Biff! Pow! Comic artists clash over copyrights The Associated Press

13.06.10

MADISON, Wis. — Bam! Zap! Whammo! It's a encounter royale between two of the toughest heavyweights in the superhero business. The fate of the world doesn't hang in the estimate, but a lot of money probably does.

Sci-fi writer Neil Gaiman and former Spider-Man artist Todd McFarlane's attorneys have been sparring for years over Gaiman's claims to a couple of characters created for McFarlane's classic Spawn series, which features a murdered CIA agent who becomes a monster.

Now Gaiman insists McFarlane owes him for three more characters — a demon named Dark Ages Father and two avenging angels in thong bikinis. A federal judge in Madison has scheduled a Monday hearing to lend an ear to to both sides' arguments.

The long-running case underscores the tension among comic artists as they vie for rights to even schoolgirl characters in an industry that has grown more lucrative over the past 20 years through movies, graphic novels and intercontinental distribution.

Comic book sales totaled about $429 million last year, up from $360 million to $400 million in 1996, according to estimates by The Comics Chronicles, which compiles comic sales information. The Batman movie sequel "The Dark Knight" has grossed over $1 billion worldwide since it was released in 2008, according to Box Bit Mojo.

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