DC Takes Legal Action Against Mark Millar's Nemesis

Good for them

oh dont be such a pansy DC! not like there adding pointy ears

Although I don't read Marvel and find the DC heroes more interesting I don't think this was the right thing for DC to do. Superhero homages have been used time after time why is this the one time it needs legal recourse.

Is it wrong that this makes me laugh...? 

 CIVIL WAR? Nothing. KICK-ASS? A warmup. What if the smartest, toughest costumed bad ass in the world was totally evil? Meet Nemesis. He’s systematically been destroying the lives of every police chief in Asia, and he’s now set his sights on Washington, DC. Between you and me, the police don’t have a chance. Do not miss the book that EVERYONE will be talking about by the creative team that made CIVIL WAR the biggest book of the decade.

i dunno. most of the time it seems like the courts dont care so good luck to them.

" @sora_thekey: It wasn't an official description.  It was what was used to describe the character Nemesis.  This is what the solicit says:

 CIVIL WAR? Nothing. KICK-ASS? A warmup. What if the smartest, toughest costumed bad ass in the world was totally evil? Meet Nemesis. He’s systematically been destroying the lives of every police chief in Asia, and he’s now set his sights on Washington, DC. Between you and me, the police don’t have a chance. Do not miss the book that EVERYONE will be talking about by the creative team that made CIVIL WAR the biggest book of the decade.

"

see what i think is interesting is that if you had released this before Dark Knight there might not have been a recogniztion of the Joker teaser.

" @John Valentine: Want brought their attention (I assume) is that the character has been described (not officially) as a cross between the Joker and Batman.  The image looks like Batman (without the pointy ears) and a red bloody smile (like Heath Ledger's in The Dark Knight). "

I support our DC overlords in their decision. 
 
A homage 'Nemesis' may have been intended to be, but in the world of intellectual properties 'homage' is just another way of saying 'theft' which this project may not directly have been. But the similarities are just far too close for it to really be a legitimately acceptable homage.
 
The promotional art was hardly subtle in hiding the ideas they clearly took or 'stole' from the Batman and the Joker designs. And Millar actually coming out publicly and mentioning the character / series as being a Batman story turned upside down doesn't help either. 
 
I'm all for paying homage to great characters between publishers, but there is a fine line between wanting to show respect and just outright basing your whole idea on one already thought up and established for you. Whatever happened to originality? Couldn't Millar have perhaps described 'Nemesis' without having to mention Batman or the Joker? 
 
I'm sure many will disagree with me over this. But I can totally see why DC would be throwing a legal tantrum about it, the Joker and Batman are two of the most iconic characters in the history of comic books and very dear to them. Wouldn't you want to protect your money making babies if you had them?

DC should ran his ass over. Are we allowed to say 'ass', btw ?

omg reallY?

What're the rules to the homage game? The character should only have 60% resemblance to the original source?
 
I like Steve McNiven's work,but the design looks to me like it's Batman with the ears cut-off.

This is why you don't friggin mention the opposite publisher's character when describing your book. I mean, duh?

" @sora_thekey: It wasn't an official description.  It was what was used to describe the character Nemesis.  This is what the solicit says:

 CIVIL WAR? Nothing. KICK-ASS? A warmup. What if the smartest, toughest costumed bad ass in the world was totally evil? Meet Nemesis. He’s systematically been destroying the lives of every police chief in Asia, and he’s now set his sights on Washington, DC. Between you and me, the police don’t have a chance. Do not miss the book that EVERYONE will be talking about by the creative team that made CIVIL WAR the biggest book of the decade.

