A few thoughts...

Got easily a hundred calls, texts, e-mails yesterday about the big Marvel/Disney news and a few about the Sony/Marvel/Spidey news, so here are a few random thoughts to go with what I posted yesterday...

1. SPEC SPIDEY: The main thing that's changed about the Spec Spidey situation is that Sony is now out of the loop/decision making process about whether or not there's a third season. Before Sony was waiting to see if Disney picked up the series. Then they'd decide on its economic feasibility for Sony. Now Sony isn't part of that equation, leaving the whole thing in Marvel and Disney's hands. Of course, now that Marvel and Disney are kinda one hand, so-to-speak, I don't know what that means for us. Other than the obvious, which is that I'm sure we're not exactly Disney/Marvel's highest priority at the moment. How and when this decision gets made is really up in the air, but a former negative does feel good -- now -- that our last six episodes won't start airing on Disney XD until late October. That means our last episode won't air until early December, which may be a better time for Disney/Marvel to focus on the show. (Or not.) Of course even a positive decision in December or (more likely) January means a HUGE gap between Seasons Two and Three, but I'd take that over no new episodes.

2. FLASHBACKS:I can't help but be reminded of events in the mid-nineties, when Michael Eisner (then CEO of Disney) wanted to buy Marvel, so that he'd have super-heroes to compete with Warner Bros' DC Universe heroes (including Superman and Batman). Back then, however, Marvel was, or so I was told, a corporate mess. And it wasn't just that -- as now -- various studios already had the rights to individual characters, but that the rights had been double sold all over the place, and that every character pretty much represented a lawsuit in the making if not already in the works. Eisner was advised NOT to buy Marvel, and of course he didn't. But he REALLY wanted to be competing in the boys action/super-hero market. That was when the Gargoyles Universe was raised as a possible alternative. We pointed out that the Marvel Universe began with the Fantastic Four, and that we could use Gargoyles as a springboard to more properties and to an entire Universe. We were encouraged by Michael to create spin-off properties, backdoor pilots, etc. And that was THE major impetus for us to work on things like New Olympians, Bad Guys, Pendragon and Dark Ages. (Gargoyles Future Tense -- which became Gargoyles 2198 and TimeDancer came later.) It was also a reason to be expansive with the World Tour and introduce more and more new characters, etc. Of course, by the time all this stuff was actually made, the world had changed again. Frank Wells died. Michael and Jeffry Katzenberg went to war, with Jeffry eventually leaving to found DreamWorks, and taking two of my immediate superiors, Gary Krisel and Bruce Cranston, with him. Rich Frank (another of my bosses up the chain) also left. Dean Valentine was placed in charge of Walt Disney Television Animation and he had no affinity for Gargoyles or its spin-offs. And Michael, who had initiated the whole thing, had way bigger concerns on his plate. I was more or less forced out. But for one bright, shining moment...

3. GARGOYLES: I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what this means for our favorite winged warriors, but in the short term, I'm sure the answer is "Not much." Gargoyles is pretty much under Disney's radar right now, and really doesn't exist on Marvel's radar at all, as far as I can tell. We'll be an extremely low priority. Our best bet is still SLG, which HOPEFULLY will be motivated by the sales of the Trades to want to make more content with me. Having read Dan "Mr. SLG" Vado's recent reaction to the Disney/Marvel merger, I'm hoping he isn't too discouraged by being in bed with his competition. But I have no doubt that the best way to get Dan fully on board is to make it worth his while by having those trades sell VERY well. So again, buy the trades and/or SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

SUCH BIG NEWS

Okay, in the period of just a few days, I have been rocked by two incredible pieces of news.

1. Last Thursday (8/27/09), Vic Cook and I were informed that in exchange for some concession vis-a-vis the live action Spider-Man features, Sony returned the television rights (including the animated television rights) for Spider-Man to Marvel. This took place the day before ComicCon, I'm told. But I was only informed of it this past week.

2. Today (8/31/09) comes the news that Disney has purchased Marvel outright.

NOW, before you ask -- before you post a thousand duplicate and/or overlapping questions to ASK GREG -- let me be clear: I have NO IDEA what this means for either Gargoyles or The Spectacular Spider-Man. Neither of these developments are by definition good news or bad news. Shocking news, sure. But how it will play out for either or both properties is a complete mystery to me. As soon as I have ANY information on either property, I will post it here at ASK GREG. Until then, don't ask. Seriously. Just don't. There's just no point in bogging down the queue with questions I have no answer to. Thank you for your cooperation.

GATHERING 2009 - Monday, August 24th

GATHERING 2009 - Monday, August 24th

Midnight - The goodbyes begin for folks who are leaving first thing Monday morning or right now. Said goodbye to Marina, Zehra, Sarah, Michael McAdam and probably quite a few others...

1:30am - The party downstairs finally breaks up and I head up to my room.

4am - Went to bed. But I just couldn't sleep at all.

8am - Finally gave up and got up.

9am - Brought my luggage to my car and then went to the staff breakfast: crepe, ham, potatoes, OJ.

10am - Comic book panel with Karine Charlebois and Greg Guler. I'll just repeat the main message I gave. I have no info on the future of Gargoyles comics beyond this: SLG's Dan Vado is sincerely interested in doing more. His ability to make an offer for the license to Disney will depend on the sales of the three trade paperbacks. Beyond that, we had some really interesting discussions about the books.

11:30am - Gargoyles Biology and Culture panel with Jade Griffin and Matt Parker. I love this panel. Always full of interesting discussions, that influence how I handle things in the Gargoyles Universe.

1pm - Closing Ceremonies. Okay, I admit it. I pretty much lost it more than once. It was VERY emotional. A number of us told stories of past Gatherings and how they changed our lives. It was warm and all too fuzzy, but wonderful. I love all you guys. Thank you.

2:30pm - We finally closed the Closing Ceremonies. I helped Patrick and a bunch of other volunteers carry things down to Patrick's rented van. Then we headed up to the Constaff Suite for a dead dog party. Christopher bought pizza for everyone, which was very generous. I had a coke and a virgin jello shot. And we just hung out.

5:45pm - Time to go, to return to real life. I hugged EVERYONE. Jennifer Anderson walked me to the elevator. I was pretty wrecked. It felt a bit like it felt to end a long job. You walk away. What else can you do? You take your memories with you, but you also know you're leaving a piece behind.

But it's been a FANTASTIC THIRTEEN YEARS. Thanks to everyone who ever attended a Gathering. You really changed my life!

TRADE PAPERBACKS!

Hey gang,

I know -- and share -- the frustrations over the vague release dates of the two remaining trades. Both are DONE. So it's just an issue of getting them from the printers, through customs, out to Diamond and then into stores, etc.

BUT, Dan Vado has ASSURED me that all three trades (GARGOYLES, CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME ONE; GARGOYLES, CLAN-BUILDING, VOLUME TWO; GARGOYLES: BAD GUYS, REDEMPTION) will be available for purchase at the Gathering. Hopefully, they'll be available everywhere sooner or at least shortly thereafter, but at the very least -- if you come to the con, you can get the books!