Skip to main content

REACTION AND ACTION-->Blank Panther?: Jack Kirby, Blackness and the American Dream

Blank Panther?: Jack Kirby, Blackness and the American Dream


The recent decision against the Kirby estate was not unexpected. The rules governing copyright are in some minds, regressive and suppress creativity. Fairness aside, should we allow a corporation to own the fruits of creative labor forever? It is a question worth asking. If the creator can never get their creation back, should they create? It is an argument that this decision is not going to do anything to solve. Regardless, the significant of Kirby's work remains despite the owner. Back in February, when I was reflecting on Black Panther and Kirby for Black History Month, it was impossible to escape the significant of Kirby's vision and the continuing power his work has shaping modern comics. Dynamite Entertainment's recent publication of Kirby: Genesis means that Kirby family will benefit from Jack Kirby genius in very real way in the coming months and years. The bitter feelings from this decision cannot deny Kirby's importance, but it does serve to once again highlight questions about corporate power and individual rights. Faced with the choice of making a living through a creative endeavor as an employee of a "big business" or going it alone and risking not every achieving the dream, many people sign on to create for a "DISNEY" or some other media giant. If the creation is successful, they are forever struggling to get their "fair share" of the profit. This is at the heart of every confrontation between writers, directors, and producers in past labor negotiations over the last five years. This struggle will continue as the digital revolution requires content for myriad platforms. The irony is that while the Kirby estate may have loss the battle, the war between creators and owners of the system is not going away. If anything, Kirby's loss will heighten awareness among creators that they must be aware of their rights. With the emergence of digital opening the door for more and more creators, Kirby's greatest legacy make be to remind creators to safeguard their creations.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mythology and Superheroes in Comics

Ohhh my goodness... When I decided on trying to analyze the mythological origins and references in superhero comics, I had no idea the can of worms I was opening up... On the one hand, it was awesome to see just how many connections there were between superheroes and psychology/mythology/philosophy, but all the information also made it terribly difficult to distinguish what I should be using and how to tie it all together. When I was talking to one of my sorority sisters about it she said, "Oh yeah, well, research essays are kind of like putting together puzzles..." and I think that really sums up what writing this paper was like for me. Fortunately, I was really interested throughout the whole process and I very much enjoyed writing the paper. Being a psychology major, I was especially interested in reading about the Jungian archetypes that had a lot of parallels with major modern comic books superheroes. I was also able to incorporate Joseph Campbell's "hero cycle...
2 comments
Read more

Why blame comics for societal failure?

Why blame comics for societal failure? Society blamed comics for the societal failures because it was a fairly new industry, and as things seemed to go “wrong” they figured it must be comic books. When a child grew up during the war, his father was probably killing people and the military and his mother was probably making things in factories to help kill the opposition. The only things kids had to “babysit” them was comic books, and they read many different kinds. So when kids starting acting differently in this new generation the figured it must be the comic books. Society didn’t want to believe it may have been the internal and external scars war causes on the soldiers and their families. Also the fact that young unattended children are reading these comics may not be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. When society fails it always needs a scapegoat then it was comic books next it was rock and roll. Society naturally resist change.
2 comments
Read more

#FUTURES: Tomorrow Idris Elba will be the Last Man Standing

There is some bad buzz around Pacific Rim on the web. I suspect the possibility of a giant robot movie being awesome is too much for some people.  The internet is full of dark corners, but until we see the movie we won't know the box office.  What we can tell right now is that Idris Elba is doing his part to make the movie a success. A standout performer, Elba has made a name for himself in countless productions .  He achieve wide recognition for his turn on the big screen in films such as Thor and on the small screen in the BBC's Luther . Of course, the open question about actors of color in any film is whether not they will help or hurt the box office.  Will Smith recent disappointment with After Earth opens the door for this conversation. His lack of success sparks the question who will be the next "bankable" star of color. There can be only one! See what I did there:-)  These sentiments reflect a Hollywood centric approach that ignores Nolly...
Post a Comment
Read more