Why aren’t financial reports more engaging? … Companies seek to attract investors with their vision and potential, yet most annual reports are dull and boring … unlike Marvel Comics
December 9, 2023
Companies seek to engage investors in their vision and potential. They spend many hours crafting strategies and presentations that seek to convince stockmarket analysts and investors that their company’s vision, strategies, innovations, brands and creativity will ensure that they deliver a better future, and better return on investment.
Yet most annual reports, financial statements, investor presentations are incredibly boring. They are standardised, number intensive, lack creativity, and certainly lack passion and inspiration. They are largely undifferentiated, despite that being their purpose. And while they have serious messages, and must adhere to financial regulation, this is no excuse to be dull.
Marvel Comics were different.
Back in the 1990s, the content business was a separate company, before being acquired by Disney in 2009. Marvel released their quarterly and annual financial reports to shareholders in the form of comic books.
Marvel experienced great success during the early 1990s, highlighted by the sale of 2.5 million copies of Spider-Man #1. This success paved the way for its IPO in 1991 under the leadership of Ronald Pearlman, raising over $63 million. Being a public company however, means totally different reporting requirements, and Marvel was looking for ways to communicate the Marvel Comics Universe in an engaging way; within a typically dry shareholder report.
Luckily, Gary Fishman reached out with a solution. As a lifelong comic book fan and the founder of an investor and public relations firm on Wall Street, he offered to assist the then Marvel CEO Bill Bevins in preparing Marvels upcoming quarterly report.
Fishman, along with Marvel executives including President Terry Stewart and CFO Robert Riscica, brainstormed how to effectively convey the unique Marvel Comics Universe within the conventional format of a shareholder report. The groundbreaking solution they arrived at was to convert the report into a comic book featuring Marvel superheroes. This project was a collaborative effort, with editor Glenn Herdling leading the creative process.
Utilizing the Marvel method, which involves developing the story, then the art, and finally the dialogue, Fishman crafted the Plot and made sure to write the copy in such a way that it compiled with all legal and SEC requirements. Herdling on his end, coordinated with some of Marvel’s best artists to bring the visuals to life.
This completely new way of reporting finally took form as a four-page comic book, with the Marvel characters discussing financial aspects like publishing revenues, gross profit, and revenue mix.
The next step was the annual report, and it’s safe to say that Marvel really broke new ground. They crafted a 36-page comic book, combining comics-form information introduced by Uatu the Watcher, updating us on licensing revenues, advertising, and more, along with other traditional financial tables and text.
This innovative approach quickly became a sensation, and was extensively covered by leading publications such as The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Institutional Investor. They were recognized not only for their creativeness but also for their artistic and qualitative design, winning awards from organizations like the International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences.
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