Would You Want Indies to Use A Public Domain Superman? Others?

[Ascended]

If you're not familiar with the public domain, for our purposes it's a list of intellectual properties and characters that anyone can use, and includes notable names such as Santa Claus, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Zeus, Thor, Snow White, and Aladdin. And under current law, in a few years Steamboat Willie and then Action Comics #1 will enter the public domain as well, meaning that anybody will be able to use the original versions of Mickey Mouse and Superman.

So my hypothetical question is this; IF these characters do actually enter the public domain (and yes it's a big "if" just roll with me here) would you be interested in seeing Image/Dark Horse/IDW/whoever introduce their own Superman? Forget about the legal issues and reasons for this not to happen; just pretend that, somehow, those problems have been dealt with, Superman is available to everyone, and you now must contend with whether to use this or not. Would you be interested in the indies adapting their own version of Golden Age "leap tall buildings" Superman, or no?

Keep in mind, the Superman entering public domain bears little resemblance to what the character has become. No flight, no heat vision, no Lex Luthor or rogues gallery to speak of really, no Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen, or kryptonite. No parents even; originally Clark Kent grew up in an orphanage. All those classic elements will eventually reach the public domain as well, but only after reaching the current time limit of public domain law; meaning that something which debuted ten years after Superman will take ten years to enter public domain after him.

For an example of what comics can build on public domain, look at Marvel's Thor. Presumably the differences between an indie's Superman and DC's would be as stark as the differences between Marvel's Thor and the figure from Norse mythology. Other examples of public domain figures in comics include Grant Morrison's Klaus from BOOM! and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

So what do you think? Do you say "If I wanted to read about Superman I'd be a DC fan in the first place! Keep any version of him out of my comics!" or do you say "I already fan casted Jon Hamm as Superman for a Hellboy crossover movie!"

And if not Superman, then what about other characters? The year after Action Comics #1 enters public domain, Batman's first appearance will as well. Then Captain America, Wonder Woman, and so on. Would you be interested in versions of those characters under one of the indie publishers?

Posted the same question to the Marvel board too, in case that publisher is more appealing in this scenario.

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...uperman-Others

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Sure. Some takes like God's and Monsters would work better here.

Honestly I just see Public Domain Superman running the gambit from good to alright to bad to terrible. Which isn't that different from what we already have from DC.

[MajorHoy]

With the copyright/trademark renewals that DC has made over the years, I'm not sure if anybody will be to just publish their own "Superman" comic books / stories. It's not like with original Captain Marvel, where there was a long lapse in time where no new stories were published so Marvel Comics was able to grab the character's name and keep DC from using it for the title of a comic book / stories (resulting in DC eventually throwing in the towel and renaming that character "Shazam!").

[Ascended]

The legality of it all, and the odds of Disney/Warners not lobbying the hell out of Congress to extend the public domain deadline (again), are indeed really big damn hurdles to cross. In fact, if it happens it'll be setting legal precedent, I believe.

But that's not the point, my good Major. The point of this thread is whether you'd want another publisher to use Superman if he did end up in public domain.

And I agree with Mr. Kenway that a public domain Superman would run the range of quality, much like we already have from DC. I dont think the public domain would really result in overall better Superman stories, it'd just result in more variety.

[LordMikel]

If Superman went public domain. Everyone would jump and do a Superman comic. It wouldn't be a series, perhaps a mini at most. As someone said, some would be good, others junk. People would buy them cause of the interest, the hype, and curiosity. They would all be pretty forgettable though. I suspect at least three of them would kill him in the end.

Now Marvel (And McFarlane or Larsen) could do something more with him. Superman is a thrown out of his own dimension and finds himself in a new one. Depowered and not remembering much of his past, he realizes this new world is the world he must live in now. Granted anyone could do a storyline like that, but why? It would be interesting to see Superman relating to other established characters. Not brand new characters created for this new public domain Superman in a new world.

At the end of the day, I simply don't see it mattering. I don't think anyone is going to say, "Are you reading the Image Superman? So much better than the DC one."

[Ascended]

See, I *could* see someone saying "the Image Superman is way better than DC's!" I don't know if that would actually happen, but I can imagine it.

The Golden Age social crusader involved himself in normal people problems a lot more than the modern version, and Image doesn't have to protect the character's image the way DC thinks it does, so I can see a indie Superman that delves into territory Clark rarely enters these days, and reigniting the appeal of the original Golden Age guy. A lot of us Super fans say that the character doesn't stand for anything now, not like he used to, and the indies getting their hands on the OG version might be capable of doing what DC is too afraid to do.

Or not, I don't know how it'd play out.