2009 September
Confirmed: Jack Kirby’s heirs want a piece of Spider-Man
Amazing Fantasy #15
Spider-Man is, indeed, one of the Marvel characters listed in the 45 copyright-termination notices sent last week by the heirs of Jack Kirby.
With Sony Pictures among the list of recipients — along with Marvel, Disney, Fox, Universal and others — it seemed likely that Kirby’s four children were seeking a portion of the copyright to the wall-crawler (Sony holds the movie rights to the character in perpetuity). Now The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog confirms that after reviewing termination notices for Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.
Wait. Didn’t Stan Lee and Steve Ditko create Spider-Man? Well … yes. However, Kirby was clearly involved in the early stages. The nature, and extent, of that involvement isn’t quite so clear.
As Borys Kit and Matthew Belloni recount at Heat Vision, Lee initially approached Kirby to help develop the concept and draw the initial story in 1962′s Amazing Fantasy #15. For one reason or another — Lee has said he didn’t like Kirby’s muscular, or “too heroic,” take on Spider-Man — Ditko was tapped to draw the story, with Kirby providing the cover.
But some accounts assert that Kirby contributed elements from an unpublished character called Silver Spider that he developed in the 1950s with longtime collaborator Joe Simon. Others say Silver Spider became The Fly, a character created by Simon and Kirby for Archie Comics’ Red Circle imprint.
According to the Heat Vision report, Kirby’s heirs seek to recapture a share of the copyright to characters and story elements that appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 — Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Flash Thompson, etc. — plus characters and concepts like J. Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle, Chameleon, the Tinkerer and the Lizard, most of which debuted months later in issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. (The Daily Bugle first appeared in Fantastic Four #2.)
If the Kirby children are successful, they would reclaim their father’s portion of the copyright to key characters and concepts from the Marvel Universe as early as 2017 for the Fantastic Four. In most cases, that would seem to mean co-ownership with Marvel, as Lee agreed to waive claim to any of the characters. With Spider-Man, one-third ownership could be possible if the Kirbys were to prevail yet the judge recognized Ditko’s interests.
Although Disney asserts it “fully considered” the potential copyright claims before it launched its $4-billion purchase of Marvel, this move by the Kirby children surely complicates matters. If nothing else, it provides additional fuel for those who already had criticized Disney for wading into a tangle of licensing agreements that could prevent the House of Mouse from making movies based on Spider-Man, the X-Men, Fantastic Four and other central Marvel properties for years (last link via Dirk Deppey).
- September 22, 2009 @ 05:56 AM by Kevin Melrose
Mark Waid no longer evil?
Remember when Mark Waid was evil? Good times …
Well, it turns out maybe Mark Waid is no longer as evil as we were led to believe:
Mark Waid Was Evil
I saw the above ad on Kevin Church’s blog, which links to this page. Last time it was an ad campaign for Irredeemable … I wonder if this new campaign is somehow tied to that book or if it’s for a new title entirely.
- September 21, 2009 @ 03:05 PM by JK Parkin
Talking Comics with Tim: Vito Delsante
FCHS Vol. 1
This November, writer Vito Delsante‘s collaboration with artist Rachel Freire, FCHS: Volume 1, will be released by AdHouse (Diamond Order Code: SEP09 0568). As described at the AdHouse site: “Do you remember high school? All the fun and trouble you used to get into? All of the sex, sports and alcohol that was your Senior year? It’s time to go back! Join Hector, Kennedy, Jules and the whole gang at FCHS as they begin their last year of high school. Will they be ready for ‘the real world’ when it’s all over? Will they all make it? Archie meets 90210.” Delsante, who has written for a number of publishers (including DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, and Simon & Schuster), was kind enough to do an email interview with me. In addition to discussing FCHS, we discuss his experience working at Jim Hanley’s Universe, as well as some of his other upcoming projects.
Tim O’Shea: FCHS got its start at the Chemistry Set, how did the publishing arrangement with AdHouse come about?
Vito Delsante: A mini comic. Seriously! Rachel and I attended MoCCA two years ago and at that point, we had about 21 strips on the site that we turned into seven 3-tier pages. We were handing them out to just about anyone who was interested, with the thought that we’d bring some traffic back to Chem Set. Chris [Pitzer, AdHouse Books publisher] got one and a few weeks later, right before Comic Con Intl., he e-mailed us and asked if we were interested in doing a book. I think, in the back of my head, I was hoping to get a few publishers interested in FCHS, but when Chris offered, we jumped at it. Rachel and I are big fans of AdHouse, and to be a member of that family is a very good feeling.
