Vt Monster Guide Signing Tonight in Rutland; Raptorex; Superman Update; An Appeal for An Old Friend…
By srbissette on September 18th, 2009Posted In: News
Heads Up for Tonight!
* Tonight — Friday, September 18th, 7 PM:
The Vermont Monster Guide Rutland VT Signing:
Joe Citro & Steve Bissette at Annie’s Books, Rutland, VT!
170 South Main St — Rutland, VT 05701
Books, gifts and ice cream — and, for one evening, monsters, with Joe & Steve. Big fun at this event; come and join us!
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Another week blown by, another week ahead. My CCS duties are proving all-consuming, though I’m still squeezing in a bit of freelance and still chipping away at my book projects. Not much to report today, save tidbits from the outside world, an appeal, and a reminder. So, let’s see, first up: real-life monsters and superheroes in the news:
* Tiny T. rex — Raptorex!
“About 125 million years ago a tiny version of Tyrannosaurus rex roamed what is now northeastern China. Tiny, that is, by T. rex standards — you still wouldn’t want to meet it face to face. Described by paleontologist Paul Sereno as ‘punk size,’ this early predator stood about 9 feet tall…”
The fine Todd Marshall sketch at left is the lead illustration in the story (illo ©2009 Todd Marshall, Science/AP Photo).
Paleontologist Paul Sereno was a controversial figure back in my Tyrant days, the talk of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual gatherings I attended when I was an active member, deep in the Tyrant adventure. Sereno then sparked controversy as much for his recklessness in the field and showboating/showmanship as for his discoveries and science — but damn, the man was and still is getting results.
Sereno has steadily kept new fossil discoveries in the news at a time when science in general has been freeze-dried out of most news venues (due in large part to the antipathy and outright animosity the Bush Administration’s reign and the ongoing faith-based stupidization-of-America), and that’s a mean feat to be applauded. Sereno hasn’t let up since then (that was well over a decade ago), and this latest ballyhoo demonstrates Sereno still is the William Castle of Paleontology — kudos, and I’m looking forward to reading more on this latest Chinese fossil!
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* One has to wonder what — beyond 21st Century corporate synergy strategies — led to the TimeWarner reorchestration of the deck chairs at DC Comics, Inc.
Over the past week, I’ve heard plenty of speculation and a few insider views I’ve been asked not to share in any public venue; so be it.
Suffice to say, though, the ongoing copyright struggles over Superman can’t have helped matters, and perhaps played a role in TimeWarner revamping their corporate interface with DC Comics, Inc. as it previously existed.
Superman and Superboy are in stasis due to “the ongoing litigation between Warner Bros./DC and the family of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel over the rights to the character as well as Superboy…”; this is “apparently the primary reason why all plans are on hold at the studio.”
Since the powers-that-be at what was National Periodical Publications/DC Comics had long-term solid legal and business relations with Bob Kane, there’s no such contention over Batman. Siegel and Shuster, as all comics devotees know, had not so good. The piper’s come to pay on that sorry legacy.
Cieply wrote, “A federal judge here on Wednesday ruled that the heirs of Jerome Siegel — who 70 years ago sold the rights to the action hero he created with Joseph Shuster to Detective Comics for $130 — were entitled to claim a share of the United States copyright to the character. The ruling left intact Time Warner’s international rights to the character, which it has long owned through its DC Comics unit.”
That transmuted further last month,
Graser pointed out in his article that “The ruling is based on the court’s finding that these were not ‘works-made-for-hire’ under the Copyright Act.”
Understand, one and all, that the legal concept of ‘work-for-hire’ was neither named nor defined until the Copyright Act revisions of 1976-77, at which point in time DC, Marvel and other media venues relying on total ownership in perpetuity were scrambling to redress their total ownership language on all contracts, pay vouchers, etc. (I know form personal experience, as my generation of cartoonists were right in the thick of that transition).
Graser continued, “This means the Siegels — repped by Marc Toberoff of Toberoff & Associates — now control depictions of Superman’s origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lora, Superman as the infant Kal-El, the launching of the infant Superman into space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash.
The first Superman story was published in 1938 in Action Comics No. 1. For $130, Jerry Siegel and co-creator Joel Shuster signed a release in favor of DC’s predecessor, Detective Comics, and a 1974 court decision ruled they signed away their copyrights forever.
In 2008, the same court order ruled on summary judgment that the Siegels had successfully recaptured (as of 1999) Siegel’s copyright in Action Comics No. 1, giving them rights to the Superman character, including his costume, his alter-ego as reporter Clark Kent, the feisty reporter Lois Lane, their jobs at the Daily Planet newspaper working for a gruff editor, and the love triangle among Clark/Superman and Lois.
While ownership of the Man of Steel is one point of all this legal activity, the real issue is money and how much Warner Bros. and DC owe the Siegels from profits they collected from Superman since 1999, when the heirs’ recapture of Siegel’s copyright became effective.
DC owns other elements like Superman’s ability to fly, the term kryptonite, the Lex Luthor and Jimmy Olsen characters, Superman’s powers and expanded origins….
