Dungeons on DVD

dungeonsanddragons

Our friends over at TV Shows on DVD are announcing (on this page) that we are soon to see an American DVD release of Dungeons & Dragons, a Saturday morning cartoon show that I developed back in 1983. As far as I know, this is true…although I do not know this because anyone involved with the release has called me.

One brief correction to their report: The show was on CBS, not ABC. And I hope when anyone talks about the writers involved in the show, they'll mention Dennis Marks, who created it, and Hank Saroyan, who story-edited and voice-directed and had so much to do with whatever that was any good that got on the air.

I'm pleased there will finally be a "real" release of the series because I've gotten tired of seeing bootlegs all over the place…including the set that was advertised as being "prepared to the highest, most exacting standards" but which has my name on the box as "Mike Evanier." People are always e-mailing me, asking where they can get the complete collection on video and I'm never sure what to tell them. The bootlegs violate copyright and don't pay royalties to anyone who did the show under a royalty deal…which I think includes me.

At one point, I sent an e-mail to someone who had produced a set and was brazenly selling them online. I wrote — politely, I thought — that since he was depriving me of income, perhaps he'd like to send me a couple of DVDs, gratis, especially since his ad/webpage quoted large chunks of this article I wrote without my permission. The fellow wrote back to inform me that since he didn't hire me, he had no "legal or moral obligation" and that if I continued to harass him — as I apparently did by sending one message — he would have me prosecuted as an Internet stalker. It was kind of like, "If you interfere with my right to rob you, I'm going to call the police!"

Anyway, it was a fun show and I'm looking forward to it coming out on DVD. As soon as I find out which company is issuing it, I'll post that info here. I'll also contact them and see if I can get a couple of free copies. I hope they don't try to have me arrested.

P.S. If you're thinking of writing me to ask about the rumor that there was a "last" episode produced in which the kids in the show got home, read this first. Then don't ask.

Tuesday Morning

I said in this message that there were rumors that someone was trying to set up a streaming channel that would run, over and over and over, the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon that I developed in the eighties. Well, it shows you what I know. Someone has. It's on the Freevee and Plex services.

Looking for info on this online, I find a lot of articles about the series, many of which don't seem to understand that I developed the show for television, I did not create it. And I certainly did not create the game. I took an existing idea and changed things around and reworked it into the series that CBS bought and then I wrote the pilot script and part of one other episode.


What's going on with Rudy Giuliani has become one of those traffic accidents that you can't not look at. At least, I can't. He lost a defamation suit for claiming that those two campaign workers in Georgia has been tampering with ballots. Today, on his way into the trial to determine how much he's going to have to pay them in damages, he stopped to tell news cameras that he was not wrong; that they really did tamper with ballots and when he gets on the witness stand, he's going to prove it.

In other words, he defamed them again. And he intends to use his time under oath to try to convince the jury that those ladies did what it's already been proven they did not do. Good luck with that, Rudy.


I have a busy day ahead. Gotta run.

Saturday Evening

Every year around now, Time magazine names its Person of the Year and a whole lot o' people who never read nor care about Time the rest of the year get outraged. No matter how Time explains it's for the person who "for better or for worse…has done the most to influence the events of the year," people want to see their fave win it. Never mind that in the past it went to Hitler, Stalin, The Ayatollah Khomeini, Vladimir Putin and all sorts of folks who probably fell into the "for worse" category. As far as some people are concerned, it recognizes greatness no matter what its awarders say.

This year, it went to Taylor Swift. Fine. None of the folks protesting the selection care what's inside Time. Why should they care who's on its cover? If it was my decision and make the cat Person of the Year.


Among my fondest wishes for 2024 is that some part of politics, however small, will be about what's best for human beings, not about "owning" the opposition and making their heads explode.


I worked on 121 half-hours of the cartoon series, Garfield & Friends. There's a sub-channel on the Pluto streaming network that runs the show 24/7. As far as I can tell, they don't run all 121 in sequence and then repeat them and repeat them. They select something like a six-hour block of episodes and then run them four times a day, then run a different six-hour block the next day and a different one the next day and so on.

If they ran them all in order, they'd be repeating them all every two-and-a-half days. Either way, it means running every episode a little over 144 times a year. The voice actors who worked on the show and I each get enough money from this to buy the occasional can of Spaghetti-O's…but not too often. The animators and artists and others who worked on the show don't even get that.

