Siegel Family Wins Superman Rights From DC Comics

In the most remarkable news in the comic book industry in decades, the Siegel family recently won back a substantial portion of Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster’s creation, Superman. Long regarded as the benchmark of the long underwear super hero types, Superman is one of three comic book heroes to have an uninterrupted publication run from its first Action Comics issue in 1932 (the other two being Batman and Wonder Woman).

Variety 3/30/08

Last week, attorney Marc Toberoff won a potentially costly “Superman” victory against Warner Bros. for co-creator Jerome Siegel’s heirs. The federal ruling, which gives the heirs a stake in rights sold 71 years ago, could put a serious crimp on future plans for one of the studio’s most enduring — and lucrative — franchises, especially if co-creator Joe Shuster’s heirs follow suit in five years, when they are eligible to do so.

As it is, the studio has at least two Superman projects in development — a follow-up to Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” and “Justice League” — and it may end up paying tens of millions from the domestic haul of “Superman Returns” to Siegel’s heirs under the ruling, which applies to domestic monies for Superman projects since 1999.

With such a large amount of money going to the Siegel family, it’s starting to look like any large screen production will be unlikely in the near future. Bad news to some, but to me I think that the character has had a good run and it might be time to let some new ideas in. This ruling is the latest in a series of legal attacks from Marc Toberoff who has also been assaulting the re-packaging giant corporation for the rights of “Wild Wild West,” “Dukes of Hazzard,” “Smallville” and the upcoming “Get Smart.”

Well… Smallville may be a loss as the only quality production of the lot, but the others are just dire re-tread movies of ideas that were tired to begin with, surely.

With so many of these comic book characters beginning with the hard work of one or two creators, it’s a real eye opener how much their hard work can effect a major corporation. Joe Simon recently attempted to win back the rights of Captain America and Marv Wolfman took it to streets for an obscure character called Blade, both bouts with Marvel Comics. Both lost and Marvel continues to make major moolah on their ideas.

What do you think? Should the companies own up to their responsibility to these creators or should the artists admit that their ideas would be just scribbles on paper without the publication industry to back them up?

New Publisher for Superman?

Superman finds a new home with Oni Press!

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Oni Press is proud to announce that it has just acquired the domestic publishing rights to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s creator-owned project, Superman!

For those who don’t know, the Superman comics tell the story of a strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men! Superman … who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!

Long associated with DC Comics, the heirs of Jerry Seigel have decided to transfer all domestic publishing rights to Oni Press, an independent comic book publisher specializing in creator-owned projects.   It may seem odd that this comic series would come to Oni Press, a company not exactly known for superhero content, but rest assured, Oni Press will do everything in its power to uphold and maintain the legacy of this amazing character.

“We’ve been working on this deal for a longtime,” says Joe Nozemack, Oni Press pubisher.  “I am happy that we can finally announce this project and express our excitement about Superman. ”

“This really is a dream come true,” exclaims James Lucas Jones.  “We hope to tell great stories that can be read and enjoyed independently of any other form of convoluted continuity.  The character and story come first… no Civil Wars… no Crisis… no Secret Invasions… just good stories that any kid can pick up and enjoy.”

Expect the first Oni Press published issue to be released exactly one year from today (04/01/2009).

… Happy April 1st, everyone.

Kurt Busiek writes DC Comics’ Trinity… plus other news

Another weekly comic book series from DC Comics? It looks that way.

Word is that the co-creator of Astro City (and writer of the under-rated Aquaman series) is joined by Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley on the new weekly showcase series that features the ‘Big Three’ of Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman.

While this sounds interesting, to be frank I was shocked by this tidbit:

To make room for the massive project, Busiek is leaving “Superman” following #675 to be replaced by popular British scribe James Dale Robinson (“The Golden Age” and “Starman”).

Not only did I forget that the co-creator of the excellent Starman series was still alive (shame on me), but I had no idea he was using his middle name these days.

Maybe I should start using mine again? But Hildebrandt has a mixed reaction.

Seriously, I know that I am not alone in my extreme fanboy love for Starman which was printed at just the right time to bring new excitement to super hero comics in a novel way. Robinson is sure to bring new readers to Superman and I hope continue the wave of greatness that Busiek and Pacheco brought to the title (Not only was Camelot Falls a great storyline, but it featured Arion!).

