The comic book world is abuzz with the news that the heirs of Jack Kirby have filed notices of copyright termination for characters Kirby co-created while freelancing for Marvel Comics back in the sixties. (The list includes the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Hulk and X-Men. Some of you may have never read the comics, but I bet you’ve seen at least one of the movies.) I’m not the person to step into the legal waters and analyze the situation, but I do want to comment on some of the internet chatter I’ve seen: extraordinarily nasty, and infantile, attacks on the Kirby family, calling them, among other lovely names, “leeches” for doing this.
“Leeches”? Really?
Jack Kirby was a genius, yes, but he was also a husband and father who worked tirelessly to provide for his family in a business environment that was often hostile. One of the reasons Kirby turned out as many comic book pages as he did was because he had to. If he didn’t, the mortgage wouldn’t get paid, there wouldn’t be food on the table. He wrote and drew stories for the joy of creation, certainly, but, by all accounts, he also did it for the love of his family. And that family deserves everything they’re legally entitled to. These name-callers, who are allegedly devoted to the characters Jack created, should look into their hearts and find a little more devotion, and a little more compassion, for the man behind the stories. And for the people he loved.
The characters Kirby co-created are the reason Marvel Comics has grown into a multi-billion dollar entertainment conglomerate. If not for Jack, the comic book business as we know it wouldn’t exist. Hell, it might not be here at all. Those of us who write and draw comics, and those of us who read them, are all in his debt. At the very least, we owe him—and his family—our good will and support.
©copyright 2009 J.M. DeMatteis
“Leeches”? Really?
Jack Kirby was a genius, yes, but he was also a husband and father who worked tirelessly to provide for his family in a business environment that was often hostile. One of the reasons Kirby turned out as many comic book pages as he did was because he had to. If he didn’t, the mortgage wouldn’t get paid, there wouldn’t be food on the table. He wrote and drew stories for the joy of creation, certainly, but, by all accounts, he also did it for the love of his family. And that family deserves everything they’re legally entitled to. These name-callers, who are allegedly devoted to the characters Jack created, should look into their hearts and find a little more devotion, and a little more compassion, for the man behind the stories. And for the people he loved.
The characters Kirby co-created are the reason Marvel Comics has grown into a multi-billion dollar entertainment conglomerate. If not for Jack, the comic book business as we know it wouldn’t exist. Hell, it might not be here at all. Those of us who write and draw comics, and those of us who read them, are all in his debt. At the very least, we owe him—and his family—our good will and support.
©copyright 2009 J.M. DeMatteis
Are there really people out there who still have loyalty to the characters? That's like saying if Ed Wood directed the next Indiana Jones movie, people would go out and see it, just because it's Indiana Jones! (Unfortunately, this is probably true...) I started out as a fan of Spider-Man (first saw him on The Electric Company!), but after I got into reading comics, I quickly realized that people wrote and drew these characters I liked, and some of those people did that better than others. I stopped buying and reading comics based on the characters, and continued buying and reading comics based on who was writing or drawing whatever books were out there. I've got stories that go unfinished because the creator I liked left the book, and the story was picked up by creators I didn't care for. My only loyalties lie with the creators. I'll follow Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, yourself J.M., and others around to whatever book they're doing at that time. And the work ethic of someone like Jack Kirby is to be commended as much as the work itself. It's about time the regular Joe's of the world, and their families, got a larger slice of the pie that the non-creative corporate fat cats are trying to keep completely within their exclusive little circle.
ReplyDeleteI think there are lots of people who love these iconic characters and follow them regardless of who's writing and drawing the books, Ken, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. But it helps to remember that there are flesh-and-blood people behind these multi-million dollar franchises, and that many of them are gone now -- and never got their fair share of the incredible wealth their creations generated.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree, JM. The work-for-hire deals creators signed back in the day were pretty bad, especially given all the long-lasting and iconic characters they created. What's the harm in sharing a percentage of the profits? Marvel will still make its money, after all. They should voluntarily offer a cut of the profits, a small cut, sure, but a percentage, to the families of those creators. If nothing else, it would be great PR, wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Dave. And I suspect this will end with the Kirbys getting an off-the-record settlement that I hope keeps them all comfortable and happy for many, many years.
ReplyDeleteI have to go with the creator over characters because they are real life people. While I like the fictional characters and enjoying reading about them; I would much rather see the people who created these characters treated with respect.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's no reason both those things can't go hand in hand, right? We can enjoy the fictional worlds and respect the men and women who create those worlds at the same time. Especially when it's someone like Kirby, who didn't just create a world...but a universe that many of us are still living and working in.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, should I call you Segasonic? Or just Sega? Or perhaps Sonic?
Kirby should have been able to live his retirement years sitting on a gold throne and using fifty dollar bills as napkins.
ReplyDeleteAs Mark Evanier has noted before, Kirby alone knew that the Marvel characters could/would become movie stars, and of course he was right.
With the (literally) billions Marvel characters are raking in now, the Kirby family deserves what it can get.
Anyone who calls them "leeches" is a soulless little corporation-loving whore who has probably never created single thing in their life, but oh boy spends a lot of time criticizing those who have.
"By the way, should I call you Segasonic? Or just Sega? Or perhaps Sonic?"
ReplyDelete(I'm actually Eve from the Amazon Blog but I could't figure out how to post a comment using my regular name so I signed in through my blog account name.)
I love the image of Kirby on his golden throne, Rob. Let's hope that somewhere, in some other-dimensional realm filled with gods, silver men on surfboards and lots of Kirby Krackle, that's exactly what he's doing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for jumping over here from Amazon, Eve. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteIf he were my Dad I might want some dough too.
ReplyDeleteAnd let me take this opportunity to say: Kirby is king baby!
You'll get no arguments from me, Nicholas!
ReplyDelete