First, Jeff Trexler sums up the latest moves by Marvel and provides legal analysis of the Kirby family's Supreme Court filing. (As always with such things, it is important to remember that what is legal and what is moral are often two different things.) Here's how he begins:
On Monday, July 14, Marvel filed its response in the Kirby family case, and the main points were rather predictable — in fact, this article is an updated version of an unpublished draft from last week, and there wasn’t much new to add. In short, Marvel makes a standard procedural argument aimed at disqualifying the family’s new legal claims, while the rest of the brief contends that the Second Circuit applied long-established law regarding work made for hire under the Copyright Act of 1909.
As noted in my previous post, Kirby family attorney Marc Toberoff's Supreme Court filing and the supporting amicus briefs are not immune from such attacks, and to get a fuller sense of what the Court may do next we’ll explore not just Marvel’s brief, but additional means by which the Court itself could trump the Kirby family’s central arguments. But before we begin, a quick caveat: this article is not a prediction that Marvel will win, though the odds are decidedly in its favor. Betting on a Supreme Court case is like betting on the World Cup - the arguments you like may seem perfectly reasonable on paper, but you could just as easily lose in a historic blow-out.
And Rob Kirby reviews Mike Dawson's Angie Bongiolatti:
Angie Bongiolatti follows a group of twenty-something New Yorkers in 2002, most of whom work at an "e-learning" start-up, as they confront, explore, argue over, and try on for size an array of personal and political belief systems, credos, and values. Dawson juxtaposes the group’s groping-for-answers with illustrated excerpts from the writings of Arthur Koestler, a Hungarian-British writer and journalist with a very definitive worldview. In one manifesto Koestler states: "there is little difference between a revolutionary and a traditionalist faith… all true faith is uncompromising, radical, purist." He paints true faith in absolute opposition to the status quo. Angie Bongiolatti, the still center of this motley crew, seems to embody this statement.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
—News. The always bewildering Harvey Awards nominations have been announced.
Heidi MacDonald is attempting to crowdfund The Beat, and that site's Brandon Schatz analyzes Image's new retailer incentives.
Alan Moore is expanding his efforts to disrupt profits for terrible comic-book movies.
Uncivilized Books has introduced its new Uncivilized Books Lab.
—Bryan Lee O'Malley is interviewed on Inkstuds, and his new book Seconds is reviewed by Douglas Wolk and Abhay Khosla.
—Reviews & Commentary. Rebecca Traister addresses the move to temporarily make Thor a woman in less than a dozen words inside a much, much longer essay on media sexism in general, which seems about the right estimate of its significance.
Chris Mautner picks six of his favorite 2014 books so far, and Rob Kirby rounds up some minicomics.
—Misc. The Onion takes on today's entitled young cartoonists.
Tom Scioli talks to CBR about quitting comics and coming back.
Bully highlights one of the many times Kim Thompson was right.
