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Poisoned Chalice: The Extremely Long and Incredibly Complex Story of Marvelman
The comic character Marvelman (and Miracleman) has a fascinating – and probably unique – history in the field of comics. His extended origin goes all the way back to the very beginnings of the American superhero comics industry, and it seems likely that his ongoing story will stretch on well into the future. It involves some of the biggest names in comics. It’s a story of good versus evil, of heroes and villains, and of any number of acts of plagiarism and casual breaches of copyright.
Poisoned Chalice wades into one of the strangest and thorniest knots of all of comics: the history of Marvel/Miracleman and still unsolved question of who owns this character. It’s a story that touches on many of the most remarkable personalities in the comics industry—Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Todd McFarlane, Joe Quesada and more—and one of the most fascinating in the medium. The story of Marvelman touches on the darker places of comics history, springing from the prehistory where greed ruled the day; it’s a complex tale that others have attempted to untangle, but there has never been as thorough or as meticulous a study of it as this book.
Poisoned Chalice wades into one of the strangest and thorniest knots of all of comics: the history of Marvel/Miracleman and still unsolved question of who owns this character. It’s a story that touches on many of the most remarkable personalities in the comics industry—Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Todd McFarlane, Joe Quesada and more—and one of the most fascinating in the medium. The story of Marvelman touches on the darker places of comics history, springing from the prehistory where greed ruled the day; it’s a complex tale that others have attempted to untangle, but there has never been as thorough or as meticulous a study of it as this book.
280 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 26, 2018
Super detailed history of Miracleman and Marvelman (and there is a difference between the two). For people interested in busting up the half truths around this property, this is the ideal book for you. The writer tells the truth about the myths circulating around the early British Marvelmam, talks in detail about the lofty goals and rough execution of Warrior magazine, the semi sleazy nature of Eclipse Comics, the odd middle time when Todd McFarlane claimed to own the character, and Marvel’s mismanagent of the property.
The text sometimes is discursive and even self indulgent, but for a fannish ebook that’s fine. This is the definitive book on this topic.
The text sometimes is discursive and even self indulgent, but for a fannish ebook that’s fine. This is the definitive book on this topic.
December 30, 2018
If there was anything you wanted to know about the Marvel/Miracleman saga, (debacle?) this is the place to go.
Recommended to those who have greater than a passing interest in comics history.
Some great behind the scenes stuff.
Recommended to those who have greater than a passing interest in comics history.
Some great behind the scenes stuff.
October 21, 2024
This book is apparently a repackaging of material from online, with additions to bring things up to date with the time of publication. It chronicles the publishing history of the British comic book character Marvelman (also known as Miracleman), with a specific focus on the long-running rights issues surrounding the property.
I had been aware of many of the copyright battles surrounding this series, but this book did a nice job of comprehensively covering them, going back to the inception of the character and tracking to the time of publication. The author clearly made attempts to gather as much information as was available and quite openly points out where he was unable to find any, where and why accounts of the same events differ, and provides speculation based on available evidence. An engrossing read.
I had been aware of many of the copyright battles surrounding this series, but this book did a nice job of comprehensively covering them, going back to the inception of the character and tracking to the time of publication. The author clearly made attempts to gather as much information as was available and quite openly points out where he was unable to find any, where and why accounts of the same events differ, and provides speculation based on available evidence. An engrossing read.
September 22, 2019
A fascinating, but extremely niche book. This appeals to a very, very select number of people, one of whom is me. I grew up reading the Eclipse Miracleman run, and consider them to be some of my favorite comics ever. As such, it's been extremely frustrating over the years waiting for the long, long, LONG anticipated issue #25 to be published. And while I've been following every bit of the story, Poisoned Chalice does an excellent job digging into (and in some cases, outright speculating about) the details of what's taking so damn long.
Again, super niche. This book is probably not for you. But it's totally for me, and I enjoyed it. Now back to waiting.
Again, super niche. This book is probably not for you. But it's totally for me, and I enjoyed it. Now back to waiting.
August 14, 2019
An exhaustive and well-researched analysis of the copyright. To be fair--I wasn't too interested other than the Moore and Gaiman stuff.
But for someone who hasn't studied law, this is a pretty good primer.
But for someone who hasn't studied law, this is a pretty good primer.
January 25, 2023
As I was reading it, I thought to myself "this reads more like a blog than a book". Well turns out it was originally published as a blog!
Well written overall and very interesting material. As a fan of the character, it's good to have all the details laid out so clearly.
Well written overall and very interesting material. As a fan of the character, it's good to have all the details laid out so clearly.
February 9, 2019
Such a well-researched book! A much recommended history of an iconic superhero, with all the ins and outs of the ownership entanglements since the 1950's!
January 4, 2024
I have to give this 5 stars, not because it's one of my favourite books of all time (though I did greatly enjoy it), but because it's not possible to imagine it being done any better than this. The author leaves no stone unturned and (a rarity in this business) doesn't speculate except when there's no other option, and then is scrupulous about showing his reasoning and reminding us there are unknowns.
The whole history of the Marvelman saga with all its facets reminds me of Orwell's story about Sir Walter Raleigh. Even the bits that are certain are sometimes baffling. For example, much as I admire Alan Moore, I want to shake him by the lapels (not that I'd dare to try it) for not accepting as much of the ownership in and royalties from the character as he could get. He said himself that the original Marvelman was "a silly-arsed strip". If Dez Skinn hadn't acquired (or thought he'd acquired) the rights from Mick Anglo then Moore would have written his original story with the character called Miracleman right from the git-go. It wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference, either. When I read the first story in Warrior I assumed this was a character Moore had made up, a sort of identikit '50s superman being reimagined for the '80s. And that would have been fine. The old Marvelman was pretty much an imagination-free zone and everything interesting about the character was Moore's idea. It's not like the Charlton heroes, who had some value in their own right and would have been perfect as the central figures in Watchmen.
The whole history of the Marvelman saga with all its facets reminds me of Orwell's story about Sir Walter Raleigh. Even the bits that are certain are sometimes baffling. For example, much as I admire Alan Moore, I want to shake him by the lapels (not that I'd dare to try it) for not accepting as much of the ownership in and royalties from the character as he could get. He said himself that the original Marvelman was "a silly-arsed strip". If Dez Skinn hadn't acquired (or thought he'd acquired) the rights from Mick Anglo then Moore would have written his original story with the character called Miracleman right from the git-go. It wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference, either. When I read the first story in Warrior I assumed this was a character Moore had made up, a sort of identikit '50s superman being reimagined for the '80s. And that would have been fine. The old Marvelman was pretty much an imagination-free zone and everything interesting about the character was Moore's idea. It's not like the Charlton heroes, who had some value in their own right and would have been perfect as the central figures in Watchmen.
December 22, 2022
Read this in 2018 when it was serialized online. There are many behind-the-scenes stories about comic creators getting into ownership debates, falling outs and feuds, but few have the twists and turns that this true story has. One of the few cases where the creators' story is as strange as the comic book they were writing.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews