Marvel is a supporter of SOPA, the censorship law masquerading as concern for creators who supposedly are losing wages to a nebulous, poorly defined definition of piracy. One needn't look far to see that the big two publishers built their empires on the art of stiffing creators, exploiting their work with a ferocity only matched in its ruthlessness by their refusal to compensate them. It wasn't the fault of pirates that Superman's creators died penniless. And it's not the fault of pirates that Ghost Rider's creator is desperate even as another terrible looking movie is set to be released. The problem with the piracy debates is the implied trust in companies like Marvel that they don't intend to bleed their creators dry, when in fact they are very much in the business of doing just that.

Daniel Best (via The Beat) has an excellent summary of the tragedy of Gary Friedrich's legal pummeling by Marvel:

"As per the courts instructions Friedrich has to account for any and all money that he has received, “…relating to the gross and net amount derived from Plaintiffs’ sale of goods bearing the Ghost Rider image, likeness, or Marvel trademark.” This means that Friedrich has to account for every cent each and every time he sold a print at a convention or any other item to anyone, that has the Ghost Rider image or name on it, and he has to account to all of the defendants in the case, and there’s quite a few of those, including, but not limited to, Marvel Defendants, Movie Defendants, Hasbro, Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. If the defendants don’t like, or don’t agree with, the numbers that Friedrich supplies then they can, and probably will, ask for a deposition whereby they can question him, under oath. It was no secret that Friedrich commissioned artists such as Herb Trimpe, Arthur Suydam and others to draw Ghost Rider images which were then sold as prints over the years. If you bought one thinking you were helping Gary, well, that cash will most likely end up in Marvels pockets. This amount will be factored into any damages that the defendants can claim from Friedrich, all of which will be bundled up neatly into a final judgement so the case can then proceed to the appeal stage."

There are many reasons why so few memorable, lasting characters are created in comics anymore. There's the fanboy syndrome, in which many creators who grew up loving certain characters are relishing the realization of their lifelong dream to play with the characters that they loved growing up. There's the general decay of creativity that comes with a glutted marketplace, and a lack of quality control brought about by a fratocracy. And underlying that is the very justifiable fear that creating a cash cow for either of the big two will gain you nothing but priority at the top of a corporate litigation hit list, and bring the wrath of Disney to your door. So while Marvel is clearly loyal to a small group of creators with an ever-growing list of titles, and DC rewards creators who cannot sustain sales on a single title with THREE titles, that shouldn't suggest loyalty. If you want to know how you'll be rewarded for a creation that makes your publisher billions, you need only look to Jerry Siegel, Jack Kirby, and Gary Friedrich to see how the big two reward creativity.

Marvel continues to be the only comics publisher listed as a supporter of the nasty piece of legislation known as SOPA, co-authored by the biggest names in music and film and being rammed through by a remarkably zealous congress. It's been very well documented how the bill can't serve its intended purpose of obstructing online piracy, though it will, as written, create a chilling effect on the internet, remove due process and empower nongovenermental agencies and corporations with unreasonable power, and set the stage for all manner of censorship that have nothing to do with copyright whatsoever.

It is an ugly little thing, the bastard child of a greedy and out-of-touch entertainment industry and admittedly - proudly, even - ignorant congress acting at the behest of lobbyists and cronies. As outraged citizens begin to take action, in the face of complete silence on the issue in the mainstream media and the threat of losing their vehicle of expression - the free internet - should SOPA pass, the list of supporters is becoming a list of targets, GoDaddy, the internet domain registrar, was the first, and to date, hardest hit. They went from supporting the bill to not supporting the bill, to being against it, in a matter of days.

Poor GoDaddy. As the anti-SOPA movement tries to agree on who to go after next, people continue taking swipes at the internet giant despite the fact that its the sole corporation to acquiesce to demands that it change its stance. It's time to move on!

