If you’ve been reading comics newssites recently, Marvel and DC are once again claiming trademark ownership of the term "super-hero." As I recall, this issue originally surfaced in the late seventies when Archie Comics put out their special Super-Hero Digests. The big guys yelled, "Cease and desist!" Okay, so Archie had always referred to their line in the sixties (Fly-Man, Black Hood, Shield, etc.) as "Ultra-Heroes," not "Super-Heroes." Or did they? Seen here is detail from a 1966 Transogram children’s board game called simply SUPER HEROES. Note that these are Archie heroes-Fly Man and Fly Girl, Black Hood, Mister Justice, Captain Flag, the Web, The Shield, the Fox, the Jaguar and Steel Sterling. How they settled on these particular characters for the board, I’ll never know. The Jaguar was from the early sixties and hadn’t even been published during the mid-sixties boom. The Comet would’ve rounded out the appearance of the popular MIGHTY CRUSADERS but he doesn’t appear. In his stead are three 1940’s characters who had only barely been revived in cameos in the nigh legendary Jerry Siegel tale "Too Many Super Heroes" (Hah! There’s that term again!) in MIGHTY CRUSADERS number four that same year. I don’t think there’s any actual lawsuits floating around on this issue and I certainly don’t claim any legal expertise. I know that a trademark gone unused for a certain period of time is considered abandoned and could conceivably be trademarked by others. Perhaps, since Archie hadn’t published hero comics for more than a decade, DC and Marvel’s lawyers felt justified in their legal maneuvering. I will say that at the very least it looks like a precedent to me for Archie to get in on the action!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Found on BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY
Archie Super Heroes GameIf you’ve been reading comics newssites recently, Marvel and DC are once again claiming trademark ownership of the term "super-hero." As I recall, this issue originally surfaced in the late seventies when Archie Comics put out their special Super-Hero Digests. The big guys yelled, "Cease and desist!" Okay, so Archie had always referred to their line in the sixties (Fly-Man, Black Hood, Shield, etc.) as "Ultra-Heroes," not "Super-Heroes." Or did they? Seen here is detail from a 1966 Transogram children’s board game called simply SUPER HEROES. Note that these are Archie heroes-Fly Man and Fly Girl, Black Hood, Mister Justice, Captain Flag, the Web, The Shield, the Fox, the Jaguar and Steel Sterling. How they settled on these particular characters for the board, I’ll never know. The Jaguar was from the early sixties and hadn’t even been published during the mid-sixties boom. The Comet would’ve rounded out the appearance of the popular MIGHTY CRUSADERS but he doesn’t appear. In his stead are three 1940’s characters who had only barely been revived in cameos in the nigh legendary Jerry Siegel tale "Too Many Super Heroes" (Hah! There’s that term again!) in MIGHTY CRUSADERS number four that same year. I don’t think there’s any actual lawsuits floating around on this issue and I certainly don’t claim any legal expertise. I know that a trademark gone unused for a certain period of time is considered abandoned and could conceivably be trademarked by others. Perhaps, since Archie hadn’t published hero comics for more than a decade, DC and Marvel’s lawyers felt justified in their legal maneuvering. I will say that at the very least it looks like a precedent to me for Archie to get in on the action!
If you’ve been reading comics newssites recently, Marvel and DC are once again claiming trademark ownership of the term "super-hero." As I recall, this issue originally surfaced in the late seventies when Archie Comics put out their special Super-Hero Digests. The big guys yelled, "Cease and desist!" Okay, so Archie had always referred to their line in the sixties (Fly-Man, Black Hood, Shield, etc.) as "Ultra-Heroes," not "Super-Heroes." Or did they? Seen here is detail from a 1966 Transogram children’s board game called simply SUPER HEROES. Note that these are Archie heroes-Fly Man and Fly Girl, Black Hood, Mister Justice, Captain Flag, the Web, The Shield, the Fox, the Jaguar and Steel Sterling. How they settled on these particular characters for the board, I’ll never know. The Jaguar was from the early sixties and hadn’t even been published during the mid-sixties boom. The Comet would’ve rounded out the appearance of the popular MIGHTY CRUSADERS but he doesn’t appear. In his stead are three 1940’s characters who had only barely been revived in cameos in the nigh legendary Jerry Siegel tale "Too Many Super Heroes" (Hah! There’s that term again!) in MIGHTY CRUSADERS number four that same year. I don’t think there’s any actual lawsuits floating around on this issue and I certainly don’t claim any legal expertise. I know that a trademark gone unused for a certain period of time is considered abandoned and could conceivably be trademarked by others. Perhaps, since Archie hadn’t published hero comics for more than a decade, DC and Marvel’s lawyers felt justified in their legal maneuvering. I will say that at the very least it looks like a precedent to me for Archie to get in on the action!
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5 comments:
Rik! What's happened to the Mighty Crusaders website and message board? I miss it! :-(
hello?
Rik, since i left my last comment here, the Mighty Crusaders board has been back online, and now it is back offline again.
This tells me two things. 1) you don't check this blog anymore.
2) there's no point relying on mightycrusaders.net as a hub for fans of the "red circle" characters.
I really really think you need to make sure the forums have a minimal of downtime, this is incredibly important now that the characters are back in print for the first time in 15 years. No disrespect intended towards you but it's a good website and works well, but only when it's online!
Here's hoping you read this. All the best, Calum.
well, it turns out my employer has blocked the mighty crusaders website, but without the usual "this is inappropriate" message, so that's why i can't get there these days. Oh well...
Marvel and DC by no means have a trademark on "super hero(es)." They merely have the billions of dollars of Disney and Time-Warner that allow them to make legal threats and smaller fish like Archie aren't going to waste millions of dollars fighting it out in court so they just gave. It would be great is some wealthy third party made Marvel and DC make good on their threats and proved in a court of law that they do not have a valid trademark and a term that has been used in the public domain for decades.
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