QUANTUM & WOODY IN JULY!!!

[manga4life]

Kurt isn't taking into account multiple different aspects of how Acclaim lost the rights to these characters and how VEI picked them up. Plus, he's a creator and will ALWAYS side with other creators when situations like this arrive, its guild-like to do so for them.

His word should be taken with a grain of salt and his situation with Astro City and Wildstorm/DC is leagues different than Acclaim due to WS being dissolved by DC and not put out of business with asserts ending up on the auction block.

[BugsySig]

Kurt isn't taking into account multiple different aspects of how Acclaim lost the rights to these characters and how VEI picked them up. Plus, he's a creator and will ALWAYS side with other creators when situations like this arrive, its guild-like to do so for them.

His word should be taken with a grain of salt and his situation with Astro City and Wildstorm/DC is leagues different than Acclaim due to WS being dissolved by DC and not put out of business with asserts ending up on the auction block.

Yeah, these guys don't seem to understand how different buying IPs at a bankruptcy auction is from buying a company. If VEI had bought Acclaim like Acclaim bought Voyager, then they would be liable for any existing contracts (Like Busiek w/ Wildstorm). But that is not the case.

Some say there was a reversion of rights clause. The bankruptcy law says (as I posted there, but was refuted because they either couldn't understand the language or didn't want to admit I was right) that any clause for termination or reversion of rights is not enforceable under US Law. In other words, the rights stay with the company (debtor or their trustee) at bankruptcy so they can pay back their debts.

Second, they claim a "buy-back" policy was in place. Fine, but in order to buy something back, the owning party needs to agree to sell it. If Acclaim did not agree to while they were in business, once they filed for bankruptcy there is no way the bank would sell IPs back individually because they were far more valuable as a group.

Are those facts favorable to creators? No, but the law is the law. As someone pointed put, P & B have been trying to regain the rights for 15 years without success. Might there be a reason for that? Like they kept losing in court?

And once again, the agitators there are relying on someone with no knowledge of th situation being discussed. Nothing against Busiek (I like him and have had nice interactions with him there in the past) but, like Kevin Maguire, he is another third party to the Quantum & Woody debate.

[magnusr]

Kurt isn't taking into account multiple different aspects of how Acclaim lost the rights to these characters and how VEI picked them up. Plus, he's a creator and will ALWAYS side with other creators when situations like this arrive, its guild-like to do so for them.

His word should be taken with a grain of salt and his situation with Astro City and Wildstorm/DC is leagues different than Acclaim due to WS being dissolved by DC and not put out of business with asserts ending up on the auction block.

His latest entry is clearer. Most importantly: He says that nobody knows for sure, not even him and certainly not the others over there. Unfortunately he has lots of comments based on other people's misrepresentation of your comments but I guess that's unavoidable.

What troubles me most is that I have a slight memory of Priest actually commenting on the contracts many years ago. And now I find nothing to support this memory. Does anyone else remember?

/Magnus

[BugsySig]

Kurt isn't taking into account multiple different aspects of how Acclaim lost the rights to these characters and how VEI picked them up. Plus, he's a creator and will ALWAYS side with other creators when situations like this arrive, its guild-like to do so for them.

His word should be taken with a grain of salt and his situation with Astro City and Wildstorm/DC is leagues different than Acclaim due to WS being dissolved by DC and not put out of business with asserts ending up on the auction block.

His latest entry is clearer. Most importantly: He says that nobody knows for sure, not even him and certainly not the others over there. Unfortunately he has lots of comments based on other people's misrepresentation of your comments but I guess that's unavoidable.

What troubles me most is that I have a slight memory of Priest actually commenting on the contracts many years ago. And now I find nothing to support this memory. Does anyone else remember?

/Magnus

That's good I guess. I haven't checked back because I would probably go , but there's no point. In one of my last posts I asked if any of them thought there might actually be a reason Priest & Bright haven't won the rights back if they had been fighting for 15 years (more like 10 actually, but that was someone else's number). I was chastised for blaming the "victim", like blaming a cancer patient for having cancer (Though I might if they were a smoker ). There is no sense dignifying those comments by furthering the argument.

As you said, Priest commented years ago. I remember reading about it as well, and thinking he had the rights or at least a good claim, but I'm pretty sure it was either before the bankruptcy auction or before VEI had completed their legal battles. The biggest issue is all anyone has to go on are those comments Priest made years ago, a few lines of text from Kevin Maguire and an interview with Dino (of which the same people suggest his use of the name "Chris" proves he was not in contact with them).