I wait with a bated subscription.

As soon as the title ‘Trinity’ was announced, there has been speculation that it is tied into the rumored Godlike status of the Big Three superheros of Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman. Bu t scribe Busiek put that rumor to rest:

“Clearly, Superman is the father, Wonder Woman is son and Batman is the Holy Ghost,” laughed Busiek. “Yes, first we will start with the ‘Song of Solomon’ but it will be the ‘Sound of Solomon Grundy.’

“No, ‘Death of the New Gods’ is one of the series that is leading into ‘Final Crisis.’ ‘Trinity’ is not ‘Final Crisis’ related. It is a relatively self-contained story that follows its own track. It’s part of the DC Universe, but it’s not one thread in the giant plot structure that is a big event. It is its own story. It has a beginning, a middle and an ending. There will be repercussions, yes. It has new characters that are introduced that I sure hope will spin off into their own mini-series or series or things like that, but it’s not leading to ‘Final Crisis 2: This Time It’s Personal.’

Since his debut in the pages of JLA, I’ve been a huge Kurt Busiek fan. I’m very curious to see how this new series pans out.

Both you… and one day… your heirs!!

Superman creator Jerry Siegel continues to fight for the rights to his creation from beyond the grave. The full details can be found on the movieblog, but here’s the skinny…

Is one of the reasons for the slow committal from Warner Bros. to make a Superman Returns sequel due to the fact that Bryan Singer is going to have to go to court over who owns the rights to the Man of Steel? I’m going to throw that idea out there. Here’s why:… in a nutshell the widow and daughter of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel are suing Warner Bros. for 50% of the rights for both Superboy and Superman.
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The outcome of this trial will have huge ramifications over the future appearances of the character. It could threaten to derail a Superman sequel. It may even have the power to reshape the JLA movie and future seasons of Smallville or any other Superman/Superboy TV and/or movie projects. And this story is not really getting the attention that it deserves.

I’m definitely of a mind that the Siegel family should get the money that Jerry is due.

I have heard arguments to the contrary, but frankly my gut just cannot side with big business. If it means the end of Superman at DC Comics, the worst that can happen is that new ideas could get a chance to be seen in comic books.

What do you, the reader, think?

The Batman / Superman episode

It’s finally here, the last season of the latest cartoon rendition of the caped crusader.

To amp things up a bit, the producers decided to introduce a whole new cast of characters. In case you’re one of those ‘it’s not as good as Batman the Animated Series/JLA‘ guys, let me point out that one of the key architects of the classic Batman Animated Series,  mister Alan Burnett is working on this season and it shows.

The first episode of the new season introduces a host of characters that are new to this Batman cartoon, but the magic surprise is that the original voices have been preserved. This makes a world of difference and brings to mind my problems with the Superman - Doomsday DVD I reviewed recently.  Hearing Dana Delaney as Lois Lane, George Newburn as Clark Kent/Superman and most importantly Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, made these characters feel as familiar as they should.

The introduction of Superman takes center stage and it’s a very different take on the character. This is not the friendly blue boyscout that we have become accustomed to, but an all-powerful stranger who prefers no one’s help and in Burnett’s words, ‘just wants to be Clark Kent.’ This take on the character is pretty fascinating and opens up a host of new opportunities. Despite numerous ‘elseworld’ tales in which the duo have appeared as everything from cowboys to deluded fans of cartoons, I doubt such a role reversal has ever been attempted before.

Lex Luthor, still obsessed with the destruction of Superman, enlists the aid of a whole army of super villains. From Bane to Metallo to Clayface and even Mister Freeze, we see them all take a stab at offing the Man of Steel in just 25 odd minutes while Batman repeatedly attempts to assist Superman only to be spurned.

The cliffhanger featuring a Lex Luthor mind-controlled Superman does not bode well for the long standing friendship between Batman and Superman to show up any time soon.

But you know eventually, it’ll happen.

