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[happyhuman]

Hello everyone,

A few years ago I and a friend of mine created a super hero card game for our circle of friends, using of course recognized characters (like spider-man ect.). We liked how the game turned out and we talked about maybe creating a commercial version but of course we can

[narfstar]

If there is any trademark, which I doubt, it would only prevent using the character as trade dress. Do not use it prominently on the cover and my unprofessional opinion is you will be OK.

[fate man]

If there is any trademark, which I doubt, it would only prevent using the character as trade dress. Do not use it prominently on the cover and my unprofessional opinion is you will be OK.

yeah,you have to play it safe.

[happyhuman]

An update:

Well, it's been almost a year now and we are almost finished with the final art for the cards and board.

we're both have a day job so it took some time. when we'll finish I'll be glad to send a test packet to those who are interested in trying the game and get your feedback.

We decided not to use the Nedor characters, only characters from Fox, Centaur, Lev, Prize, Hillman, Holyoke and Ace.

We wanted to use some of Novelty characters (Blue Bolt, Spacehawk, Whitestreak and Sub-Zero) but were not sure of their status. In a quick search we found that Novelty Press sold its assets, including Blue Bolt, to series cover artist L. B. Cole (wiki - not the best source of reliable information we know) and that it's possible that Spacehawk creator, Basil Wolverton, might had some rights to the character or others now have them after his passing.

We don't live in the united states so we can't just look in the library of congers for renewals

We know there was a new collection of all spacehawk stories a few years back and we could find

We looked at Dynamite, Image and AC comics to see if they used the Novelty characters but found that they didn't.

If anyone have different information it will be most appreciative

Thanks for your help

[fate man]

An update:

Well, it's been almost a year now and we are almost finished with the final art for the cards and board.

we're both have a day job so it took some time. when we'll finish I'll be glad to send a test packet to those who are interested in trying the game and get your feedback.

We decided not to use the Nedor characters, only characters from Fox, Centaur, Lev, Prize, Hillman, Holyoke and Ace.

We wanted to use some of Novelty characters (Blue Bolt, Spacehawk, Whitestreak and Sub-Zero) but were not sure of their status. In a quick search we found that Novelty Press sold its assets, including Blue Bolt, to series cover artist L. B. Cole (wiki - not the best source of reliable information we know) and that it's possible that Spacehawk creator, Basil Wolverton, might had some rights to the character or others now have them after his passing.

We don't live in the united states so we can't just look in the library of congers for renewals

We know there was a new collection of all spacehawk stories a few years back and we could find

We looked at Dynamite, Image and AC comics to see if they used the Novelty characters but found that they didn't.

If anyone have different information it will be most appreciative

Thanks for your help

Yes,I Am interested in receiving a copy of your game.

[narfstar]

It is doubtful that there would be any problem with Spacehawk. But if you want to leave it out to be safe that is fine. The other Novelty characters should be fine to use. I would love a copy of your game

[twiztor]

this sounds like an awesome idea and i'm down to give it a go as well.

[Ed Love]

An update:

We decided not to use the Nedor characters, only characters from Fox, Centaur, Lev, Prize, Hillman, Holyoke and Ace.

We wanted to use some of Novelty characters (Blue Bolt, Spacehawk, Whitestreak and Sub-Zero) but were not sure of their status. In a quick search we found that Novelty Press sold its assets, including Blue Bolt, to series cover artist L. B. Cole (wiki - not the best source of reliable information we know) and that it's possible that Spacehawk creator, Basil Wolverton, might had some rights to the character or others now have them after his passing.

We looked at Dynamite, Image and AC comics to see if they used the Novelty characters but found that they didn't.

If anyone have different information it will be most appreciative

A few of the Novelty characters did show up in AC's Fem Force quite a few years ago. I don't know if anything was done with them since, but Sub Zero and I think Blue Bolt did appear in "The Dark Shroud Saga" way back. Other than that, they have been reprinted a couple of times in years past in books focusing on Simon & Kirby (Blue Bolt) or Will Everett (Sub-Zero).

[narfstar]

Using the characters does not regain trademark. It must be transferred from the original owner. So they are trademark free

[bchat]

We wanted to use some of Novelty characters (Blue Bolt, Spacehawk, Whitestreak and Sub-Zero) but were not sure of their status. In a quick search we found that Novelty Press sold its assets, including Blue Bolt, to series cover artist L. B. Cole (wiki - not the best source of reliable information we know) and that it's possible that Spacehawk creator, Basil Wolverton, might had some rights to the character or others now have them after his passing.

We don't live in the united states so we can't just look in the library of congers for renewals

We know there was a new collection of all spacehawk stories a few years back and we could find

We looked at Dynamite, Image and AC comics to see if they used the Novelty characters but found that they didn't.

Most, if not all, copyright renewals can be found online.

Dynamite used Novelty's Twister in their "Black Terror" series.  Blue Bolt also made some appearances in the company's Project Superpowers line.

Image's Erik Larsen used Blue Bolt in Savage Dragon # 141.