Abadazad Lives! And So Does CrossGen!

Both The Pulse and Newsarama (comic book news websites of note) have broken the exciting news that a subsidiary of Disney has bought the remnants of CrossGen, mainly to get their hands on DeMatteis and Ploog's Abadazad, but also as part of a project to get Disney more involved with American comic books. While some CG comics will be revived, according to this plans, Abadazad will be transformed into a series of illustrated novels for the YA audience.

http://www.newsarama.com/pages/CG_Disney.htm

The notion of Disney reviving Ruse or other CG books, and then competing with DC and Marvel is intriguing. This could change everything in an industry that needs change. Or it could be as big a bust as Euro-Disney. If Disney can take the properties CG created and market them properly to the female teen audience they were intended for, Marvel and DC will have some serious competition indeed.

I, howver, am far more excited by the return of Abadazad, albeit in a form that is both risky and intriguing. With the rise of the YA book as a phenomenon, and with the buzz that Abadazad had in its short run, tihs could be something big. My wife and I loved the three issues that were released, and I think a series of novels with the same flavor would be welcome in a lot of homes. I'm also thrilled for DeMatteis, whose work has been hit and miss sometimes but who has also written some of my all-time favorite comics, and for Ploog, whose "old-fashioned" style caught attention usually reserved for "hot" artists.

Now if only Disney were to get Mark Waid and Butch Guice back for a revival of Ruse...