Fascinating and not surprising, comic book publishers and movie studios have a long and sordid history of treating the artists and creators horrendously. I remember in the 1980's a bunch of the Marvel writers and artists jumped ship and created WildStorm comics, because they got upset with Marvel for not providing them with credit for creating the characters and control over the characters they had created. The characters were owned by "Marvel" not the writers and artists who sweated over them. Whedon had a similar battle with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and told Fox that he would only do the TV show if they gave him "creative control", he could not get total control or copyright control. And does not own the characters - but he got creative control and credit for them.
I remember in the 1990s talking to my brother about working in the movie industry, where he worked as an intern for a while and attempted briefly to get a career in. He told me not to try and become a screenwriter because your work is not honored and you are treated much like Seigel and Shuster are.
Yet, it is not always the case. The Seigel/Schuster story had a happy ending. Just as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had one at Marvel. And Chris Claremount and Jim Lee at Wildstorm, both reappearing at Marvel to create more. It's almost as if there is an eternal struggle between the two sides of the human condition - the Lex Luthor side who wants the power and control for himself, to gain from it, and the Superman side - who doesn't. The world of course isn't as black and white as that and often the result is a combo of the two.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2006-07-02 03:02 pm (UTC)I remember in the 1990s talking to my brother about working in the movie industry, where he worked as an intern for a while and attempted briefly to get a career in. He told me not to try and become a screenwriter because your work is not honored and you are treated much like Seigel and Shuster are.
Yet, it is not always the case. The Seigel/Schuster story had a happy ending. Just as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had one at Marvel. And Chris Claremount and Jim Lee at Wildstorm, both reappearing at Marvel to create more. It's almost as if there is an eternal struggle between the two sides of the human condition - the Lex Luthor side who wants the power and control for himself, to gain from it, and the Superman side - who doesn't. The world of course isn't as black and white as that and often the result is a combo of the two.