by Icecypher » Tue Sep 30, '14, 8:28 pm
I, of course, want the creators to receive satisfactory payment.
In creator owned stories, I like them staying that way, and in their own universe. Only cross-overs I would like would be ones that make it clear an interdimensional displacement was needed.
But in shared universes, I prefer when the company has complete control. If, let's say, the descendants of Kirby got ownership over the characters, then the X-Men would no longer appear in the Marvel Universe. They would perhaps have adventures in their own universe later on, and neither universe would be able to fully reference things that are already part of the characters' history.
See what Image has done some times. They have the creators keep their ownership. Still, whenever they feel like it, they have crossovers with other creator's characters like they live in the same world. Then some of them get delays because many (of the founders) are immature and cannot keep a publishing effort going seriously. Then others go to other companies and take their characters with them. And so on... I think it is stupid (and I suppose they would defend this practice by saying these are "just comic books" and should be fun and not taken seriously at all, but I still think it is stupid).
All that said, I wish Kirby had been treated with more respect. That he had not have to live in need of money during hard years. I even wish that some sort of compensation goes to his descendants (who did not exactly create these characters, but anyway). Just do not give them the characters and create a situation that no one will like (not even they, when they realize the characters alone will still carry a lot of baggage that cannot be ignored nor used).