Rumor had it that someone is trying to set up a streaming channel to run the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon show that I also worked on. If they do and they run the show 24/7…well, there were only 27 episodes of that series so they'd be going through the entire run almost twice a day.

One of these days, Warners is going to set up the What's Opera, Doc? streaming channel that just runs What's Opera, Doc? over and over, every hour of every day so you can tune in any time and watch What's Opera, Doc? It's seven minutes long so if they put two minutes of commercials between each showing, they could run it 160 times a day, which would be 58,400 times per year except in Leap Year when it would be 58,560 times.

I don't think the families of Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese, Mel Blanc and the artists who made that film will even get a can of Spaghetti-O's. Well, they may get the O's part but they won't be seeing any of the spaghetti part.

ASK me: Cartoon Royalties

A gent who, as you'll see, wanted me to call him "Doc Bedlam" wrote with the following question…

Longtime reader here who has so far not bothered you with e-mails, requests for money, or an impassioned defense of cole slaw…but I have a question. It's a weird question, so feel free to ignore it, but it is a subject in which I am interested. If you choose to reprint this on your blog, call me Doc Bedlam.

Recently, I was given a gag gift: The Little Golden Book…of Dungeons and Dragons, based on the old Saturday morning cartoon show, a thing you've mentioned on your blog a few times, to say how you had little to do with it other than hammering someone else's concepts into a form and format that fit your standard Saturday morning cartoon show at the time, and filing off some rough edges here and there.

This book was written and illustrated by people who claim to not be Mark Evanier…but in the second tiniest print on the page, it says, "Based on the episode "The Night Of No Tomorrow" by Mark Evanier."

Now, experience has taught me that the writer doesn't get any more credit than he's contractually obligated for someone to give him. My question is this: Did you get some sort of residuals for the reuse of your story concept in a Little Golden Book, and was it any significant amount? I mean, I'm not asking for your financials or anything, but would the $$$ be worth the trouble of endorsing and depositing the check?

I ask this because I'm aware you've been writing for TV for more than a few minutes now, and I have this image in my head of Mr. Mark Evanier, slipping on his shoes, strolling jauntily out to whatever he drives, and heading out to the Post Office once a week or so…and walking back out with an enormous mail sack full of envelopes.

Most of them contain paper checks…for amounts ranging from a few dollars to a few cents. Because clear back in 1980, someone signed a contract with Mr. Evanier that meant he got residuals of some sort whenever a given story was used…on a downward sliding scale based on how long it's been since the contract was signed (I've heard actors talking about how the residuals run out after a given period, and how they were getting checks for 89 cents ten years after a show was cancelled, and like that; my knowledge of how the writers get paid is somewhat sketchier).

If you're feeling indulgent, could you enlighten me as to exactly how this works?

I'll show you how observant I can be at times. When I got this message the other day, I thought, "There was a Little Golden Book adapting that script I wrote?" I started to write a reply here saying how I'd never seen a copy and certainly never seen a dime from it. But then I had the vague feeling that I had…somewhere, sometime. And then the vague feeling got a little less vague…

A few months ago, I was on a panel at Comic-Con about the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon show. The dais was decorated with Dungeons & Dragons merchandise and I went and looked at a YouTube video of the entire panel. Here — I'll let you have a gander at it if you're interested…

As you'll see if you gander its way, there was not only a copy of the book as part of the display, it was SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME FOR THE ENTIRE PANEL [Emphasis added to emphasize my cluelessness.] Well, at least I had that vague remembrance. But I never opened it and never looked inside and if I had, I might not have seen my name because I didn't have the electron microscope that I carry with me nearly everywhere I go. I found this image of the title page online…

If you still can't make out my name, clicking on the image will make it a wee bit larger. Or get out the electron microscope that you carry with you almost everywhere you go.

So no, no payment…yet. I may or may not be owed something but I'll have to haul out the contract to check…and with my filing system here, finding a paper from 40 years ago — and then, if any monies are due, actually collecting them — may be harder than finding one's way home from a mystic dimension based on a popular role-playing game.

The contract was with Marvel Productions, which has been sold and reorganized several times since then and I guess it's now part of Disney but not a part with any rights to the game and maybe the cartoons. It has been my experience that companies are pretty good about honoring deals that they (themselves) make. But when a company changes hands, the new hands either never receive the paperwork that delineates the contractual obligations that come with the acquisition or prefer to pretend that they didn't.

