Mighty Marvel Mouse ears - Marvel Acquired By Disney For $4 Bil

It was announced that Marvel Entertainment will be acquired by The Walt Disney Company this morning in a deal that's estimated at $4 Billion, according to TechCrunch who reported the news.

Let me say that again, The Avengers, Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Thor and every color-shade of the Hulk is now property of Disney. Apparently both company's respective boards signed off on it so this is a done deal folks.

"All is well in the Marvel U," said Mavel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada via Twitter just moments after the news broke. "Everybody take a deep breath, all your favorite comics remain unchanged and Tom Brevoort remains grouchy."

I'm quite tickled that the company that brought forth such bastions of sexual repression like the Jonas Brothers, will at least for a time be funding the efforts of one Warren Ellis.

The natural emotion for something this epic in scope is typically to list off all the reasons why this will ruin said subject (in this case Marvel) because things are changing and changing makes people angry. But I honestly don't see this as a bad decision. Disney is known for preserving timeless characters in their own special kind of continuity and that's exactly why they bought a company that does the same.

In all likelihood having Disney as a parent company will probably enhance the comic experience ten fold. Why? well first off, no one in editorial has to be burdened by marketing X-Men under-roos, Spider-Man sippy cups and other useless (yet demanded) fare just to stay afloat while taking plenty of chances in their editorial department (read, the department that actually produces the comic books).

Someone else will now tend to the money making aspects of exploiting the characters we've come to love. Someone who is good at it. Marvel is good at making comics so I expect more of the same from them. If you need an example, look to Warner Brothers who doesn't dictate the creativity inside DC Comics editorial.

I just hope and pray that this news doesn't force a Jonas Brothers comic into existence (although, probably it will).