This is the second part of at least three, probably) four. If you didn't read Part 1, read Part 1 first…
The current controversy over creator credits for the Marvel character Wolverine exists because the industry has always had a "thing" about creator credits. In the early days of comics, it wasn't a huge problem because the publishers kind of wanted their books to look like the strips that appeared in the newspapers. On the funny pages, Dick Tracy was inarguably "by Chester Gould" and Blondie was inarguably "by Chic Young," even if/when those two men employed assistants. Mutt & Jeff in the papers was "by Bud Fisher" even after Mr. Fisher had turned all the daily duties over to ghosts.
So in the then-new comic books, Superman was inarguably "by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster" and Batman was "by Bob Kane" even though both features were heavily assisted. Eventually though — maybe even around the time Jerry, Joe and Bob began asking for more money — most publishers got rid of creator credits. They were worried about having to pay more to someone whose name was linked to a popular feature. They were concerned about such a person demanding creative control or some say about the merchandising and exploitation of the property. They were frightened of a named "creator" being able to screw up or demand a chunk of the proceeds if the company and/or its intellectual property was sold…
…and they were especially panicked over the prospect of someone with a creator credit being able to make claims on the copyrights. Most of those creators were not legal employees but were regarded as pieceworkers and independent contractors. In some cases, their legal status vis-à-vis the publisher was kept vague, undefined and uncommitted to paper.
One of the dirty little secrets of the comic book business was — and this is largely past-tense — how little paperwork some publishers had to prove they owned what they claimed to own. You probably have more proof that you own your car than some putative owners of million-dollar comic book properties had at some point to prove they owned those properties.
Also in some cases, the guy who owned the company wanted himself listed as the creator of a hit property — for legal protection or maybe even just as a matter of ego.
Even as late as 1970 when Jack Kirby defected from Marvel to DC, he was unable to get a clause in his DC contract that said a new property created wholly by Jack Kirby would say "Created by Jack Kirby" on it. He was told they would never in a million/billion/zillion years ever allow that for anyone…but of course they eventually did. I got into comics in 1970 and heard even the great Mr. Kirby — who in hindsight, may have made his publishers more money than any other "independent contractor" ever in the field — told many, many things which could and would never be done for comic book writers or artists…
…but I can't think of one that they haven't since done. The business evolved to a point where creators got more rights and their names had value in selling the product. And also some of those properties became very, very valuable and the rights holders couldn't not share; not if they wished to attract the "name" talent that the customers were seeking.
But too many things were still kept ambiguous or explained not as contractual agreements but as "industry custom." There are properties that are obviously the creation of one person or one team. The books Jack Kirby created for DC in the seventies are a fine example…though even there, the gent who was then running DC tried occasionally to claim he was a (or even the) creator.
At one point, this exec claimed he was really the creator of Kamandi. I've said this before — even once under oath, I believe — but I worked on the first issue of Kamandi and I had more to do with it than that exec did. Still, I do not believe I am entitled to even a smidgen of creator credit on Kamandi. I had input and others had input but that comic book was created, right before my very eyes, by Mr. Jack Kirby.
One reason I feel this way is because I've worked in the television industry where a lot more money is riding on making this kind of determination. We'll be discussing how that works in the next part of this series.
TO READ THE NEXT PART IN THIS SERIES, CLICK HERE.