A long discussion over on The Beat about the ethics of carrying Before Watchmen.
Alan Moore feels that he was screwed by DC with his original contract, and has been very vocal about DC using the characters that he invented to make money. Especially, The Watchmen. He had his name removed from the movie, for instance.
So there are a few comic shops that are actually refusing to carry the title.
There is also the long history of both DC and Marvel more or less leaving the creators of their money-making titles out of the financial loop. Jack Kirby, being the prime example -- a co-creator with Stan Lee on most of the major characters. (Especially pertinent right now, The Avengers.)
As a retailer, I have to make decisions all the time about what to carry and what not to carry. Certainly, if I believe a comic company has acted badly, it weighs into my decision.
But if were to try to cut every title where the creator was treated unfairly, I wouldn't have a store. Going all the way back the Siegel and Shuster, the creators of Superman, and then on to Jack Kirby, and then Alan Moore. But really, if you get right down to it, just about every company character ever created has made money for the corporations that was not shared with the creators. They signed work for hire contracts, but more to the point probably never expected that one day, a Billion Dollar Movie would be made of the Avengers. A lowly comic book.
I also feel an obligation to my customers. It isn't up to me to make the buying decisions for them. Sure, when I make choices of what to carry and what not to carry, I'm making that decision -- but in the case of a major title, something that will be sold just about everywhere and which will be in the media, it would be a pretty arbitrary decision for me not to carry the product.
I feel badly for Alan Moore, but don't feel that I can decide not to carry what might be one of the most significant events of the year.
Alan Moore feels that he was screwed by DC with his original contract, and has been very vocal about DC using the characters that he invented to make money. Especially, The Watchmen. He had his name removed from the movie, for instance.
So there are a few comic shops that are actually refusing to carry the title.
There is also the long history of both DC and Marvel more or less leaving the creators of their money-making titles out of the financial loop. Jack Kirby, being the prime example -- a co-creator with Stan Lee on most of the major characters. (Especially pertinent right now, The Avengers.)
As a retailer, I have to make decisions all the time about what to carry and what not to carry. Certainly, if I believe a comic company has acted badly, it weighs into my decision.
But if were to try to cut every title where the creator was treated unfairly, I wouldn't have a store. Going all the way back the Siegel and Shuster, the creators of Superman, and then on to Jack Kirby, and then Alan Moore. But really, if you get right down to it, just about every company character ever created has made money for the corporations that was not shared with the creators. They signed work for hire contracts, but more to the point probably never expected that one day, a Billion Dollar Movie would be made of the Avengers. A lowly comic book.
I also feel an obligation to my customers. It isn't up to me to make the buying decisions for them. Sure, when I make choices of what to carry and what not to carry, I'm making that decision -- but in the case of a major title, something that will be sold just about everywhere and which will be in the media, it would be a pretty arbitrary decision for me not to carry the product.
I feel badly for Alan Moore, but don't feel that I can decide not to carry what might be one of the most significant events of the year.