Alan Moore project for Twist and Shout Comics
Tim Klassen
Richard Johnston <tw...@ketchup.cts-group.co.uk> writes:
>So, hopefully, for April, there will be a solicitation for Alan Moore's
>Twilight: A Proposal. The book will exist no allow non-net users to read the
>work and also to promote the name of Twist and Shout Comics, for next
>month's Dirtbag 6.
Where does it exist for net users? Not to mention, what the hell is it?
TimK, who is obvioulsy not in the know.
Todd VerBeek, GWM
>Well it's no real news for the internet, but Alan Moore has agreed to allow
>Twist and Shout Comics (that's me) to print the Twilight proposal
>
>So, hopefully, for April, there will be a solicitation for Alan Moore's
>Twilight: A Proposal. The book will exist no allow non-net users to read the
>work and also to promote the name of Twist and Shout Comics, for next
>month's Dirtbag 6.
>
>Knowing the legal minds of the internet, I have this question to ask. Would
>DC have any legal problems over a book that doesn't mention DC or characters
>in the title, on the cover or in the solicitation. A legal notice inside
>will state that all DC characters and copyright and trademarks of DC and no
>infringement of either is intended.
>
>I note that Peter David printing the Last Avengers Story in BID okay, also
>Larry Niven's article Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex passed DC's legal eyes.
>This is also a one-off. Does anyone have any legal opinions? Email them to
>me, or please post to rec.arts.comics.dc.universe or misc. Whatever.
My legal opinion would be to ask a real attorney. <grin> But lacking that...
I wouldn't put much faith in the Niven piece for precedent, since it was an
essay =about= [trademarked characters], not a story or treatment =of= [trade-
marked characters]. I'm not familiar with PAD's story in BID, but if it was
a reprint of his script or a text adaptaion, he probably had permission from
Marvel for that, since (assuming a standard freelancing contract) they own
or have exclusive rights to the story.
And in both cases, the folks at DC or Marvel probably appreciated having them
published, since they were publicity (which is inherently good) and not at all
embarassing to the company (as long as you have a sense of humour, in the
Niven case). This is often more important that the law involved. And DC might
not appreciate a publication that implies, "This is what DC was foolish enough
to turn down... and later, borrow ideas from."
The closest parallel to what you're doing that I can think of is David Gerrold's
"Blood & Fire" script for the first season of ST:TNG. The script was rejected...
Paramount said it was due to poor quality; DG felt otherwise, and to defend his
professional reputation, gave away copies of the original draft in return for a
donation to an AIDS charity. The story was an AIDS allegory done in memory of
Mike Minor, a TNG staffer who'd died of AIDS complications, and was notable for
its guest appearance of a gay male couple in the crew of the Goodship Enterprise.
BID. This was all tangled up with a bunch of other issues and bad blood between
DG and Paramount (most notably his departure from the development team for TNG
and the question of credit for his contributions), and I don't know how it all
came out. But if DG did it without getting in trouble, I should think Moore
could publish Twilight (through T&S). DG had (and presumably still has) an
account on CompuServe which I could probably dig up if you wanted to ask him
about it. He may not be willing (or able) to comment, however.
Cheers, Todd
Did I mention that I went to high school with Gillian "Scully" Anderson?
Michael R. Grabois
Klassen) wrote:
>Richard Johnston <tw...@ketchup.cts-group.co.uk> writes:
>>So, hopefully, for April, there will be a solicitation for Alan Moore's
>>Twilight: A Proposal. The book will exist no allow non-net users to read the
>>work and also to promote the name of Twist and Shout Comics, for next
>>month's Dirtbag 6.
>Where does it exist for net users? Not to mention, what the hell is it?
http://www.digimark.net/wraith/Comics/twilight.html
It's a strange treatment of the dark future of the DC Universe. It's
too bizarre to describe; check it out. It's also available at an ftp
site, since it's very large. I think the ftp site is listed at the top
of the page.
Michael R. Grabois | http://www.geopages.com/TimesSquare/1247/
Houston, TX | or...@ix.netcom.com CI$: 74737,2600
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you can read this, you're an alien trying to steal my brain
just like you did to Elvis."
Vicki/Matt Holmes
I just spent the last hour and a half reading the proposal. It was, quite
simply, better than anything DC has actually produced over the intervening
(8) years! Considering that the Elseworlds "imprint" came along not that
many years later, it's really sad that they rejected the proposal. It
would've made a great companion piece to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.
Anyway, I'd like to thank the folks who scanned it in, as well as Michael
Grabois for pointing us all to it. Reading Moore's comments about crossover
stories back in 1987 show us once again how brilliant the man is... everything
he described as being potentially "wrong" with them has come true! And no
one really understands how to do a good one, but he does (or did). He had
such enthusiasm for subject matter involving superheroes back then.. sigh.
Matt