Comic book rivals in court over ownership of three superheroes
A British comic book author has taken a rival to court in the US, claiming that he stole three characters that are now worth millions.

By Nick Allen in Los Angeles
Published, The Telegraph:15 Jun 2010

 Todd McFarlane and Neil Gaiman  Photo: AP

Neil Gaiman, once described as a "rock star" of the comic book world, claims Todd McFarlane, his former collaborator, owes him for a demon detective and two bikini-clad angels they created together for the classic comic series Spawn.

A boom in the comic book industry fuelled by a string of successful Hollywood movies and increased international distribution of toy figures, mean even minor comic book characters can now be worth huge sums.

Spawn was made into a successful, Emmy Award-winning animated television series in the late 1990s, and a 1997 Hollywood film with a cast including Martin Sheen. The film took in $87 million (£59 million) at the worldwide box office and a sequel is planned.

The hero is a CIA agent called Al Simmons, who is murdered by his boss but then makes a Faustian pact with a daemon so he can return to see his wife. He returns, disfigured and with magical powers, as Spawn.

Gaiman's lawyers, Allen Arntsen, said: "Our view is McFarlane just took some of the characters Neil was a co-creator of and just gave them different names. It's a matter of principle."

McFarlane, a 49-year-old Canadian artist who had previously illustrated Batman and The Incredible Hulk, became a star in the comic book world when he began drawing Spider-Man for Marvel Comics in the late 1980s.

Gaiman, also 49, is the creator of The Sandman, the best-selling graphic novels, and the award-winning fantasy novel American Gods.

McFarlane began drawing Spawn for a new comic book company, Image Comics, in 1992 and collaborated with Gaiman on early stories.
But in 2002, Gaiman sued McFarlane in a US federal court, arguing that he owned part of the copyright for several supporting characters – a daemon called Medieval Spawn, a red-haired angel called Angela, and Spawn's one-time ally Cogliostro, who had a prominent role in the Hollywood film.
A jury found in favour of Gaiman, and the last eight years have been spent establishing how much he is owed.
Gaiman now argues that he should also be credited for three more characters.

He says another daemon called Dark Ages Spawn, and the two angels in bikinis known as Tiffany and Domina, were also based on his ideas.
The complete story at The Telegraph.