So that's part of the answer to your question, Doc. Here's a more complete answer…

From a writer's business standpoint, there are three kinds of cartoon shows — those that are covered by the Writers Guild of America contract, those that are covered by the Animation Guild contract and those that are covered by neither. The contracts for the first two are basically what we call "Minimum Basic Agreements," meaning that if the hiring entity wants your services badly enough, you or your representatives may be able to negotiate an additional contract that gives you better terms that are in the M.B.A.

So let's say that the M.B.A. specifies that for a certain-length script, you'll receive $8,000. Let's further say that your agent and/or circumstances persuade them to give you a better deal that adds in, say, $2000 more plus agreed-upon residuals or royalties or bonuses or special credits. In that case, you'd get $10,000 plus those residuals or royalties or bonuses or special credits. If you don't (or they won't) agree on an additional contract, you just get the $8,000 and whatever credit is dictated by the governing M.B.A.

If you know the story of how I came to do the Dungeons & Dragons pilot and bible — a brief version of it is in video above — you know that I had some extra clout to demand a better deal. This is what good agents are especially good at and mine got me a lot more money, a "Developed for Television By…" credit on every episode and I think there was a "series sale bonus" if/when the network bought the show plus some other rewards. I'll have to locate my copy of that contract and see if I'm owed anything more and if so, if it would be worth it to make the phone calls or turn it over to my lawyer.

It may not be. When I performed a similar service for a Disney cartoon show called The Wuzzles, they adapted my scripts into kids' books similar to Little Golden Books and also a record or two. That contract didn't promise me a cent if they did that so I didn't get money or even copies of the books or record nor was my name on them.

Marvel Productions at the time I worked on Dungeons & Dragons was a signatory to Local 839 of I.A.T.S.E., which has since changed its name to The Animation Guild. If I hadn't gotten that contract, my deal would have just been the M.B.A. of that union which, I'm pretty sure, did not allow for additional payments to the writers for anything.

And once, I worked on an ABC Weekend Special which was adapted by others into two books not unlike the Little Golden Book. My contract did not allow for this so I went to the studio's attorney and told her they should have gotten my okay and also asked me to do the adaptations. She said basically that if I made an issue of it, I would never work for the studio again. I chose not to make an issue of it but I also decided that I liked that part about never working for that studio again.

I think I've answered your basic question, Dr. Bedlam sir, but let me address your fantasy of me cruising to the post office to pick up sacks of checks. It wasn't even that way before a lot of this went to Direct Deposit. Money trickles in here and there, mostly from the two different Garfield cartoon series for which I was Producer, Writer and Voice Director…and I use the word "trickles" deliberately. There's not much there for anyone to envy.

Garfield and Friends now reruns 24/7 on some streaming services. On the streaming service called Pluto, there's literally an entire channel devoted to that show and it's on Tubi and others, as well. I worked on every episode and I've made a pact with one of the voice actors who was on every episode. At the end of this year, we're going to take all the money we've received in royalties and residuals for our work being streamed in 2023 and blow it all on one big lunch at Five Guys.

If we don't order the extra-large fries, the math may work out perfectly. This is a lot of what recent strikes in the entertainment industry have been about.

You've reminded me of one time I had lunch with the late (and loved by me) actor Howard Morris. We met at the restaurant and he hauled out a pile of residual checks he'd just received for voice work at Hanna-Barbera. I don't know (nor did he know) what period of time it covered but the stack was about an inch high, which is a lot of checks. I said, "Well, I guess lunch is on you" and he said, "Take a look at the amounts."

At the time — this was mid-nineties, I think — it was said that to process and mail each residual check cost the studios about eight bucks. There wasn't one check in that stack that was for over about three bucks. Most were well under fifty cents. After we ate, as we waited for the bill, Howie began endorsing the checks so he could deposit them at his bank on the way home. Since I could forge his signature flawlessly, I took half of them to help out.

As we reached the end of the signing process, Howie said, "This is ridiculous. When I go to an autograph show, I get twenty dollars and up for signing my name. Here, I'm signing it for —"

And he flipped over the last check he'd signed to see the amount, which was four cents. The last one I signed was for three and the whole pile added up to a little less than forty dollars. I suggested he use some of that to buy a rubber stamp for future endorsements but he feared he might lose money on the deal if he did. He said, "I'm pissed off at having to do this but if I didn't get anything at all, I'd be even more pissed."

And then the check for our lunch arrived — which he grabbed and which he insisted on paying. With tip, it was for a little less than forty dollars.