The whole issue, IMHO, is nonexistent at this point until Priest or Bright challenge the rights, or we get some other official word from VEI.

[BugsySig]

New James Asmus interview at Newsarama: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/quantum ... asmus.html

He goes into some of the reported updates and his reasoning for them. Nice read.

[MarkRoseHFX]

(of which the same people suggest his use of the name "Chris" proves he was not in contact with them).

this SLAYS me. First of all what if it was a mistype? Secondly even if he said Chris it's ridiculous to say it proves he has no contact with them. yeah it proves they prob aren't best friends but doesn't mean they haven't talked business a few times and Dino just genuinely didn't know that he doesn't like that. Or maybe omg just maybe he misspoke. I mean he called a Christopher, Chris. It's not like he called him Steve.

The whole issue, IMHO, is nonexistent at this point until Priest or Bright challenge the rights, or we get some other official word from VEI.

Good luck getting that bunch to understand that

[blujay]

That newsarama interview is great, gives me high hopes for this series

I can't believe I just thought of this, but what happened to Quantum's Cape? He should definitely have one, it makes him look bad *SQUEE*

[BugsySig]

That newsarama interview is great, gives me high hopes for this series

I can't believe I just thought of this, but what happened to Quantum's Cape? He should definitely have one, it makes him look bad *SQUEE*

I'm pretty sure he has it in that preview as they are falling. I wonder if there is an Incredibles like accident that leads him to ditch the cape...plenty of opportunity for humor there.

[erwinrafael]

Finally, we are back to discussing Quantum and Woody.

[blujay]

That newsarama interview is great, gives me high hopes for this series

I can't believe I just thought of this, but what happened to Quantum's Cape? He should definitely have one, it makes him look bad *SQUEE*

I'm pretty sure he has it in that preview as they are falling. I wonder if there is an Incredibles like accident that leads him to ditch the cape...plenty of opportunity for humor there.

I thought about that too, and it would be funny. But in the original he had "safety hatches" so that he could remove his cape if he got caught on something (like a fire escape).

I imagine this book may do a bit of poking fun at traditional superhero gear. But still capes are awesome, and it could never hurt to have a few characters who wear them in the VU (being that we have 0 so far)

[manga4life]

LoL, ireactions from the Q&W thread over at CBR has been PMing me there trying to coax me back into the thread to try to pick a fight with Kurt Busiek. How sad is that?

[FormerReader]

LoL, ireactions from the Q&W thread over at CBR has been PMing me there trying to coax me back into the thread to try to pick a fight with Kurt Busiek. How sad is that?

Sounds like you're doing the right thing in letting it go as it serves no one to continue to drag it out. Hopefully in time we will hear more from Priest and find out there is no issue, but the one created over the internet.

[hulk181man]

Another cool move would be to publish those stories and compensate Priest, Bright etc. for publication of their original work.

You know what would be cooler? Priest and Bright doing the legwork and spending all the money to get those books published, marketed and sold and then compensating Valiant for getting them out of bankruptcy.

They were paid for the work they did. They had an opportunity to buy back the rights. They didn't. They had the opportunity to fight for them in bankruptcy court. They didn't. End of story.

Whoa! Relax Bro - peace! I'm looking for positive vibes/developments for all involved.

I didn't criticize VEI, I support their endeavors and the new Q&W book. This is excellent news --- I thoroughly enjoyed Priest/Bright's original series. My comment is simply a reflection of that appreciation. If any original unpublished work ever sees print it would be an extremely cool PR move (goodwill is an asset) if Dino and the gang recognized the creators. I have no idea if Priest, Bright, Jimenez etc. were compensated for issues 22-31 or if all the issues were even completed. But as a fan of that book I would LOVE to see those issues in print. And if Priest needs compensated to complete any of those issues then VEI should consider pursuing that course.

FWIW, Quantum and Woody wasn't the reason Acclaim failed. It was actually trending upward when Acclaim went thru their first reboot in Oct. 98.

[400yrs]

But as a fan of that book I would LOVE to see those issues in print. And if Priest needs compensated to complete any of those issues then VEI should consider pursuing that course.

FWIW, Quantum and Woody wasn't the reason Acclaim failed. It was actually trending upward when Acclaim went thru their first reboot in Oct. 98.

If they could finish up those issues 22-31, that would be awesome. I'd love to see Priest and Bright continue on with their version. I'd much prefer that to a new version. It could be completely separate from the VEI version. I don't think that would happen though because it wouldn't be smart to compete with your own product.



