At one company I worked at, I received a contract and, in the boilerplate text, there was a new phrase, something that I didn’t understand. I asked my editor about it; he didn’t understand it either and shrugged and said, “Just sign it so we can get the project going.” I went on to a business manager who didn’t know what the phrase meant either but said, “Oh, John – we’re all friends here. Don’t worry about it.” I continued to pursue it up through a corporate counsel who finally told me what it meant.

The phrase said that the company could do anything they wanted to my scripts, change them as they deemed fit, and publish them under my name without even telling me. Once I understood what the phrase meant, I wanted it taken out (I had more leverage in those days and was able to do that). My reasoning – all I had to trade on was my name. An employer hires me based on my track record and that track record is based on what has appeared under my name. That’s my livelihood and I couldn’t let someone else change my work without the right to remove my name.

In general, I have liked, respected, and gotten along well with the editors for whom I’ve worked. They, however, are not the company. They may represent the company but they are not the company. They may leave, get fired, die or in some other manner not wind up employed at the company. It’s my “hit by a bus” theory. If everyone at a given company I know went out for lunch together and got hit by a bus, all I would have is the contract that I signed.

Despite what some politicians may have told you, companies are not people, too, my friend. They are “people” only as a legal fiction; the law treats them as a “person” in the sense that they can sign binding contracts, sue or get sued, and enter into other legal situations that supposedly can only happen between two “people.”

You do not have a relationship with a corporation; you have a relationship with people who work at a corporation. Corporations are not family. They are not sentient, they are not cognizant, and one could argue they are rarely intelligent. Multinational corporations and conglomerates do not belong to any one nation and their loyalties belong to no one nation but rather to themselves and, in theory, their stockholders, although top executives can make sure they get their bonuses even if the company fails.

Corporations do not believe in equality; corporations are hierarchical, usually male dominated, and white. Management is the top echelon and the workers, who do most of the heavy lifting, are drones. In artistic matters, they will tell you that the people with the money are more vital than the creative types. After all, creative people are a dime a dozen; another will be around in a minute or two. The guys with the money are the ones taking the financial risk and, thus, are more valuable. You can always get another idea to fund. Theirs is the corporate mindset – it’s the money that matters most. Artistic ideas are just widgets as are their creators.

Despite a remarkably boneheaded Supreme Court decision, money does not equal free speech. It enables you to buy the soapbox from which you can exercise your free speech and the more money you have, the bigger soapbox you can buy. The money that corporations have enables them to buy extremely large soapboxes outfitted with loudspeakers that common citizens cannot afford. This electoral cycle we’re seeing unprecedented amount of spending both by corporations and by individuals made rich by their corporate holdings. That creates an imbalance between the legal fictions that are corporations and the humans that are the actual citizens.

I’ll grant that all this sounds like I really hate corporations. I don’t. They are a necessity. I respect them when they act in a manner deserving respect, and I respect their power. I simply don’t think they are more important than the individual and that their rights should supercede those of the average citizen.

The preamble to the United States Constitution refers to “We, the People”, not “We, the Corporations.” When the framers of the Constitution said that its purpose was “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” they weren’t talking about the legal fictions that are corporations.

I don’t expect corporations to be my friends no matter what their corporate spokesmen and animated logos may tell me. I know who my friends are, I know who my family is, and they aren’t legal fictions. Nothing personal; corporations aren’t persons. It’s business for them and that’s how it is for me.

MONDAY: Mindy Newell

After last year’s success with the remake of Clash of the Titans, a sequel seemed inevitable. Now, Warner Home Video is releasing Wrath of the Titans, starring Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson on Tuesday, June 26. We have partnered with WHV to host a contest with one copy of the Blu-ray combo pack to be given away. Please note, we are not able to ship to PO Box addresses and winners must be within the United States.

A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kaken, Perseus (Worthington) the demigod son of Zeus (Neeson) is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity’s lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades (Fiennes) and Poseidon (Danny Huston). The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus’ godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramrez), switch loyalties and make a deal, with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans’ strength grows stronger as Zeus’ remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth. Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon’s demigod son, Argenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.

