(techno music)
- Welcome, one and all, to another
episode of Super Suits, the show where we take a closer
look at the most famous legal battles in the history
of superheroes and comic books.
To truly appreciate this particular super suit,
I'm going to first need to give you all a little
refresher course on the life and times of one Jim Shooter.
Shooter is a comic book legend, who in 1966
began selling stories to DC Comics
at the tender age of 14.
No, seriously, I'm not joking.
What were you doing at 14?
By 1978, he succeeded Archie Goodwin to become
Marvel's ninth editor in chief.
During this period, publisher Stan Lee relocated
to Los Angeles to better oversee Marvel's animation,
television and film projects, leaving Shooter
largely in charge of the creative division at
Marvel's New York offices.
Marvel enjoyed some of its very best successes
during Shooter's nine-year tenure as editor in chief,
such as Chris Claremont and John Byrne's run
on the Uncanny X-Men, Frank Miller's Daredevil
and Walt Simonson's Thor, just to name a select few.
He also put an end to the chronic lateness
that had crippled Marvel Comics at that time.
Of course, very few people out there can say
they love their boss.
Well, I mean except for me doing this show
right now, he's great, he's awesome.
Even though Shooter was known for giving
great incentives for those who worked for him,
plenty of people felt he was a tyrant who ran
the bullpen with an iron fist.
It was perhaps because of this bad blood,
he was fired from Marvel in 1987.
Not that any of that slowed him down,
because by 1989, he helped found Valiant Comics,
which started out doing video game tie-ins,
but eventually grew to having their very own
stable of heroes, like X-O Manowar and Shadowman.
Sadly, he was yet again ousted from this company in 1992.
Yeah, if you couldn't already tell, Jim Shooter
is like the Charlie Brown of the comic industry.
Trust me, I'm not even halfway done this yet,
that was just the context you needed moving forward.
By 1992, Shooter and his associates founded
Defiant Comics, and I mean really, third time
has to be the charm, and why wouldn't it be.
They had a great series in mind, a real contender.
Their flagship book would be called Plasm.
The story of a living planet called the Org,
which must constantly be fed.
When the Org comes to earth, however, five
genetically modified humans are chosen to stop it.
Great premise, am I right?
There was going to be all kinds of merchandise,
action figures, lunch boxes, trading cards that
when you collected them all would actually make up
a special zero issue.
Yeah, this was the '90s and comics, after all,
that sorta stuff was par for the course.
There was only one tiny snag.
You see, Marvel UK, you'll all remember them
from my Hells Angels episode, if not
be sure to click the link right there.
You see, Marvel UK already had a character
named Plasmer, of course, she didn't have a book
at this time, just a copyright filed in the U.K.
as intended to use, but nothing else.
Marvel UK felt that the two names were far too
similar and would cause confusion,
so a lawsuit was filed.
If this all seems petty, it's because it totally was.
By the '90s, the comic industry was headed
for a crash, and a desperate Marvel UK was
looking for anything to help them stave off
debt for just a bit longer, even if that
meant becoming an actual Org and needing
to eat another comic company before it
even got its feet off the ground,
while also, for the rest of Marvel as a company,
to metaphorically flip the bird to their old boss man.
Now, obviously for these videos I try my best
to keep my own personal feelings out
and just report to you, the audience, the legal
facts as they were written, but it was really
transparent what Marvel UK was doing here.
They even went so far as to rush out a Plasmer book
just to strengthen their own legal case.
Shooter, in defiance, tried to play ball,
agreeing to change the name of the book
to Warriors of Plasm, but by this point, there
was no way around it.
In September 1993, Marvel struck and took
Defiant to court.
Legend even has it that the judge scolded
Marvel UK for their dirty tactics, comparing
them to Goliath in the David and Goliath story,
and while Defiant would ultimately
go on to win this case, they were still out
$300,000 in legal fees, and the court case
had tied up their merchandising deals,
which ended up falling through.
Defiant would end up going bankrupt as a result
of this suit.
And perhaps the saddest part of all is that
in the end none of this even helped Marvel UK.
They would close their doors not long after Defiant did.
Wow, this Super Suit video turned out to be
a real bummer, didn't it?
Zzzz, did not intend that one, especially so close
to Christmas time.
Yikes.
Oh, no, it's ok, I can save it.
I can totally save it.
Whatever became of Jim Shooter, you might
be asking yourself?
Well, at the age of 64 he's still very much
all about the comics.
You can even go read his blog, where he goes
into great detail about all his time spent
with the cape and cowl set.
It's a damn fine read, if you ask me,
and you should check it out some time.
That will just about do it for me for another
episode of Super Suits.
Thank you so much for watching.
Down in the comments section down below,
why don't you just sound off and tell me
what other cool lawsuits you'd like to see
me cover on the show.
If you want to learn a little bit more about
cool comic book creators, Scott's got
you covered with a ton of awesome educational videos.
Here's one he did about Stan Lee and the Marvel movies.
And if you still find yourself in a bit of
an MCU mood, then you can drop by
Caped-Joel, my own personal channel
where I reviewed season one of Jessica Jones.
I promise, if nothin' else, it should make ya smile.