Jack Kirby And Marvel Comics

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Most of you already know that a federal judge ruled in favor of Disney/Marvel and against the estate of Jack Kirby in their claim for copyright termination for 45 characters Kirby either created or co-created.

Naturally, there has been some reaction to this as we all await what the next step will be in what one can only assume is an ongoing, sad, and unnecessary struggle.

Here are some links if you want to follow along:

Michael Dean at The Comics Journal - which has a history with Kirby and was instrumental in helping Jack get what was left of his art back from Marvel in the 1980s and exposing how Marvel was extorting his signature - does the heavy lifting on the ruling.

Dean also wrote a summing up of Kirby’s 1980s-era battle with Marvel over the return of his original art.

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Sydney Opera House: Animation Competition

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Attention cartoon fans! Sydney Opera House in Australia has just moved into round 2 of their global GRAPHIC animation competition.

It's part "of the GRAPHIC 2011 festival of storytelling, animation and music."

In round 2, they've narrowed the field to 10 1-minute animated shorts by a host of creative folks - if you love the short cartoons and want to see some terrific animation in a variety of styles get over to their website and watch and vote.

And feel free to vote for Dave Barton Thomas' short, Kissing Gramma. He's a friend of mine, he won last year, and we have a project together - not this one - that we're hoping goes somewhere.

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Jack is Back: Jack Kirby Vs. Disney/Marvel

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Of course, you knew it was coming. I didn’t, because sometimes I can’t see either the forest or the trees, but someone knew it was coming once it was announced that Disney was buying Marvel. Jack Kirby’s children have banded together, not unlike the countless groups their father created, to file motions of copyright termination to 45 of Kirby’s Marvel creations and co-creations.

Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily and Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool, weigh in with the details and analysis. Over at The Beat, Heidi McDonald also notes the news and has a very lively comments section (pay particular attention to the calm and rational ones by Nat Gertler and Kurt Busiek). Elsewhere, countless bloggers and message board attendees are posting about the shock and awe they feel. Their wild theories of how this is the end of everything—the equivalent of a comic book rapture—has them typing faster than they can down a box of Milk Duds.

Before everyone gets all Defcon Fanboy about it, I recommend reading up on the history—the continuity, if you will—of relations between Marvel and Jack Kirby.

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