When does a comic character cease to be his creator's creation?

[Tami]

I think there's a distinct difference between 'Creation' and 'Interpretation' . The person who originated the character will always be their Creator. But, once that character is placed in the hands of others, there can be numerous Interpretations of that character.

[MRP]

I guess my reply to that is to wave a copy of this...
Attachment 65082
...at Jack Kirby's ghost and ask him, "is this your thing?"

And those who did this should ask themselves what would we be working on if it weren't for Jack Kirby's creation? No Kirby creation, no Darkseid for them to use. So no matter how they use it, it's still Kirby's creation. Those who did that are standing on the shoulders of giants, and most creators acknowledge that. It's the suits and the fans who seem to forget it.

-M

[DrNewGod]

I think there's a distinct difference between 'Creation' and 'Interpretation' . The person who originated the character will always be their Creator. But, once that character is placed in the hands of others, there can be numerous Interpretations of that character.

This is the argument that shuts me up. I can buy it.

[DrNewGod]

He made it tremendous fun somehow while still be completely true to the character.

But Basil Rathbone must “run him close”. I suspect if I raise the issue at my Saturday morning coffee club meeting Basil will edge the popular vote.

I get a picture of your coffee club descending into a delightful fistfight. Seriously, if that's a sample of your topics, that sounds like an awesome group and I wish I could join.

[Joshua]

It never stops. It can be updated, retooled, rebooted, but no matter what you do to Batman, Superman, Spidey, FF, whoever, it's still the creation of those that put it on paper first.

[ed2962]

I guess my reply to that is to wave a copy of this...
Attachment 65082
...at Jack Kirby's ghost and ask him, "is this your thing?"

I imagine Jack would say, "Yeah, sure is! But that guy drew it weird though."

[ouroboros]

This. Never.

Things do get a little complicated, however, when an editor orders a prose-writer to create a character according to a rough set of standards. The Wiki article on the Spider credits editor Harry Steeger with the hero's creation, and I've seen it alleged that the first writer on the series, who only wrote the first two pulp-novels, essentially took elements from some earlier story or stories and dovetailed that into Steeger's requirements. Norvell Page then came in and ratcheted up the weirdness of the series, though that too wouldn't have happened without Steeger's OK.