lots of free, public-domain golden age scans for your dining and dancing.

Tons of Nedor, Quality, Fawcett, MLJ (or whatever Archie comics was back then); Lou Fine, Kirby, Eisner (Blackhawk!) Jack Cole (Plastic Man!), and tons more.

You can check out the originals that are currently (recently) getting revamped, like FIghting Yank, Black Terror, Lady Luck, so much good stuff

Ahh - gotta go there now and get some more!

The characters weren't exactly abandoned, either. Paul Grist has been using versions of them in Jack Staff, and most of them turned up in Zenith, and some of them (like Kelly's Eye) have had their own series in 2000ad over the years. Albion is just the latest in a long line of revivals.

I personally think Grist does it best, for a couple of reasons: his versions are "Watchmenised", characters inspired by and homages to, rather than straight versions of the originals; and he captures the spirit of the original comics in a way that no-one since Grant Morrison seems to have been capable of.

It might be just me, but after recently finding out about Fletcher Hanks, the thought of any kind of homage to him is a little reprehensible. His son is freaking awesome, though, from what I've read.

Ah, I see. So, what is the general expiration date for things which do enter public domain?

The rule of thumb for copyright is 1923, but this is more of a trademark thing.

I'll give you LoEG, but I'm not so sure about Terra Obscura- mainly because they WERE the exact same characters, and I doubt very much that anybody involved in the old Nedor comics saw a penny off the book. They didn't even get any kind of "created by..." credit in the TPB, which seems a little crummy.

Obviously it's not of the same magnitude as what happened with Siegel & Shuster and Mick Anglo, but it's still a case of one set of people making money off someone else's creation, without any kind of reward for the original creator.

And it's one thing when a great big profit driven corporation exploits the work of talented people without sufficient compensation, but it leaves a funny taste in my mouth when it's someone like Moore or Larson who has a history of championing creator's rights. Moore says some very admirable things regarding Marvelman and Mick Anglo in the interview I mentioned, but he doesn't seem as bothered about the people who created the Black Terror, or Tom Strange, or The Ghost.

I keep thinking of when Alan Moore said (on Fanboy Radio) that he can’t read modern Superhero comics anymore because when he looks at them all he sees is a long line of cheated old men.

(Which yeah, is funny, considering Terra Obscura, League of Extrodinary Gentlemen, etc; but that’s not the point).

What Moore meant, was that he sees companies making big bucks off creations they brought for peanuts (Superman etc), while the creators were living in poverty, and he doesn't like that.
Terra Obscura were based on old characters, but weren't the exact same characters, so it's totally different.
Also, LoEG's characters were all in the public domain - no one was making money off them (and quite frankly, before it ran out, the authors all owned the copyright, and made money off of them).
Legally and morally, it's a big difference.

As I understand it, the Fleischer Superman cartoons are in the public domain, aren't they?

For instance, what would it take for Superman to enter the public domain?"

Expiration of trademark and/or copyright, as defined by US law.

Thanks to Sonny Bono and other Congressmen firmly in the pocket of such multimedia giants as Time/Warner and the Walt Disney Company, Superman will never enter the public domain.

For Superman to enter the public domain, no media bearing the title Superman would have to be published for how ever many years it takes for the trademark to expire, plus (I think) DC Comics would have to go out of business, voiding their copyright.

I'm not a lawyer but I think that's basically how it works.

....

Personally I really want to read these comics, mainly because of the names involved (Chaykin! Seinkewicz!), but at the same time I wonder about the ethics. For example, wouldn't it be nice if Fletcher Hanks' family got something out of this?

I keep thinking of when Alan Moore said (on Fanboy Radio) that he can't read modern Superhero comics anymore because when he looks at them all he sees is a long line of cheated old men.

(Which yeah, is funny, considering Terra Obscura, League of Extrodinary Gentlemen, etc; but that's not the point).

For instance, what would it take for Superman to enter the public domain?

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

Matthew E - Kitchen Sink reprinted some Lady Luck strips in The Spirit Magazine - I don't know if that might have any impact on their legal status. But you might be able to find the magazines if you're interested in the character.