It's early, but I don't have much faith in the new book. Shadowman being a fraction of the VH1 version didn't do much to help my confidence in the new Q&W either. Those are the two truly unique books from Valiant/Acclaim which are going to be toughest to do right. Shadowman is a miss in my book and the Q&W preview pages don't give me much hope.

Asmus doesn't seem to get the true vibe of the comic based on the preview pages. Granted, that's not alot of pages to go on, but that's what they must've felt was good enough to preview. Those black boxes just aren't right. If they aren't done in exactly the right way, they are just going to feel like a big miss to me.

I like the costume art, but no one here can convince me that young Woody's face is good at all. Look at it.


Anyone know if Asmus is white or black? I don't know that a white writer would be comfortable / feel it's acceptable to play with some of the natural themes that come / came out of the nature of the title.


I'll definitely give it a few issues, but I'm not holding my breath.

[nscc]

I have read most of this thread and some of the CBR one... and.. wow.

Some people are way more passionate about creators rights than the creators seem to be sometimes.

I am in the "we should wait and see what Valiant or Priest actually announce before freaking out" line of thinking (which seems the only sensible way )

I am not sure if this has been linked anywhere yet and am too lazy to search through everything, but people have been referencing a Priest interview. The link was from Newsarama, but is now dead. Google found me the story re-posted on a forum, so if you want to read it is below.

http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ubbthreads.p ... ber=157896

----------

As far as the actual comic itself... I will give it a chance for 6-12 months like everything Valiant ends up putting out. Yes even if they released Trinity Angels I would read!!! I mean come on, don't we trust them to not screw it up yet?

Hopefully that old saying that any publicity is good publicity remains true. I want all of valiants new titles and projects to be great and successful, I am sure we all do. This way we can enjoy our favorites for years to come.

[BugsySig]

I have read most of this thread and some of the CBR one... and.. wow.

Some people are way more passionate about creators rights than the creators seem to be sometimes.

I am in the "we should wait and see what Valiant or Priest actually announce before freaking out" line of thinking (which seems the only sensible way )

I am not sure if this has been linked anywhere yet and am too lazy to search through everything, but people have been referencing a Priest interview. The link was from Newsarama, but is now dead. Google found me the story re-posted on a forum, so if you want to read it is below.

http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ubbthreads.p ... ber=157896

----------

As far as the actual comic itself... I will give it a chance for 6-12 months like everything Valiant ends up putting out. Yes even if they released Trinity Angels I would read!!! I mean come on, don't we trust them to not screw it up yet?

Hopefully that old saying that any publicity is good publicity remains true. I want all of valiants new titles and projects to be great and successful, I am sure we all do. This way we can enjoy our favorites for years to come.

Good find. That's the interview I remember.

Anyone notice the date? 2005...I was single, no kids, a recent college grad, working a dead end, $10/hour cubicle job... A lot of things change in 8 years...

[greg]

http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ubbthreads.p ... ber=157896

Anyone notice the date? 2005.

The date is very important.

At the time that article was written, VIP had just attempted to steal the trademarks for Valiant and Acclaim titles just before the Acclaim bankruptcy auction.

VIP believed they could blackmail the winner of the Acclaim auction into working with them because VIP truly believed they had stolen the trademarks under everyone's noses.

Notice in the article that VIP made Priest believe that any return to publishing would require VIP.
In other words, VIP fully understood that VIP had no claim at all to the characters or stories for Quantum & Woody.
VIP was trying to get the NAME "Quantum & Woody", but they would only have the name... not the characters, not the stories, not the images.
The only way VIP could benefit from the trademark would be to use it WITH the characters and stories of Quantum & Woody, which were being auctioned.

VIP's plan, from the beginning, was to blackmail the winner of the Acclaim auction into an agreement about the trademarks, which VIP didn't even have... they only APPLIED for them... they didn't have them.

At the time that article was written, VIP believed the winner of the Acclaim auction was John Taddeo.

The whole thing was a "power play" by VIP to appear legit. It didn't work.

Taddeo walked away from the Acclaim auction, and VIP never got the trademarks they were applying for... not even years later.

What this article DID tell us was that VIP was Dynamite.

“So now, a new entity, Valiant Intellectual Properties has approached Mark and me about this, and we’re working out the details as to how it might work. All I can really say beyond that about them is that they’re people that we’ve worked with before who’ve been big supporters of Quantum and Woody previously, so we’ve got the established relationship, and are anxious and excited to see what their plans might be, and are optimistic that we’ll be able to bring Quantum and Woody back, intact, as they originally existed.”

