General Category > Comic Related Discussion
Frazetta the man and his Legacy.
John C:
--- Quote from: JVJ on May 26, 2010, 03:44:50 PM ---I don't think any publisher was particularly INTERESTED in retaining his artwork.
--- End quote ---
I'm not disagreeing, since you know the field and the people far better than I do, but that doesn't quite ring true to me. Sure, a publisher probably wouldn't care about having "original Frazetta art" on file, but they also would be highly DISinterested in having to handle the art specially and negotiate over who gets reprint rights.
JonTheScanner:
They seldom (never?) used the original art for reprints. They had stats or film for that. They may not have wanted to bother to return the art though. Ownership of the original art no more gives the right to reprint than does ownership of a copy of the comic.
JVJ (RIP):
--- Quote from: John C on May 26, 2010, 04:37:47 PM ---
I'm not disagreeing, since you know the field and the people far better than I do, but that doesn't quite ring true to me. Sure, a publisher probably wouldn't care about having "original Frazetta art" on file, but they also would be highly DISinterested in having to handle the art specially and negotiate over who gets reprint rights.
--- End quote ---
I don't THINK, DL,
(and I stress that this is simply an opinion based on observation, not on any inside information) that ANY reprint rights were ever "negotiated" in those days. Publishers felt (and acted accordingly) that they could do whatever they wanted with the material. FF work was reprinted at DC (All-Star Western #99 immediately comes to mind) in 1958 without a hint of Frazetta complaint - that anyone in fandom heard of, anyway.
I agree with you that he was probably highly regarded as an artist by those he worked for (and with), but what is it that prompts you think that he insisted that his work be handled differently and that he negotiated reprint rights at at time when no one else seems to have done so? While this is entirely true in the post-Capp era, I'm unaware of his insisting on such things prior to 1955.
Peace, Jim (|:{>
Drusilla lives!:
--- Quote from: John C on May 26, 2010, 04:37:47 PM ---
--- Quote from: JVJ on May 26, 2010, 03:44:50 PM ---I don't think any publisher was particularly INTERESTED in retaining his artwork.
--- End quote ---
I'm not disagreeing, since you know the field and the people far better than I do, but that doesn't quite ring true to me. Sure, a publisher probably wouldn't care about having "original Frazetta art" on file, but they also would be highly DISinterested in having to handle the art specially and negotiate over who gets reprint rights.
--- End quote ---
That's my "gut" feeling on the matter as well John. It's true that most publishers weren't interested in retaining his or anyone else's artwork at the time... in fact, the comics literature is littered with accounts from various GA artists of stacks of artwork being simply shredded and/or thrown away (or simply forgotten in some store room for decades)... but regardless, they did initially keep it to do as they pleased with it. And again, I can't see how an artist coming into one of the shops, or the office of a major (particularly a young "freelancer") and asking for his art back would work in his or her favor... for (again IMO) it would only lead to the next natural question as to why? And thinking for a minute as a business man would (not as a lover of art or comic books... but simply as a business man in a cut throat, highly competitive business) I'd assume that the natural answer to this would be money. That is, there must be some angle with this guy that he wants something back that few others do... he's asking questions... and of course, if this abnormality to the regular way of doing business (even if it wouldn't end in a wrangle) rubbed someone the wrong way, it couldn't be good for a freelancer in that environment. And IMO, it wouldn't take much for him to rub people the wrong way in that business culture.
Drusilla lives!:
--- Quote from: JVJ on May 27, 2010, 05:03:55 AM ---
I don't THINK, DL,
(and I stress that this is simply an opinion based on observation, not on any inside information) that ANY reprint rights were ever "negotiated" in those days. Publishers felt (and acted accordingly) that they could do whatever they wanted with the material. FF work was reprinted at DC (All-Star Western #99 immediately comes to mind) in 1958 without a hint of Frazetta complaint - that anyone in fandom heard of, anyway.
I agree with you that he was probably highly regarded as an artist by those he worked for (and with), but what is it that prompts you think that he insisted that his work be handled differently and that he negotiated reprint rights at at time when no one else seems to have done so? While this is entirely true in the post-Capp era, I'm unaware of his insisting on such things prior to 1955.
Peace, Jim (|:{>
--- End quote ---
And yet he had to "negotiate" with Gaines. Somehow I don't get the impression that he (Gaines) was a "soft touch" when it came to such matters, although perhaps one of the reasons for Frank going to him with the work (besides his prior acquaintance with him through Williamson, and many other reasons not the least of which would be the subject matter of the work itself) is precisely because he was (compared to the other publishers). And that negotiation (if one can consider it as such) apparently wasn't even over future reprint rights, if I recall... beyond the initial print run anyway. But you're right JVJ, we can never know really with regard to his involvement with other publishers and art directors... there is no real concrete record on the matter with regard to FF or anyone else, so this is pure speculation.
And speaking of that famous cover to WSF #29... the fact that he did go to Gaines (EC) with it after creating it for Eastern couldn't bode well for his rep. either (not with regard to Gaines... he was many things to many people, but I don't think he was ever a "blackballer," but I can't say the same for others in the industry back then, not that I or anyone else could who wasn't there).
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