WI: Philip Wylie Sues Over Superman

krinsbez

So, I recently learned that Philip Wylie, author of the classic science fiction novel Gladiator, one of the inspirations for Superman considered suing the creators and publishers of the Man of Steel for plagiarism shortly after the character's debut, but decided not to, because A: the creators were a pair of penniless kids, and B: it's not like he wasn't drawing on a thousand years of mythology anyways.

But what if he did? Would he be able to win? What would the fallout be?
 

Brady Kj

If he sued a couple of penniless kids, I imagine the newspapers would vilify him. Could he have sued National Comics instead? If National lost, I guess it would lead to a comic book industry that's frightened of taking risks, and the superhero genre fizzling out in the 50s. If National won, that would have weakened their cases against Wonder Man, Captain Marvel, and several other characters. This would seem like a good thing, but it also has a downside of making a lot of superheroes that are dangerously close copies of older characters.
 

krinsbez

Brady Kj said:
If he sued a couple of penniless kids, I imagine the newspapers would vilify him. Could he have sued National Comics instead?
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Well, they actually stopped being penniless kids ten minutes after Action Comics #1 hit the stands, but he was thinking of doing that too, as I believe I said.

If National lost, I guess it would lead to a comic book industry that's frightened of taking risks, and the superhero genre fizzling out in the 50s.
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It depends on how badly they lose though. Given the amount of money AC#1 made (prior to that, a big success was when a comic sold half of its run; AC#1 sold 64 percent), there was enough money that it could still be massively profitable, as long as they were able to keep publishing Superman.

If National won, that would have weakened their cases against Wonder Man, Captain Marvel, and several other characters. This would seem like a good thing, but it also has a downside of making a lot of superheroes that are dangerously close copies of older characters.
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Well, we have that now, yes?
 

phil5775

If only comparing the character's physical abilities, the similarity to Superman is there. However, given the origin of Wylie's hero , Captain America was a more direct "copy".
 

krinsbez

phil5775 said:
If only comparing the character's physical abilities, the similarity to Superman is there. However, given the origin of Wylie's hero , Captain America was a more direct "copy".
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Not really, other than super-serum, which was a pretty common concept in comics.
 

Dathi THorfinnsson

My guess is that, if he sues, he loses. I dont see a whole lot of similarity. Maybe he gets a rep and no one will buy his stories for fear of litigation?
 
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