Bumper Xmas 'Battle Action' Annual 2003

Ol^ Marbles · 24 May, 2002, 11:05:46 PM

Just had this cracking idea (?) for Rebellion to make some more dosh.

If they were to reprint some of the best of the old 'Battle' & 'Action' strips every year in the old 'Bumper Annual' stylee, mebbe with a Bishop retrospective etc, they could sell them to the 30something audience that has probably forgotten all about 'em but loved 'em as a kid. That means proper marketing ie not selling 'em in the Comics shop ghetto but putting them in 'Gift Ideas' catalogues or say the 'Next' gift ideas range. Promote in say the more mature mens fashion and car mags etc. Reach the great majority who stopped reading comics at 13, but who ocassionally discuss them in pubs every now and again with their mates and who might love the nostalgia trip.

I tell you there's buckets of gold in this idea.

Link: http://www.frothersunite.com/marbles/fanboy/battle.html" target="_blank">Battle Fan Site

Wake · 24 May, 2002, 11:18:38 PM

The main stumbling block here is that Rebellion don't own any rights to Battle and Action material.

Wake

paulvonscott · 24 May, 2002, 11:49:19 PM

I'd say that maybe wasn't a stumbling block and in fact if someone put together a serious proposal the current owners of the material might be interested. It's not doing anything else.

Leigh S · 25 May, 2002, 01:10:53 AM

Doesnt Comics International make the point that IPC is now owned by AOL Warner - While 2000 moved to Maxwell and then to Fleetway, what happened to Battle and Action - Did these comics move when 2000 did (were they even going then), and if not who DOES own them? For all we know they could be owned by AOL now...

satchmo · 25 May, 2002, 02:23:37 AM

If thats the case then it could take years of legal wrangling(and a shedload of lawyer money)to even attempt to license the material.I would love to see it happen,but look whats happened to Miracleman.

davidbishop · 26 May, 2002, 09:44:18 PM

When Maxwell acquired IPC's comics division in 1987, it acquired the rights to all new material published from sometime in 1969 onwards. This specifically included all rights to Dan Dare ever, IIRC.

When Egmont (as it became) acquired the comics division from Maxwell's heirs, all those rights subsequently passed to Egmont - effective October 1991, again IIRC.

When AOL acquired IPC, it did not acquire the likes of Action, Battle and other post 1968 IPC comics - these had already gone to Maxwell and then on to Egmont.

Rebellion acquired 2000 AD, the Judge Dredd Megazine and all character created for those titles - excluding obvious creator-owned strips like Big Dave, Button Man et al, and other things like Urban Strike, A Life Less Ordinary and the like which ownership belonged to other companies.

Egmont had already sold all rights to Dan Dare by the time Rebellion acquired 2000 AD etc, circa July 2000.

So, Egmont holds the rights to Battle and Action - although some would argue that the method by which IPC first acquired the rights in that material might be worth contesting legally. In reality, unless those rights become worth possessing (say, somebody did a Charley's War movie, for instance), nobody seems in a rush to contest them.

In essence, a Battle Action special is possible. Indeed, Egmont Roy of the Rovers monthly reprinted Action football strips in the mid-90s.

Egmont holds the rights - no Rebellion, nor AOL Time Warner.

2000AD Online · 26 May, 2002, 11:50:06 PM

Um.

So who owns the rights to the Dan Dare strips that 2000 AD did?

Ol^ Marbles · 27 May, 2002, 01:06:29 AM

Egmont eh ? I'd better start hassling them then.

Or I might just make a few nice DIY GN's for 'Charley's War' and 'Darkies Mob' with the use of old 'Battles' from ebay, my scanner and the printer and binding machine at work.

Personal use only you understand.

paulvonscott · 27 May, 2002, 05:28:51 AM

Yes, I understand. I'll be honest and say I did the same thing with Nemesis Book II (spider jesus story) and Phase III (I didn't realise there had been a graphic novel). Both of which I would chuck in the bin immediatley if there was a graphic novel about.

If a petition helps, I'd sign it.

davidbishop · 27 May, 2002, 01:16:50 PM

By the mid-90s, Egmont owned half the Dan Dare film rights - the rest were owned by an individual person not involved with comics. I'm not being coy about the guy's name, I just can't remember it. Anyway, the split rights meant neither party could progress a Dan Dare film or TV project.

Eventually, Egmont sold its half of the rights to the individual owning the other half. This happened not long before the Rebellion deal.

End result - Rebellion can't reprint Dan Dare material from 2000 AD, except in the context of articles like Thrill-Power Overload.

So, if you own a copy of the Grant Morrison Dan Dare deconstruction from the early 90s, hang on it - I doubt that'll be reprinted. Ever.

davidbishop

Wake · 27 May, 2002, 03:21:01 PM

The name you're missing is Colin Frewin, CEO of the Dan Dare Corporation.

Presumably Rebellion have talked to him with regards to the Digital Archives, since they seem to be included.

The Dan Dare CGI series has aired on Fox Kids in Latin America only!? Hopefully it will be more generally available (and successful) before this time next year.

Wake