Comic Book Resources

Shhhh! If fans discover Superman is 70 years old, they won't be able to relate to him like they can now when they think he's a young nigh-invulnerable alien with an unerring moral compass who conceals his identity with a pair of glasses.

it's downright disrespectful if you ask me.

the ottawa citizen up here in canada did a fantastic web-based celebration earlier this year:

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/features/superman/comic.html

I would guess they're waiting to make a bigger deal about 75. Though I guess there's nothing that says they can't do both.

DC has pretty much ignored Super-Anniversaries since the 50th.

I think they're celebrating it by not having Superman in his own comics.

75th anniversary is going to be tough though...

Isn't that when copyright reverts to public domain?

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DC!!

No, no, it's all about the seventy-FIRST anniversary. You'll see. It'll be called "Rain of the Supermen," where all the Kandorians lose their powers and drop from the skies, and then Superman has to do something or other and then cry about it for a while.

Maybe they'll kill off Superman for good before it hits the public domain.

70 years on the job, eh?

Time to force Supes into retirement, I'd say.

I seem to recall reading an interview with Dan Didio that stated it wasn't DC's call to have a celebration this year. I'm inclined to agree with one of the above posters, 75th seems more likely. I think that's the WB way.

Cheers,

B

I think Didio said that it wasn't HIS call.

Which basically means, it's not his call what goes on the publishing schedule and what doesn't.

So you've got me.

I just file that along with all the other BAFFLING editorial decisions DC has made in 2008. Honest to God, I'm starting to wonder if there isn't some sort of mandate up there to shrink the audience. "No! Our comics aren't insular enough! You can do better! Free publicity is for the weak!"

Heh! I like your thinking, Greg!
"Hey, if they don't know Superman's 70 years old, then they're not REAL fans!"

Something else just occurred to me...

What issue number of Action Comics is officially the 70th Anniversary issue...

I mean, taking into account the fact that there were periods when some comics came out in two-month intervals, and then we had the run of Action Comics Weekly...

What date is his 70th, and what issues will actually be hitting the stands on, or in time for, that date?

It'd be whatever came out in June, since Action Comics #1 was dated June, 1938.

While ACTION #1 had a June 1938 cover date, it actually hit the news stands sometime around May 3, 1938.

And, yeah, 70 isn't really a commemorative anniversary--75 will be the big one.

I suspect this is because it would be hard to celebrate the anniversary without talking about their debt to Siegel and Schuster, but they're afraid that anything they say along those lines will come back to bite them in the ass in court. One of the worst things about court cases is it eliminates any hope of the two parties being civil to each other.

I don't know much about copyright laws...but...
I think that if a copyright HASN'T been used in a certain amount of time, then it becomes public domain.
Superman would not fall into this problem.
However, if there were a case in which, no matter what, the copyright in question can become public domain, then I'm quite sure that AOL/Time-Warner/DC Comics (and whatever else company has since bought them) will do something to ensure that doesn't happen.
But, it would be interesting to see what a company, like IDW, would do if they had a shot at copyright ownership...

Actually, as far as copyright goes, I think it's something along these lines. A creator of something (Book, Movie, Comic Book) has the rights for it for 70 years, after that he can pass it to his family or it goes to public domain. But don't take my word for it, it's been 3 years I've learned about copyright...

The copyright for Superman expires in 2033, no ifs ands or buts (except the whole "unless Congress extends copyright some more - you know, just for the heck of it).

The problem for DC is that, unless a court overturns a previous decision or unless DC comes to a financial settlement, they will not own the copyright for Superman for the last 20 years of the copyright (2013-2033)

Yeah probably waiting until 75, but now seems like a good synergy time with Smallville still on. You could have done a legion of super heroes tie in while that was still on as well. If smallville makes it to the 75th that will be a miracle (that would take 13 season by my quick math, which is extremely extremely long for tv)

"If smallville makes it to the 75th that will be a miracle (that would take 13 season by my quick math, which is extremely extremely long for tv)"

Forget Smallville, if the CW makes it to the 75th it'll be a major miracle. After losing Smackdown, they're now regularly getting beaten in the ratings by MyNetwork TV.

