OLDSMAR -- The Walt Disney Co. has bought an innovative comic book company that sought to remake the art form but instead found itself falling on hard times.
CrossGen, an Oldsmar company which filed for bankruptcy court protection in June, sold its assets to Disney for $1 million. Disney was the high bidder at last month's court-sanctioned auction.
Intellectual property, not computers or mechanical pens, were the real items of value. Disney acquired 26 comic book series developed by CrossGen since its founding in 1999.
``There are a few properties there that we think are nothing less than brilliant,'' said Deborah Dugan, president of Disney Publishing Worldwide in New York. ``There's a chance they could make good interactive games or TV or movies.''
Dugan is already promising a series of books based on the series Abadazad, an epic fantasy about a girl trying to rescue her kidnapped brother from a strange land.
CrossGen was created by Mark Alessi, the founder of a software company who had made millions by the time he was in his 40s and had sold his company to Ross Perot. Alessi, a childhood fan of comic books and a student of Elizabethan literature, started the company and rewrote the rules of creating comic books.
Instead of relying on freelance artists and writers, Alessi hired some of the best in the industry and moved them to Oldsmar where they worked regular hours under the same roof and were paid regular salaries and benefits.
But despite the comics' popularity among readers, the business didn't succeed.
Noel Boeke, a lawyer representing CrossGen, called the company's demise ``unfortunate.'' Movie studios optioned several CrossGen titles over the years, but none of the projects were realized.
``(Alessi) put a lot of his own money in it, made a good product, and I think Disney got a lot of value for what they paid for,'' Boeke said. ``It's just a classic case of a debtor running out of money before they got to the finish line.''
Investors sank millions of dollars into CrossGen before it failed. Alessi alone claims the company owes him $5.4 million. When the company filed for bankruptcy, CrossGen had just $2,000 in the bank and liabilities of $14.7 million.
The court will now decide how to divide the $1 million among the company's creditors, which include many former employees and contract workers who filed claims for unpaid wages.
CrossGen, an Oldsmar company which filed for bankruptcy court protection in June, sold its assets to Disney for $1 million. Disney was the high bidder at last month's court-sanctioned auction.
Intellectual property, not computers or mechanical pens, were the real items of value. Disney acquired 26 comic book series developed by CrossGen since its founding in 1999.
``There are a few properties there that we think are nothing less than brilliant,'' said Deborah Dugan, president of Disney Publishing Worldwide in New York. ``There's a chance they could make good interactive games or TV or movies.''
Dugan is already promising a series of books based on the series Abadazad, an epic fantasy about a girl trying to rescue her kidnapped brother from a strange land.
CrossGen was created by Mark Alessi, the founder of a software company who had made millions by the time he was in his 40s and had sold his company to Ross Perot. Alessi, a childhood fan of comic books and a student of Elizabethan literature, started the company and rewrote the rules of creating comic books.
Instead of relying on freelance artists and writers, Alessi hired some of the best in the industry and moved them to Oldsmar where they worked regular hours under the same roof and were paid regular salaries and benefits.
But despite the comics' popularity among readers, the business didn't succeed.
Noel Boeke, a lawyer representing CrossGen, called the company's demise ``unfortunate.'' Movie studios optioned several CrossGen titles over the years, but none of the projects were realized.
``(Alessi) put a lot of his own money in it, made a good product, and I think Disney got a lot of value for what they paid for,'' Boeke said. ``It's just a classic case of a debtor running out of money before they got to the finish line.''
Investors sank millions of dollars into CrossGen before it failed. Alessi alone claims the company owes him $5.4 million. When the company filed for bankruptcy, CrossGen had just $2,000 in the bank and liabilities of $14.7 million.
The court will now decide how to divide the $1 million among the company's creditors, which include many former employees and contract workers who filed claims for unpaid wages.
