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[narfstar]

Not hosted at this time. May change in the future if Janus decides he is willing to take the risk because the law is on our side.

[Ed Love]

As far as I could tell, Dell did not renew their GA comics (I didn't look for any of their post 1940s books). They copyrighted the original material in their books under the name of R.S. Callender and the card catalogs reflected that the strip reprints were owned by their respective parties. But, at the time of renewal, I could not find any notice that Dell, R. S. Callender or by looking under the title name that their original features were renewed though one could find that at least some of the strips that were reprinted were renewed by their owners.

[narfstar]

We do carry most Dell. The exceptions are generally noted. Roy Rogers,Lone Ranger and some others.

[narfstar]

Since Space Family predates Lost it might be available. Again I read somewhere that Dell claims no record of comic books. Does anyone know how Turok, Magnus and Doc Solar (as well as the Harbinger name not great character) were obtained. Did they obtain copyright or just Trademark? Did Carbono actually have copyright or just trademark? I believe the law is/was that copyright could be restored from public domain if the material had never been published in public domain. Anyone have contact will Dell or Jim Shooter or Dark Horse who published the Magnus and Herbie archives to see what rights they have and how they got them? This would be something well worth pursueing as it could open up a host of opportunities

[bchat]

Since Space Family predates Lost it might be available. Again I read somewhere that Dell claims no record of comic books. Does anyone know how Turok, Magnus and Doc Solar (as well as the Harbinger name not great character) were obtained.

As I understand it, Western Publishing provided content for Dell Comics, which included Turok.  "Turok, Son of Stone # 596" (the first appearance) is Copyrighted to Western, not Dell.  When Western started-up Gold Key, Western simply took Turok as their own property and produced the title.  Doctor Solar & Magnus Robot Fighter were, as far as I know, never Dell properties.

Anyone have contact will Dell or Jim Shooter or Dark Horse who published the Magnus and Herbie archives to see what rights they have and how they got them?

Again, from what I understand, the deal between Jim Shooter's Voyager Communications (aka "Valiant Comics") & Western Publishing was a "lifetime agreement" that included the option for Western to shop their properties around to other companies (video games, etc), but Valiant had final say on any deals. Western was also allowed to license characters that Valiant had no plans for, such a Mighty Samson and Tiger Girl.  This deal was unaffected by Acclaim's aquisition of Valiant.  When Acclaim went belly-up, the rights to the characters reverted back to Random House (which acquired Western's properties in 2001).  Random House then licensed the Gold Key heroes to Dark Horse in 2007.  My guess is that the deal not only included the rights to reprint the original Gold Key stories, but the option to create new stories as well.  I believe that I read somewhere that Dark Horse was interested in producing new material from the beginning of their deal, but they were not in any rush to get started on anything at the time.

[Ed Love]

And, all those properties would have been automatically renewed. So, any copyright question is basically one of were they properly copyrighted to start with.

I would love to see a more standard and true return of Solar, Man of the Atom. Shooter's Woody Allen-as-God-as-a-superhero aka Dr. Solar grew stale pretty quickly for me. I would love to see the character treated a bit more like Captain Atom with some honest-to-gosh supervillains.

Maybe someone could dust off Nukla...

[narfstar]

Thanks for the info. So GK characters and stories will not in any way be pd as Random house owns the rights and they came after 1962. Does anyone know the story of Dell claiming they have no record of their comic book production. Yes I would like to put Nukla and Brain Boy here as well as Neutro, Naza, Toka, Kona and the Fab 4.

[Astaldo711]

Woo hoo! Fab 4! Love those lame comics. So enduring. I'm also finding myself getting interested in all this history of comic book production with Dell, Western, etc. There's so much I don't know about it. Never thought about all the background work.

[skybandit]

   I've heard conflicting reports about the status of Quality's Blackhawk run.  Some folks say that many of the 50's comics had their copyrights renewed.  Is this true, and if so, have these expired as well?

[bchat]

Thanks for the info. So GK characters and stories will not in any way be pd as Random house owns the rights and they came after 1962.

The magic number for automatic renewals is "1964".  Comics produced in 1963 or earlier still needed renewals filed, so it's possible that something may have been missed & a renewal wasn't filed for whatever Gold Key Comics produced from 1962 to 1963.  My search of the Copyright Office's online site turned-up no renewal for Turok's first (Dell) appearance.

   I've heard conflicting reports about the status of Quality's Blackhawk run.  Some folks say that many of the 50's comics had their copyrights renewed.  Is this true, and if so, have these expired as well?

Copyright Renewals don't "expire" until the full Copyright term is over (95 years or Life+70 years for individual creators).

[skybandit]

   That's true NOW, but not in the 1950's, and doesn't answer the original question.  Were such renewals make by Comic Magazines Inc?   I've been told that 47 Blackhawk books ranging from 1951-1955 were renewed.

[narfstar]

I am a huge fan of lame comics. My not so normal personality lead me to be a fan of things not Marvel or DC.
I loved Archie's Ultra heroes although Reinman's are was had to take. His GA stuff looked good but his Archie stuff was horrible. I loved the Dell monster heroes and thought the Fab 4 to be fabulous. I loved Nukla but did not like Brain Boy as a kid but do now. Shows how important marketability is. BB did not wear a costume although he was "super" so as a kid I was not interested. Ted Kord was not super but wore a costume so more attractive for a ten year olds twelve cents.

[skybandit]

   Y'know, even as a child, Magnus' costume set off my gaydar?  Long, long before the term existed

[boox909]

   Y'know, even as a child, Magnus' costume set off my gaydar?  Long, long before the term existed

Anyone remember the fuss that erupted when Northstar came out as gay? Marvel may have been gratuitous in the process, but it served to set the marker and represent a segment of the comics reading public.

