney to Buy Marvel


"The acquisition hands Disney a treasure trove of pop culture figures, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor and the Fantastic Four, among a roster of 5,000 that it hopes will inspire countless movies, television shows and video games."

• New York Times: Disney Swoops Into Action, Buying Marvel for $4 Billion


More Reaction


• The Beat: Disney Buys Marvel: Analysis


"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..."

• Newsarama: Marvel-Disney - Industry Reaction


• Newsarama: Marvel-Disney - More Industry Reaction


"It feels like Christmas morning," Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada 'tweeted' Monday morning, "I haven't seen this much excitement in the Marvel halls since... well, ever! ... If you're familiar with the Disney/Pixar relationship, then you'll understand why this is a new dawn for Marvel and the comics industry."

• The Misney Universe: Favourite Disney-Marvel MashUps


"Long term, it's a brilliant move for Disney that will be worth every penny," feels Industry insider Jeff Katz. "It makes a ton of sense for them at a corporate level, especially once some of the current Marvel deals expire and can then be exploited through the larger Disney pipeline. I think this is indicative of the general shrinking of the entertainment marketplace. There will be more consolidation along these lines."

• The Beat: More on Marvel/Disney as Reaction Unfolds

• Marv Wolfman (former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel and one of the two founding editors of Disney Adventures Magazine )


"... Disney can certainly help Marvel in terms of distribution, awareness and sales. They can get Marvel Comics into the parks and over the net better than Marvel can. Disney's Internet presence is much greater than Marvel's. They have resources Marvel does not, and I expect in a year or two we'll start seeing the results of the sale. I think Disney will be a major plus on that side..."

• Tim Beyers for The Motley Fool: Mickey Mouse Robs Spidey


"Disney gets Marvel for just north of 20 times earnings. That sounds expensive, I know. Here's why it isn't: Long before Iron Man was a box-office blockbuster, Marvel was boosting operating income by 28% a year. Yes, you read that right: 28% a year, without a contribution from Marvel Studios."

• Disney, Marvel and the Future of Online Comics


"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..."

• The Los Angeles Times: The Big Deal - Marvel is Disney's new Family Brand

"Disney isn't just buying into the Marvel business. It's reinventing its future, which has become increasingly cloudy as family entertainment, especially in the movie end of the business, has been inexorably evolving from old-fashioned squeaky-clean Disney fare to the edgier, more unsettling PG-13 universe populated by Marvel's potent arsenal of comic superheroes..."

• Forbidden Planet International: That Disney Marvel Thing...


This is a really good round up by Joe Gordon analyzing what the e buy out means, cutting through the kerfuffle out there. Highly recommended.

GI Handley: Rise of the Writer