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From: moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Comics News (legal battles galore...)
Message-ID: <192@vax2.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Jan-85 18:41:04 EST
Article-I.D.: vax2.192
Posted: Wed Jan  2 18:41:04 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 4-Jan-85 07:59:29 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Somewhere in Soho
Lines: 66

Some brief comics news from several issues of The Buyers's Guide:

   1) Dave Cockrum's "Futurians" series has gone over to Deluxe comics.
   This is basically interesting, because it is the first time an author has
   taken their work from a major comics company to one of the independents
   (The Futurians was a Marvel Graphic Novel).  It has not yet been
   established whether or not they have the right to reprint the Marvel GN.
   My comment:  no biggy... "The Futurians" was one of the most banal things
   published through the Graphic Novel line (not the worst! :-) ), being a
   very poorly-written mish- mash of every team book of the last 10 years.
   Great art, but pictures do not a story make...

   2)  The people publishing "Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R.  Agents" is being
   sued by the persons who published another version.  Gee, I'm not going to
   get into it all... apparently, the gist of it is:

       a)  Long ago, so long ago that I bought these issues almost 10 years
       later, a company named Tower published a comic called "T.H.U.N.D.E.R.
       Agents", which had lots on great peo- ple writing and drawing it,
       including Wally Wood (jwm: great stuff, very tongue-in-cheek for the
       time, and being probably the earlist case of killing off a major
       character I can remember).

       b) Unfortunately, the mid-60's were not kind to small comics
       companies, and Tower perished.  But before dissolving, the people
       involved tried to legally make their characters public domain.
       That's right... you, me, and Uncle Schmoo can publish adventures with
       Dyanamo, Lightning, NoMan, and others (including Weed, who looks just
       like you-know- who).

       c)  Somebody else (I believe the name is Joey Carbonaro (a relative
       of Johnny Dangerously, perhaps?)) apparently bought the licensing
       rights for the charac- ters, and went on to publish a (jwm: very bad)
       new edition of "T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents".  It folded (jwm: there is
       justice in the Universe).

       d)  "Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents" is published by Deluxe
       comics, with Perez & Giffen art, etc.

       e)  Carbonaro sues, asks for Voluntary Legal Assistance, is granted
       it, and gets the prestigous firm of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander,
       and Ferdon -- who once employed Richard Nixon and John Mitchell (no,
       I am *NOT* making this up).

   Of course, this is just one interpertation of the story.  What happens
   next, sports fans?  Same bat-time, same bat channel...

Also, it contains a neat picture from the Macintosh-created (just like this
article) comic, "Shatter".  Nice, but it looks like they don't have MacDraw
yet, either -- they're sticking to MacPaint at this time, it seems.  Also,
there is an ad in the Bud Plant catalog for a book written by someone
called... Jerry Moriarty?  Gee, maybe we merge...  Firestorm, the Nuclear
Comics Critic!


				"You'd do it for Randolph Scott."
				(chorus) "*gasp* RANDOLPH SCOTT!"


					Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
					John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
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