Thursday, April 30, 2015

So, Who Would Win?: The Masters Of Evil VS. The Legion Of Doom

TGIT!!!!!

Gotta' get this out of the way first, and speak a little on this.
In case you didn't already know, legendary comic creator Gerry Conway added his name in a long list of comic creators screwed over by the big two, Marvel and DC.





















Well this time, this one's on DC.

He recently wrote on his blog about the strange case of Caitlin Snow, the alter-ego of his creation, the DC supervillain, Killer Frost, and how thanks to DC's legal mumbo-jumbo double speak, apparently no one created her.

Yeah that's right. According to DC, she just poofed on the page like the imacculate conception.

I included the full blog posting in the link, but you get the gist of it.
In order to get out of paying Conway his richly deserved creator royalty check, Killer Frost has been deemed a "derivative character", meaning since she's related to another already created and DC-owned creation, Conway doesn't have any legal rights to or is deserving of any profits off any licensing of said Killer Frost.

It seems that DC has now made it very hard and time-consuming for creators to recieve royalites off their creations. Its now the expressed responsibility of the creator to track down and formally submit in writing every character they ever made if they want monetary compensation from any merchansing of their likenesses.

This is pretty done on purpose so that the creators will get so frustrated and overwhelmed by the whole process and tracking down who and what, that they just give up and say fuck it.
And to someone like Conway, who estimated to have created at least over 500 characters in all the years he worked at DC, specifically the years 1969-1985, you can image what fucking hassle that's got to be.

Sigh.

















Does the bullshit ever stop with these people!?
Seriously, does it really cost a company/corporation like Marvel or DC, that much money to pay a mere pitance to a creator when they rake in millions and billions worldwide of merchandise and box office movies?
Surelt not, but I'll be damned if like that miserly Uncle Scrooge McDuck, they don't try and keep every penny of those millions and billions.

I'm sure dirty, underhanded shit like this must be all sorts of attractive to current and future creators who dream about bringing their own creations to either of the big two when bullshit like this happens, or is waiting to happen to them.

Goo and I have talked about this before, but shit lik this is exaclty why you do see more true "derivatitve" comic chacaters at Marvel and DC. After all, why risk losing the rights and future royalties when you can just play it safe and ape off existing comic creations, and make a She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Red Hulk, Superboy, Supergirl, etc. instead.

Shit like this is why the indies and self-publishing look more and more attractive as an alternative when at least you konw sink or swim, at the end of the day, you own your creations rather than a megamanical corporation.

Well they ever learn?
Probably not since superhero movies are all the rage nowadays. Their beyond huge success at the box office will just further cement how right these corporations are in using the law to screw others out of thier money.

Alright kiddies, last post of the month, and as well as the last So, Who Would Win? fantasy battle.
For this week's edition, I wanted to pit two of the best supergroups of evil from their respective universes against each other.

Namely......

Marvel Comics' Masters Of Evil versus DC Comics' Legion Of Doom.


































Apparently I'm not the first person to consider this match-up as I dscovered while gathering images representing both sides.

Here's one blog's take on the fight, complete with some pretty solid analysis:
http://comicartcommunity.com/2012/07/masters-of-evil-vs-legion-of-doom/

I'll let you guys read it all for yourself, but I definitely agree in who should be the leaders of these teams, if not all of the members.

Baron Zemo should lead the Masters, and Lex Luthor should definitely lead the Legion.


Beyond that, it's kind of a toss-up of popular opininon on who makes the cut on either roster.
Well for the sake of this match-up, I decided to go all in and play the numbers game and unleash the large roster of villains that suits the purpose of these groups forming in the first place.

So, for the Master of Evil side, I'm using the Baron Zemo-led, "Under Siege" era Masters and pitting them against the classic Luthor-led Legion of Doom roster we all know and love.

So,

The Masters Of Evil





VS.

The Legion Of Doom




Who Wins and Why?
You guys know you wanna' weigh in on this one:)


5 comments:

Shlomo Ben Hungstien said...

honestly Dale, you see anything here worth getting excited for, even for free?
http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/981

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

I'll post the pics Monday, but since I was only allowed 3 at one store,and two at another, I picked up The Savage Dragon Legacy one, Secret Wars of course, Bloodshot Reborn#1(Dan would not be pleased with me I didn't;) 2000AD. Fight Club 2, and a Transformers one for my nephew.

What about you? Grab any?

IADW said...

Divergence on FCBD ruled! Valiant's was cool too. Secret Wars was a bit limp but hey what Marvel book isn't at the moment (ba-dom dom pish!)

Re Gerry Conway, I can't believe DC are trying the same gig with Power Girl?! How can a character who co-headlined World's Finest, Infinite Crisis and her own Amanda Conner drawn book be a secondary character still. Crazy sons of a lunatic.

Anyways on to the topic at hand, this post really highlights I' think how unappreciated Marvel's B villians are. Radioactive Man, Abomination (yes he's Hulk's #1 but he still gets treated like a B), the original Black Knight and the Melter - who I still think is awesome based on my first Captain America comic.

That said, the Alex Ross piece still shows there is no competition. Sinestro alone could outwit Zemo and take most of his allies. Add in Grodd, Bizarro and Giganta (because that's always a cool visual) and its game over.

Still Black Adam, Joker, Metallo and Black Manta can wait on the sides.

Shlomo Ben Hungstien said...

didn't go to a comic shop this weekend, i got my fill of cheap back issue boxes a couple weeks ago at the San Jose Comic-Con. and like i said before free comic book day hasn't had anything worth bothering with even for free for years now and this year didn't look any different to me.

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

Ooooh, and he scores.....with the limp dick joke.
The Secret Wars preview was a waste, but nowhere near as bad as the "All-New" Avengers. More like Kid/Young Avengers. Ugh.
Tha being said, I'm hyped for SW, as I'm hoping the tie-ins and minis mean more in the long and short run than the Convergence ones have.

The only thing, and I stress only thing, I liked about Divergence was the teaser to the Anti-Monitor/Darkseid war. Johns is establishing that "Mobius" used to seat in Metron's chair, and now no longer wants to be type cast as a multiverse killer? Go on....

Poor Gerry yeah. And not just him, but countless other industry vets and, current and rising stars. It affects all of them in the long run.

PG, as much as we all like her, realy is a secondary character. We can agree to disagree, but history and past and current sales hold that view to be fact. As much as creators try, and they shouldn't ever stop trying, PG and the girls won't really move past second tier....unless something super crazy happens to help elevate her.

I definitely agree w/your assessment on the fight though. despite the reps as jpokes from thge cartoons, the Legion is no joke on the battlefield. I guess I can see luthor and Sinestro outsmart Zemo, especially since Zemo's the only true battlefield genius general on his team. The rest aren't exactly visionaries.

I guess this is one time the Legion can also be called the True Masters of Evil.

But damn it'd be a hell of a fight though.

@Shlomo: Really? Nothing? I'll admit outside of the usual suspects, it wasn't as diverse as last year. That being said, I grabbed a Bloodshot, 2000AD, and Savage Dragon for my indy choices though.
Probably should've picked up yhr Valiant 25th anniversary primer though. Forgive me Dan?;)

"Closing time. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here."

Well..... I kinda always knew this day would come, and it sure has. It's been a hell of a ride, but it's time to for it end. Ti...