Only ONE company had an existing relationship with Quantum & Woody outside of Acclaim... Dynamic Forces.

Game. Set. Match. Thank you Mr. Priest!

[Chiclo]

What this article DID tell us was that VIP was Dynamite.

“So now, a new entity, Valiant Intellectual Properties has approached Mark and me about this, and we’re working out the details as to how it might work. All I can really say beyond that about them is that they’re people that we’ve worked with before who’ve been big supporters of Quantum and Woody previously, so we’ve got the established relationship, and are anxious and excited to see what their plans might be, and are optimistic that we’ll be able to bring Quantum and Woody back, intact, as they originally existed.”

Only ONE company had an existing relationship with Quantum & Woody outside of Acclaim... Dynamic Forces.

Game. Set. Match. Thank you Mr. Priest!

I don't remember seeing anything about Dynamic Forces during the time Q&W was published.

American Entertainment, on the other hand, weren't they more the publisher of Q&W 0 than Acclaim? Am I remembering something else here?

[greg]

What this article DID tell us was that VIP was Dynamite.

“So now, a new entity, Valiant Intellectual Properties has approached Mark and me about this, and we’re working out the details as to how it might work. All I can really say beyond that about them is that they’re people that we’ve worked with before who’ve been big supporters of Quantum and Woody previously, so we’ve got the established relationship, and are anxious and excited to see what their plans might be, and are optimistic that we’ll be able to bring Quantum and Woody back, intact, as they originally existed.”

Only ONE company had an existing relationship with Quantum & Woody outside of Acclaim... Dynamic Forces.

Game. Set. Match. Thank you Mr. Priest!

I don't remember seeing anything about Dynamic Forces during the time Q&W was published.

American Entertainment, on the other hand, weren't they more the publisher of Q&W 0 than Acclaim? Am I remembering something else here?

Two different Quantum & Woody signed copies of #1 sold with Dynamic Forces COA, plus the "limited edition" print sold both signed an unsigned.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/ ... Forces.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Basically, there were four Quantum & Woody items that made money for Dynamic Forces.

American Entertainment was a "comic upseller" ... making exclusive versions, or signed editions, of other publishers' books.
Q&W #0 was an "American Entertainment" exclusive, but Acclaim was always the only publisher of Q&W.
AE only had anything to do with #0, and AE was dead by 2005, so VIP couldn't have been AE.

No other companies had anything to do with Quantum & Woody.

VIP was Dynamite.

[MoonChild]

So DF became Dynamite? Sorry Im slowww

[greg]

So DF became Dynamite? Sorry Im slowww

Dynamic Forces
Dynamite Entertainment

Same company.

[betterthanezra]

Asmus is a white writer. After talking to him at length yesterday I think he does have a grasp of the characters. He absolutely gets the humor of what Priest was doing and his pitch is pretty cool. We will get a new origin and it will spread out over the first story arc. Was told that would be 4 issues. I;m sure we will get more info at the panel this evening.

-Brian

[MoonChild]

Deeeaamn! They thought they were gonna pull a fast one! HAHAHA. Bastaches! They Slowed down the relase of our books! Ill never be fan or buy from em. Glad I know.

[BugsySig]

Asmus is a white writer. After talking to him at length yesterday I think he does have a grasp of the characters. He absolutely gets the humor of what Priest was doing and his pitch is pretty cool. We will get a new origin and it will spread out over the first story arc. Was told that would be 4 issues. I;m sure we will get more info at the panel this evening.

-Brian

I think the assertion that a white writer wouldn't understand the racial dynamic that Priest was going for, is exactly the type of thing Priest would deride. Considering he spent most of his career trying not to be known as just "the black writer who writes black characters", I'd think he would preach color blindness as long as the characters and the dynamic were treated with respect. Just my opinion, though.

[400yrs]

Asmus is a white writer. After talking to him at length yesterday I think he does have a grasp of the characters. He absolutely gets the humor of what Priest was doing and his pitch is pretty cool. We will get a new origin and it will spread out over the first story arc. Was told that would be 4 issues. I;m sure we will get more info at the panel this evening.

-Brian

I think the assertion that a white writer wouldn't understand the racial dynamic that Priest was going for, is exactly the type of thing Priest would deride. Considering he spent most of his career trying not to be known as just "the black writer who writes black characters", I'd think he would preach color blindness as long as the characters and the dynamic were treated with respect. Just my opinion, though.

I agree with that, but the fact remains that there are some things a black writer can do that a white writer would be chastised for.