"

" @G-Man said:

" @John Valentine: Want brought their attention (I assume) is that the character has been described (not officially) as a cross between the Joker and Batman.  The image looks like Batman (without the pointy ears) and a red bloody smile (like Heath Ledger's in The Dark Knight). "

Ah, I see! I could understand DC's viewpoint if that were to be the case.Without the red bloody smile, this Nemesis just looks like Red Robin, IMO, ha.  "

" @Son_of_Magnus: Doom Patrol was there first. "

" DC isn't going to win this case, the most that will happen is the cover will be changed.  As long as the character has a different name and semidifferent look then it's considered to be a homage. They aren't making money off of Batman they are making money off a character that LOOKS simillar to Batman, that is were it'll fall flat. I can't tell you how many times i've heard someone say they were going to sue someone else, just because the characters looked simillar and in the end the company being sued rarely loses.     "

JOKER, wait no it isn't

I'm a Millar fan, but DC's got a point. The images are maybe too close to Batman and the Joker.  Maybe he's just trying to create some buzz. Didn't Millar previously get in trouble when Wanted was optioned as a movie when he started the false rumor that Eminem was playing the part of The Killer (which was based on his likeness anyway)?

Speaking of legal issues - I wonder how Millar got away with calling the book "Nemesis". There are already more than a couple of comic book characters with that name. Maybe it's just the name of the book and not the main villain character? Not sure how that stuff works...either way, alot of people will buy this book regardless.

This makes me laugh, although there is some truth about people being to sue-happy now and days, especially over copyright. I mean how would Marvel get Gladiator or Sentry, etc withouth Superman. Perhaps they should have stopped with Superman and Batman and called it quits. * Add sarcastic eye roll*

Another funny thing about WANTED, when looking through it one can see some obvious characters, like Magneto and Deathstroke to name two.

Can't say i blame DC for taking legal action, however part of me is disappointed, because i was looking forward to Nemesis.

Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't really seen all of Nemesis' costume, only then can I determine how much of a rip-off it is...

At first I think it was maybe the marketing it as an "Batman/Joker" thing but I am not sure and this is just a bad move by DC and smart one by Miller and Marvel. If anything, after Kickass comes out people will be feeding for another book and this will be it. You can't say that the Joker is a copyright on a red smile... it is a freaking clown. He also didn't have blood on his face, as shown on the image, it was make up. The cowl this is just silly, they explained what they were doing and DC doesn't like it because DC didn't think of it before. 
 
If anything, it just brings more publicity to the book and Marvel may promoted it as "the book DC doesn't want you to have" or something like that.

...it's nothing and the story has been massively blown out of proportion.

One of my friends at DC legal dropped me an informal email back in December saying that someone in editorial was a bit worried by the Batman and Joker mentions in an interview to promote a creator-owned book. They politely asked if I could avoid using those names as it was creating a bit of grief for them and I agreed, saying that's absolutely fine. Steve and I chatted after, wondering if the cover was a little too much too and we decided to ditch it and do another one. It was entirely our decision and a gesture of goodwill, which the lads at DC appreciated. This has never been anything beyond a couple of friendly, informal emails.

So there you go. But all the online talk is very, very good. I have a hunch this is going to be even bigger than Kick-Ass. Producers are going nuts for it and they haven't even seen anything beyond a few teasers I sent out to friends and nobody's seeing anything else until the massive mainstream promo I have planned on the day the book's released. You think you've seen Millar Whoring? You ain't seen nothing yet, my friends.

MM      
 

so what?
good promotion

i agree though, it is a "take-off". rip-off? no, they so much as admitted what it is.
one could say its a homage, but its a little more like an intentional insult i think.
 
either way though seeing past cases, the courts really dont care.
the only way anything will get changed is if Marvel deems to do
it as an act of good faith. both Marvel and DC have before in times
when the other was actually irate.
 
as for Marvel ripping off Dc's stuff and vice-versa, they both do it
all the time. most of the examples brought up in this thread are correct,
but what alot of you dont know is that both Marvel and DC are cool with that.
they both are friends in the biz, and have a mutual agreement that they can both 
homage each other and follow whats selling for the other as a means of keeping
them both as top dogs.

i have no idea what the $%#@* is going on here!?!