DS Forums

 
 

Marvelman rights: What the f*** is going on?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 31-07-2011, 14:15
be more pacific
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,034

So Marvel have had the rights to Marvelman for two years and all they've produced is a set of reprints of the 50s/60s issues. With all due respect to creator Mick Anglo, a bunch of old Captain Marvel-style kids' comics are only likely to have a limited nostalgia appeal.

What fans really want is a reprint of the Alan Moore run and a reprint/continuation of the Neil Gaiman run, yet this material seems to be stuck in Legal Hell. Back in March, Big Ben creator Dez Skinn still hadn't been approached about the prospective use of BB in any reprints.
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...1&postcount=11

Honestly, who benefits from this ridiculous legal stand-off between McFarlane, Gaiman, Skinn, Anglo, Tom, Dick and Harry? Surely it's time to decide once and for all who owns what?
be more pacific is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 31-07-2011, 19:39
JAS84
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Hull, UK
Posts: 7,363
kids comics? Sounds perfect for Disney, Marvel's owner.
JAS84 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2011, 12:57
tingramretro
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Shotley, Suffolk
Posts: 10,824
I don't think Marvel know quite what they're doing Though I guess they have at least prevented anyone else from using the name, which was probably their main consideration...
tingramretro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2011, 22:15
Bob Paisley
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,865
It'll be fascinating to see how he's incorporated into the Marvel Universe - if indeed he actually is. Marvelman was basically designed as a rip-off of characters like Superman and Captain Marvel. Will he now become Marvel's equivalent of Superman? Power-wise he's right up there.
Bob Paisley is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2011, 00:04
Biffo the Bear
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 24,419
I thought he was more like Captain Marvel than Superman, with his secret word and everything?
Biffo the Bear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2011, 00:29
be more pacific
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,034
It'll be fascinating to see how he's incorporated into the Marvel Universe - if indeed he actually is. Marvelman was basically designed as a rip-off of characters like Superman and Captain Marvel. Will he now become Marvel's equivalent of Superman? Power-wise he's right up there.
It would be pretty difficult to incorporate the Moore/Gaiman version into the Marvel Universe, seeing as MM pretty much restructured society in the 1980s. In the MM Universe, we're all supposed to be living in a Utopia ruled by superheroes. (Until Johnny Bates escapes again and cocks it all up.)
be more pacific is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2011, 01:08
Bob Paisley
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,865
It would be pretty difficult to incorporate the Moore/Gaiman version into the Marvel Universe, seeing as MM pretty much restructured society in the 1980s. In the MM Universe, we're all supposed to be living in a Utopia ruled by superheroes. (Until Johnny Bates escapes again and cocks it all up.)
Yes, I've always assumed they'd basically ignore all that and incorporate him into the proper Marvel Universe. Perhaps they won't - but Marvel doesn't really have an equivalent of Vertigo does it.

Anyway, we'll find out eventually I suppose.
Bob Paisley is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2011, 10:20
be more pacific
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,034
Yes, I've always assumed they'd basically ignore all that and incorporate him into the proper Marvel Universe. Perhaps they won't - but Marvel doesn't really have an equivalent of Vertigo does it.

Anyway, we'll find out eventually I suppose.
It would be a massive disappointment if Marvel chose to reboot the character as a standard superhero in the Marvel Universe. Without the Alan Moore continuity, Marvelman is just a rip-off of Captain Marvel.
be more pacific is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2011, 13:06
The Phazer
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,213
Either that or he just falls through a dimensional portal.

Phazer
The Phazer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2011, 13:13
tingramretro
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Shotley, Suffolk
Posts: 10,824
For some reason, I always suspected the mind numbingly boring Robert Reynolds AKA the Sentry would turn out to be a dimensionally displaced Marvelman buried under a false identity. It would have made him almost interesting if that had happened.
tingramretro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-08-2011, 18:33
be more pacific
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,034
For some reason, I always suspected the mind numbingly boring Robert Reynolds AKA the Sentry would turn out to be a dimensionally displaced Marvelman buried under a false identity. It would have made him almost interesting if that had happened.
Not sure how Marvel would stand legally if that were to happen.

I supposed they would have to state that this move was not planned prior to 2009. The rights are in enough of a tangled mess without discovering that Marvel brought in the character through the back door a decade before they acquired the rights.
be more pacific is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-08-2011, 19:06
Residents Fan
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Ireland
Posts: 6,734
Yes, I've always assumed they'd basically ignore all that and incorporate him into the proper Marvel Universe. Perhaps they won't - but Marvel doesn't really have an equivalent of Vertigo does it.

Anyway, we'll find out eventually I suppose.
Marvel could use something like their imprints MAX or
Icon to publish Marvelman, though the downside is that so far Icon been's used for creator-owned superheroes,
which is certainly not the case with MM ....
Residents Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2011, 13:27
Biffo the Bear
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 24,419
Either that or he just falls through a dimensional portal.

Phazer
I'd go with this - just establish that Marvelman Universe is Earth-something or other, and have him arrive by some curious means

It would, of course, mean that we'd not get a continuation of where it left off, which'd be a shame. Although that could theoretically be covered in some future 'flashback' issue. Mind you, would there not then be a rights issue to the back story?

I get confused with this sort of thing.
Biffo the Bear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2011, 19:05
JAS84
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Hull, UK
Posts: 7,363
When they bought the character, that presumably includes his backstory.
JAS84 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2011, 10:48
be more pacific
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,034
When they bought the character, that presumably includes his backstory.
I read that Dez Skinn believed the character to be in the public domain when he launched the new version in Warrior. Now it all seems to be a tangled mess with Marvel reaching agreement with original creator Mick Anglo over the original 50s/60s version, but still not coming to any arrangement with anyone involved in the 80s/90s version. Also, bear in mind that various crossover elements of the 80s/90s strips such as Big Ben and the Warpsmiths would require negotiations with their copyright holders.
be more pacific is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2011, 12:46
Residents Fan
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Ireland
Posts: 6,734
I read that Dez Skinn believed the character to be in the public domain when he launched the new version in Warrior. Now it all seems to be a tangled mess with Marvel reaching agreement with original creator Mick Anglo over the original 50s/60s version, but still not coming to any arrangement with anyone involved in the 80s/90s version. Also, bear in mind that various crossover elements of the 80s/90s strips such as Big Ben and the Warpsmiths would require negotiations with their copyright holders.
I'm not sure, but I think when one of the Alan Moore Marvelman
stories was reprinted Big Ben was renamed do to a copyright
issue.
Residents Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2011, 12:58
Biffo the Bear
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 24,419
We need Dez back on here to tell us!
Biffo the Bear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2011, 14:21
be more pacific
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,034
I'm not sure, but I think when one of the Alan Moore Marvelman
stories was reprinted Big Ben was renamed do to a copyright
issue.
I'm not sure if that ever happened in a reprint. I know the character was renamed as British Bulldog when he was brought back for a cameo during the Eclipse run.
be more pacific is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2011, 14:24
Residents Fan
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Ireland
Posts: 6,734
I'm not sure if that ever happened in a reprint. I know the character was renamed as British Bulldog when he was brought back for a cameo during the Eclipse run.
I think that's what I was thinking of-BB was renamed for
the Eclipse period. There may have been other renamings
I'm not aware of in this time.
Residents Fan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-08-2011, 14:55
tingramretro
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Shotley, Suffolk
Posts: 10,824
When they bought the character, that presumably includes his backstory.
No, only his backstory prior to 1982.
tingramretro is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 16:51.