'The corporation badly needs to be shamed into doing the right thing", Seth on the Marvel boycott

Over at his Mystery Hoard blog, Bryan Munn has posted an original essay from Seth about the simmering Marvel Boycott that Steve Bissette launched last week. It all comes down to a recent court decision that dismissed a suit by Jack Kirby's heirs that was seeking to get copyright on some of the characters and concepts that he created for Marvel in the 1960s.

These include The Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, The X-Men and Captain America. (That's a great list -- and I didn't even include Devil Dinosaur in there.) Marvel, which is owned by Disney, refused to even consider the fact that Kirby --- the inexhaustible engine behind most of their most enduring "properties" --- might be deserving of more than what he got during his time working for the company.

Bissette is calling for a boycott of all Marvel products, including comics and any of the movies that are currently running rampant in a multiplex near you. Seth chimes in on this, and supports the fledgling movement 100 percent; even saying that he'll never work for the company until they gives Kirby his due:

I am certainly in favour of it. I hope it catches fire and spreads. The corporation badly needs to be shamed into doing the right thing.

Admittedly, it's a pretty symbolic gesture on my part. I cannot even recall the last item I purchased from the corporation (maybe a Marvel Masterworks volume or something of that sort), nor have I ever worked for them. I certainly won't work for them in the future either until something is done to right this wrong.

Seth admits this is a largely symbolic gesture on his part, as he's never worked for Marvel, but symbolic or not --- it's still significant.

He also makes a suggestion for Marvel Maniacs: spend your dough on back issues of classic Marvel comics. That way you support the classic comics, but avoid giving your cash to a greedy corporation.

Sounds good to me: count me in.