DC’s response, to my attorney, was that we were free to pursue this matter, in the county in New York State where the company is registered.
So here’s how this would be played out: I, we, travel to New York State.I, we pay for a room for myself and my attorney after a court date is set, a date agreeable by both opposing legal teams, and present our case. They, DC’s legal team, will ask for an extension to a date further down the calendar road. And a return trip by us to once again present our case. Where one of their attorneys will ask for another extension due to the vast amount of paper work which needs to be reviewed.
Anyone who’s’ ever been there knows how this is played. But the one thing which I have going for me is that I have an extended family and will gladly pass the battle down to both my children and grandchildren. It will not just go away with my death. And as of next week I’ll only be 55 so I’ll still have plenty of time to push this thorn deeper. And if the time comes, pass the ball off to my children and grandchildren. So, in the meantime, keeping it in the public forums is a great tool and they hate negative publicity. So here I am.
Pat Broderick

The Comics Journal # 239, Page 90

From John Byrne's Cross-Examination


MICHAEL DILIBERTO (Wolfman's attorney): So, it's fair to say that you are
generally known as somebody who revamps the major iconic characters that have already been created by other creators?


JOHN BYRNE: Some I revamp. Some I have merely worked on. I like playing with the old toys.


DILIBERTO: In fact, in your opinion a character is not a real character unless
someone like Jack Kirkby creates that character?


BYRNE: No, that's not true. That's not what I said. I said that Alpha Flight
were not real in my mind because they weren't created by Stan Lee and Jack
Kirby. That was specific to Alpha Flight.


DILIBERTO: But your preference is to work on preexisting major iconic
characters created by other persons other than your yourself?


BYRNE: It would depend on the circumstance.


DILIBERTO: Would you rather work on Alpha FLight or the Jack Kirby character?


BYRNE: Of those two, I would rather work on a Jack Kirby.


DILIBERTO: It's fair to say that Jack Kirby characters are preexisting iconic
characters?


BYRNE: Yes, indeed. But if you said Devil Dinosaur or a character I created
myself, I would say a character I created myself. Devil Dinosaur is a
character created by Jack Kirby.


DILIBERTO: You have earned over ten million dollars at Marvel?


BYRNE: That's probably fair.



DILIBERTO:If you had a chance that you would have to create your own character that wouldn't earn any money and a preexisting iconic character for which you could earn $10 million over 20 years, would it be fair to say you would rather work on a character of someone other than yourself?


BYRNE: If we are doing it on money, the largest royalty I have ever received
was for Alpha Flight.



DILIBERTO: During your career, you earned $20 million from others than Alpha
Flight?


BYRNE: Right. I should point out that I did not earn ten million specifically
from Marvel. I would say ten million probably in the course of my career. I
have made four or five million doing the Nextmen, which I created to own at
Dark Horse.


DILIBERTO: You worked also at DC on other existing, preexisting iconic
characters?


BYRNE: I like working on the iconic characters, if that's what you are going
for. Yes.


DILIBERTO: We don't dispute that. Between Marvel and DC, where you were
working, $20 million is a fair assessment?


BYRNE: You said ten.


DILIBERTO: Ten million over 20 years?


BYRNE: Ten million over 20 years is probably fair.


DILIBERTO: How much of that ten million is Marvel? Five or six or seven
million?


BYRNE: Yes. Well, again, it would hard to break it down. I made a lot of
money doing Superman. That wasn't for Marvel. I probably made a couple
million dollars doing Superman.


DILIBERTO: Let's look at Marvel. Five or six or seven million?


BYRNE: Five maybe over the full 25 years of my career, I probably made five.

John Byrne
Byrne Robotics CEO

I don't usually like to talk numbers, but for ALPHA FLIGHT I make an exception as there is a cute story to go along with it.
ALPHA FLIGHT 1 sold just over 500,000 copies, the highest any comic had seen in quite a while, at that point. The "double-sized" issue sold for one dollar, and by the time Marvel got done whittling away at the numbers, my royalty for the issue was $29,998. This was the largest royalty paid to anyone up to that point. It was also the biggest number the gals in Accounting had seen on a check going out to a freelancer. So big, that somewhere along the way, somebody decided it must be a typo, so the check I was actually sent was for $2998. They dropped the middle 9.

Most freelancers would go ballistic if something like that happened, but knowing it was going to be a substantial check, I had been expecting some kind of glitch, so I was not really surprised. I called Millie, the head of the accounting department, and very calmly told her what I thought had happened. She confirmed the real number, and another check was sent out immediately, bringing the payment up to the proper level.

A side effect of this was that the gals in accounting, who were used to being yelled at by freelancers, all fell completely in love with me. I became their favorite freelancer of all time. I rarely saw Millie, from that point on, but that she would come over and give me a big hug and tell anyone within earshot what a prince I was!

According to my original ALPHA FLIGHT contract, I'm supposed to get 1% of everything, be it reprints, toys, movies, cartoons, you name it.
The reality, however, is that I have not received so much as a dime since I left the book.

If I was a DC lawyer, I'd question the DESIGN (as Pat capitalized it) aspect in regards to the contract pertaining to other media uses.

How is it, i.e. design, defined by an artist? The look of the character, naturally. Did the character in the TV episode resemble at all like the character in the comic in question?

If not, you don't have a case.

According to Kryptonsite, the The CW's Official Description of the episode, "DC COMICS CHARACTER PLASTIQUE BLASTS INTO METROPOLIS; DAVIS BLOOME ARRIVES IN SMALLVILLE — It's Clark's (Tom Welling) first day at the Daily Planet with Louis (Erica Durance), and the pair are immediately thrown together on a story when a bus explodes outside the office. Clark rescues Bette (guest star Jessica Parker Kennedy), a young girl who bonds with Chloe (Allison Mack) over their shared meteor abilities, but Bette is hiding a big secret. Paramedic Davis Bloom (Sam Witwer) arrives in Metropolis and is drawn to Chloe."
http://www.kryptonsite.com/plastiquedescription.htm

A quick google search finds other sites with much the same description...
"Plastique: In the comics, Plastique is a villain who first appeared in Fury of Firestorm #7 (Dec. 1982) and was created by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick."
http://www.tv.com/smallville/plastique/episode/1216089/summary.html

And if I recall correctly, I remember reading on the Kryptonsite/Spoilers section about it being the character originally from Firestorm. It seems like that was the impression the CW wanted to have out there, and there is no official comment from DC denying it.

Nope, I’ve never regretted that decision at all.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic.

which emoticon is sarcastic face?