Comments on: Charles Vess: “It Would Be Nice If Marvel Actually Paid Creators”

By: Jerry DeCaire

Jerry DeCaire — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:30:22 +0000

That’s the problem with business, they forget they are only made of people and people hide behind the facade of business to justify unethical conduct.That recalls a line from the movie Taken, where Liam Neeson was confronting the man who kidnapped his daughter for sale and that scumlord said, “It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.” Anyone who’s seen the movie knows that Liam took it quite personally.

As for Marvel’s policies for residual payments, I only became aware of my reprints after getting a heads up from a well known inker in the business. I have recently communicated with Marvel and they sent me a W-9 and an incentive form to fill out and sign and I was recently told the check is coming. Only time will tell. I guess their policy is that you stay aware and chase them down. Sort of like the game Monopoly; if someone lands on your property and you didn’t notice, they don’t have to pay rent. Something odd there. Maybe they figure that as a freelancer you are your own business and are responsible for pursuing that end. In the meanwhile, until creators claim what is their’s,that cash is drawing interest for the big company.

By: Daniel M. Clark

Daniel M. Clark — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:40:29 +0000

I hate to say it, but… Marvel’s in the right if there’s no contract. It’s a sucky situation, and I wish it were otherwise. Creators deserve to get paid and in a perfect world, Marvel would step up and say, “you know, we didn’t have a contract that stipulated reprint royalties, but we’re gonna throw you a buck per unit because we want to take care of the talent”.

But Marvel’s a business and businesses protect their bottom lines. No contract, no royalties. It sucks, but there it is.

By: rich b

rich b — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:14:02 +0000

I wonder if marvel pay’s none or some of there creator’s.I have a feeling that some of the current creator’s at marvel do get paid and some don’t.

By: Renfrew

Renfrew — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:53:10 +0000

I met one of the artists of the Spider-man Clone Saga at a convention. He had no idea they were reprinting his work until I showed him my copy of Spider-man: The Complete Clone Saga Epic Book 1. At that point, I think at least 3 volumes had come out, all featuring his work.

By: Jumpman

Jumpman — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:46:40 +0000

I remember when Mark Waid was mocking DC over his twitter about getting paid by Marvel for online sales. He ended his tweet by saying “Marvel: 1, DC: 0″. Looks like the score is tied now.

By: Matt Spatola

Matt Spatola — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:13:47 +0000

I must say the disparity in the pay structure for DC and Marvel is really amazing.

By: Charles Vess

Charles Vess — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:16:43 +0000

All my work for Marvel was done in the 1980s. That means there was NO contract signed for any of that work. The only ‘contract’ I ever signed was putting my signature on the back of my check which was needed in order to cash it.

I only knew about the Warriors Three collection because a French fan saw it in a catalog and e-mailed me about it.

My Spirits of the Earth hardcover GN sold very well when it was released in 1990. I did initially receive some very nice royalties from it. But about 2/3rds of the way through the print run (with about 10-12,000 copies left) those stopped. Since I was the writer/artist/painter for the entire book I was receiving approx. $1.10 per copy and that would have been a welcome check to put in my bank account.

My only recourse would have been to sue and then that money would have vanished in a days work to pay a lawyer’s fees.

I continued to do a little bit of writing for Marvel (a 4 issue Prince Valiant mini-series and the adaptation of the movie Hook) but eventually realized I felt much more at home with the people I was working with at DC.

And now, from that work at DC Comics, every four months for the last 20 odd years I’ve received a royality check.

I’m just saying…

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:49:34 +0000

To rip off any creator is horrible. Pat Lee-level horrible. To rip off a creator of Vess’ stature simply makes Marvel look worse than the former Dreamwave chief. Who else will they fleece? Jack Kirby? Oh wait… never mind.

By: Lan Pitts

Lan Pitts — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:20:45 +0000

Talking to Jim Steranko a few months back and he wouldn’t sign my Nick Fury reprinted collection because it was printed in Spain. And Marvel only gets royalty, or incentive, checks if they are printed in the US. That is weird.

By: jaroslav hasek

jaroslav hasek — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:01:45 +0000

do creators have no leverage when negotiating contracts with marvel to change this? i doubt its something where dc is taking an ethical stance opposite marvels. im sure you could negotiate a bigger up front check with dc if you waived your royalty money, likewise you could lower your pay from marvel in exchange for reprint money. its a commercial contract, everything has a price.

By: BobH

BobH — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:16:08 +0000

Marvel’s “incentive” (don’t call them royalties) contract has a clause which states “regardless of the number of units sold, comic titles must be profitable (as determined by Marvel) to be eligible for incentive payments”. DC’s royalty agreement says they “pay from the first copy sold and will continue to be paid for so long as DC sells the publications”. So Marvel has a big loophole where they can not pay if they don’t want to.