Quato
Level 14
a.k.a. Defiant1
Quato a.k.a. Defiant1
Posts: 1,669 
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Post by Quato on Dec 27, 2006 10:20:28 GMT -5
With all the "Hurry up and wait" I've been doing, it's given me an opportunity to surf and read. Today I clicked a link that took me to Bo Blayton's web site (Shhh! That's just what I call it.) I found this page particularly interesting... www.boblayton.com/Art%20Gallery/artgallery_page19.htmScroll down to the third image on the left. This caption seemed very interesting.
TRADEMARK & COPYRIGHT
COMIC TPB COVER
My favorite entertainment lawyer and former Future Comics mouthpiece, Michael Lovitz, is the author of this great educational comic that explains, in clear terms, the complicated legal mumbo-jumbo that any independent publisher needs to know. Michael was nice enough to ask me to do the cover to the deluxe TPB edition.
Well, that's the lawyer representing an unknown client that is bumping heads with the Valiant copyright owners. Hmmmm! The mice in my brain just jumped on the spinwheel. Another caption interested me also. It was on his Oct. 2006 page at the top left. The caption reads this:
CONAN #3 VARIANT RECREATION
This page is my version of one of my favorite BWS Conan layouts. This is a sample page I worked up to show Scott Allie at Dark Horse. I figured someone would want it when I was finished with it--so here you are! So Bo has been working up samples for Dark Horse?! Interesting. www.boblayton.com/features.htmAnd here it says he's going to be doing comics again. Hmmm! Actually, he never quit. He's been steadily doing commissions which is what artists do when the can't get a steady gig. Just food for thought. Let me know how it tastes. Q |
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Post by Defiant1 on Dec 28, 2006 23:15:34 GMT -5
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Post by Brother J on Dec 29, 2006 7:31:09 GMT -5
Go ahead and lock it if you want, it's all a big mess in my opinion and not something I'm all that interested in discussing.
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Post by Defiant1 on Dec 29, 2006 10:05:52 GMT -5
Go ahead and lock it if you want, it's all a big mess in my opinion and not something I'm all that interested in discussing. I'm always baffled by the mindset that suppressing information is a good way to stop hearsay and rumor. It does just the opposite. In essence, it creates a mystery which challenges people to solve it. I am guilty of liking to solve puzzles. It's not like I'm obsessed with it, but when I saw such an obvious tie-in, I had to say something. Defiant1 |
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Post by Defiant1 on Dec 30, 2006 13:23:19 GMT -5
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Post by Brother J on Dec 30, 2006 14:00:31 GMT -5
Actually, I don't mind it being open, I just was saying I didn't have a problem if you wanted to lock it. Would be interesting if Layton ended up doing something with these VIP people. There would be a lot of ticked off people over at the vf board!
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Post by Defiant1 on Dec 30, 2006 14:21:51 GMT -5
Actually, I don't mind it being open, I just was saying I didn't have a problem if you wanted to lock it. Would be interesting if Layton ended up doing something with these VIP people. There would be a lot of ticked off people over at the vf board! Just speculation. Wouldn't it be funny if Layton & DF had an agreement? A partnership whereby DF fronted the cash on behalf of Layton to get exclusives? Perhaps Lovitz being the Future Comics attorney is a big supporter of Bob and would be willing to work for commissions or a future stake in the company. Lets speculate that Bob was the one behind VIP. Lets say he wants what he created back. Who are his critics? Are they the same people who blasted Marvel because they wouldn't give Jack KIrby his artwork back? If so, you can't have it two ways. You can't defend the creator on one hand and then defend the people who just bought the rights on the other. Given time I think fans would be open to the idea that Bob should own the characters or anything he contributed to. Right now they know the properties were sold to Dino & Partners. Nobody knows the full story. The only thing that bugs me is that there is a lawyer in the mix. If I were Dino & I knew Bob was in the mix, I'd offer him 40% of the rights for $400,000 cash. That'd give them some working capital back and align them with someone who has a vested desire for the properties to do well. Defiant1 |
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Post by Defiant1 on Dec 31, 2006 18:42:21 GMT -5
What a friggin' laugh.
Greg posted this at vf.com...
"It is the right (and responsibility) of every VALIANT fan to stand up to those who would subvert the meaning of VALIANT."
WTF??! I did that in 1992 or 1993! What evil is happening today that hasn't already occurred? Valiant wasn't the same 1n 1994. It obviously wasn't my right in 1993 to have that attitude. I was being censored about it in 2002. I am so thankful that I left when I did.
Such hypocrisy.
Defiant1
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Post by gowaltrip on Dec 31, 2006 18:49:43 GMT -5
I am sometimes amazed to see that you still linger over there. You wouldnt have to reveal your identity, but are you someone else over there that we dont know is you? Or do you just linger as a guest poster?
