tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post8492402992388582816..comments2022-03-24T20:43:32.188+00:00Comments on Pádraig Ó Méalóid: Gladiator Vs SupermanPádraig Ó Méalóidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04280061646576271412noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-82829910687381607272012-05-07T23:14:29.806+01:002012-05-07T23:14:29.806+01:00According to this page, in December 1932 "Jer...According to <a href="http://www.supermanartists.comics.org/dchistory/dchistory-1.htm" rel="nofollow">this</a> page, in December 1932 "<i>Jerry Siegel publishes the second issue of Science Fiction. Contrary to rumors circulating to this day it does not contain a review of Phillip Wylie's Gladiator. This was verified by Jerry Weist who went through Forrest Ackerman's complete collection of Siegel's fanzines and found nary a mention of Wylie anywhere</i>."Pádraig Ó Méalóidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04280061646576271412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-46276588300147774802009-12-01T16:02:09.483+00:002009-12-01T16:02:09.483+00:00This is excellent. Great work!
I have a difficul...This is excellent. Great work! <br /><br />I have a difficult time believing sci-fi fanatic Jerry Siegel *didn't* read Gladiator but it would be nice to get some of this cleared up.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486313661503046145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-56136236027667866032009-11-26T23:04:47.151+00:002009-11-26T23:04:47.151+00:00Yes, that'd be great. Thanks very much.Yes, that'd be great. Thanks very much.Pádraig Ó Méalóidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04280061646576271412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-35958411962040361302009-11-26T22:06:03.272+00:002009-11-26T22:06:03.272+00:00I'm away from home for the next few days, but ...I'm away from home for the next few days, but if you like I can dig up the exact dates and such when I get back (and provide a link to the US Patent & Trademark Office records online where the copyright renewal records for that year can be found, and in which Gladiator is conspicuously absent).Chris Robersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04033873794552060524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-66283750285826766782009-11-26T19:11:40.036+00:002009-11-26T19:11:40.036+00:00I'm looking at the Bison edition now, and you&...I'm looking at the Bison edition now, and you're completely right about the copyright notification, Chris. And, despite having bought it and read it, I managed to completely forget about Chaykin's adaptation, which I had originally intended to include in my piece about Gladiator. I do recall being surprised about Legend, as there was no mention of Gladiator on the covers after the first two issues. If the book was out of copyright, that would perfectly explain all that. I may have to go back and rewrite a chunk of this!Pádraig Ó Méalóidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04280061646576271412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-59387278410453883732009-11-26T18:07:24.742+00:002009-11-26T18:07:24.742+00:00It's a minor point, but regarding the copyrigh...It's a minor point, but regarding the copyright situation with Gladiator, the real situation is that the original novel *was* copyrighted when it was released, but under the then-prevailing copyright law it needed to be renewed some decades later in order to remain active. I'm away from home and don't have the exact dates, but a check of the US Patent & Trademark Offices online files shows the novel *wasn't renewed when the original copyright expired, and as a result it lapsed into the public domain (in the early sixties, if I recall correctly, but don't quote me on that). Wylie's other work *was* renewed in previous and subsequent years, and so the rest of it remains under copyright, but in that particular renewal year someone was asleep at the switch. The Bison Books edition you mention above was actually a beneficiary of the book's public domain status, as the only thing copyrighted in that edition's indicia page is the new introduction.<br /><br />Curiously, though, when Chaykin did his adaption of Gladiator for DC some years ago, they changed the title to "Legend" (presumably so that they could copyright their own derivative version).Chris Robersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04033873794552060524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-68111089516768790882009-11-26T11:35:34.560+00:002009-11-26T11:35:34.560+00:00The big difference of course is that while the cha...The big difference of course is that while the character in Gladiator is a GM baby, Kal-El is an alien. In that sense, he's no different to John Carter, say - just stronger because he's on a different world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-78576866869031970792009-11-26T10:36:05.089+00:002009-11-26T10:36:05.089+00:00I had considered seeing what was standing behind G...I had considered seeing what was standing behind Gladiator, as it were, but that way lies madness, even for me, a man who loves nothing more than a mountain of research for a tiny amount of information. In the end I decided that the trail ran out with Gladiator, as everything before that was myth and legend, and therefore in the public domain. For every other step, lal the way from Gladiator to Marvelman and Miracleman, there are issues about copyright, which is the broad thrust of what I'm trying to do here, and in the larger work I keep on mentioning.<br /><br />Thank you for your kind words.Pádraig Ó Méalóidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04280061646576271412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509857999978061373.post-73345619153088351352009-11-26T00:11:24.664+00:002009-11-26T00:11:24.664+00:00Most interesting and informative article I've ...Most interesting and informative article I've read in ages. Great work. <br />Also, don't forget that Doc Savage had his own Fortress of Solitude well before Superman ever did. <br />But I wonder if this could be taken back even further, the lines of inspiration maybe being traced so far as Baldr, the Nordic and heroic answer to Jesus Christ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com