It seems Marvel has been very sneaky these days in trying to secure trademarks for names. You may have heard how Disney tried to trademark 'Seal Team Six' after the announcement of Osama Bin Ladens death, which they eventually retracted due to pressure from the Department of Defense. Another blatant move they've made was to 'snipe' the trademark to the name 'Mystery Men' on August 5th 2009, immediately upon it expiring from Universal Studios.

The statement from Marvel went like this:

"Marvel representatives tell me that there was no intention to “snipe” a trademark and that the timing was purely coincidental. That the writer, David Liss, asked if the name was available, and it was. And that the whole series was completed before the name was publically announced."

Fans of the REAL Mystery Men will realize immediately that this is not the comic they know and love but rather a poor attempt to use a writers concepts without maintaining any creative integrity to the original or the characters.

Bob Burden has been pursuing this matter since Marvel announced their plans and Bleeding Cool has an excellent interview with the creator that you can read HERE.

Take a look at the interview for yourselves and tell us what you think. Was it merely 'coincidence' as Marvel states or do you think their statement is as transparent as their actions appear to have been?

Fans of the REAL Mystery Men will realize immediately that this is not the comic they know and love but rather a poor attempt to use a writers concepts without maintaining any creative integrity to the original or the characters.

@IrishX said:

@tonis said:

Fans of the REAL Mystery Men will realize immediately that this is not the comic they know and love but rather a poor attempt to use a writers concepts without maintaining any creative integrity to the original or the characters.

The "real" Mystery Men.... what a joke. Yes, I do believe it was a coincidence. I don't believe in some BS conspiracy that Marvel wanted to steal a name associated with such lame characters like Mr. Furious.

The fact they were ready the day it became available, is in itself enough proof they planned to take the name as soon as they could, hoping they were quicker than anyone else who would lay claim. It's not like the trademark sat around in public domain for a while and they decided afterwards to go the route they did. Either way, the statement itself is really the BS, they shouldn't think people are that stupid that they'd believe they did anything they did without knowing what they were doing beforehand.

You don't have to like the characters, or think their cool but if someday in the future if the ones you do like have the same kind of crap happening to them you'll at least know where and how this trend has been developing.

Creative theft is an epidemic right now. Why even bother trying to make a living as a creator...right?

What about SpongeBob Squarepants? 
 
Flaming Carrot fans will remember Sponge Boy from the 1980's...decades before SpongeBob Squarepants ever even came off the drawing board.
       

@tonis said:

Fans of the REAL Mystery Men will realize immediately that this is not the comic they know and love but rather a poor attempt to use a writers concepts without maintaining any creative integrity to the original or the characters.

The "real" Mystery Men.... what a joke.    Yes, I do believe it was a coincidence. I don't believe in some BS conspiracy that Marvel wanted to  steal a name associated with such lame characters like Mr. Furious.

Creative theft is an epidemic right now. Why even bother trying to make a living as a creator...right?

 

What about SpongeBob Squarepants? 
 
Flaming Carrot fans will remember Sponge Boy from the 1980's...decades before SpongeBob Squarepants ever even came off the drawing board.
       

@turoksonofstone: @Roxanne Starr said:

@turoksonofstone:

Tonis says that he's a vampire and he wrote the OP! Uh oh...vampires devouring their own. Tsk, tsk, tsk...

lol, all this vampire on vampire violence is gonna be the death of me XD

Very good points on all the creators you listed Turok, I've hated seeing how all of them have been treated by the publishers over the years. Kirby especially hit home for me when in the 80's Eclipse started putting the ads in the back of their books that asked 'What about Jack' and it really opened my eyes to the slap in the face creators get for their work sometimes.

I guess this thread is a runaway WIN for Bob. Only one Marvel supporter showed up and you and Turok chased him away...QUICKLY!!!  

@Roxanne Starr said:

I guess this thread is a runaway WIN for Bob. Only one Marvel supporter showed up and you and Turok chased him away...QUICKLY!!!  

Are you serious with this? Nobody chased anybody away as I stated my opinion and felt it was enough. Thanks for trying to label me and goad me into your so needed debate though. So far I only see three people here caring about this so what does that tell you? I don't believe that Marvel had any malicious intent to steal anything here but if they did then I guess that sucks but it doesn't take anything away from what so far is a great looking series. The only thing that's the same is the title and trust me I wish they had nothing to do with that garbage Ben Stiller movie.... and yes I will not be continuing on about this.

"BC: Have you heard of any other properties that have been hit?

BB: No. Just me, and the Seals. I don’t know what will happen. And it’s ironic. See, this whole medium is about heroes doing good things and fighting for the little guy, fighting tyranny and evil. But I don’t know if the creators and fans want to stand up, to be heroes themselves, or do they just want to read about it. What do you think?"

@IrishX said:

@Roxanne Starr said:

I guess this thread is a runaway WIN for Bob. Only one Marvel supporter showed up and you and Turok chased him away...QUICKLY!!!

Are you serious with this? Nobody chased anybody away as I stated my opinion and felt it was enough. Thanks for trying to label me and goad me into your so needed debate though. So far I only see three people here caring about this so what does that tell you? I don't believe that Marvel had any malicious intent to steal anything here but if they did then I guess that sucks but it doesn't take anything away from what so far is a great looking series. The only thing that's the same is the title and trust me I wish they had nothing to do with that garbage Ben Stiller movie.... and yes I will not be continuing on about this.

I don't think anyones trying to chase anyone off, definitely not me at least. Your free to have any opinion and state it and it helps on both sides of a debate in understanding things ;)

I'd just like to clarify my thoughts on some things. This isn't about the 'movie' and the characters used there, at least for me. That wasn't very faithful to the stories or characters either. If that's been your only exposure to the Mystery Men I suppose I can understand your feelings about the whole thing.

This is about the books, where they were REALLY created, and just acknowledging the REAL creators of it.

I'm not saying Marvel's book automatically sucks (haven't read it) because of this. Sure it can be a great series if it's written well. However the approach they took, and the insulting of comic fans intelligence on the matter is an issue to me. It's really about how they've handled things.

It's not a 'conspiracy', it's just dishonesty at a professional level that really shouldn't exist. They're acting more like politicians or lawyers than publishers. We've got enough of that crap in our government and legal system, we don't need it in our comics.

@IrishX:   What Tonis said.  I tend to be very brash when I'm online. Tonis is better at internet etiquette.

@Roxanne Starr said:

@IrishX:   What Tonis said.  I tend to be very brash when I'm online. Tonis is better at internet etiquette.

You knew Miles Davis?????

@turoksonofstone said:

@Roxanne Starr said:

@IrishX:   What Tonis said.  I tend to be very brash when I'm online. Tonis is better at internet etiquette.

You knew Miles Davis?????

Yes I did. I had a friend who was a musician and Miles was always inviting local musicians to his townhouse to jam.

Poor turok. :(

He's gone now and missing out on all the fun. :D