Weekend Reading: Watchmen, Ploog, Gibbons, and Gary Friedrich

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Television, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,

It's the weekend time again and since we're between the end of football season and baseball season, at least in the U.S., it must be comic book season. Let's take a look.

Author Joe Konrath is a very smart man on the subjects of book publishing, Amazon, and the future of the written word business. He makes a great case in a post called Amazon Will Destroy You.

Tom McLean at Bags And Boards looks at both sides of the Before Watchmen argument and comes up with some smart thoughts worthy of attention.

J. M. DeMatteis runs a very nice appreciation of his sometime collaborator Mike Ploog.

Cartoonist Lew Stringer uncovers an old Dave Gibbons strip you might not be familiar with.

This is an old link, but it’s a nice profile of gag cartoonist Bob Vojtko.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Watchmen, Ploog, Gibbons, and Gary Friedrich

Gary Friedrich & Ghost Rider

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

This made the rounds of Facebook all day the other day. It's a little snippet about Gary Friedrich, Ghost Rider and who created what.

I couldn't trace it back to the original poster, so I apologize for not giving him or her their deserved credit, especially in a post about credits!

One of the issues between Marvel Comics and Gary is the issue of Gary's credit as the sole creator of Ghost Rider.

While it may not be definitive, this is an excerpt from Marvel's own Bullpen Bulletins page in August 1972.

Marvel says of Ghost Rider: "...this GR is a mad, mod, mystic hero who straddles both the world of motorcycles - and the supernatural! (And that's some job of straddling!) It's by the titanic team of Groovy Gary Friedrich who dreamed the whole thing up, and Madcap Mike Ploog, whose own Werewolf by Night series is scheduled to gain its very own mag in a month or two!"

Daniel Best, who originally broke the story of Gary's fight with Marvel, has an update separating fact from rumor.

[Artwork: Bullpen Bulletins, © Marvel Comics]

Marvel Comics And Gary Friedrich

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the last several days, you’ve no doubt heard about Marvel Comics' demand against one of their former writers, Gary Friedrich.

Friedrich sued Marvel for compensation related to exploitation of a character he created, Ghost Rider. He lost the first round, and Marvel’s coming after him. Here’s a round-up of just a handful of links and commentary to get you better acquainted.

Daniel Best at 20th Century Danny Boy broke the story about Marvel’s pushback against Friedrich, with a post that includes documentation.

Here’s an update with a note from Friedrich.

Mark Evanier has a sane and rational view of the situation.

One of the greatly appealing things about webcomics is that the creators managed to hold onto their rights and are free to exploit their work according to their own path. Gary Tyrrell at Fleen has some thoughts on Friedrich’s situation.

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Weekend Reading: Gary Friedrich, Walking Dead, Ted McKeeer & Arcana

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics,

What a weird, weird funnybook week. Let’s take a look:

Artist Tony Moore is suing writer Robert Kirkman over his portion of money from The Walking Dead.

Gary Friedrich is getting legally crapped on by Marvel Comics.

DC Comics is still legally battling over Superman.

Columbia Pictures drops The Boys from their film roster.

Vietnam is banning comic books.

And how was the rest of the week?

If you've ever thought about opening a used bookstore, here are 25 Things you might discover.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Gary Friedrich, Walking Dead, Ted McKeeer & Arcana

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Marvel Comics,

So I’m watching the trailer for the new Ghost Rider movie, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance with Nic (”I’ll do anything!”) Cage and it dawns on me.

Nowhere in the trailer is there a mention of Marvel Comics. No attempt to tie it into the Marvel Universe.

No mention that it’s from the company that brought you Captain America, Iron Man and Fantastic Four. There’s a Marvel Knights logo that flashes oh-so-briefly onscreen at the beginning but that’s hardly the same.

Even the homepage for the Sony release doesn’t play up the Marvel connection.

It’s just a movie about a biker with a flaming head. Trying to help a woman and her little boy.

The same plot as Jean-Claude Van Damme's Nowhere To Run and dozens of other movies.

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Weekend Reading: Frank Miller, Star Wars, Ghost Rider, Deathlok

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies,

Everyone enjoying the new year so far? So’s the internet, so let’s see how:

Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter wrapped up two weeks of holiday interviews with a pile of interesting creators. Even if you’re not specifically into their individual works, you should read them all. It’s a fascinating look at lots of creative people in the biz. I especially enjoyed the chats with Kim Thompson, Art Spiegelman, and Todd DePastino on Bill Mauldin.

Is there a worse piece of entertainment than the Star Wars Holiday Special? What about its book tie-in?

If you’ve been interested in the Gary Friedrich/Marvel/Ghost Rider lawsuit, Daniel Best at 20th Century Danny Boy has the judgment paperwork to read.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Frank Miller, Star Wars, Ghost Rider, Deathlok