ASK me

Today's Video Link

Forty years ago, I spent about six days (cumulative) of my life writing the pilot script and small-b bible for a Saturday morning cartoon series called Dungeons & Dragons. In my line of work, you sometimes spend a lot of time working on things that, once they reach an audience, are consumed and quickly forgotten. Even some things that are considered successful for a while can fade from memory with the passage of years.

Ah, but every so often, you get involved in something that people remember and treasure and keep talking about. I feel like I have now spent more than six days (cumulative) being interviewed about this series. It went on CBS on September 17, 1983 and lasted three seasons. Do not believe those who claim it was driven from the airwaves by pressure groups who saw satanic subtext in the series.

It went off for the same reason most shows go off: Because the ratings were declining and — rightly or wrongly — the brass at the network didn't think it would have enough viewers to sustain another season. Yes, there were protests about its content but not many and CBS, at least in those days, was pretty good about ignoring such outcries if — and this is always a Big If — the viewers seem to want whatever is being outcried about.

It was a good show because of good writers, good producers, good artists, good voice talent, good everything…and I was mostly a spectator to all that goodness, having opted not to stick with it. Still, thanks to the gent who was my agent at the time, my name was seen for a micro-second in the credits each week so I get more kudos than I probably earned.

An aside to anyone who doesn't know this: If you're in the creative and collaborative arts and your career has any kind of length or breadth to it, you will often get less credit than you deserve for things. You will occasionally get zero credit. And every rare once-in-a-while, you will get more than you merit. From your point-of-view, it may feel like the universe is doing a big Make Good on you, overcrediting you here to compensate for the undercrediting you got elsewhere.

But you shouldn't expect others to see it that way. Someone else who worked on Dungeons & Dragons once took me out to lunch basically to tell me how much he resented my onscreen credit. Like me, he didn't work on every episode but he felt he deserved most of the recognition for the show's success. He said — and this is verbatim — "I should have had your credit" and didn't laugh when I replied, "You should have had my agent."

Quite recently, I sat for the video podcast below with a fine interviewer and a major fan of the series, Heath Holland. It's almost an hour and we talked about some other things but it's mostly about Dungeons & Dragons

How to "Do" Comic-Con – Part 1

I'd forgotten, as I do every year, that the 4.5 days of Comic-Con come with several days of prep and several more of recovery…and time expands and compresses. Right this minute, I feel like Saturday of this past Comic-Con was months ago…but seven days ago as of this moment, I was scurrying to meet an editor for Breakfast at 8:30 to discuss a project I may or may not write.

That was followed by being on the Dungeons & Dragons panel at 10 AM, hosting Quick Draw! at 11:45 which led to the Cartoon Voices 1 panel at 1 PM, followed by being on Maggie Thompson's panel at 3:00, hosting the History of Cartoon Voices panel at 4:30, doing an interview at 6:30 and meeting friends for dinner at 8. Today, I just exhausted myself typing that last sentence.

Before I forget: Yes, I heard that several folks, including a few I was around at the con, came down with COVID. I tested. I'm fine. I wish them only the easiest of full recoveries.

And yes, I know that I can print out the convention souvenir book PDF myself but that does not result in a book that in any way resembles the book that would have resulted if they'd printed it out like the others on my shelf. That would just give me a lot of 8½ by 11 sheets that were not bound in book format. I'm not faulting the convention for saving money on this. I just would like the option of ordering a printed/bound version of the souvenir book.

Getting back to the hectic pace of the con: It's one of the things I like about it. I wouldn't/couldn't live that way all year but it's fun as an occasional change of scenery and schedule. It's fun to be around so many people having such a good time and some of those people are friends I don't get to see except at conventions. I especially enjoy living for a few days in an environment where it's utterly impossible to be bored; where everywhere you turn, there's someone interesting to talk to or something interesting to look at.

Photo by Bruce Guthrie

If you went and you didn't have the time of your life, I'd like to give you the following advice: You need to learn how to "do" Comic-Con.

In the summer of 1969 when I was 17 years old, I went to Disneyland for the first time. I'm not sure I can explain why a kid born and raised in Southern California hadn't made it there before then but I hadn't. That year, my pal Dwight Decker and I went for a day and we made just about every possible mistake starting with the erroneous assumption that you could experience Disneyland in one day. We took a bus there and back. I think we were on that bus (and some connecting buses we had to take to get to and from that bus) for more hours than all the collective time we spent on Disneyland rides.

