So, by now, we've all heard the news. Disney has bought Marvel. It's fair to say that no-one really saw this coming. Recently, Marvel has looked closer than ever to fulfilling their promise of becoming the next Disney, as they finally translated their huge stock of comics characters into movies and licensing deals that eclipsed the publishing arm. Things were looking good - but as of yesterday, though, they're no longer going to be the new Disney - simply a part of the old one.

There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about what this could mean for the company. After all, Disney are notoriously jumpy about the tone of their content and use of their IP. Everyone involved is preaching a ‘Pixar-style' hands-off approach, but it's hard to imagine that Disney themselves will be interested in keeping the creator-owned Icon line or the adult-oriented MAX line going at the moment.

It's only going to take the wrong executive being sent a copy of Mark Millar's Kick-Ass for them to start asking why, exactly, Disney is happy to put out a comic where a pre-teen girl slices someone's head in half with a machete while calling them a c***.

To say nothing of Miracleman - Alan Moore's comics were considered the very reason behind Marvel's recent purchase of the character - but will Disney be happy publishing a comic which features a young teenager being raped, no matter how artistically viable the scene or how critically acclaimed the work?

But let's not assume the worst straight away. After all, this just puts Marvel in a similar situation to the one DC is in, making them the comics-publishing, IP-generating wing of a much larger multimedia conglomerate. As long as the publishing business remains profitable, there's no reason to think that they'll interfere with Marvel's content or shut down MAX/Icon.

Indeed, Disney has had a legendarily hard time with its own comics - it doesn't take much to imagine Marvel, the experts in the field, being handed the reins to those characters before long. Disney would be foolish not to take advantage of Marvel's comics-publishing expertise, much as Marvel will surely be taking advantage of Disney's experience in the movie business. It may well be turn out to be a purely beneficial arrangement for both parties.

Of course, the deal might actually be too good, if anything. With Disney's corporate weight behind them, Marvel are suddenly looking much more formidable in an industry where they already dominate. Industry commentators are already pointing to Diamond, the industry's largest distributor, who could lose Marvel's custom as a result of the Disney deal. If Marvel pull out of Diamond and they collapse, the direct market as we know it would be effectively dead - and as much as I like Marvel's comics, I don't think I'm ready for them to have no credible competition.

So, all we know about the situation as it stands is that we don't really know much. Chances are it'll be years until any truly concrete changes take effect and, hey, look on the bright side. If the worst happens, well, we've still got 70 years of back-issues to catch up on...

James writes Alternate Cover every Monday at Den Of Geek. His previous column can be found here.