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Post by Defiant1 on Dec 31, 2006 19:43:57 GMT -5
I am sometimes amazed to see that you still linger over there. You wouldnt have to reveal your identity, but are you someone else over there that we dont know is you? Or do you just linger as a guest poster? I do have a problem with censorship or people having no respect for my right to a different opinion. I have a problem with people threatening me over anything at all or assuming they have authority over me or my actions when they don't. Greg threatened me. Something to the effect that if I didn't agree with him then he was going to kick me off the board. He played out a huge drama to poise himself as innocent and let the board members vote. I won the vote. The board voted for me to stay. I left because his attitude was not acceptable. His vote was not acceptable. The agenda of his board members were trying to push onto me was not acceptable. Greg gambled that I had some deep seated need to fit in and be like everyone else. He gambled that I joined because I respected his site's integrity and viewed him as an online authority in all topics Valiant. I didn't. I was there to just converse with other who shared a similar interest. As time went by I discovered that most of the people there do not have similar interests. Some have completely opposite interests. I lurk occasionally because people still talk about threads to me in email . Sometimes I even get directed there so people can get feedback on what I think about something. It is also a news source because so many others do use his board as a distribution source for information about their activities. Ultimately though his site likes to straddle the fence on issues of right and wrong. It tries to appeal to all people on all topics. I always think back to the book of revelation and the quote in the Bible which says "Because you are neither hot nor cold, I spit you out of my mouth." That is EXACTLY the attitude i have towards Greg's site. It offends my beliefs therefore I will not rejoin his board. I am an outsider to his board and I want that line clearly defined. Defiant1 |
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Post by Defiant1 on Dec 31, 2006 22:57:11 GMT -5
Hey, back to the circumstantial evidence. The date 9/17/02. The writer: Bo Blayton himself. The unexpected comment: "Dynamic Forces, one of your more reliable advertisers, has allied themselves with us and plans to create several, joint promotions thru Wizard.I'll be honest. I never knew that DF had ever officially aligned with Future comics over anything. It sound like a clear connection had existed as fat back as 2002. What does it mean? Nothing or everything. Oh... yeah. the link where it is stated... www.boblayton.com/letterspage.htmAbout 40% of the way down the page. Defiant1 |
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Post by Defiant1 on Jan 5, 2007 16:41:20 GMT -5
.... and you KNOW I love this thread.... valiantfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13398&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0I love the hypocrisy of Greg asking Brian to reveal his agenda. Greg acts as if he's Mr. Forthright with regards to issues of integrity. My rebuttal would be.... "Greg, are you or are you not friends with the people at the CGC and on a special distribution of their electronic database to run special reports for them? In other words, after all these years of pretending to be objective about one grading service vs. another, have you not been getting favored treatment by the CGC and used this connection to promote their service and the value of your own comics? Did you suppress the values of Valiant comics in your price guide so that you could buy up hot titles at below market value and did you shift your focus over to CGC comics when the favored treatment had poised itself to better help the net worth of your collection? Has not your entire website been a self-serving venture to make yourself somebody because you were ashamed of not being able to afford the good comics when you were younger?" Hmm! Yeah... that's MY opinion. Defiant1 |
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Post by gowaltrip on Jan 5, 2007 20:10:50 GMT -5
I for one was put off by it because it was like the worst thing I ever seen Greg do personally. Im in no way a big fan of MOTA, I know he has his own oppinions and he is feverish about the way he feels and he can get nervewracking sometimes, but when it came down to it, it seemed Greg egged on MOTA and finally said enough to make MOTA mad enough to say I do not want to be around here anymore, so Greg instantly banished him. And MOTA was on the VEI side throughout all the arguments. So, I just didnt get it. I try not to let anything on any of these boards phase me, but I thought that was a little tough on MOTA. I cannot believe I am sticking up for MOTA, his worst problem is his passion and the last time he got suspended, I kind of agreed with it.....but not this time. He didnt deserve a permanent lock-out I didnt think. They both just needed to go to bed and come back another day. That was it. That's my opinion of it.
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Post by Defiant1 on Jan 5, 2007 22:45:04 GMT -5
G,
Although I cannot prove it because the messageboard database has crashed a couple of time, he did the same thing to me and it culminated with a threat from him rather than me volunteering to leave on my own. When he realized he was going to viewed as the bad guy, he stepped back into the shadows and let everyone else do the dirty work. Mud went slinging. Eventually about 60% voted for me to stay. Upon reviewing the comments, I realized that some people I'd befriended voted for me to leave. Some people I didn't get along with voted for me to stay and Greg had evaded any responsibility for the circumstances either way. I was not going to sit around and be deemed a 40% problem to board members while he looked like wise hero to the board. At that point I made the tough decision to go against the vote and negate it's value. I chose to leave on my own.