The Shuster estate originally did not participate with the Siegels‘ case because Shuster has no spouse or children. But his estate later won a ruling of a recapture identical to the Siegels, which will be effective in 2013. At that point, the Siegels and Shusters will own the entire copyright to Action Comics No. 1. That will give them the chance to set up Superman pics, TV shows and other projects at another studio.”
Sure, it’s all speculative –
It’s a story worth keeping an eye on — and another reminder, creative folks out there, that your copyrights and creations are worthy of protection.
21st Century Cartoonists: Take care of your creative children!
Furthermore, by taking care of your creative offspring, you may be saving your real-life heirs and children a great deal of grief — and providing them a means of sustenance long after you’re gone.
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* Another sad example of creators not taking care of their properties or themselves in times of relative success: the ongoing plight of my ol’ friend Steve Perry, co-creator of Timespirits and one of the writers who developed and created concepts and characters while scripting Thundercats and Silverhawks for animation studio Rankin/Bass.
To be blunt, Steve didn’t take care of himself or his business affairs over the years, and now that we’re all easing toward our 60s, it’s really catching up with him. This makes mounting any kind of collective effort damn near impossible, too, because along the way Steve burned a lot of bridges.
Steve’s situation is dire. I’m still sending what I can, and others have, too — Steve emailed me last week, “Because of you and your help we might make it.” He’s still getting by on donations and “I got sort of a job … mowing lawns with this kid around the corner. Went out with him … as he knocked on doors. We mowed one lawn for 20 bucks, 10 each, but it cost me 8 bucks in gas to drive around looking for lawns to cut. Don’t know if that’s a viable thing, really … it’s physically hard for me, hurting as I am. …it’s iffy. It’s all I got right now.”
Steve’s struggling to work his way through to foodstamps and some means of seeing a doctor (he has had one cancer tumor removed, but is still in great pain and unable to get help); thanks to Tom Spurgeon and a kind fellow who replied to Tom’s reporting on this matter, there may be some hope in sight on the latter, though Steve’s lack of phone and internet (he occasionally writes from the local library, when he can get time on a computer) and inability to get around (no gas money, and his beat-to-crap-and-back van is on its last legs, too) makes it damned near impossible to reach him.
In the meantime, Tom Yeates and I have done what we can (unfortunately, our circle of cartoonists are all essentially paupers, getting by on covering their own staple costs of living, otherwise living freelance check to check), and I’ll continue to.
I’m at the ethical crossroads of buying out Steve’s share of our old collaborative work on individual stories — “Kultz” from Epic Illustrated #6, “A Frog is a Frog,” color pieces we did for Heavy Metal, etc. — literally story by story, but it allows me to continue sending Steve installment payments on a biweekly basis (these stories have earned us nothing over the years, but we do still co-own them). Still, this all stinks, I feel miserable about this process (it just feels exploitative and opportunistic to me, but if Steve and I don’t clear these legal issues up while Steve is alive, we never will, and it does mean I can send him more money), and Steve’s situation is far, far worse than I can begin to get into in a public venue.
If you can spare $5 or more, please send it as a postal money order (Steve can’t cash checks, no Paypal, and please don’t mail cash!) to Steve at:
Stephen Perry
38046 8th Ave
Zephyrhills, FL
33542
Typical of Steve’s state of mind and ill luck these days: in the first appeal, which was picked up by some online columns, Steve had given me an incorrect address. When folks who’d sent donations had their envelopes returned stamped “no such address,” I emailed Steve. Once he got back to me, he wrote: “OH MAN I JUST SAW IT IS A TYPO — 38046 NOT 33046…. ARRGGGHHH!”
The correct address is posted here, above.
Thanks for whatever you can spare or do. There’s nothing in it for any of you save helping someone who may have provided you some entertainment as a reader or viewer earlier in your life. I hate writing this, as I hate asking anyone for anything, but at this point I simply do not know what more or else I can do for an old friend in desperate need…
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I don’t think it’s exploitative of you to buy out Steve Perry’s share of your collaborative works. At some point, it’s just easier for all involved if the copyrights for collaborative works are owned / controlled by a single party. Like you said, better to do it now while he’s alive and he can benefit. After all, it’s not like either of you are earning any royalties right now from the stories.
It sure feels unpleasant: like I’m taking advantage of someone when they’re down and out, and like we’re ending a business relationship that goes back to 1976.
Still, seeing family right now having to deal with cleaning up a complex weave of business affairs for a loved one after their death has renewed my own determination to clean up all of my own, as best I can, if only to make life easier for my kids/heirs after I’m gone — and this is part of that process, too. All of which also feels mighty weird, like I’m dancing on me own grave a bit.
That said, with the sole exception of my letting Chris Gore at FILM THREAT magazine reprint “Kultz” eons ago, nothing has been done with any of Steve’s and my collaborative work since they were each originally published. Recent inquiries about reprints of some material (my own and two of the stories Steve and I did together) were easy to decline when they involved absolute no payment — which has been SOP in all but a few such invitations/requests since I retired from comics in 1999. Those wouldn’t have done Steve any good, either.
you should not feel bad and your not taking advantage what you are doing is trying to help a friend who is in need and so down on his luck that even death will still leave a mess to clean up. helping free some of the legal issues of your old work so steve can have at least some liltte money comes in proves what a good man you are and a good heart you have