We didn't know where to eat. We didn't know where to go. There were things we knew were somewhere in Disneyland that sounded like fun but we didn't know where they were and we certainly hadn't plotted out any sort of route that would take us from one to the other. I remember experiencing Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, "It's a Small World," The Carousel of Progress, the monorail and not much else before we had to catch the bus home. We both slept most of the ride back.

Years later, I learned how to "do" Disneyland and had some much better times there.

In the Summer of 1970, one year after Dwight and I didn't "do" Disneyland the right way, my friend Steve Sherman and I didn't "do" New York the right way. We had some great experiences visiting the offices of DC Comics, Marvel and MAD magazine. We spent a day with Steve Ditko. We attended our first comic book convention. So much of it was wonderful and exciting…

…but we didn't know where to stay or where to eat or how to get around. We let the cab driver from the airport into Manhattan swindle us out of some cash. There were great shows playing on Broadway — shows I wish I'd seen — but we somehow didn't allow for that in our schedule. (The original production of Company was in its third month. Was I smart enough to go see it? No, I was not smart enough to go see it. I was also not smart enough to go see the original production of 1776 or several others then playing. James Coco in Last of the Red Hot Lovers or Maureen Stapleton in Plaza Suite might have been nice.)

Again: Years later, I learned how to "do" New York and had some much better times there.

And I had to learn to "do" Comic-Con. This is Part One of a two-part article. In a day or two, I'll tell you what I learned and how I learned it and why, though it might not apply at all to you, what I learned might help you figure out how you should "do" Comic-Con.

Saturday Morning From San Diego

Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.

A few folks may say otherwise but I have seen zero negative impact of the two entertainment industry strikes on this convention. And even the attendees who might be upset that they can't go over to Hall H and spend hours in line to see Brad Pitt talk about his upcoming movie (a) don't hold that against the con or even the unions and (b) have found more than enough to make them happy to be here.

There were rumors that the striking unions might set up picket lines outside the convention but everyone must have realized how brain-dead stupid that would have been. It would not have put the slightest gram of pressure on the producers to settle and it would have presented fans with an awkward decision. With very few exceptions, the fans are not fans of the studios and production companies and certainly not of the CEOs. They're fans of the writers who are on strike and the actors who are on strike. Why punish them?

If you couldn't make it here — or, more likely, just couldn't gain admission — I apologize for saying I'm having a great time here and as far as I can see, so is everyone as far as I can see. Maybe I'm lurking in the wrong corners of the con but I'm not spotting quite as many cosplayers as in past years. Otherwise though, it looks and feels like the previous Comic-Con and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that…

The pattern does not go all the way back even though I do. This, for the love of God, is my fifty-fifth one of these. I watched this entity grow in slow-motion from 300 attendees in 1970 to something where the fire marshals have to cap attendance at (I'm guessing) about 20% of all the sentient beings who'd like to flood the hall. Since it reached capacity, it has been a wonderful place to be for those of us who know how to find the things we want to see and do. I really think that if you don't have a fabulous experience at this gathering, you either don't know where to look or are arriving with impossible expectations.

I have a full Saturday ahead of me: Breakfast with an editor at 8:30, Dungeons and Dragons panel (about the cartoon show) at 10 AM, Quick Draw! at 11:45, Cartoon Voices panel at 1 PM, a panel on reporting comic book history at 3 PM, panel on The History of Cartoon Voices at 4:30, dinner with friends at 8 PM. Hope your day is equally full but maybe not as fatiguing. Gotta go get mine started…

me at Comic-Con!

Thursday, July 20 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 32AB
SPOTLIGHT ON BARBARA FRIEDLANDER

Fresh out of high school in the sixties, Barbara Friedlander got a job at DC Comics and quickly ascended to a job in the editorial division working with or alongside, among many others, Carmine Infantino, Jack Miller, Robert Kanigher, Mort Weisinger, Julius Schwartz, and Joe Orlando. What was it like to work in that office on DC's romance comics and on her creation, Swing With Scooter? Comic-Con Special Guest Mark Evanier will be quizzing her — and on Friday evening at the Eisner Awards, he'll be presenting Barbara with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.

Thursday, July 20 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 10
COMICS FOR UKRAINE

Comics for Ukraine is a new and important book that is raising funds to aid people whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Some of the top names in comics have donated their time and artistry to this book, which is debuting at Comic-Con. Come join several of those folks as they talk about their stories and why this project is so important. Mark Evanier, John Layman, Stan Sakai and Billy Tucci will be on hand, as well as Richard Walden, the founder of Operation USA, the charity that is funneling funds to help the struggling people of Ukraine. Moderated by book organizer Scott Dunbier.

