It's a good season to be a comic book fan.
This Friday kicks off the first in a trio of summer superhero blockbusters heading towards a theater near you. With The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Dark Knight Rises all slated for release in the next three months, there will be no shortage of superheroes at the box office.
Two of the movies are sequels to well-established franchises. The Avengers builds on no less than six previous movies (making The Avengers one big, bonanza crossover event), and The Dark Knight Rises serves as part three in the Batman trilogy started seven years ago by director Christopher Nolan. Only Spider-Man is getting a reboot, the studio recasting the lead actor (Andrew Garfield taking over the role from Toby Maguire) and starting the story over -- which means, once again, a film in which we see exactly how Spider-Man became Spider-Man. (In case, I suppose, there are any movie goers left who don't already know.)
But the real-life stories of how comic book characters were created -- and published -- can often be more shocking, heated, and contentious than the comics themselves. So let's take a look at the controversial origin stories surrounding the fictional stars of this (and next) summer's comic book franchises:
Two of the movies are sequels to well-established franchises. The Avengers builds on no less than six previous movies (making The Avengers one big, bonanza crossover event), and The Dark Knight Rises serves as part three in the Batman trilogy started seven years ago by director Christopher Nolan. Only Spider-Man is getting a reboot, the studio recasting the lead actor (Andrew Garfield taking over the role from Toby Maguire) and starting the story over -- which means, once again, a film in which we see exactly how Spider-Man became Spider-Man. (In case, I suppose, there are any movie goers left who don't already know.)
But the real-life stories of how comic book characters were created -- and published -- can often be more shocking, heated, and contentious than the comics themselves. So let's take a look at the controversial origin stories surrounding the fictional stars of this (and next) summer's comic book franchises:
May 4
The Avengers -- a team-up of such superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk (along with Spider-Man and Wolverine, although you won't see those two guys in the upcoming movie adaptation) -- first debuted in Issue #1 of The Avengers in September 1963. The book brought together characters that had already been established in their own comic book titles: Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, and the Hulk (with Captain America showing up in Issue #4). Published by comic book giant Marvel Comics, the new Avengers book was created by the same duo that had created most of the half-dozen members of the team: writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.
But Kirby wasn't "just" the artist on the book. He was also the co-creator and co-plotter of the book's characters and stories -- not to mention being the co-creator with Lee on other such characters like the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Nick Fury. Among comic book fans, Kirby is a larger-than-life legend: he's created enduring characters and mythologies and is considered one of the greatest creative impacts on the culture of comic books.
But in 1970, Kirby left Marvel Comics behind to work for rival company DC Comics. Kirby returned to Marvel in 1976, but left again at the end of the decade. Exactly what reasons he had for leaving the company -- twice -- are still debated to this day; what's certain is that it was Marvel, not Kirby, who owned the characters Kirby and Lee had created together. Kirby spent the last years of his life (he died in 1994) fighting legal battles with both Marvel and with Stan Lee, over royalties and ownership of his work. (It's worth pointing out here that, for a number of years, it was Lee, not Kirby, who received the lion's share of the credit for the characters they co-created.)
Kirby probably stood little chance of making headway in the legal battles -- under the standard work-for-hire contract he'd signed, the characters he'd created were legally Marvel's, not Kirby's or Lee's. But when it comes to The Avengers, Kirby will receive a little justice: after an outcry from fans (and several calls for boycotts), Marvel added Kirby's name to their new film's end credits as a co-creator of the characters.
Avengers films in the franchise, available at your Library:
But in 1970, Kirby left Marvel Comics behind to work for rival company DC Comics. Kirby returned to Marvel in 1976, but left again at the end of the decade. Exactly what reasons he had for leaving the company -- twice -- are still debated to this day; what's certain is that it was Marvel, not Kirby, who owned the characters Kirby and Lee had created together. Kirby spent the last years of his life (he died in 1994) fighting legal battles with both Marvel and with Stan Lee, over royalties and ownership of his work. (It's worth pointing out here that, for a number of years, it was Lee, not Kirby, who received the lion's share of the credit for the characters they co-created.)
Kirby probably stood little chance of making headway in the legal battles -- under the standard work-for-hire contract he'd signed, the characters he'd created were legally Marvel's, not Kirby's or Lee's. But when it comes to The Avengers, Kirby will receive a little justice: after an outcry from fans (and several calls for boycotts), Marvel added Kirby's name to their new film's end credits as a co-creator of the characters.
Avengers films in the franchise, available at your Library:
- Ion Man
- Thor
- Hulk
July 20
Batman first appeared just over 73 years ago, in an issue of Detective Comics published May 1st, 1939. For decades, credit for the creation of Batman has gone to Bob Kane, the comic book artist who invented the character for DC Comics.
It's true that Kane came up with "the Bat-Man," a Superman-esque character with a bright red outfit, small domino mask, and two stiff bat wings coming out of the side of his costume -- a look which was not, shall we say, about to strike fear into the hearts of evil-doers anywhere.
It was writer Bill Finger who came up with a few vital changes to Kane's original design, replacing the domino mask and bat wings with a cowl and cape, and darkening the costume to gray and black tones. And the writer didn't stop there; it was Finger who came up with Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne, as well as working with Kane to invent the backstories and supporting characters such as Robin and Commissioner Gordon. Finger also partnered with writer Jerry Robinson to create my personal favorite fictional villain, and Batman's best-known arch-nemesis: the Joker.
Although Kane, Finger, and Robinson all signed the same work-for-hire contracts as Jack Kirby, Kane managed a clause in his contract: DC must always include a credit for Kane in their Batman comics. Since 1939, the majority of Batman comics have printed Kane's name somewhere in their pages, regardless of the artist who actually had drawn the book.
To this day, Batman Created by Bob Kane appears in the credits of every Batman comic book, TV show, and film -- but Finger and Robinson have never received the same credit for their creations.
Chris Nolan's Bat-Trilogy, available at your Library:
- Part 1: Batman Begins
- Part 2: The Dark Knight
June 2013
When writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster came up with a "super-man" in 1932, the character actually started life as a bald-headed (and telepathic) villain -- making him much closer to Lex Luthor than the character we'd eventually come to know as Superman. But Siegel and Shuster soon reimagined their character as a hero, and after a six-year search for a publisher, they finally sold their creation to National Publications (which would later become a DC Comics company).
You can guess where this is going. While other artists and writers were brought in to collaborate on the book from the beginning, credit for the design, background, and initial stories of the characters in the Superman stories all rest with Siegel and Shuster. But Siegel and Shuster had sold all rights to the character to their publishers -- for $130. Two years after Superman first appeared in Action Comics, the publishers were pulling in millions of dollars (from book sales and merchandising tie-ins), but Siegel and Shuster were still making $75,000 a year. Nice salaries (particularly in 1940), but a fraction of what the character was worth.
By 1947, Siegel and Shuster were suing DC in an attempt to gain back control of their character. But the contract was solid and the creators lost. Thirty years later, DC Comics finally granted Siegel and Shuster a pension and began adding a "Superman Created by Siegel and Shuster" byline to their Superman books. But the legal battles have continued between the creators' families and DC Comics to this day.
Superman on the Big Screen, now available at your Library:
- Superman, the Movie
- Superman II
- Superman III
- Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
- Superman Returns
-- Post by Ms. B
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