In the weeks following my departure, quite a few people pleaded for me to come back. The first, and most persuasive was MOTA. MOTA and I don't agree on everything, but we do agree on some points. By me leaving, it became clear that he was alone in defending some of those points. He was losing a partial ally if I didn't come back. Sonic Dan was dismayed that I didn't want to assimilate with the board, but he accepted it. I continued to give him Valiant related magazines and stuff to support his site. Blood of Heroes (Anthony) also wrote to understand why I left. We had a long series of pro/con debates go back and forth. I valued our communications because he gave me Kevin Vanhook's perspective. We always read about Jim's perspective or Bob's. It was enlightening to get the perspective of someone affected. Anthony and I agreed to disagree and he quit trying to persuade me to rejoin. It was at that point that the resident counter-terrorism expert (Knightt) decided he had what it took to lure me back into the fold. What he never factored is that I can read his techniques better than he can apply them. He never invoked any sense of self-doubt with me. He never evoked an emotion of regret or a fear of being an outcast. I just went along with whatever he was doing until I was sick of it and didn't care. He left because I played my poker hand, and I called him on his bluffs. I had already weighed the impact to my reputation and this site. I came out better than I expected. I continue to do better than I expect. Even the debacle at Whetteon's board is something I predicted. Stu does me a favor by keeping a sig file bearing tribute to my words. He's advertising for me.
Life is sometimes like a chess game. Chess bores me. I don't care if I win or lose. If the game takes too long I start advising the other player how to put me in checkmate. I don't play the same games as my opponent, so you never really know if I I'm winning or losing a battle of wits.
Defiant1
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Post by Brother J on Jan 7, 2007 9:59:37 GMT -5
I can't say I didn't feel that Brian Thomer had some sort of agenda with his "devil's advocate" posts about the VIP/VEI situation, but that thread came off as a witch hunt. My opinion of the situation is that Dino and his group were a bunch of idiots for not making sure the trademarks were squared away before investing all that money, and that VIP did have every right to file for available trademarks. I understand the reason everyone hates VIP there is because the perceived notion that this trademark battle is holding up new VALIANT product, but nothing illegal is going on that I can see. Who knows if Dino's group even has the ability to release any new product or if they will once the trademark situation is resolved.
I'm not obsessed with VALIANT, so if nothing ever happens with the characters, I think my life will go on just fine.
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Post by gowaltrip on Jan 7, 2007 10:28:42 GMT -5
Well put Brother J...
I also felt the proper term was witch hunt watching that thread. I also feel they were dumb in not getting the trademarks if they had that much invested and left it out there for VIP to come in and take a legal stab at getting it. If anything, I hope the fact that VIP has come after it will make VEI move their feet a little faster, but I am also skeptical that they even have the ability to get something out to us. As you, if they dont, no big deal. Weve dealt without true VH1 Valiants over 10 years now. If we ever get a VH4 I doubt the magic will be there, but it could be worth a look. But if nothing ever comes or they fail. Life and collecting comics will go on.
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Post by Defiant1 on Jan 7, 2007 11:36:24 GMT -5
I agree with you also BrotherJ and it took me awhile to get over the fact that Valiant Comics will never be the same again even if it is published. I emailed MOTA the other day, and it came out in our discussion "Why" I feel so strongly about Valiant. In 1990, that was the year that I lost the only girl I'd ever wanted to marry. Everything that had meaning to me was stripped out of my life. My life was at it's lowest point and when I looked around everything just looked half-ass, inadequate, and mediocre. Then one day in disgust, I picked up a Valiant Comic. There was depth. There was thought put intoit. Even the composition of the materials used to make the robots were discussed intelligently. The colors were bright and vivid. The setting (Harbinger) was where I live. It was interesting enough to make me set aside thoughts of what I had lost.. if even for just a few minutes. Nothing else had succeeded in doing that. It was essentially a new reason to care about anything.
So after Rai #0 had come out and Bob's incarnation of the universe started being published, for me it was a 100% reversal of everything that meant anything to me. It was like a slap in the face. So yeah, I get very indignant over people comparing the later stuff with the newer stuff. For me it was the difference between life having purpose and a meaning, or life just being like a mouse in a spinwheel rehashing the same mediocre existence over and over.
Don't get me wrong. There are a multitude of things in life that give it value. At the time though, Valiant Comics were the one light bulb lighting the way in a dark space. It's not so much that Valiant Comics are the only good thing out there. It was just the only good thing which was there when I needed a good thing.
Defiant1
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