Fin Fang Foom wrote:

If I understand you correctly, then why aren't the New Gods a property of the Kirby estate? They seem pretty clearly a property of DC Comics as DC has published them and used characters from them in a myriad of other projects and properties. As far as I have ever known or read, the Kirby estate is not receiving royalty payments for those characters.


Geez, I can only wonder what you've been reading -- DC has made it a policy to pay creators (and often credit them) when characters are used in other media. In fact, when Kirby's New Gods characters were used as part of Kenner's "Super Powers" toy, line in the mid-1980s, Kirby received payment for the use of those characters -- probably for the first time in his career.


I was aware of the Super Powers royalties that Kirby received (evidently for redesigning his characters for Kenner), but does the family get anything when DC publishes stories using the New Gods characters, for example, the mini-series that Jim Starlin did a while back?

Was the Kirby family payed for the appearances of New Gods characters in "Smallville"?

I've always presumed that the royalties are a goodwill gesture and don't constitute any legal acknowledgement by DC of ownership on the part of the Kirby's.

 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering." --Doctor Who