Fleen: The Awkward Christmas Dinner Of Our Obligation To Existence

Matt Boyd is putting the whole ugly affair behind him. It’s probably the best thing he could do, under the circumstances.

Speaking of journal comics, Planet Karen is something you ought to be reading if you’re not already; the past couple of days have been a real study in contrasts. On the one hand: darkness (and not the faux darkness that’s a common affectation among the prone-to-wear-black). On the other: funny (very funny, and I could spend all day making a list of reasons why Candy Mandelbrot is the best airhead local news bunny name ever).

In other news, Josh Carrollhach wrote:

Hey there. Love your site. This has popped up over at Drunk Duck in the forums.

The “sign your rights away in the guise of a contest” continues, this time in webcomics. Platinum Studios, though Drunk Duck, is holding a comic contest where the winner signs away everything. My thoughts here.

I didn’t read through all the T&Cs, but it looks like the same contest as last year, and that means the same arguments are coming back up. Seems to me that the only person really qualified to comment on this is DJ Coffman, and near as I can tell, he’s satisfied. That may change, but the situation really boils down to:

If you feel that this contest would negatively impact your moral rights as a creator, don’t enter.
If you feel that you can win, make sure you have a lawyer explain in plain English what the terms of the deal are before you sign.

Crisis resolved.

There were a couple of good press releases in the ol’ mailbag, too, but I figure we can run ’em tomorrow. Weather’s too damn nice here for me to be inside bloggin’.

You can’t mention the outside world on the web. It’s a perversion of the tubes.

Geez, what is that guys deal with worrying about the contest so much as to alert newsblogs. Sound the drama horns!

Yeah, for the record, I’m more than satisfied. The worries of having something stolen away from you are rendered moot if you read the actual contracts that you’d sign if you’re the winner.

Again though, I guess it’s not for everyone, and you wouldn’t sign away your “baby” to them, which makes me a good example here, because I’m happy to take other ideas to them, but I’d likely never sell anything like my baby “Yirmumah” to them.

I guess if you only have ONE baby, this is definitely not for you.

You know… I have a number of half-assed ideas that I’ve never used because they’ve never passed my personal standards.

Maybe I should throw a few to Platinum? They don’t seem too picky, and I could use a few extra bucks.

[…] Josh Carrollhach explains why Platinum Studios’ latest contest for cartoonists is a raw deal. (Link via Gary Tyrrell.) […]

Uh-Huh.

Since the glorious shitmongers at Journalista found it proper to link to this since they link to anything they think is bad about Platinum, I thought I’d post some other quotes by this dude after he had some reflection or was informed:

“Yeah, that was an overblown (dare I say “cartoonish?” ) way of expressing that. Also, the Cuppa Coffee contest kept your submission regardless of whether they used it or not. That’s a big difference.

I probably could benefit from a bit of reflection before firing off emails I can’t get back, eh ”

and

“I absolutely concede DJ points in this particular case. ”

That’s more like it!

Well, what was intended to be a cautionary tale has become a “let’s disparage Platinum Comics” free-for-all. While I still believe ardently in creators retaining their rights (look at Stan Lee’s position versus, say, Jerry Siegel’s… or Bob Kane’s, for that matter) it was never my intention to trash Platinum.
Personally, I would rather own my creations because I’ve seen what kinds of story ideas can come from media giants. Even though it doesn’t always happen, it easily could. Oswald the Rabbit, Ren and Stimpy, Superman, The Odd Couple…. the list of famous rights-management losses goes on and on. I would rather not put my stubborn old self through the wringer like that because I would likely act like Bill Watterson and age a few extra years. That said, you don’t see much of my work in the mainstream (at least not yet). But D.J has a point, and he’s concerned that this hubbub might scare away artists who could use a leg up:

[…] Tyrell of Fleen thinks that DJ Coffman, and only DJ Coffman, has a right to an opinion about Platinum Studio’s intellectua…. After all, Tyrell argues, DJ is the only person who has won that contest, and the only one who has […]

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