The future of the DE Heroes: Teams?

[captainzero]

I don't know what direction this line of Golden Age Heroes will take... but
I hope once everyone has "returned"... and things start to settle down a bit...
that some of these heroes will decide to band together as a group to fight evil and injustice.

Not everyone. Not even a big group of them.!! Maybe just three or four of the heroes decide to start an "Alliance" to fight injustice again.

Then, ...maybe after a few adventures,... someone else joins the team... (the "Alliance for Justice" or whatever they decide to call themselves)...and the team slowly builds to seven or eight members.

And maybe, farther down the road,... another team establishes itself.

During this time, some of the heroes will have their own books... their own friends to team-up with, (by some of the Golden Age covers, some of these heroes may already be "old friends". Remember the covers of The Big 3!!?? Maybe The Flame, Samson, and the Scarab know each other and have had adventures together.
We, as fans, by looking at America's Best Comic covers know that Black Terror teamed up with Pyroman, Doc Savage, Fighting Yank, and Miss Masque(Masquerade)!! So, we can kindof expect that they, too, are old friends.
It may be fun to tell some Golden Age stories based on some of those covers...to build those friendships ---for the readers of today's comics. I think it would be a mistake to ignore those covers and those relationships between the heroes. We all know, "There's no friends like old friends"!! Friendships and loyalties run deep.).... and other heroes that they don't get along with.

Isn't that some of the fun of having the heroes meet.!?? Which ones will get along and be friends... and which ones won't.!??
I hope TheBlack Terror does know Pyroman, Fighting Yank, and Masquerade but may not be as familiar with some of the other heroes.(from other comic book lines.)

And I would hope that The Scarab(Blue Beetle??), Samson, and the Flame know each other better than they know the "America's Best" heroes. Maybe some of these guys have heard about ... but never personally met... some of the others. And those that know each other, re-acquaint with each other.
To me, this is an important aspect to trying to give some kind of depth to the relationships of these heroes. Building as much "truth" into their "existence" as possible. This "relational" aspect just adds to their Golden Age existence. And, I hope,-- getting to know each other, for them, is a process... and not just a "slamming" together of ALL these heroes from different "companies."

Great EPIC STORY-TELLING needs to be carefully done. This is an important time of unraveling this story... in a thoughtful way.

This could be a really fun line of comicbooks. I hope Nick hires some very talented writers and artists... and editors ...who know where they're going... to chart the course of this Dynamite Line of Super-Heroes!!

With this line-up of characters,... input by Alex Ross...and Jim Krueger... the vision of Nick B.--- and this line could challenge larger companies for "rack" space and be successful!!

What do you think??? About the Teams...the characters knowing some of their fellow heroes better than others....or anything I've said??!!

[magnus robot fighter]

i hear you , go for it dynamite

[captainzero]

I forgot to mention that (Dare)Devil met Silver Streak at Number 10 Downing Street when England was at war with Germany. Prime Minister Churchill was the one that introduced them to each other.
They met again in the office of the British Admiralty not too long after their first meeting. (See: Daredevil Battles Hitler #1. July '41)
So, I would suspect that 'Devil and Silver Streak would know each other better than they would know some of the other heroes. A "re-union" of these two heroes would be "neat" to see...as it would be to see a reunion of Black Terror, Pyroman, Fighting Yank, Masquerade, and whoever else in that "line" who may "return". Just the acknowledgement of their previous friendships would be great to see.
The same with Samson, The Flame, The Scarab(if he's the old Blue Beetle and not really the "real" Scarab)and whoever else may return...like V-Man!! (who stepped in for Samson in the last adventure of the Big 3!!)

It would seem to me, that these heroes, when thrown into the new environment of the 21st Century... would have a tendency to gravitate to their "old friends" first.
And, of course, Silver Streak and especially 'Devil, would both be familiar with the evil that their mutual enemy, THE CLAW, is capable of.

[DynamicLaddy]

I believe you meant, Number 10 Downing Street, that is the residence of the Prime Minister of England. Now I have a question for you regarding the future of Superpowers. Are you aware, that for years Bill Black has been reprinting and publishing new stories about most of these characters? Did you know Bill Black has filed a lawsuit against Dynamite over the use of these same characters?

[MadMikeyD]

Did you know Bill Black has filed a lawsuit against Dynamite over the use of these same characters?

That's kind of silly, since they are public domain. Did he file suit against Alan Moore and company for Terra Obscura, also? Oh, wait, Terra Obscura wasn't a top ten seller...

[captainzero]

I believe you meant, Number 10 Downing Street, that is the residence of the Prime Minister of England. Now I have a question for you regarding the future of Superpowers. Are you aware, that for years Bill Black has been reprinting and publishing new stories about most of these characters? Did you know Bill Black has filed a lawsuit against Dynamite over the use of these same characters?

Thanks, for the correction, DynamicLaddy. I talk like Slip Mahoney and sometimes I get the words wrong. Thank you.