To win, tell us about your favorite Greek god or goddess and why. Your post has to be received by 11:59 p.m., Saturday, June 30. The judgment of ComicMix will be final.

For those not paying attention, this week Paolo Rivera broke the shackles that bound him to the House of Mouse. That’s right, after a 10+ year career at Marvel, he ended his exclusive contract. Presently, you might know him from his absolutely stunning work on Daredevil. And if you’re not familiar? Go down to your local comic emporium, and partake in a few books bearing his name. You won’t be disappointed.

So why the departure, here in what most critics would dub his “ascension to the A-List?” Ownership. Rights. Long-term gains. As he makes it clear in his blog detailing his decision, it comes down to surveying his body of work and seeing no island on the horizon. Let’s be clear, he’s not mad. Or sad. In fact, he’s very grateful for the decade of work he’s been thrown since the dawn of his career. At the end of the day though, he puts it best:

“…the sum total of that work is not enough to support me in the distant future. My page rate is essentially the same as when I started at 21, so I’ve decided to invest in myself.”

Now, this brings up a debate I know we’ve all had here on ComicMix in the past – that of creators’ rights, and compensation. It seems we as an industry can’t last more than a few months before yet-another-creator is irate over the profits gained on their blood, sweat, and arthritic hands, that never see their own pocketbook. On the business side of things, we know the rub already. To work as an artist or writer in comic books for “the Big Two,” the work you do is theirs. They pay you a fee (and a small percentage of royalties of the sales of the book) for your creativity. Now, when you have a mortgage, insurance, and a rumble in your tummy… do you try to negotiate for the best deal, or do you sign your life away to stay alive? Of course no one is in such dire straights these days, but Marvel and DC certainly have more lawyers and iron-clad contracts than Stan Lee has catchphrases. As Paolo makes clear, he’s done with that side of the business. It’s time to invest in himself.

Certainly there are creators out there who are kicking ass and taking names doing their own creator-owned books. Mike Mignola, Eric Powel, Robert Kirkman, Warren Ellis… All great men who once (and on occasion still do) made a living working for “the man.” But each of those men now can rest on their laurels that their main source of funds comes directly from material they created, they own, and they see to market. Certainly when Hellboy made a second profitable movie, many an indie-creator must have taken note. Yes, Dark Horse had a lot to do with the success of the property on the business end, but Mignola is the crown prince of Anung Un Rama. Without his blessing, nary a product makes its way past a marketing meeting.

The same doesn’t hold true for Mr. Rivera. Should Marvel decide to make a tee-shirt with some of his art? He may see some royalties back from the sale – but he’d get laughed out of the office if he opposed them selling merchandise with his work on it. And when they reboot the movie franchise… he’ll see a blind eye if they use any of his striking work as reference or source material. Blind eye. Heh.

Ultimately, Rivera’s made a move that I hope works out for him. Admittedly I’ve come to the Daredevil party a bit too late, but I plan on picking up the issues as they are collected. Wherever Paolo roams from here on out, may his legion of fans follow. According to his musings, he’s kicking around an idea for an “original story, sci-fi in nature, with primal themes and a compact cast of characters.” He’s also looking into “experiments in both distribution and funding” a la Kickstarter. Thanks largely in-part to the interwebs, this very idea even exists. The last time artists with this much clout left Marvel, they made Image Comics. Certainly that won’t happen ever again, but in its place is something far more rewarding. Not necessarily in up-front hype and profits mind you, but rewarding none-the-less.

With Paolo Rivera setting his sites on the creator-owned market, I see the opportunity for a more level playing field. When the artists and writers have both a creative and monetary investment in a project, there is a passion that simply doesn’t exist on the other side of the aisle. As an Unshaven Comic, I care far more about The Samurnauts than I ever will about Kyle Rayner or GrimJack, even if I’m ever allowed to write or draw either of them. When I put my head to pillow, I know that my creations (made in part with two brilliant co-creators) are my own. And should the day ever come that our creation becomes “something,” it’s only fair that I (we) see the complete fruit of those labors.

Good on you, Paolo. May others follow suit as well.

SUNDAY: John Ostrander