According to The Hollywood Reporter, comic-book publisher Marvel (NYSE: MVL) has come up with another character set to exploit from its vast library. I've never heard of this title, but apparently a comic book called Runaways, which has been around since 2002 and has developed a following. It has been tapped by management to be source material for a movie. It has something to do with teenagers who have parents that are evil villains. This sends them for a loop, causing them to run away and to attempt to process this shock to their systems. I don't really know a lot about this universe.

And that's what fascinates me about it from the perspective of being a shareholder. It both frightens and excites me at the same time. One of the biggest issues surrounding Marvel has been the oft-mentioned value of the company's 5,000 characters. Some have pointed out that, once you get through Hulk, X-Men, Spider-Man ,Iron Man and a few of the other major hitters, Marvel really doesn't have any other big properties to lean on in terms of generating viable movie franchises. For instance, is Ant-Man going to be a huge success at the movies? For that matter, what the heck is an Ant-Man anyway? Wasn't he made fun of in an old Saturday Night Live sketch from the 1970's? I sometimes do have some reticence when thinking about characters such as Thor, Captain America, and, yes, Ant-Man. Will they be accepted by the movie-going youth as readily as Iron Man recently was at the multiplex?

This is why I think it's a neat idea to start testing the perception of Wall Street investors by announcing the film adaptation of a lesser-known quantity. I mean, I haven't heard of this Runaways thing, at least. But maybe something a little more modern compared to the Captain America character will resonate perfectly fine with the youthful target audience of today. Perhaps Marvel will find out the true value of its brand equity when it slaps its name on something that hasn't been promoted over several decades. It's difficult to say at this stage, and I'll concede that it might be a bit early to begin evaluating this concept when investors are more worried at the moment over the potential success or failure of the new Hulk picture that is set to open very shortly.

Still, if Marvel wants to compete with big guns such as Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), then it needs to broaden its horizons and move beyond Wolverine.

Comic book publisher and super-hero film maker Marvel Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: MVL) recently posted big numbers for 3Q 2007, based primarily on the success of Spider-Man 3. The webslinger's numbers are large enough to cause Marvel CEO Morton Handel to raise FY 2007 guidance from EPS $1.30-$1.55 to $1.60-$1.65. FY 2008 is forecast to be just under EPS 2007 range with the 2008 release of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk video games.

Bear in mind these numbers were generated before the Hollywood writers' strike. Now all bets are off given the strike's unknown duration. Marvel has a number of projects in various stages of development. Both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk movies are in the final stages of completion and are set to be released before the beginning of summer 2008. Production of TV series for Wolverine and the X-Men and Iron Man will be delayed, as will the Punisher 2 movie. Investors should enjoy the profits while they can.

Marvel is in the process of shifting away from producing its own toys to licensing Hasbro to produce them. This is a good strategy as more toys, including Curious George toys, are being recalled due to possible lead contamination. This shift has caused a $10 million drop in revenue in 3Q 2007, but this decline was more than covered by a doubling of net sales, to $66 million, in the licensing segment. The rise is driven primarily by Spider-Man 3. While other publishers struggle to turn a profit, comic books are still good sellers. Net sales increased 13% to $35 million, based on World War Hulk and Stephen King's Dark Towers.