DC's lawsuit and the impact on C.C. Beck

[bronze johnny]

Was wondering what C.C. Beck's thoughts and reaction was when DC successfully put an end to Captain Marvel? I couldn't find any information concerning Beck's opinion about this. In a way, the claim that Captain Marvel was essentially a copy of Superman was an attack on Beck's credibility. Then again, it appears that Beck's joining DC to draw Shazam in 1974 hints to a reconciliation? Sadly, Beck may have been the biggest victim since those who know Siegel and Schuster outside of comic book circles, have probably never heard of the artist who drew the one time most popular superhero character of the Golden Age- more popular than the Man of Steel.

 

Has Beck's story and experience really been told? We know what happened to Captain Marvel but has history overlooked the impact on Beck?

 

Thanks for any insight,

 

John

[mrwoogieman]

[jpepx78]

According to this interview, beck seemed bitter and felt he was poorly treated by dc. He was essentially fired when fawcett lost the lawsuit and worked as a commercial illustrator. When dc revived capt marvel, he was convinced to illustrate some stories but he felt the stories were "structureless, meaningless and totally worthless" and then refused to illustrate them. He was paid no residuals and he believed he was only paid small amounts for reprints so that he would not have grounds for a lawsuit.

http://cartoonician.com/an-interview-with-c-c-beck/

 

[bronze johnny]

What happened to Beck May very well have been one of the worst experiences ever encountered by a comic book artist. DC's treatment of Siegel and Schuster was beyond horrible- yet they will forever be identified with their creation, Superman. What does Beck have? Creating a character that was essentially considered a copy of another? What happened to Beck May have been worse that Superman's creators- Beck's great creation was essentially destroyed.

 

Another underlying question that comes to mind here is whether Superman would have been able to surpass Captain Marvel but for the lawsuit?

[buttock]

Binder came over to DC & helped shape their style in the 50s. Why was Beck left out?

[bronze johnny]

Good question.

[bronze johnny]

Another thing to consider:

 

Does DC owe something to Beck? Beck's descendants?

[jpepx78]

Binder came over to DC & helped shape their style in the 50s. Why was Beck left out?

If you read between the lines of the interview, you might detect some of his feelings toward dc.

 

Heintjes: How did the lawsuit affect you?

Beck: Apart from being fired when Fawcett lost, it didn’t. That was the lawyers’ job. I mean, we took it as a compliment. It meant that Captain Marvel was putting Superman out of business. If he hadn’t been any good, National wouldn’t have bothered to sue us. When the end came, they let us go like so many factory workers. I worked as a commercial illustrator again. Except for a few engravers and printers, who liked my work because it was easy to engrave and print, nobody ever paid attention to me, and my name was so unknown that I usually had to spell it out, letter by letter, for the people who made out my checks in payment. Wendell Crowley went into his father’s lumber business. Otto went to work for DC, where he was treated like a dog by Mort Weisinger.

Also being a commercial artist may have been more lucrative than a comic book artist.

 

[bluechip]

According to this interview, beck seemed bitter and felt he was poorly treated by dc. He was essentially fired when fawcett lost the lawsuit and worked as a commercial illustrator. When dc revived capt marvel, he was convinced to illustrate some stories but he felt the stories were "structureless, meaningless and totally worthless" and then refused to illustrate them. He was paid no residuals and he believed he was only paid small amounts for reprints so that he would not have grounds for a lawsuit.

http://cartoonician.com/an-interview-with-c-c-beck/

 

Beck and Binder's Marvel family stuff was a brilliant mix of superhero genre, sci-fi, fantasy and comedy. DC tried to copy it in the Superman titles but rarely managed to do so. Probably the closest they came was Mxytplk (sp?) and then later the Bizarro world.

[buttock]

Binder came over to DC & helped shape their style in the 50s. Why was Beck left out?

If you read between the lines of the interview, you might detect some of his feelings toward dc.

 

Heintjes: How did the lawsuit affect you?

Beck: Apart from being fired when Fawcett lost, it didn’t. That was the lawyers’ job. I mean, we took it as a compliment. It meant that Captain Marvel was putting Superman out of business. If he hadn’t been any good, National wouldn’t have bothered to sue us. When the end came, they let us go like so many factory workers. I worked as a commercial illustrator again. Except for a few engravers and printers, who liked my work because it was easy to engrave and print, nobody ever paid attention to me, and my name was so unknown that I usually had to spell it out, letter by letter, for the people who made out my checks in payment. Wendell Crowley went into his father’s lumber business. Otto went to work for DC, where he was treated like a dog by Mort Weisinger.

Also being a commercial artist may have been more lucrative than a comic book artist.

 

Well that was fast, thanks!

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

Binder came over to DC & helped shape their style in the 50s. Why was Beck left out?

If you read between the lines of the interview, you might detect some of his feelings toward dc.

 

Heintjes: How did the lawsuit affect you?

Beck: Apart from being fired when Fawcett lost, it didn’t. That was the lawyers’ job. I mean, we took it as a compliment. It meant that Captain Marvel was putting Superman out of business. If he hadn’t been any good, National wouldn’t have bothered to sue us. When the end came, they let us go like so many factory workers. I worked as a commercial illustrator again. Except for a few engravers and printers, who liked my work because it was easy to engrave and print, nobody ever paid attention to me, and my name was so unknown that I usually had to spell it out, letter by letter, for the people who made out my checks in payment. Wendell Crowley went into his father’s lumber business. Otto went to work for DC, where he was treated like a dog by Mort Weisinger.

Also being a commercial artist may have been more lucrative than a comic book artist.

 

Weisinger sounds like a nightmare to have worked for from everything I have read. One can only imagine the scripting sessions with the writers and artists in the fifties and sixties.