Wednesday is Comic Day!

Today, it was announced that Disney is purchasing Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. The deal will give Disney ownership of Marvels ~5000 characters, film, licensing, and publishing divisions. The deal does not negate any contracts in progress (for example, Sony still has the film rights for Spider-man, Fox still has the film rights for the X-Men, and Fantastic Four, but when those contracts end, those rights will go back to Disney.

The Licensing and film divisions are the primary focus for Disney, but the internet is abuzz, today, with fans debating what this will mean for comic books. Disney will own them, but how involved will they be in the creative and editorial process? Hopes are that Disney will treat Marvel as it does Pixar - leaving the experts to do their work.

Another question being discussed is what happens to Universal Studio's "Marvel Island of Adventure" at their theme park in Orlando? Presumably, Universal has guaranteed rights for a period of time, but how long is that? And for that duration will Disney be unable to have Spidey walking around the Magic Kingdom?