I don't think the wfh statement on the back of Gary's check was the real linchpin of Marvel's legal argument. Plenty of Marvel's artists and writers crossed it out and cashed their checks anyway. I've read that some even deposited the checks without endorsing them, but I know my bank wouldn't let me do that. It was his actual contract with Marvel detailing his work for hire status that sealed his fate.

I'm not a lawyer and don't possess any inside knowledge of Marvel's business practices, beyond what we all know.

And I sympathize with Gary Friedrich's plight. I understand why, if you co-created Ghost Rider and you see these movies getting made, you would want some financial compensation.

But -- just as a longtime comics observer -- I have to agree with Allen's pragmatic cynicism. Over the years, Marvel and Disney have made their positions on creators' rights very clear: They don't believe in creators' rights. Whenever possible, they have crushed the creators who challenged them. They have beaten them in court when laws allowed, and when laws looked shaky, they have bought new, more favorable laws from Congress.

Certainly since Marv Wolfman's Blade lawsuit -- what, 15 years ago? -- it's been made clear to creators that Marvel only takes; it does not give beyond this week's paycheck. If you think you can return years later and stake a claim to your ideas because they're making some serious coin now, you are outta luck.

So ... it's a free country, and you can work for Marvel if you choose, and you can later sue Marvel if you choose. But how can anyone say they're surprised by this outcome?

I can't wait to see guys like Quesada and Bendis bitching maybe twenty or thirty years from now, about how Marvel screwed them over.

What did Joe Quesada ever create?

Your ideas can't be stolen from you if all you did is play with the toys made by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

I suspect this trend of outraged creator lawsuits demanding compensation will be unique to the Bronze Age pros. They were the last generation to create any characters to speak of. After the early 1980s, what major new DC or Marvel heroes or villains were added to the lineups?

The modern pros grew up watching Jack Kirby have to beg for the return of his original artwork. They took jobs in the industry as Marv Wolfman and other old-timers got slapped down in court trying to win a piece of the Hollywood money for the characters they created.

It's not a coincidence that nobody creates new characters for the Big Two anymore. Why the hell should they? So Disney can make another $200 million off it?

Good point.

What is there that passes for NEW at the "House of Ideas," recently, a Red Hulk?

No, it's so that the next generation of creators can have the same work-for-hire opportunities to pay their own bills. If you think you're going to create the next Batman or Spider-Man and are paranoid about some EEEEEEEVIL corporation stealing it from you, don't go to work for those people. However, taking the money to do work-for-hire and using up other people's creations to pay your bills, but then not contributing anything back so there's something more for the next guy to work with, that's not exactly a blameless act.

Mike

Doesn't that depend on the terms of your employment?

Were you hired to create the next Spiderman, or create the next issue of a Spiderman comic?

And in creating that Spider-Man comic are you not using characters and concepts created by others? Yes, you are. Why is it okay for you to exploit the creations of others to pay your bills but God forbid you create anything that others might make similar use of?

Mike

I used to feel this way.

I don't anymore.

Marvel and DC have, by their own actions over the years, including the full assimilation of ownership rights in most cases, encouraged their writers and artists to do nothing but play with the toys already in the toy box.

Furthermore, the readers show little interest in anything other than the timeworn corporate franchises: Batman, the X-Men, Spider-Man.

If your boss won't share with you the value of your creations and your customers show no desire for them, why produce them?

Anyone who has gone to work for Marvel or DC in the last 25 years has recognized this was the situation. If they aspired to greater creativity, and many have, they did it elsewhere. The current employees are for-hire hacks who owe nothing to the for-hire hacks who will follow them.

For example, Marvel's best-selling titles in December:

1. AVENGERS/X-SANCTION - An Avengers-X-Men team-up

2. DEFENDERS - An Avengers spinoff with Namor, Dr. Strange and the Silver Surfer

3. UNCANNY X-MEN

4. AVENGING SPIDER-MAN

5. WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN

So it's pretty clear to Marvel, and to me, what Marvel's remaining readers want. You would be an idiot for any number of reasons to take a job at Marvel and try to create the next Ghost Rider for them. Just write your fuckin' Wolverine comic and keep your mouth shut.