Wildstorm's (DC) Midnighter is one of my favorite characters who rips 'gay stereotypes' to shreds. Seriously, if you want in your face super-hero'n check out the run of his series.

B.

[Ed Love]

Thanks for the info. So GK characters and stories will not in any way be pd as Random house owns the rights and they came after 1962.

The magic number for automatic renewals is "1964".  Comics produced in 1963 or earlier still needed renewals filed, so it's possible that something may have been missed & a renewal wasn't filed for whatever Gold Key Comics produced from 1962 to 1963.  My search of the Copyright Office's online site turned-up no renewal for Turok's first (Dell) appearance.

   I've heard conflicting reports about the status of Quality's Blackhawk run.  Some folks say that many of the 50's comics had their copyrights renewed.  Is this true, and if so, have these expired as well?

Copyright Renewals don't "expire" until the full Copyright term is over (95 years or Life+70 years for individual creators).

I wasn't sure when the Dell stuff came out. I thought they would have been a bit more of the late 60s.

Many of the 50s Quality stuff was indeed renewed. Some of it by DC and some by Arnold's widow. According to my research, the 1950s Blackhawk titles up to 1956 when the title was sold to DC were renewed by Clare Arnold. At the time of the sale, there was no record of transfer of copyright, but if DC was smart, they would have rectified that by now and secured the 1950 copyrights to the Blackhawks and Plastic Man. Otherwise, they still rest with either Clare Arnold or her heirs. Nothing DC can do with the earlier titles other than try to lock down the trademarks. As they do very little with those characters and have changed many of them wholesale, it would be fairly easy to get around the trademark issue.

[boox909]

   "Extra

[skybandit]

According to my research, the 1950s Blackhawk titles up to 1956 when the title was sold to DC were renewed by Clare Arnold.

So how come these comics are here?

[DennyWilson]

According to my research, the 1950s Blackhawk titles up to 1956 when the title was sold to DC were renewed by Clare Arnold.

So how come these comics are here?

Fair use?

[skybandit]

All files here available for download have carefully been research by our users and staff to make sure they are in the public domain.

True or not?

[bchat]

Madame Fatal was rectconned? Must have happen in the Uncle Sam series? I didn't follow those -- its hard to keep up on the retcons these days.

I thought the only times DC has actually used Madam Fatal was in the Golden Age mini-series in a one-panel appearance where he's getting hit-on by two other clueless heroes.  Then there's the passing reference in JSA 1, but unless there's some other appearance I missed (which is likely), I don't think DC has ever done anything specific with the character.

[boox909]

Madame Fatal was rectconned? Must have happen in the Uncle Sam series? I didn't follow those -- its hard to keep up on the retcons these days.

I thought the only times DC has actually used Madam Fatal was in the Golden Age mini-series in a one-panel appearance where he's getting hit-on by two other clueless heroes.  Then there's the passing reference in JSA 1, but unless there's some other appearance I missed (which is likely), I don't think DC has ever done anything specific with the character.

Somehow, I think we've stumbled onto potential contest material.    I wish I had my run of Golden Age with me so I could look at that panel. Maybe Sky is referring to a book in which Madame Fatal was retconned that non of the rest of us geeks have come across. Uncle Sam was my shot in the wind since I had never actually followed the 1st series.

Sky? Clarification? Snickers bars?

[bchat]

Good old Wikipedia.

Granted, Madam Fatal was a crossdressing crimefighter, but I haven't seen or read anything to imply he was a homosexual.  The two traits do not always go hand-in-hand.

[Astaldo711]

All files here available for download have carefully been research by our users and staff to make sure they are in the public domain.

True or not?

I guess we'll have to get rid of all Blackhawk comics here then...

[skybandit]

Actually, only numbers:
39, Apr. 1951.
40, May 1951.
41, June 1951.
42, July 1951.
43, Aug. 1951.
44, Oct. 1951.
45, Oct. 1951.
46, Nov. 1951.
47, Dec. 1951.
48, Jan. 1952.
49, Feb. 1952.
50, Mar. 1952.
52, May 1952.
53, June 1952.
54, July 1952. 
55, Aug. 1952. 
57, Oct. 1952. 
58, Nov. 1952. 
59, Dec. 1952. 
60, Jan. 1953. 
61, Feb. 1953. 
62, Mar. 1953. 
63, Apr. 1953. 
64, May 1953. 
65, June 1953. 
66, July 1953. 
67, Aug. 1953. 
68, Sept. 1953. 
69, Oct. 1953. 
70, Nov. 1953. 
71, Dec. 1953. 
72, Jan. 1954. 
73, Feb. 1954. 
74, Mar. 1954. 
75, Apr. 1954. 
76, May 1954. 
77, June 1954. 
78, July 1954. 
79, Aug. 1954. 
80, Sept. 1954. 
81, Oct. 1954. 
82, Nov. 1954. 
83, Dec. 1954. 
That were renewed by Arnold's widow, and
84, Jan. 1955.   
85, Feb. 1955. 
86, Mar. 1955. 
87, Apr. 1955. 
88, May 1955. 
89, June 1955. 
90, July 1955. 
91, Aug. 1955. 
92, Sept. 1955. 
93, Oct. 1955. 
94, Nov. 1955. 
95, Dec. 1955. 
96, Jan. 1956. 
97, Feb. 1956. 
98, Mar. 1956.
99, Apr. 1956.
100, May 1956. 
101, June 1956. 
102, July 1956. 
103, Aug. 1956. 
104, Sept. 1956.   
That were renewed by DC.
That's all.

[DennyWilson]

Strange DC didn't register 105,106 and 107.

Also notice a few issue numbers were skipped by Arnold's widow,too.