One of my biggest obsessions when I first started comics blogging was the ownership of Marvelman. The debate at the time was whether Eclipse had the right to sell the entire property to Todd McFarlane, or if the rights as transferred from Alan Moore and company to Neil Gaiman and company were still valid. What I couldn’t understand was just how Dez Skinn got got a hold of the character in the first place, because if he didn’t acquire them legally, it would seem that Marvelman would belong to none of the above, and could actually be owned by Mick Anglo.

Since that time, original Marvelman artists Mick Anglo has stepped forward to claim Marvelman, and Marvel Comics, who once threatened legal action against Eclipse over the character, has acquired the rights, solidifying the parallels to the Superman/Captain Marvel court case that began this mess in the first place.

Regardless, I’m happy to hear that Mick Anglo is finally getting his due.

Where did this come from? The Forbidden Planet blog has posted an interview with Neil Gaiman in which he states that he believes Mick Anglo, the original artist on Marvelman, is now the sole copyright holder of that much-contested property. (via Journalista).

“Currently Todd McFarlane is suing me, claiming he owns all of Miracleman, and I am going, “You are mad, because as far as I can tell right now, neither of us owns anything of Miracleman, it is actually still owned completely by Mick Anglo, who is still alive, and who has asserted his copyright on it, and everything that Dez Skinn said back in Warrior days was apparently a lie, and this thing is Mick’s, so I don’t really see why, why are you suing me now, Todd?””

The mystery surrounding Marvelman’s ownership was something I was heavily invested in when I first began comic blogging over six years ago. I had tons of notes on the subject and had gone so far as to email Neil Gaiman about it, to which he sent a very pleasant reply. Nothing ever came of it, but I always hoped that Mick Anglo would eventually receive the credit he deserved.

Is this recent news, or did I miss it the first time around? It seems to me that the potential resolution to one of the more publicized comic legal battles of this decade would be bigger news.