Court documents in Kirby vs. Marvel case posted

This is some interesting, albeit fragmentary, reading: A series of court documents from the current lawsuit between the heirs of comics creator Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics. The Kirby family is suing Marvel over ownership of various characters, including the Fantastic Four, Hulk, X-Men, etc.

The documents include depositions from Stan Lee, John Romita, Kirby assistant/comics historian Mark Evanier, Kirby's children and more.

If you've read about about Kirby's career and the various arguments about whether he did or should have had a stake in ownership of different characters, etc., I doubt you'll glean much new information. But it's interesting to see the details laid out in this fashion.

What struck me were the details, mostly from Romita, of what it was like working for Marvel as a non-staff person (the argument seems to be whether "work-for-hire" and freelancing are the same thing). There were no contracts, no benefits and always the risk that the publisher may not buy the pages you spent days drawing.

I'm reading in my own interpretation and arguments here, but, this leaves open the possibility that, if artists were free agents, generating their artwork and, under the "Marvel method," stories "on spec" as it were, does this mean the publisher really has a right to claim copyright on any of the ideas or characters the artists generated? Did payment for pages just secure publication rights, or the rights, for decades thereafter to profit from movies and TV shows and toys and t-shirt images, etc., of those characters?

This case and it's outcome will be of great interest.

New pic of January Jones, Kevin Bacon in X-men: First Class

First picture: Red Skull from the Captain America movie

John Lennon in How I Won the War coming to DVD

The Richard Lester-directed "How I Won the War," featuring John Lennon in his only non-Beatles movie role, will be out on a remastered DVD March 20.

Originally released in 1967, the absurdist anti-war film features Lennon as a foil to star Michael Crawford. It's not a great pic, as I recall, having watched it a time or two on VHS years ago. Very much a piece of it's time. Still, it's a bit of Beatles memorabilia. It also marks the debut of John's granny glasses, which he wore for the role of Private Gripweed and, being nearsighted in real life, continued to wear thereafter.

A booklet accompanying the DVD includes an intro by Yoko Ono.

Diane Lane to play Ma Kent in Superman movie reboot

From the press release:

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Oscar®-nominated actress Diane Lane will play Martha Kent, the only mother Clark Kent has ever known, in the new Superman movie to be directed by Zack Snyder.

Snyder stated, "This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman. We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination."

Lane will star with Henry Cavill, who was recently announced as the new Clark Kent/Superman.

Lane earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2002 drama "Unfaithful." She most recently starred in the family hit "Secretariat." She next stars in the HBO feature "Cinema Verite," opposite Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini. Lane's long list of film credits also includes "Nights in Rodanthe," "Hollywoodland," "Must Love Dogs," "Under the Tuscan Sun," "Perfect Storm," "My Dog Skip," "Chaplin," "The Cotton Club" and "A Little Romance," to name only a portion.

Elizabeth Hurley to play villainess in Wonder Woman TV pilot

We don't know who she'll play, or even if it's a villainess based on the comic book series, but Elizabeth Hurley recently tweeted:

"Thrilled to be doing the NBC pilot Wonder Woman. I'll be playing the evil villain. Can't wait."

New comics shipping March 2, 2011

Things I'll buy:



Buz Sawyer: The War in the Pacific (Vol. 1)

UNCLE SCROOGE #401

Other items of note



Dark Horse Deluxe Classic Uncle Scrooge Statue Series 2 #4: Huey, Dewey, and Louie


Classic Peanuts Character #3: Linus Statue


Conan Volume 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter And Other Stories (Conan (Graphic Novels)


Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond


Batman: Time and the Batman


Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam: Mr. Mind over Matter


DC Direct Women of the DC Universe Series 3: Poison Ivy Bust


Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales of Bud Sagendorf


Spider-Man: Grim Hunt


Classic Dan Dare: Trip to Trouble (Dan Dare (Graphic Novel)

 
Popeye, Vol. 5: Wha's a Jeep?


The Smurfs #5: The Smurfs and the Egg

BBC's Desert Island Discs archived online

The archives of the BBC's long-running "Desert Island Discs" program, in which various notables name their favorite recordings, will be available on the show's official site beginning next month.

Kaboom! Comics to publish Peanuts movie adaptation

The mystery of Kaboom's upcoming Peanuts comic and what it is, exactly, is solved.

Turns out Kaboom will publish a comics adaptation of "Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown," an upcoming film featuring the Peanuts gang.

Based on the previous works of Charles M. Schulz, the voice cast includes Austin Lux, Amanda Pace, Trenton Rogers, Grace Rolek, Shane Baumel, Blesst Bowden, Ciara Bravo, and Andy Pessoa. New animations for this production are created by the likes of Craig Schulz (son of Charles), and cartoonist Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine).

"New original PEANUTS comic book content is a tradition that goes pretty far back in comic book publishing," said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief, Matt Gagnon. "Dell Comics published 'Tip Top Comics' which featured new PEANUTS comic book content created under the guidance of Charles Schulz. 'Tip Top' ran from 1936 until 1961, creating well over 40 original PEANUTS stories and countless covers. It's exciting to be a part of the return of PEANUTS to the comic book format."

Featuring artwork by Bob Scott, Vicki Scott and Ron Zorman, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown is the latest project from kaboom!, a rebranding of BOOM! Studios popular children's line that's produced hit licensed series including The Muppet Show, The Incredibles, and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers.

Fantagraphics details upcoming Mickey Mouse collections

Fantagraphics' collection of Floyd Gottfredson's complete run on the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip of the 30s and 40s is one of the most exciting things on upcoming comics collection list (although I'm most excited about the same publisher's announced reprinting of Carl Barks' complete run of Donald Duck/Uncle Scrooge comics).

Here, Fantagraphics Publisher Gary Groth details the first volume, "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, vol. 1: The Race to Death Valley."

"My impression is that most parents and children have very little understanding of the Mouse as anything but a one dimensional icon. I think readers may be surprised at how feisty a character he was," Groth said. "The stories themselves are classic adventure stories, full of mystery and intrigue. My favorites -- and I have by no means read them all -- have the great, classic villains, The Phantom Blot, for example, and take place in a world of gothic menace."