On his Facebook page, Dan Didio was asked “Are the Spirit, Doc Savage and the Avenger still at DC? Will we see them again?” only to respond with, “Sorry to say but none of these characters are still at DC but here’s hoping that another publisher gets them back in print soon.”
Calling Dynamite! You can add to your list of pulp heroes currently under your wing.
That Doc Savage and the Avenger have slipped through DC’s grasp isn’t the biggest surprise, necessarily; they were barely with the company, outside of First Wave, a short-lived ongoing series and a reprint book or two. Losing The Spirit, though… That feels like a bigger deal. Is that only for new material, or does it mean that the publisher’s 25 volume Spirit Archives series will never see print again as a casualty of this as well…?
December 17th, 2012 at 10:13 am
“Is that only for new material, or does it mean that the publisher’s 25 volume Spirit Archives series will never see print again as a casualty of this as well…?”
Maybe you could find out and report it as news
December 17th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
He’s too busy doing the same kind of mini-blog thing for like five other sites. Remember when Blog@ had identity?
December 17th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Here’s hoping, Dynamite doing a Doc Savage book would be fantastic. And it would be a lot better than DC, who did nothing with them.
December 17th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I can’t wait for Garth Ennis’ Doc Savage, because liking 50 year old guys in capes makes you the equivalent of Mohammed Atta, but liking 80 year old pulp magazine literary heroes is a-okay.
December 17th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Ugh, I hope Dynamite doesn’t get their hands on them. (Ennis showed he doesn’t get the Shadow).
They’ve shown they have little understanding of the Spider, Shadow, etc.
Moonstone might do a better job.
December 17th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Right Aaron and Steadman, he’s too busy playing ‘copy and paste and link’ to actually find out the answer to something.
December 18th, 2012 at 8:35 am
sorry to see dc no longer have the spirit for though they did the character right as for if this means their spirit archives getting a reprint odds are if they no longer have the rights to the character all spirit material old and new will not be able to be reprinted by dc the company that gets the rights yes. hope some one even dynomite gets all three.
December 18th, 2012 at 11:29 am
I would like to see IDW get Doc Savage. They do a good job with their licensed characters.
I loved Moonstone a few years ago, but as of late, they seem to be struggling to get ANYTHING out.
The DC Doc was a waste and should the license should never have gone to them. DC has too much of their own characters to worry about. It’s better for the rights to go to a smaller company.
I agree that Garth didn’t really get the Shadow. I don’t think he read any of the pulps and just relied on DC’s previous run of the character.
December 18th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
no copyrights exist on these characters and they haven’t for awhile.
the federal laws state that if a character is not utilized in a “new work” within a 28 year time frame, it is “public-domain”. meaning anyone can use the character on the interior pages of their novel, graphic-novel, or comic. the trademark never usually lapses, so u cant use the name on the cover of the work. –but u can use the characters original likeness on the cover, or give them an updated costume.
–this is why moonstone comics and dynamite comics are both using the phantom, the green hornet, the lone-ranger, the black-bat, and other pulp heroes…they just have to find creative titles to avoid the trademarks.
–my company: Mythology Kingdom Unbound Ink/Inc.,is also using these characters. captain marvel and Mary marvel are also public-domain. so is the original daredevil, who was NOT created by stan lee, nor was he ever published by marvel/timely.
December 18th, 2012 at 9:29 pm
A reason for Moonstone’s publishing problems may involve Amazing Fantasy, the comic book store chain run by publisher Joe Gentile – he’s struggling to keep the stores open in this economy, and that has become concern #1. At least that’s what I’ve heard – and if it’s true, it makes sense.
The Spirit Archives are still available through numerous third party dealers; you can still find them through Amazon and eBay and what have you. By this time next year, you won’t find them anywhere, along with all of the other Archive editions DC is planning on getting rid of, as they don’t fall under DiDio’s New 52 mandate.
December 25th, 2012 at 2:50 am
Shawn that is incorrect.
First of all the bulk of these characters have not been out of print for that long.
Second I can positively identify the copyright owners for the following characters: The Shadow, Doc Savage, and The Avenger are owned by Conde Nast Publications. The Spider by Argosy. The Phantom by King Feature Syndicates. The Last Moonstone Phantom publication was in 2012, Dynamite now have the license.
I don’t know the owners for Green Hornet and Lone Ranger but I am certain they are under copyright.
Only the most obscure like Black Bat would be public domain.
You might be getting copyright and trademark confused.
Stories can be in the public domain but the character would still be owned.
This is the case with characters like Sherlock Holmes and Conan the Barbarian. The characters are owned by the Doyle estate and some German media conglomerate respectively but the original stories are public domain.
Any new work must be licensed by them.
I would suggest you recheck this if you’re serious about publishing pre-existing characters.
December 25th, 2012 at 2:51 am
Oops, last Moonstone Phantom publication was in 2010.