Marvel's support of SOPA is particularly unforgivable given how active its staff and freelancers are in the realm of social media - they promote themselves on Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter and Google Plus while pushing for a world in which user driven communities would be all but outlawed. And their silence on the matter, their refusal to comment and their shuttering of Marvel.com forum threads on the matter, is a grim portent of things to come. SOPA, after all, gives Marvel the right to shut down ANY site that discusses matters they don't want discussed, extending their reach far from Marvel.com and all the way to your domain registrar who had best shut you down once given notice if they want immunity from eventual prosecution.

Yes, SOPA is that insane.

Marvel needs to get off that list.

Thwipster, together with Graphic Policy, have launched Dear Marvel, where you can read more about it and sign a petition. In the meantime, they  won't be ordering from Marvel for the immediate future.

Quick Update: People are wondering why we’re asking people to boycott Marvel while we continue to sell Marvel products ourselves. Well, it’s because we’re not asking people to boycott. Boycotting is something we feel that’s a personal decision and we’re not asking anyone to do that.

On that note, because we so strongly oppose SOPA, we’re stopping any further ordering of Marvel products. Please keep in mind you’ll still see us selling a few Marvel products as we pre-order months in advance and need to sell the things coming in otherwise we’ll wind up penniless.

It's nice to see the comics community and fandom take action on this very important issue. It's our moment to stand for something, and Marvel's chance to do the right thing and be heroes. Continued support of SOPA and refusal to so much as discuss it is revolting and frankly I expect better. But until Marvel steps up to the plate, it's nice to see Thwipster and Graphic Policy are pushing forward, and you can let your voice be heard at Dear Marvel.

Event fatigue - you love it in comics, and now it's coming to your local bookstore, and, I guess, exclusively to the Barnes and Noble Nook!

I'm actually a pretty big fan of many comics novelizations, so I'm sort of hopeful about Marvel's announcement that they'll be adapting Civil War as a prose novel, particularly with the excellent Stuart Moore writing. It's the emphasis on events that has me a little iffy. I don't know if we really need a Shadowland novel, or Spider-Island for that matter. Check out the press release below, and let me know if you'll be on board for the Marvel prose books!

New York, NY—December 20th, 2011 — The world’s most popular super heroes can be found in the pages of Marvel Comics every week, but now their greatest stories are set to conquer the world of prose fiction! Launching in June 2012 with the adaptation of CIVIL WAR, Marvel will release its most popular stories of all time as prose novels.

It all begins in CIVIL WAR, adapted by author Stuart Moore (Wolverine), with the story that irrevocably altered the Marvel Universe and redefined comic books for an entire generation. In the wake of a tragedy, Capitol Hill proposes the Superhuman Registration Act, requiring all costumed heroes to unmask themselves before the government. Divided, the nation’s greatest champions must each decide how to react — but will you side with Iron Man or Captain America? And just which heroes will pay the ultimate price?

"Releasing our most acclaimed graphic novels as prose fiction not only allows us to reach a different audience with these stories, but also gives us a chance to bring those readers back to the comics that started it all," said David Gabriel, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marvel Entertainment. "CIVIL WAR is easily our best-selling graphic novel of the past decade and certainly one of the most influential in recent memory, so it was the perfect launch title for this new line. Not only will you get all the action that Mark Millar and Steve McNiven delivered in comic form but no fan will want to miss the new wrinkles we’ve added in this novel."

The Onion always does great pieces about comics topics. I still remember how very on the nose their video piece on the audience reaction to Green Lantern proved to be. They're at it again, with a very funny piece that, while we all know and love our families, should ring true to many of us.

Area Man Has Far Greater Knowledge Of Marvel Universe Than Own Family Tree

LA CROSSE, WI—Returning to his hometown to attend a cousin's wedding Saturday, Josh Sundling, 29, reportedly demonstrated on numerous occasions a vast, far more intricate understanding of the fictional Marvel Comics Universe than of his own family's genealogy.