Mickey Mouse is older than Superman, right? I gotta think Disney would be lobbying pretty hard to change the copyright laws so that they don't have to share Mickey, which would in turn benefit companies such as DC - TimeWarner. I'd be pretty surprised if a change isn't made. I'm sure back when the copyright laws were formed, it was pretty much unthinkable that a company would still be around and using a character that long after its creation.

Would Disney LIKE an extension of copyright?

Sure.

Will they get ANOTHER one?

I don't think so.

There was enough publicity about the last Disney-driven extension that I think that 95 years is the final frontier.

That still gives Disney until 2023, which is pretty darn long!

Brian, you say "no ifs, ands or buts", but actually there's a pretty big "but" (I like big "but"s and I cannot lie): They'll lost copyright but keep trademark, just as Disney will keep trademark on Mickey even if "Steamboat Willie" finally enters the public domain.

The best example of this is "Tarzan". I was surprised to discover recently that the first five of the 24 Tarzan novels have now entered the public domain. Lo and behold, the market hasn't been flooded with Tarzan porn and unauthorized sequels, presumably because of trademark. In fact, the ERB estate seems to be going strong and continues to profitably license the character. So everything's cool, right? DC and Disney can relax?

Apologies! I thought the trademark reverted to the Seigel family in 2013... and the copyright went Public domain...
My bad...

Yeah, they'll keep trademark, but the question was just about copyright, right?

If folks really want a detailed examination, here's my FAQ on the topic:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/03/30/superman-copyright-faq/

What, killing Pa Kent wasn't a big enough celebration for you?

Well, at least they're not celebrating his 70th like they are celebrating the Legion's 50th - by canceling two of their comics and delaying the other into next year.

Ah, I always forget about the difference between trademark and copyright.

I still wouldn't be surprised about another extension in copyright, when you consider all the properties created in the 30s and 40s which are still around today. I know just because Steamboat Willie falls into public domain doesn't mean I can start publishing my own version of Mickey Mouse comics, but there's a lot of big corporations with money at stake in getting copyright further extended. And it's been proven time and time again that enough money can get you what you want from the government. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next 10-20 years.

Here in Brazil, the publisher that have DC publishing license are doing a special collection for this 70th anniversary for Superman (and are planning doing the same for Batman next year). We also had our special 70th anniversary for the first time that DC was published here in Brazil.

Wutabout Supergirl? It's her 50th next year; I realize that they've already given Kara quite the boost with two comics ... three if you count the new Justice League, and she's making appearances galore ... and I don't mean to be greedy because I'm just happy she's alive and well ... but do you think they'll do anything significant for it?

Actually they do have anniversary specials planned. However, Frank Quitely, Jim Lee, and J.G. Jones are drawing them. Looks like they just may make it out for the 75th, but no promises.

i seem to remember reading somewhere that characters owned by a corporation, as opposed to an individual, can be prevented from entering the public domain.

i seem to remember reading somewhere that characters owned by a corporation, as opposed to an individual, can be prevented from entering the public domain.

No, they enter the public domain when the copyright expires.

FWIW (darn little) regarding anniversary celebrations: 5 years is FOREVER compared to some. The Incredible Hulk celebrated the 30th anniversary of the character in issue 393 and then the round-number-issue-number-milesonte in 400.

The copyright situation for Superman is confusing because of (and confused by) the fact that it was not originally made in a work-for-hire situation, unlike Mickey Mouse. That was written about to death recently though, what with the resolution of the most recent lawsuit, so I'll leave it at that.

round-number-issue-number-milesonte
I meant milestone, obviously.

Gee, Brian, do you think you'll want to celebrate YOUR seventieth birthday with an extravaganza, or do you think you'll prefer it to be quiet, with little fuss or muss?

In a situation where every multiple of 25 is an "anniversary" issue (why not every multiple of 10? why not celebrate that most books make it to issue 2?) one less empty event should count as a relief.

Not doing anything to promote the 70th anniversary didn't shock me. Ignoring the 30th anniversary of Superman the Movie (Never too late to do an adaption folks.) seemed a bigger surprise.