News

Documentary film director, Ricki Stern, is set to direct “Kirbyvision” a feature length documentary telling the complete and fascinating story of legendary artist, storyteller, and creator, Jack Kirby.

Dan Braun and Josh Braun will produce under their Submarine Deluxe production banner, a wholly owned subsidiary of Submarine, alongside Mike Cecchini, Ron Fogelman, and Chris Longo.

Kirby is widely regarded as one of the comic book medium’s most innovative, prolific, and influential creators. At the height of his nearly six decade career, Kirby created or co-created many of Marvel’s major characters including Captain America (with Joe Simon), the Avengers, Black Panther, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, the X-Men, and countless others (with comics impresario Stan Lee).

He worked similar magic for DC Comics, where he created the sprawling, psychedelic “Fourth World,” a series of political and psychedelic sci-fi epics often considered his most ambitious work.

Marvel and the family of Jack Kirby have settled their long-running copyright dispute over characters he created for the studio. This comes just days before the matter was to be taken to the Supreme Court.

This is their joint statement:

"Marvel and the family of Jack Kirby have amicably resolved their legal disputes, and are looking forward to advancing their shared goal of honoring Mr. Jack Kirby's significant role in Marvel's history."

Jack Kirby was a 'work-for-hire' who helped Stan Lee create some of the biggest characters in the Marvel universe, most of which are now either raking in big bucks on the big screen or soon headed there. He held no rights to such famous works as Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the original X-Men and a number of other characters both well-known and obscure.

The settlement between Disney, Marvel and the Jack Kirby estate is confidential.

To quote the Thing from the Fantastic Four – “It’s clobberin time!” Just two days after Jack Kirby was honored at Comic-Con, lawyers for the heirs of the comic legend have replied to Marvel and Disney with a pummeling brief filed at the Supreme Court. “Respondents, although called to respond, do not address the legal issues. Instead, they focus on the wrong questions and the wrong court,” say lawyer Marc Toberoff and Tom Goldstein, a new attorney on the case, today. After failing repeatedly in lower courts, Lisa Kirby, Neal Kirby, Susan Kirby and Barbara Kirby petitioned the High Court on March 21 for a hearing. The heirs want Scotus to rule […]...

Just eight days before X-Men: Days Of Future Past opens everywhere on May 23, the mutant team’s co-creator Jack Kirby will be getting some marquee attention from the Justices of the Supreme Court. Attention that could lead to Marvel and Disney arguing in front of the High Court against the Kirby estate over the rights to the numerous characters from the X-Men to The Avengers and the Fantastic Four and many more that the comic legend co-created. Related: Marvel & Disney Rights Case For Supreme Court To Decide Says Kirby Estate On May 15, the nine Justices will debate in private Conference whether or not to get involved in the Kirby estate’s 5-year attempt to gain back the rights from the media giant. If the High Court agrees to the March 21 filed petition from Lisa Kirby, Neal Kirby, Susan Kirby and Barbara Kirby, an oral argument date will be scheduled later...

Just days before Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens, the heirs of Captain America, The Avengers and X-Men co-creator Jack Kirby are asking the Supreme Court to hand them back the rights to the comic legends from Marvel and Disney. “The Court of Appeals unconstitutionally appropriated Kirby’s valuable copyrights and gave them outright to Marvel, effecting a transfer of wealth on a massive scale,” says the 39-page petition (read it here) filed with the high court on March 21. The petition is the latest legal attempt by Lisa Kirby, Neal Kirby, Susan Kirby and Barbara Kirby to assert that they had the right in 2009 to issue termination notices to Marvel and others on the artist’s characters under the provisions of the 1976 Copyright Act. A response is due from Marvel and Disney on April 28. The fact that the Kirby estate is petitioning Scotus is a pretty clear sign that it...