This week there was a completely unsubstantiated, wildly shared article about Marvel purchasing DC Comics (DC Publishing). Despite the article being completely unfounded and lacking any viable sources, the rumor spread like wildfire, especially following the outing of Dan DiDio at DC. Sadly, DC head publisher Jim Lee had to address the rumors at C2E2, debunking them as nonsense.
DiDio had been with DC for more than a decade before abruptly leaving the position earlier this month. The news was quite surprising, especially as DC Comics had heavily promoted the upcoming 5G soft-reboot event that was spearheaded by DiDio. The news served as a springboard for certain contemptible "news" sites (and I'm putting that lightly) to vomit out a completely unbelievable story about AT&T and Warner Brothers (who DC Comics is a subsidiary of) considering licensing their characters to Marvel. The rumor was as dumb as it was fake. But, it spread like a disease.
Lee, who's now the only publisher and is the Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics, spoke at his own Spotlight Panel at C2E2 in Chicago on Saturday. While he discussed DC Comics' future and finally addressed DiDio's departure, he also made sure to throw water on the fire that DC was being bought by Marvel (quotes from Newsarama).
To address some of the stuff that is out there, there's rumors... speculation... I wouldn't put any credence into it. DC has been around for 85 years, and we'll be around for another 85 years. I hope to be doing this panel in 85 years.
Honestly, the fact Lee had to say anything at all is patently ridiculous. Logistically, why would it make any sense for DC Comics to license their characters to Marvel? We're not talking a cross-company crossover or something on a smaller scale. We're talking about the possibility an extremely profitable company like DC Comics who's characters bring in BILLIONS through licensing like comics, films, action figures, books, you name it, selling it to Marvel - its chief competitor. It's nonsense. On the flip side, why would Marvel even considering doing that deal? Spoiler alert: They wouldn't.
The fake rumor was reported as legitimate and made the rounds causing understandable confusion to those who aren't well-versed in the industry and couldn't see just how ridiculous that would actually be. Kudos to Lee for addressing it, but there's no truth to the rumor at all. Marvel isn't buying DC Comics. DC Comics isn't selling their characters to Marvel. Let's kill that rumor for good, yes?