puros_bran":7wwspvkz said:
One of the commentators pointed out something I've never noticed because I've never actually bought an issue of 'Agents of Shield' Kirby has always been listed as a co-creator of that book??
Another interesting thing I can't find, the before issue doesn't list anyone as creator... So the family basically forced Stan Lee's name on the book too...
Wonder how much the family raked in off dad's work. Not saying it's right or wrong, IF he was legitimately cheated out of money then they deserve it... If he sold the rights or whatever they didn't. I don't know the back story and I'm not going to presume anything. Apparently there was enough legitimacy to the claim to force Disneys hand otherwise you know they'd have fought it to the bitter end.
Well, as Disney legally came to an agreement to finally credit Jack for his creator role at Marvel, it's only fair to credit Stan Lee, who co-created many of them with Jack, too.
Jack
never sold any rights to Marvel. Marvel took advantage of Kirby just as most all companies took advantage of the creators from the time comic books started, from Siegel and Shuster on Superman, to Bill Finger on Batman, and thousands of other characters by creators. It was standard practice at the time by the companies. In recent years, Aquaman co-creator Paul Norris got a lot of money when filed copyright termination of the character. The case is true of Mart Nodell for Green Lantern.
But when you think of the billions of dollars Marvel got from Kirby's creations, and Jack never got anything more than a freelancer's paycheck for the pages he wrote and drew, you can see how unfairly he was treated. Marvel's claim was Jack did work-for-hire, which is not true because the concept itself did not come into being until 1978, well after Jack and Stan created the Marvel Universe. Jack was never paid a single penny for the characters and concepts he brought to the company. Stan Lee, being a company employee, was never eligible for payment because he did his co-creation as a staffer. And Stan spent years denying Kirby was a co-creator in interviews. He even lied on the witness stand in the recent Marvel versus Kirby Estate case. I read the testimony. It was shameful. And goes against what everybody alive in the 1960s who worked at Marvel knew, most of whom are sadly deceased. The corporation did not want to give Jack anything they didn't have to. It took many years for Jack to even get his artwork back, and when he did, he found a majority of his best, most important work had been stolen. He was never compensated for the stolen work, most of it by Marvel employees and freelancers, either.
Jack wanted the credit because he had seen how DC spent years not crediting Siegel and Shuster for Superman, or paying them any money either. Jack wanted his due recognition, which I believe few people in good conscience could disagree with. He also wanted to profit off his work and explicitly stated many times publicly that he wanted that money for his kids and grand kids. I believe anybody in his position would feel the same way for the same reasons.
For decades, the comics community has helped keep this issue alive, not only for Jack's sake, but for all those who deserve fair treatment. Marvel/Disney only gave in because they were deathly afraid that the Supreme Court would rule against them. It came too late by twenty years for Jack, God rest his soul.
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