Superman - Doomsday DVD review

The new line of DC Universe animated feature films has begun with a big bang. Not wishing to start small, the team of Bruce Timm, Duane Capizzi, Andrea Romano decided to tackle the biggest money making story in comic books of recent years, the Death of Superman. A story that took roughly three years of monthly comic books to tell, the team cut many aspects of the comic from their version, reducing the tale to a feature film.

I should warn you that this review will contain spoilers. I highly recommend that you watch the film before you read further.

The fact that there had been a Justice League animated series that dealt with Doomsday as a villain and the Death of Superman could easily hinder any enjoyment of the film, but that is not the only hurdle Superman - Doomsday has to jump over.

Also, this film is not based entirely on the comic book and certainly not an extension of the Superman cartoon from the 1990’s or the Justice League cartoon. This is a new product entirely.

As a viewer of the previous Superman cartoons, I had grown to accept this updated version of the character and his world. This film launches the viewer into a slightly different version of Metropolis where Superman and Lois are very romantically involved yet she has no idea that her lover is really Superman… awkward.

Additionally, this world has no Batman, no JLA, no other super heroes at all. Given that Timm and company slaved over animating practically every character in DC Comics history (including the Viking Prince!), this is a major disappointment. I understand that given the length of the film it was impossible to show the reactions of the JLA to Superman’s death, however it is the way in which his death affected the world he lived in that the Death of Superman story found its meaning. Since we are restricted to these new versions of Lois, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White for these reactions, it is difficult to have any empathy for the situation. I mean, we only just met them!

Also missing from this film are the ‘pretenders to the throne’ Superboy, Cyborg Superman, The Eradicator and Steel. Again, I understand why they are not here but… it also takes away from the source material. In the place of these many ‘almost-Supermen’ that many fans of the comic loved we are given a rather confused Kryptonian clone who delivers harsh justice and is beaten to a pulp nightly by his creator, Lex Luthor.
All of the above are working against Superman - Doomsday from the outset. As a movie, it had a lot to work through. Did it succeed?

Yes.

The film is expertly animated and tells a very moving and engaging story about who Superman is and what role he serves in his world. By taking such a convoluted and lengthy tale written by committee, Timm and company have shown that they have what it takes to get this DC Universe series of films going. The fight sequences between Superman and Doomsday (by far the highlight of the film) are not to be missed and after animating hundreds of such fights throughout their careers, it was interesting to see the animation team try out new tricks. The voice acting is superb and the music is quite good as well. In short, it’s a great film and anyone who enjoys the DC Animated Series or Superman should check it out.

Included on the DVD is the documentary Requiem and Rebirth: Superman Lives! which interviews Roger Stern, Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Jenette Khan and Paul Levitz on what it was like to kill a legend. Not only is it fascinating to watch the footage shot during key creative meetings (who thought of that!?), but it also shows how much emotion went into the stories. Watching Louise Simonson well up with tears as she recounts the phone call scene she wrote between Lois Lane and Ma Kent is a real tear jerker and indicates how much heart these creators put into their work.

This is a story that brought many readers to comics for the first time and that should not be forgotten. It’s also the landmark of the speculator boom which killed many a comic book store. It made money for the industry, took money from many non comic book fans who never saw a return on their ‘investment’ and made many business owners who devoted their lives to the comic book industry bankrupt.

Comic books are pretty weird and wild things.

This DVD is worth your money but… only buy one, please.

On Amazon:

Superman - Doomsday (DC Universe Animated Original Movie)
Superman/Doomsday Omnibus
Superman vs. Doomsday Collector Set

Superman Doomsday/release day

I just picked up a copy of the Superman - Doomsday DVD, so a review is forthcoming, but I wanted to let anyone who is looking to actually walk into a store and buy a copy with cash money (as opposed to asking the magical pixies inside your computer to get the UPS guy to drop one off at your doorstep) that Best Buy is selling a unique version that comes bundled with a special miniature version of DC: New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke (which I have been writing about for ages now) which reprints the first two chapters of the story.

For those of you who own New Frontier, I suggest you go out and buy a copy of Superman - Doomsday from Best Buy and sacrifice the mini comic to your friends, thereby getting them jazzed about the upcoming DVD release which will be the biggest thing to happen to DC Comics fans since the 1990 Batman Animated Series.

