Free Comic Book Day 2003 is Near! Marvel Sues Sony!

Due to the success of last year's free comic book day, retailers, distributors and publishers have teamed up to bring you Free Comic Book Day on Saturday May 3, 2003.

Top Comic Book sponsors are Archie, Avatar, Crossgen, Dark Horse, DC, Dreamworks, Future Comics, Image and Marvel. There are significantly more sponsors this year than last. Many small studios and publishers are reprinting some of their material. There are three levels of sponsors. The Gold sponsors, listed above, all have new comics in full color and these comics should be readily available May 3rd. The Silver sponsors might be available, but are not guaranteed. The Bronze sponsors are reprinting previous material. Silver sponsors are A-Bomb, Alternative Comics, Avatar, Dork Storm, Gemstone, Keenspot, Oni, Second to Some, and Slave Labor.

Slave Labor publishes the infamous "Milk and Cheese" alternative characters.

While they may look cute, this story is recommended for college age folks. Alternative Comics are also aimed at college age and up. Gemstone, on the other hand, has reached an agreement is Disney and will start publishing "Donald Duck Adventures". The Free Comic Book Day Edition is the first Disney comic published in about four years, and will mark the start of the Gemstone publishing these comics. Look for a two specials, one with Donald and one with Uncle Scrooge in June and regular monthly comics start in September.

Check out more titles at http://www.freecomicbookday.com

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Marvel is suing Sony over improper use of the Spider-Man character in promoting Sony's other products.

Here's a quote from Marvel.

"Sony's allegations that this dispute arose out of Marvel's allegedly improper accounting is completely false," Carole Handler, one of Marvel's attorneys, said. "As Marvel's Complaint makes clear, Marvel is owed millions of dollars by Sony, and the reason for this lawsuit is Sony's appropriation of the Spider-Man character for itself. Marvel created the popularity that ensured Sony's box office success and that Marvel Studios contributed to that success."

The bottom line is that Sony had limited times when it could promote and use the Spider-Man image, and Marvel claims they went beyond those windows. The reason Sony would want to do so is to promote other products that were not selling and no one would pay any attention to. If Sony tied them in with Spider-Man (somehow), that would be worth tens of millions in advertising. Sony claims they can do it as part of their movie contract. Marvel claims they overstepped their boundaries and wants addition compensation. Check out more on this at comic Continuum for Apr 22 at http://www.comicscontuinuum.com

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