- September 21, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Go help Bob Beerbohm buy a new hip
Robert Beerbohm has been involved in comics since the 1960s, both as a retailer and as a collector/historian. Sadly, his health has not been good in recent years and he is in bad need of an operation to get his hip fixed. I’ll let Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth explain in further detail:
Bob could be a poster child for our pathologically dysfunctional and systemically cruel and capricious health care system. He was in a serious car accident while leaving the 1973 Houston Comicon and, as a result, he’s worn all the cartilage from his hip joints, which means that when he walks, his hips are grinding bone on bone. Naturally, his health insurance company dropped him as soon as he complained about this because, they said, it constituted a “previously undisclosed condition,” and they wouldn’t cover the operation he now desperately needs. So, the bottom line is that he’s in continuous pain, can barely get around on crutches, can no longer do all the physical labor that his business requires (like lifting and carrying boxes of comics), is broke, and needs you to buy some comics from him so he can afford the $18,000 it’ll cost him in cold hard cash for this operation. If we lived in a better world, America’s generous socialistic health care would give him the operation he needs, or, at the very least, some rich patron would come forward and write him a check. We do not live in that world, and he needs all the help he can get.
If you have the time and money, please consider purchasing something from Beerbohm, either via his site or his ebay store.
- September 21, 2009 @ 01:30 PM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 087
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok
Okay, that’s not gonna help one little bit.
Next page on Wednesday. Be there then. Do whatever you want in the meantime.
- September 21, 2009 @ 01:04 PM by Matt Maxwell
Spider Lizard! Spider Lizard! Does whatever a spider lizard does!
Photo by Gordon E. Robertson
Demand for a Sub-Saharan lizard has soared in the U.K., apparently after comics fans realized the red-and-blue reptile resembles Spider-Man.
The Sun reports the boldly colored male Mwanza Flat-headed Rock Agama, with its bright red head and blue body, is in such great demand that one online pet store is sold out until next month. (The female is brown.)
“The coloring is unbelievably similar, especially in the chest arms and legs,” comics retailer Rich Nunn told the tabloid. “I am sure there would be lots of comic fans who would want a lizard like this, because it looks so much like Spider-Man.”
However, the similarities don’t end with the colors: Spider Lizard can scale vertical walls and run uprights on its hind legs. That’s pretty much it, though, as I’m pretty sure Peter Parker doesn’t eat crickets or mealworms.
- September 21, 2009 @ 12:34 PM by Kevin Melrose
Zudist Colony | Talking to September’s Zuda entrants
Zuda
Every month since late 2007, Zuda Comics hosts a competition between webcomics, with the winner becoming a regular strip on the site. In Zudist Colony, I interview the contestants via email, asking each of them the same five questions, which hopefully gives you a little more insight into the strips and the creators themselves.
This time around I asked them to share their favorite of the eight pages they submitted to Zuda, which is the artwork you’ll see with their answers. Also, I only heard back from nine of the 10 contestants this time around.
So let’s get to it …
- September 21, 2009 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Crumb’s ‘Genesis’ previewed on Boing Boing
The destruction of Sodom, from Crumb's Genesis
What more need be said really? Six pages of one of the most hotly anticipated books of the decade available online for your perusal. The New Yorker preview left me a little cold, but looking at these pages, man, I’m gettin’ excited all over again.
- September 21, 2009 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Mautner
The return of Quasar?
Quasar
I’ve been reading Marvel’s cosmic titles in trade paperback form, so I’m not up to speed on everything War of Kings related just yet. So this teaser for Realm of Kings leaves me with a lot of questions I probably don’t want to know the answers to just yet, like when Wendall Vaughn got his body back and what happened to Phyla-Vel.
Ah, the agony of trade waiting …
- September 21, 2009 @ 10:29 AM by JK Parkin
Daytrippin’ with Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon this December
Daytripper #1
Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon, who you might remember from such great comics as The Umbrella Academy, Casanova, Pixu and De:TALES, among others, have a new book called Daytripper coming out from Vertigo later this year — “a Brazilian slice-of-life limited series, featuring beautiful women, friendships, family and complete unpredictability,” according to the Vertigo blog.
This book has been a bit under my radar; I haven’t heard much about it beyond a little convention talk at some of Vertigo’s panels this past year, so it’s good to see it on the schedule and to see some preview art, which you can find at the link above.
- September 21, 2009 @ 10:09 AM by JK Parkin
Go look: ‘Stitches’ promotional videos
I had the distinct pleasure this past weekend of finally getting around to reading David Small’s chilling memoir Stitches and It’s definitely deserving a lot, if not all, of the praise that it’s been getting. To help promote the book, publisher WW Norton has created six Vimeo videos excerpting the book, all narrated by Small. The first one’s below; the other five can be found here.
Momma had her little cough (from David Small’s Stitches) from Stitches: A Memoir… on Vimeo.
- September 21, 2009 @ 09:26 AM by Chris Mautner
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Walt Disney Studios
Business | Depending upon which source you believe, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook either resigned, or was fired, from the company Friday afternoon after 38 years. Whichever is the case, the news took most everyone by surprise. No successor has been named.