Off to watch the film, more later…

Available in pixieland here:
Superman - Doomsday (DC Universe Animated Original Movie)

Superman/Doomsday 9/18/07

Released tomorrow on DVD, the all-important first DC Universe Animated feature film from the people behind Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animates Series, Batman Beyond and Justice League… Superman/Doomsday.

The film will present an abbreviated and slightly rewritten version of the Death of Superman story presented by DC Comics under the direction of Dan Jurgens and many other comic book greats.

More details are covered in this interview:

On Amazon:

Superman - Doomsday (DC Universe Animated Original Movie)

Superman Man of Steel spoilers

Already??

This comes from filmick.uk

I’ve had a great tip off that traces back to a decent source with links within Warner Bros. It reveals quite a bit of exciting info about how The Man of Steel is going to go down when Brian Singer steps back behind the camera next year.

Apparently, Singer and Mike Dougherty have crafted a killer pitch and ‘concept draft’ that had the suits eating out of their hands and even had a knock-on effect for the plans for JLA (I’m told). Several key story points were made clear by the pre-production conceptual art, and here are some SPOILERY details of what those images revealed:

There’s a new Kryptonian character coming to Earth as a result of Supes’ pilgrimage to Krypton that took place before Returns.

Lex makes a deal with “a new villain” (I read this as new to the films, not new to the mythos, and indeed I have some idea who it is…) in order to have Superman eradicated. This villain double crosses Lex and takes over Lexcorp (yep - sounds like Brainiac to me too). What’s more, Jason is a key part in the plot to trap Superman and…

Poor little Jason. He’s snuffed out. That should have some of you cheering, you fiends.

So, there’s a basic draft of the script (a scriptment?), pre-production art and several sequences storyboarded and, as far as I’ve been told, it’s all going down very well with the execs. Nothing’s gonna stand in the way of this film, I’m sure. And, reportedly, this one is really quite action packed with a threatening, smart double team of villains. Can’t fail.

Treat this as rumour, sure. If you must. I’m buying it entirely because I know where it comes from.

Superman-The Filmation Era

Defender of the innocent, champion of justice and the most powerful icon in the history of super hero commercial properties, Superman has enjoyed an almost unending run of popularity since his introduction in 1938. Part of this success is due to the character’s translatability in other mediums. From a successful radio show to the still famous TV series with George Reeves, it is perhaps no surprise that the red caped one made quite the splash on TV in cartoon form.

His 60’s cartoon series was such a hit that it created the ideal opportunity to showcase other characters including Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom and Hawkman. All of the characters (minus Aquaman) teamed up (with Superman as the chairman of the board) for a trio of adventures as the Justice League of America, “Between Two Armies”, “Target Earth” and “Bad Day on a Black Mountain”… I hear any day is a bad day on Black Mountain, but never mind.

The series was the first cartoon to be created by Filmation, who… weren’t even a real animation studio at the time. They made quite the impression on DC Comics executives with a clever ploy which earned them the contract to develop the cartoon and deserves to be recreated in a film one day (this is all covered in the videos below).

Documentary part 1

part 2

The cartoon was innocent yet innovative and almost entirely responsible for the birth of the Saturday Morning Cartoons era that came to follow. Almost a mirror image to the Superman comics published at the time, the Filmation Superman is also responsible for arguable the toughest depiction of the Man of Steel I’ve ever seen.

I enjoyed seeing Superman in action, but I always feared his wraith being turned on me somehow. It might be something as simple as his firm facial expressions and those heavy eyebrows and beady eyes, but he reminds me of an ‘angry Dad’ type one bad report card away from snapping.

In any case, the Superman cartoons made by Filmation kick-started the cartoon boom of their own empire (leading to He-Man, The Groovie Goolies, Fantastic Voyage, The Hardie Boys, Archie, Sabrina… and a host of others), and the success of cartoons in general. Loved by many, including comic book Superman expert Mark Waid, the Filmation series is a lot of fun and a great addition to the character’s career.

Suggested reading/viewing:

The New Adventures of Superman - (DC Comics Classic Collection)
Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 1
Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 2
Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 3