Thursday, July 20 — 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM at the Dark Horse Booth
I will be signing stuff, especially copies of Groo in the Wild #1 along with colorist Carrie Strachan at Booth 2416.

Friday, July 21 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO

The brilliant newspaper strip Pogo was created, written and drawn by one of the great geniuses of comic art, Walt Kelly. It's currently being reprinted in full in a series of books from Fantagraphics, one of which is up for an Eisner Award tonight. Meanwhile, fans of Mr. Kelly and his zany swamp denizens can gather to discuss him, his work, and what it was that made his cartooning so very special. Come hear from artist Steve Leialoha, scholar Maggie Thompson, Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, and the co-editors of the current reprint series, Eric Reynolds and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Friday, July 21 — 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL

For 40+ years, the irrepressible (and ignorant) barbarian Groo the Wanderer has wandered the land and through comic book shops making good things bad, bad things worse, and all things hilarious. What's it like to work on this comic with master cartoonist Sergio Aragonés? Since Sergio isn't attending the con this year, these three people can speak freely about the experience: letterer (and creator of Usagi Yojimbo) Stan Sakai, colorist Carrie Strachan and a guy named Mark Evanier who does something on the comic but we don't know what. Also, they'll try to phone Sergio, which will be great fun if it works and probably funnier if it doesn't.

Saturday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 6DE
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: AN ANIMATED ANNIVERSARY

Mark Evanier (show developer), Katie Leigh (voice of Sheila), David M. Booher (writer, IDW's Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures), Frank Todaro (voice actor, Netflix's The Cuphead Show), and Luke Gygax (son of D&D creator Gary Gygax) discuss the legendary tabletop game's 40th anniversary as a Saturday morning cartoon from the perspective of the talent who worked on the show and today's creatives who grew up on it. The session will be moderated by TJ Shevlin (2023 Eisner Awards judge).

Saturday, July 22 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!

No matter when you're reading this — hopefully before the event — run and get a seat for Quick Draw!, the fastest and funniest presentation at Comic-Con. Your Quick Draw quizmaster Mark Evanier will be putting three of the swiftest cartoonists in the business to the test, inventing well-projected humor on the spot. Competing this year are cartoonist and Comic-Con co-founder Scott Shaw!, MAD magazine's Tom Richmond, and Disney legend Floyd Norman. As usual, there will be no wagering on the outcome.

Saturday, July 22 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I

Once again, Mark Evanier has assembled a roster of some of the most-heard performers in the world of animation, and they're here to tell you what they do, how they do it and then demonstrate it. The dais includes Adam McArthur (Star vs. the Forces of Evil), Elle Newlands (Lego Marvel's Avengers), Keith Scott (Bullwinkle Moose), Bill Farmer (Goofy, Pluto), Dave Fennoy (Batman, Transformers) and Jessica DiCicco (The Emperor's New School, Muppet Babies). And as usual, the actors will mangle a classic fairy tale for your enjoyment.

Saturday, July 22 — 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Room 4
MAGGIE THOMPSON SPOTLIGHT: Wrangling History (How to Preserve the Past So We Can Read in the Future)

As we lose creators, memories fade, and collectibles are lost or damaged, what can be done to hang onto the creations and establish the facts? Maggie is joined by writer and producer Mark Evanier, Columbia University comics and cartoons curator Karen Green, and Abrams ComicArts editor-in-chief Charles Kochman.

Saturday, July 22 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE HISTORY OF CARTOON VOICES

Keith Scott is one of the top voice actors and impressionists in Australia, and he's also an expert on cartoon voices for theatrical cartoons in this country. He's making a rare visit to America this year and he'll be talking about Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Walt Disney, and many you've never heard of. Don't miss this rare chance to hear all about how cartoons learned to talk, with not only Keith but also historians Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL

It's a Comic-Con tradition to assemble on Sunday morning to remember the man some still call, and with good reason, The King of the Comics. His life and career will be discussed by folks who knew him or wish they did. They include writer Tom King, Jack's grandson Jeremy Kirby, Kirby experts Bruce Simon, Mark Badger and Jon Cooke, attorney Paul S. Levine and your moderator, former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 23 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II

Cartoon Voices I on Saturday will be so wonderful that we'll need another such panel on Sunday with other top actors in the animation-voicing profession. This time, moderator Mark Evanier will welcome Maurice LaMarche (Futurama, Pinky and the Brain), Anna Brisbin (Final Fantasy VII Remake), Fred Tatasciore (Team America, The Hulk), Frank Todaro (The Cuphead Show, Transformers), and Courtney Lin (Monster High, Rainbow High).

