Product Description

From the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Every Spy a Prince comes the colorful true story of the business superheroes who rescued Marvel Comics from bankruptcy. In the mid-1990s, Marvel Entertainment became embroiled in a crisis as strange as one of its comic book stories. Locked in a battle for control of the half-century-old company were two Goliath-style corporate raiders and two virtually unknown Davids: Israeli immigrants with a passion for the toy business. This was a test of wills that led to a unique Wall Street showdown. Combining hard-hitting journalism with entertaining storytelling, Comic Wars takes readers behind the scenes of America's most bitter bankruptcy and captures the high-stakes, often hilarious twists and turns of this financial fiasco. The unforgettable cast of characters ranges from tycoon Ron Perelman (who bankrupted Marvel through overexpansion) and Carl Icahn (who then launched a hostile takeover of Marvel) to Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, scrappy owners of Toy Biz and the duo who ingeniously outmaneuvered the moguls. Culminating with Ike and Avi's triumphant launch of the blockbuster movie X-Men, and published just in time for the Spider-Man live-action movie, this is a marvelous must-read for the business world and all admirers of true grit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1043737 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Raviv, coauthor of several books on Israeli politics (Every Spy a Prince; Behind the Uprising), turns to high-stakes finance for his first solo effort, a feisty account of Marvel Comics' meltdown in the 1990s (and slow resurrection, thanks to the success of the movie X-Men and the buzz over this summer's Spider-Man flick). When Ron Perelman bought Marvel in 1989, he described the company, home to heroes like Captain America and the Fantastic Four, as "a mini-Disney in terms of intellectual property." His junk bonds and grandiose expansion plans swiftly raised Marvel's market value to over $3 billion, but also brought its debt past $600 million, at which point corporate raider Carl Icahn smelled blood. He managed to wrest control of the company from Perelman, but the takeover process dragged Marvel through bankruptcy court for years. Raviv's depiction of this clash of the titans is rooted in the perspective of Marvel investors Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, whose other company, Toy Biz, made action figures based on Marvel heroes. Their underdog efforts to rescue the company from the Perelman-Icahn conflict, then get movies made to sell comics and action figures, are viewed with sympathy perhaps, in fact, too much sympathy; outlandish claims like Spider-Man is "maybe the best known intellectual property character, on a worldwide basis" routinely pass unchallenged. Fans of the cutthroat finance genre will find much to enjoy in the boardroom confrontations, but those unfamiliar with Marvel may wonder what all the fuss is about, as Raviv's overview of the comics and the characters tends to treat their popularity as a given without exploring the nuances of their success.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Raviv, coauthor of Every Spy a Prince and a national correspondent for CBS news, recounts a Wall Street story of greed, pure and simple, in this "fly on the wall" view of the takeover and eventual bankruptcy of Marvel Entertainment. This book has all the makings of a great screenplay "Spiderman Meets Wall Street in Bankruptcy Court." The major story is of the battle for control waged by Ronald Perelman, who bought Marvel in the late 1980s, and Carl Icahn, who began buying Marvel bonds in an effort to take over the company. Ironically, neither Perelman nor Ichan was ever interested in comics (both bragged that they never looked at the product); rather, they were obsessed with profit and personal vendetta. A parallel story deals with Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, two entrepreneurs with Toy Biz who had a significant interest in Marvel, its characters, and further sustaining the enterprise over the long term. While the era and the situations differ, Comic Wars is in the vein of The White Sharks of Wall Street. This chilling tale of corporate infighting is recommended for business collections, although the subject matter may give the book wider appeal. Steven Silkunas, North Wales, PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover
"Dan Raviv is a wizard. Though Comic Wars is a factual account of the origins and aftermath of a corporate bankruptcy, he's managed to make it as suspenseful and exciting as the superhero thrillers over which most of the battle was fought. Even though I've lived through those harrowing days, thanks to Dan's book, I've gained a new understanding of the whole incredible event." –Stan Lee

"Who'd have thought that the battle over a comic book would produce such an incredible story. A page-turning delight." -Larry King

"Dan Raviv turns his well-known investigative skills to something new: the hidden story of the bankruptcy that had all us comic fans worried. So dramatic and true-to-life that I couldn't put it down." –Steve Geppi, President, Diamond Comic Distributors

"A page-turner that is both a valuable cautionary tale about shaky junk bonds and other unwise investments, and a rollicking good read." –Marshall Loeb, Marketwatch.com, former editor of Fortune and Money

"Raviv reveals the tragic consequences of financiers with supersized personas on a collision course with creativity. Moguls, wannabe moguls, and the countless victims of moguls will appreciate this mythic tale that really happened."
–Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Associate Dean, Yale University School of Management

"This is a great book. It tells an incredible story that will keep you on the edge of your chair." –Wolf Blitzer, CNN anchor