The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

[Victorian Squid]

Oh yeah, I caught that. It still seems like trying to get blood from a stone though. An installment plan or getting %age of future con profits seems more workable. The $17k is peanuts compared to the real amount he's liable to, but it still seems unrealistic unless he ends up living in a cardboard box.

Well, he doesn't have to pay anything yet assuming he will appeal as he has stated he intends to, and fans are donating a lot of their hard-earned money to bail out a guy who's barely written anything in over 30 years and has gotten in dutch with Marvel for making money illegally using other artists' work for his own gain, which would never even have happened if he hadn't sued a half a dozen companies.

I mean, I'm as sympathetic as the next guy--more than, in a lot of cases. And I know a lot of good people in financial trouble themselves right now, through no fault of their own whatsoever. Gary Friedrich has some complicity, to say the least, in the mess he's in. You know what they say about investments? The bigger the potential gain, the bigger the risk involved? Friedrich assigned himself an awful LOT of risk when he sued all those corporations in 2007 after so many years, and also when he mass-produced his own line of Ghost Rider merch to sell to fans.

[fieldy snuts]

Well, he doesn't have to pay anything yet assuming he will appeal as he has stated he intends to, and fans are donating a lot of their hard-earned money to bail out a guy who's barely written anything in over 30 years and has gotten in dutch with Marvel for making money illegally using other artists' work for his own gain, which would never even have happened if he hadn't sued a half a dozen companies.

Yeah, I feel bad for him but I wouldn't donate money knowing that the situation was his own predicament. It's like me going on here and asking you guys to pay speeding fines incurred in trying to make work deadlines because I have no money.

On the downside, we probably won't be seeing his Sgt Fury run collected in trade format. While his Ghost Rider issue was throwaway stuff I've heard a lot of good things about that.

[Victorian Squid]

Yeah, I feel bad for him but I wouldn't donate money knowing that the situation was his own predicament. It's like me going on here and asking you guys to pay speeding fines incurred in trying to make work deadlines because I have no money.

On the downside, we probably won't be seeing his Sgt Fury run collected in trade format. While his Ghost Rider issue was throwaway stuff I've heard a lot of good things about that.

When I was a kid I thought war comics were kind of boring, so I've never really read those either!

Well, we can all hope that when this matter is finally resolved Friedrich won't be in such dire straits. But I think a more broadly sweeping attribution of rights or monetary benefits from Marvel based on the facts in this case is unlikely and would open a real can of worms for dealing with many others who worked on comics in those earlier days.

And I'm a sucker for the underdog, especially vs corporations, in most cases. I really am. But I have to ignore or mischaracterize some of what I understand to be the facts in this case to see it in that "David vs Goliath" interpretation.

[David Bird]

On the one side you've a lot of comics professionals, people who work in the industry and are familiar with the legal issues, some are even lawyers who have worked with Marvel's owner, Disney, and on the other side you have two Marvel execs trying to diffuse a lot of bad press. Why would Neal Adams, Steve Niles, and a host of others get worked up over this, if its just Friedrich's fault? Why would one small publisher, Big Bang, announce they're going to write up a contract to authorize their creators to sell con art, if it was just business as usual?

And for the record, if I make something in order to sell it to you, I am producing merchandise. If I make an image, draw a picture, of Batman, a character owned by DC/Warner, I am producing merchandise that violates someone else's trademark. I don't have to have a press run off pictures first.

[Victorian Squid]

When you mischaracterize the debate as comics professionals vs two executives, it's clear you're only reading the takes on this issue that you already agree with.

[David Bird]

When you mischaracterize the debate as comics professionals vs two executives, it's clear you're only reading the takes on this issue that you already agree with.

Have you read anything that's been posted or linked to here? Do you think that Steve Niles, Neal Adams, Jean-Marc L’Officier and the many others in the industry who have spoken up against this are not professionals or have no understanding of the implications of this decision?

[Benderbrau]

When you mischaracterize the debate as comics professionals vs two executives, it's clear you're only reading the takes on this issue that you already agree with.

Careful or David Bird will have God smite you

[David Bird]

Looks like Ghost Rider II's doing underwhelming business at the box office. Like to feel I played a small part in that.

Also, an interesting post from Sean Gordon Murphy on dealing with Marvel's lawyers.

[fieldy snuts]

The first movie did badly too but became a cult DVD hit.

Looks like history is repeating.

[David Bird]

The first movie did badly too but became a cult DVD hit.

Looks like history is repeating.

Maybe it'l be twice as big a cult hit, because its doing about half as much business.

[Victorian Squid]

This likely has very little to do with Friedrich, and much to do with the changing economic conditions and movie-watching habits of Americans.

[fieldy snuts]

Maybe it'l be twice as big a cult hit, because its doing about half as much business.

Box office as a whole is down across the board unless you're James Cameron.

[David Bird]

Actually, this is most likely due to it being a bad film with bad word of mouth.

[fieldy snuts]

Word of mouth in one day gave it a 7mil return?

[Victorian Squid]

Word of mouth is what results after the opening weekend. When you get a big drop off after opening weekend, that's word of mouth in action. The reviews for #2 are about the same as they were for #1.