Sunday, July 23 — 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM in Room 7AB
FRANK MILLER: AMERICAN GENIUS

Comic-Con Special Guest and legend Frank Miller, one of the comics medium's most important creators, returns to San Diego for an all-access and in-depth discussion. Be here for this exclusive panel that will give you insight into one of the genre's most influential people. With his publishing line, Frank Miller Presents, and details on the upcoming Frank Miller: American Genius documentary, there will be much to cover!

Sunday, July 23 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY

There have been comic book publishers who believed that what they put inside the comic didn't matter much — that readers decide to buy or not to buy because of the cover. It's arguable, but a great cover never hurt a book. On this panel, your host Mark Evanier welcomes four artists who have drawn great covers: Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-Man), Becky Cloonan (Batman, Gotham Academy; this year's Comic-Con Souvenir Book cover), Joe Quesada (Daredevil, Spider-Man), and J. Scott Campbell (Danger Girl, Amazing Spider-Man).

Sunday, July 23 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES

Are you interested in a career in the highly competitive world of voiceover? There are plenty of folks who will take your money to advise you, but you can get a ton of information for free with no strings attached at this panel. Two very busy voice actors (Vanessa Marshall and Gregg Berger), a top agent (Cathey Lizzio of C.E.S.D.), and a voice director (your moderator, Mark Evanier) will tell you how one goes about learning the craft, breaking into the business, staying in the business, and maybe even making a living in the business. This panel is not for entertainment. It's for enlightenment.

Each and every item above is subject to change for reasons that even I may not be able to explain. The entire programming schedule can be found and studied on this page.

me at Comic-Con!

The 2023 Comic-Con International in San Diego commences with Preview Night from 6 PM to 9 PM on Wednesday evening, July 19. This is basically your chance to walk around the main Exhibit Hall with slightly fewer folks clogging the aisles. The real action starts the next day and here's what I'll be up to…

Thursday, July 20 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 32AB
SPOTLIGHT ON BARBARA FRIEDLANDER

Fresh out of high school in the sixties, Barbara Friedlander got a job at DC Comics and quickly ascended to a job in the editorial division working with or alongside, among many others, Carmine Infantino, Jack Miller, Robert Kanigher, Mort Weisinger, Julius Schwartz, and Joe Orlando. What was it like to work in that office on DC's romance comics and on her creation, Swing With Scooter? Comic-Con Special Guest Mark Evanier will be quizzing her — and on Friday evening at the Eisner Awards, he'll be presenting Barbara with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.

Thursday, July 20 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 10
COMICS FOR UKRAINE

Comics for Ukraine is a new and important book that is raising funds to aid people whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Some of the top names in comics have donated their time and artistry to this book, which is debuting at Comic-Con. Come join several of those folks as they talk about their stories and why this project is so important. Mark Evanier, John Layman, Stan Sakai and Billy Tucci will be on hand, as well as Richard Walden, the founder of Operation USA, the charity that is funneling funds to help the struggling people of Ukraine. Moderated by book organizer Scott Dunbier.

Thursday, July 20 — 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM at the Dark Horse Booth
I will be signing stuff, especially copies of Groo in the Wild #1 along with colorist Carrie Strachan at Booth 2416.

Friday, July 21 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO

The brilliant newspaper strip Pogo was created, written and drawn by one of the great geniuses of comic art, Walt Kelly. It's currently being reprinted in full in a series of books from Fantagraphics, one of which is up for an Eisner Award tonight. Meanwhile, fans of Mr. Kelly and his zany swamp denizens can gather to discuss him, his work, and what it was that made his cartooning so very special. Come hear from artist Steve Leialoha, scholar Maggie Thompson, Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, and the co-editors of the current reprint series, Eric Reynolds and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Friday, July 21 — 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL

For 40+ years, the irrepressible (and ignorant) barbarian Groo the Wanderer has wandered the land and through comic book shops making good things bad, bad things worse, and all things hilarious. What's it like to work on this comic with master cartoonist Sergio Aragonés? Since Sergio isn't attending the con this year, these three people can speak freely about the experience: letterer (and creator of Usagi Yojimbo) Stan Sakai, colorist Carrie Strachan and a guy named Mark Evanier who does something on the comic but we don't know what. Also, they'll try to phone Sergio, which will be great fun if it works and probably funnier if it doesn't.

