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Gaiman v. McFarlane Decision Handed Down

Posted by chrisd on from the no-word-on-if-he-must-give-up-the-baseball dept.

aronc writes "In a case of speedy justice a jury today ruled that Neil Gaiman was in the right on all 9 counts in the case he brought against Todd McFarlane. More details at ComiCon Pulse and ICv2. This case revolved around ownership stakes for Medieval Spawn, Angela, Cagliostro, and further contracts involving the rights to Miracle Man."

5 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Miracleman returns - outstanding news by iapetus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Some of the best news I've heard in a long time. This legal wrangling has kept Miracleman out of print for far too long, and it's about time we saw reprints of the earlier trade paperbacks and the continuation of the story.

    Perfect timing, of course - just after I spent £28.50 on the second TPB of the series on eBay. :)

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    1. Re:Miracleman returns - outstanding news by aronc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some of the best news I've heard in a long time. This legal wrangling has kept Miracleman out of print for far too long, and it's about time we saw reprints of the earlier trade paperbacks and the continuation of the story.

      This is possible, but not certain. Late yesterday and today will be the penalty phase wherein Gaiman and the courts will decide what xactly happens now that they say he was right. In all probability he will simply enforce the 1997 agreement the two of them had, which gives Todd control over the Spawn characters and Neil MiracleMan. Given that McF defaulted on that contract, however, Gaiman could chose to persue a different set of terms. We shall see later today or tomorrow.

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  2. Re:Some background here? by CoolVibe · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Comic jargon... Now you know how those poor "computer-illiterate" people feel when they suffer the onslaught of sysadmin war stories :)

    AFAICD (can decypher) it's about two comic artists fussing about comic characters.... But hey, since I haven't read a decent comic for more than 5 or 6 years, I'm totally out of it. I used to be a rabid Spiderman fan, but I've lost touch :(

  3. Re:Fair Play Club (or Farlane Play Club) by pacc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    McFarlane is one of the big guys,

    he is way beyound "independent". Maybe he could have saved his face by ending his stories a few times per year, but that's not the way everyone else does it.

  4. Why do artists like Spawn? by ChaosDiscord · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Over my career I've worked with a number of people I'll unhelpfully lump together as artists. Graphic artists, web designers, would-be comic book artists, 3-D modellers and animators, 2-d artists. Great people, generally very sane. Of these artists, a significant number have owned and decorated their offices with McFarlane's Spawn figurines. And never just plain old Spawn. Spawn the Bloodaxe, Alien Spawn, Pirate Spawn, Raven Spawn, She Spawn, Wings of Redemption Spawn, Spawn VII, Dark Ages Spawn - Samurai Wars, Techno Spawn, or Spawn the Bloodaxe and Thunderhoof. Each and every one more EXTREME than the last. There have been 22 different series of figurines. By my back of the envelope calculation, there are approximately seventy billion distinct Spawn variants.

    What's the point? The character is alien and pointless. A friend at one point suggested that the Spawn comic books were for teenagers who found Batman not gritty enough and too realistic. Grade school kids who need something more EXTREME to try and shock their parents. The figurines may be very distinct, but they certainly are all EXTREME. Multiple layers of billowing clothing, draped in chains, with random pipes and hoses stuck in various unlikely places. Sure, they're detailed, but they're just random. The effect isn't cool, just busy. They certainly never approach the real creepiness of a master like H.R. Giger. They're not shocking, just childish. What exactly is the appeal of Spawn?

    McFarlane really bothers me, his work (assuming the things coming out with his name all over them are his work) is disassociated with reality. Spawn is inane. McFarlane can even taint unrelated works. http://trigunner.giborama.com/trigunner/merchandis e/mcvash.html">McFarlane's interpretation of Vash from Trigun was needlessly draped in chains, just like Vash never was in the series, turning Vash into some bizarre bondage version of himself.

    So what exactly is the draw of McFarlane and his work, especially Spawn? I certainly don't see it.

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