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| "A Thunderbolt in the Rain" from Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt #3 (DC, 1992) by Mike Collins and José Marzan Jr. |
Of the heroes DC bought from Charlton, Peter Cannon AKA Thunderbolt might have had more success, perhaps, if he'd been introduced at the same time as Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and the Question. Two of those got Justice League membership out of it, and all of three had series lasting 2-4 years. Cannon's lasted but a year and very few DC appearances besides. From what I understand, ownership reverted to the creator's estate (Pete Morisi) which is how Dynamite! has been able to publish a Peter Cannon series. I guess that's what happens when characters go unused, though it may be specific to the original Charlton deal, I don't know.
I had read DC never got the rights to Cannon as part of the Charlton deal, that creator Peter Morisi had retained the rights as part of his contract, and only leased the character to DC in a separate deal. Darned if I can find that citation now, though...
ReplyDeleteThat would make sense, I suppose, though I wonder what it would have meant for Watchmen if the original idea of using the Charlton heroes had been retained, or if Thunderbolt's role was a more important factor than we know in making the switch.
ReplyDeleteI heard Thunderbolt was "sold" to DC, then Pete Morisi pointed out that Peter Cannon wasn't theirs to sell. They worked out a deal where DC had x amount of time to start and maintain a series, or Morisi wholly reclaimed the rights, and so it went.
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