..."We're from Sweden or Norway or somewhere around there," said Sundling, who when prompted can accurately detail the origins of each cartoon member of the X-Men, the Avengers, the Defenders, and the Squadron Supreme. "I don't know for sure. I never really asked about it."

When he goes on to namecheck former Alpha Flight member Diamond Lil, I wince with embarrassment, whether for him or myself it's not entirely clear.

You can read the whole piece here.

It's been a bad week at Marvel for anyone who's origins involve Wolverine's genetic material (ick).Following in the footsteps of his sorta-sister X-23, Daken has been shown the door, as Marvel has confirmed that the series will end with February's issue #21,

I give Wolverine: The Best There Is a week, tops. What do you think? Any takers?

When I reported that X-23 was being canceled at Marvel, I and many of my peers noted that the title was the only monthly from the House of Mouse that was fronted by a female. We'd all forgotten about the recently relaunched Ghost Rider, in which for reasons that sort of had to do with Fear Itself, the mantle of the Spirit of Vengeance was passed to a woman.

The fact that every single comics news source forgot about her didn't bode terribly well for the new Ghost Rider, and sure enough the book has been given the boot. That makes 50% of the character participating in the upcoming Venom Event who will have had their titles canceled.

50% so far...

X-23, Wolverine's clone and as of this writing the only female headlining a solo title at Marvel, has had her series canceled. This is the latest in a long run of cancellations from Marvel, including miniseries Victor Von Doom, Destroyers, Alpha Flight, and All-Winners Squad. X-23 is the first of these to have been an ongoing series, though it's not likely to be the last as Marvel looks to cut costs and boost sales by trimming titles.

Destroyers, a five-issue miniseries written by Fred Van Lente with art from Kyle Hotz (The Hood), has been canceled, the latest victim in Marvel's apparent war on minis.

Marvel recently Nick Spencer and Becky Cloonan's Victor Von Doom a week before it was set to debut, and Alpha Flight got the axe just days after Marvel announced that it was upgraded from a miniseries to an ongoing title. All Winner's Squad was a loser; the metatextual World War II tale had the unique distinction of being cancelled halfway through it's run.

What's the deal with Marvel and minis?

It's not hard to guess. Marvel, the sales leader in the direct market since forever, has fallen way behind DC for two months in a row, and it has been flooding the market with superfluous titles since - well, since forever. I would have looked to a few of the really awful ongoing series that have no reason to exist like Wolverine: The Best There Is to trim the fat, but sadly Marvel has instead canceled what looked like a promising premise: a five-issue series pairing modern monstrous heroes like The Thing, She-Hulk and The Beast with the Golden Age hero The Destroyer.

That makes three Van Lente projects in recent weeks that are ceasing publication, with this month's Van Lente/Pak written Herc ending this month with issue #10.

Marvel Comics has announced that they are going to make all of their digital comics offerings available in both formats - at retailers and via the Marvel Comics app - on the date of their release. The initiative will begin with the release of the upcoming Avenging Spider-Man #1, and roll out the rest of their releases on a staggered schedule, timed to coincide with the launch of new story lines and line-wide events.

A little over two months ago, Brian Michael Bendis and others at Marvel publicly condemned rival publisher DC, accusing them of effectively putting the final nail in the Direct Market coffin with the announcement that they would be offering their 'New 52' titles day-and-date digitally. At the time, Marvel was just beginning to emerge from a bafflingly backwards strategy aimed at postponing the transition to digital and placating retailers.

For a time, there was a mandate that no Marvel title would be released digitally until at least six months after it went to retail, and in 2010 the publisher released just a single title in both formats on the same date - Invincible Iron Man Annual #1, making the bizarre decision to charge more for the digital version, a decision that many concluded was designed to fail, and to prove that day-and-date simply couldn't work.

In any case, the future marches forward, and day-and-date is now a reality from both of the 'Big Two' publishers. Marvel will be offering free digital codes in copies of several of their titles as the day-and-date initiative rolls out, in the hopes of simultaneously spreading the word about the program and keeping customers buying physical copies at their local comic stores.