Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2.fluke 9/24/84; site vax4.fluke.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!fluke!moriarty
From: moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: Comics News
Message-ID: <2852@vax4.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 29-Oct-85 00:32:01 EST
Article-I.D.: vax4.2852
Posted: Tue Oct 29 00:32:01 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 30-Oct-85 06:32:27 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: The Institute for Criminal Masterminds
Lines: 36

A quick rundown of the news:

The biggie first:  Marvel's lawyers have sent a "cease and desist"
order to Kitchen Sink.  Three guesses why.  Yup, they feel the
"Megatropolis Quartet" and some other characters that appear in
MEGATON MAN are "copyright infringement and unfair competition". 
Kitchen Sink has basically told them that they refute these
statements, but they have also said that Donald Simpson, the
writer/artist/creator of MEGATON MAN, is through using these
characters, and that the buttons that were sold with MM saying
"Are you KIDDIN'?  I eat X-MEN for breakfast!" are sold out and will
not be reprinted.  If you're in the market for a personal opinion,
mine is that this does not increase my general opinion of Marvel's
lawyers (or the people who hold their leashes), and that this
company's bully-boy attitudes are going from annoyance to an
actual threat.  I'm sure most of the independents don't have the
kind of cash to go against legal action in a serious way; and thus
parody is suppressed due to economic pressures.  Not much fun,
that...

Mike Gold resigned as President of First comics; he is on salaried
leave of absence as a Managing editor.  No one has any idea when
he'll be back.

MIRACLEMAN #2 Sold out.  This is getting to be a trend....

Mandatory Plug: And Don Thompson has returned to reviewing
comics in this week's CBG.    Also, Ward Batty proves why he is
replacing Jim Engel as the funniest man in comics fandom....

                "Threats are illogical, and payment is often expensive"

                                        Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>