I was NOT aware that Bill Black has filed a lawsuit against Dynamite. I did know that he was reprinting Golden Age Stories.... and I knew he was doing some new stories about some of the heroes...Like Green Lama.
I used to work for Bill... and not too long ago(maybe a year or two ago)... I wrote him ...proposing a DareDevil (Red Devil or whatever he's calling Daredevil) and Crimebuster story...going against The Claw and IronJaw. This was a long time before all this retro stuff was even started to be talked about. I was hoping that I could "START"... what was started without my humble efforts.
(He wasn't interested in the story because he rejected the premise that The Claw would want to take over the World.!!)

Anyway, ...I would think that because these heroes are in "Public Domain" that almost anyone could give their "spin" on them.
I would think that Dynamite would be far more capable of give us a higher quality line of comics. Bill doesn't seem to be that big. He just plugs along with FemForce... and few other attempts at new stories.
Who's talking about the lawsuit.???

[DynamicLaddy]

I'm not sure how the public domain law works? I've always thought, once you begin to publish a public domain character, it takes that character, out of public domain. And whoever does so, owns that character as long as they keep publishing.

[MadMikeyD]

Once something is public domain it stays public domain, forever. That's why there are 100+ different versions of "The Wizard of Oz" or "Treasure Island" at the bookstore. That's why the same four Three Stooges shorts are available on 100+ different DVDs. Those four shorts were allowed to lapse into the public domain. Columbia/Sony, who own the other 186 shorts, would rip them right out of the public domain if they could, but they can't.

The only time something can be removed from public domain is if someone can prove that they have ownership that would have prevented it from ever being public domain in the first place. The only instance of this I am aware of is the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." For years it was believed to be in public domain and you could watch it almost everyday from Thanksgiving to New Year's on different channels. Later, someone came forward and was able to prove that they had some type of ownership in the film and it was never truly public domain. Now you can only watch it on NBC once or twice a year because they bought the exclusive rights to it from that person.

AC Comics and Bill Black have no exclusive right to these characters (only their original content featuring them). They are public domain and anyone can use them. I believe the alleged lawsuit is over trademarks, however. AC is claiming they have active trademarks over several characters (including Daredevil, Black Terror, and Green Lama), and that DE is not allowed to use their names or likenesses on their covers. Trademark is a completely different issue and I won't even pretend to know anything about it. Not that I'm a public domain expert either, but I have done a little bit of research on it.

On a personal note: If the lawsuit rumor is true, I'm disappointed. Project Superpowers has actually made me consider purchasing some of AC's reprints. Some type of cross-promotion would be way better than legal action.

[Tazirai]

Once something is public domain it stays public domain, forever. That's why there are 100+ different versions of "The Wizard of Oz" or "Treasure Island" at the bookstore. That's why the same four Three Stooges shorts are available on 100+ different DVDs. Those four shorts were allowed to lapse into the public domain. Columbia/Sony, who own the other 186 shorts, would rip them right out of the public domain if they could, but they can't.

The only time something can be removed from public domain is if someone can prove that they have ownership that would have prevented it from ever being public domain in the first place. The only instance of this I am aware of is the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." For years it was believed to be in public domain and you could watch it almost everyday from Thanksgiving to New Year's on different channels. Later, someone came forward and was able to prove that they had some type of ownership in the film and it was never truly public domain. Now you can only watch it on NBC once or twice a year because they bought the exclusive rights to it from that person.

AC Comics and Bill Black have no exclusive right to these characters (only their original content featuring them). They are public domain and anyone can use them. I believe the alleged lawsuit is over trademarks, however. AC is claiming they have active trademarks over several characters (including Daredevil, Black Terror, and Green Lama), and that DE is not allowed to use their names or likenesses on their covers. Trademark is a completely different issue and I won't even pretend to know anything about it. Not that I'm a public domain expert either, but I have done a little bit of research on it.

On a personal note: If the lawsuit rumor is true, I'm disappointed. Project Superpowers has actually made me consider purchasing some of AC's reprints. Some type of cross-promotion would be way better than legal action.

I got my hands on a copy of Mystery Men and loved it. But this lawsuit things is right silly. Guess some people really can't stand the success of others.

But yeah Public Domain = forever.

[captainzero]

AC Comics and Bill Black have no exclusive right to these characters (only their original content featuring them). They are public domain and anyone can use them. I believe the alleged lawsuit is over trademarks, however. AC is claiming they have active trademarks over several characters (including Daredevil, Black Terror, and Green Lama), and that DE is not allowed to use their names or likenesses on their covers. Trademark is a completely different issue and I won't even pretend to know anything about it. Not that I'm a public domain expert either, but I have done a little bit of research on it.

yea? Thanks, Mikey. Yea, all the legal rangling I know too little of.
In the instance of Daredevil, Bill can't use the name "Daredevil". There would be trouble with Marvel.

On a personal note: If the lawsuit rumor is true, I'm disappointed. Project Superpowers has actually made me consider purchasing some of AC's reprints. Some type of cross-promotion would be way better than legal action.
Man, I would totally agree. You would think Bill could up his production of many of those Golden Age stories with some really nice re-packaging and offer them as a compliment to the Dynamite stuff. Heck, you would think they could work out some kind of deal together ... and Bill would do better than trying to sue.
I hope they work things out... maybe more details will soon emerge.