Why Boom's marketing strategy seems HIGHLY dubious.
"Kids! Ever wondered what would happen when all the superheroes of the Disney comics universe star in an epic clash against all the super villains with the fate of the world at stake?"
Now okay okay, looking at this from a purely pragmatic standpoint, Disney DID have some popular cartoons in the eighties and nineties--Ducktales, Tailspin, Darkwing Duck, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers--that might still have some name recognition, while also sort of vaguely hearkening back to the golden days when Walt Disney's Comics and Stories strode o'er the land like a mighty colossus. But:
Double-you tee eff? Now, there HAVE been superhero versions of Donald and Goofy (deep sigh), although these guys don't look like they, and in any case, I don't think they get much play outside of Italy (those wacky Italians--no wonder they keep electing Berlusconi). But the philosophy here seems to have been "mechanically stick regular characters in generic superhero outfits, creating characters that nobody's heard of and nobody cares about. Super Gladstone? Super...is that supposed to be Gus Goose in the back? Super Mysterious Nose'n'Eyebrows Dude? And SUPER GODDAMN FETHRY? I think it's safe to say that no child in the US today has ever heard of even regular Fethry. Let's face it: YOU haven't (and trust me--you're better off). Why should they? And even if they DO know the character from being one of the three or four kids to have read Gemstone's WDC, is it even remotely possible to imagine that they would want to see a superhero version of him? Why, truly, would they be interested in any of this nonsense?
These are comic book characters--in some cases fairly obscure comic book characters--remade, in a fanfiction-y kind of way, as superheroes. It seems as though this can only be meant to appeal to established fans hungry for novelty. It certainly doesn't seem as though it would draw new fans in. And yet, that's what Boom is trying to achieve. I don't see how this is possibly going to work.
Now okay okay, looking at this from a purely pragmatic standpoint, Disney DID have some popular cartoons in the eighties and nineties--Ducktales, Tailspin, Darkwing Duck, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers--that might still have some name recognition, while also sort of vaguely hearkening back to the golden days when Walt Disney's Comics and Stories strode o'er the land like a mighty colossus. But:
Double-you tee eff? Now, there HAVE been superhero versions of Donald and Goofy (deep sigh), although these guys don't look like they, and in any case, I don't think they get much play outside of Italy (those wacky Italians--no wonder they keep electing Berlusconi). But the philosophy here seems to have been "mechanically stick regular characters in generic superhero outfits, creating characters that nobody's heard of and nobody cares about. Super Gladstone? Super...is that supposed to be Gus Goose in the back? Super Mysterious Nose'n'Eyebrows Dude? And SUPER GODDAMN FETHRY? I think it's safe to say that no child in the US today has ever heard of even regular Fethry. Let's face it: YOU haven't (and trust me--you're better off). Why should they? And even if they DO know the character from being one of the three or four kids to have read Gemstone's WDC, is it even remotely possible to imagine that they would want to see a superhero version of him? Why, truly, would they be interested in any of this nonsense?
These are comic book characters--in some cases fairly obscure comic book characters--remade, in a fanfiction-y kind of way, as superheroes. It seems as though this can only be meant to appeal to established fans hungry for novelty. It certainly doesn't seem as though it would draw new fans in. And yet, that's what Boom is trying to achieve. I don't see how this is possibly going to work.
posted by GeoX, one of the GeoX boys. at 10:49 PM
When I wrote this post, I didn't know who Eega Beeva was. Go figure.