Cook’s departure comes nearly three weeks after Disney announced its planned $4-billion purchase of Marvel Entertainment. The Wall Street Journal reports that “people close to Disney” claim Cook had complained Disney Studios wouldn’t have control of Marvel Studios under the terms of the deal — something Cook, through a spokeswoman, denies.
Others note a growing rift between Cook and Disney CEO Robert Iger, who in May publicly criticized the performance of the company’s film division.
Cook began his Disney career in 1970 as a ride operator at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, working his way through the company until 2002, when he was named chairman of Walt Disney Studios. [Los Angeles Times, Deadline Hollywood]
Jack Kirby
Legal | In its coverage of the efforts by heirs of Jack Kirby to reclaim copyrights to some Marvel characters, The New York Times’ DealBook blog notes: “Even before the Kirby family sent its notices, Disney was facing criticism from some Wall Street analysts who expressed concern that Marvel’s complex web of copyright agreements might prevent Disney from capitalizing on some Marvel assets.” [DealBook]
Legal | Google and its settlement partners — the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers — are rushing to modify the terms of an agreement to resolve a 2005 lawsuit accusing the Internet giant of infringing on copyrights by digitizing out-of-print books without permission. On Friday, the Justice Department filed documents urging a federal court not to approve the settlement without modifications that addressed legal concerns raised by numerous critics, including DC Comics and Microsoft. [The New York Times]
- September 21, 2009 @ 08:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
Crayon Shin-chan creator dies in climbing accident
Crayon Shin-chan, Vol. 8
Authorities in Japan have identified the body of Crayon Shin-chan creator Yoshito Usui, who had been missing since Sept. 11.
The body was discovered Saturday morning about 120 meters below a cliff at Mount Arafune, where the 51-year-old Usui had gone on one of his regular climbs. Police say the mangaka died from collapsed lungs and other injuries sustained in the fall on the afternoon of Sept. 11.
The popular Crayon Shin-chan, which debuted in 1990, follows the adventures of a rude, crude and rambunctious 5-year-old boy in Usui’s hometown of Kasukabe who’s obsessed with bodily functions and older girls. The manga was adapted as an animated television series in 1992, and has spawned 17 anime films.
Japanese publisher Futabasha will continue to serialize Crayon Shin-chan in Manga Town magazine until November. The fate of the anime series is unknown.
The manga is published in North America by DC Comics’ CMX imprint.
- September 21, 2009 @ 05:48 AM by Kevin Melrose
Jack Kirby’s heirs seek to reclaim copyrights to some Marvel characters [Updated]
The Avengers #4
In a move that by now should be familiar to comics fans, the heirs of Jack Kirby are seeking to regain copyrights to some of the legendary artist’s creations.
The New York Times reports that 45 copyright-termination notices were sent last week to Marvel, Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and others who have made films and other forms of entertainment based on characters that Kirby co-created.
The heirs, who are represented by Marc Toberoff — the attorney who helped the wife and daughter of Jerry Siegel regain a share of Superman last year — intend to reclaim copyrights to some properties as early as 2014.
A copyright dispute that involves many of Marvel’s marquee characters obviously adds a wrinkle to the recently announced $4-billion purchase by Disney.
Although the article doesn’t say which characters are specified, the movie studios listed may offer a clue: Sony Pictures holds the film rights to Spider-Man; Universal had the Incredible Hulk; Fox has the X-Men and Fantastic Four; and Paramount has the distribution rights to several of the Marvel-produced projects, including the Iron Man movies.
In addition to those characters, Kirby also co-created (with Stan Lee) The Avengers, Thor, the Black Panther, the Silver Surfer, Nick Fury, Magneto, Galactus and Doctor Doom — to name but a few properties that have recently appeared, or are slated to appear, in film or on television.
Developing, naturally …
Update (7:09 p.m.): The Los Angeles Times breaks down some of the dates when Kirby’s children would be eligible to claim their father’s share of copyright: Fantastic Four in 2017, the Hulk in 2018 and X-Men in 2019. (The copyrights would continue for another 39 years under current law.)
The newspaper also manages to get a comment from a Disney spokesperson: “The notices involved are an attempt to terminate rights seven to 10 years from now and involve claims that were fully considered in the acquisition.”
- September 20, 2009 @ 02:39 PM by Kevin Melrose
What Are You Reading?
Brave and the Bold #27
Sunday’s here and that means it’s time once more for What Are You Reading. Our guest this week is the incredibly talented cartoonist Rick Geary. Geary has two books out this fall, his latest entry in his ongoing XXth Century Murder series, Famous Players, and a biography of Leon Trotsky that should be coming out from Hill and Wang any day now.
Look for an interview with Mr. Geary appearing on this blog in the coming weeks. For now though, let’s just see what he’s currently reading …
- September 20, 2009 @ 08:30 AM by Chris Mautner