Saturday, July 22 — 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Room 6DE
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: AN ANIMATED ANNIVERSARY

Mark Evanier (show developer), Katie Leigh (voice of Sheila), David M. Booher (writer, IDW's Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures), Frank Todaro (voice actor, Netflix's The Cuphead Show), and Luke Gygax (son of D&D creator Gary Gygax) discuss the legendary tabletop game's 40th anniversary as a Saturday morning cartoon from the perspective of the talent who worked on the show and today's creatives who grew up on it. The session will be moderated by TJ Shevlin (2023 Eisner Awards judge).

Saturday, July 22 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!

No matter when you're reading this — hopefully before the event — run and get a seat for Quick Draw!, the fastest and funniest presentation at Comic-Con. Your Quick Draw quizmaster Mark Evanier will be putting three of the swiftest cartoonists in the business to the test, inventing well-projected humor on the spot. Competing this year are cartoonist and Comic-Con co-founder Scott Shaw!, MAD magazine's Tom Richmond, and Disney legend Floyd Norman. As usual, there will be no wagering on the outcome.

Saturday, July 22 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I

Once again, Mark Evanier has assembled a roster of some of the most-heard performers in the world of animation, and they're here to tell you what they do, how they do it and then demonstrate it. The dais includes Adam McArthur (Star vs. the Forces of Evil), Elle Newlands (Lego Marvel's Avengers), Keith Scott (Bullwinkle Moose), Bill Farmer (Goofy, Pluto), Dave Fennoy (Batman, Transformers) and Jessica DiCicco (The Emperor's New School, Muppet Babies). And as usual, the actors will mangle a classic fairy tale for your enjoyment.

Saturday, July 22 — 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Room 4
MAGGIE THOMPSON SPOTLIGHT: Wrangling History (How to Preserve the Past So We Can Read in the Future)

As we lose creators, memories fade, and collectibles are lost or damaged, what can be done to hang onto the creations and establish the facts? Maggie is joined by writer and producer Mark Evanier, Columbia University comics and cartoons curator Karen Green, and Abrams ComicArts editor-in-chief Charles Kochman.

Saturday, July 22 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE HISTORY OF CARTOON VOICES

Keith Scott is one of the top voice actors and impressionists in Australia, and he's also an expert on cartoon voices for theatrical cartoons in this country. He's making a rare visit to America this year and he'll be talking about Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Walt Disney, and many you've never heard of. Don't miss this rare chance to hear all about how cartoons learned to talk, with not only Keith but also historians Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin and your moderator, Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 23 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL

It's a Comic-Con tradition to assemble on Sunday morning to remember the man some still call, and with good reason, The King of the Comics. His life and career will be discussed by folks who knew him or wish they did. They include writer Tom King, Jack's grandson Jeremy Kirby, Kirby experts Bruce Simon, Mark Badger and Jon Cooke, attorney Paul S. Levine and your moderator, former Kirby assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 23 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II

Cartoon Voices I on Saturday will be so wonderful that we'll need another such panel on Sunday with other top actors in the animation-voicing profession. This time, moderator Mark Evanier will welcome Maurice LaMarche (Futurama, Pinky and the Brain), Anna Brisbin (Final Fantasy VII Remake), Fred Tatasciore (Team America, The Hulk), Frank Todaro (The Cuphead Show, Transformers), and Courtney Lin (Monster High, Rainbow High).

Sunday, July 23 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 7AB
COVER STORY

There have been comic book publishers who believed that what they put inside the comic didn't matter much — that readers decide to buy or not to buy because of the cover. It's arguable, but a great cover never hurt a book. On this panel, your host Mark Evanier welcomes four artists who have drawn great covers: Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-Man), Becky Cloonan (Batman, Gotham Academy; this year's Comic-Con Souvenir Book cover), Joe Quesada (Daredevil, Spider-Man), and J. Scott Campbell (Danger Girl, Amazing Spider-Man).

Sunday, July 23 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 7AB
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES

Are you interested in a career in the highly competitive world of voiceover? There are plenty of folks who will take your money to advise you, but you can get a ton of information for free with no strings attached at this panel. Two very busy voice actors (Vanessa Marshall and Gregg Berger), a top agent (Cathey Lizzio of C.E.S.D.), and a voice director (your moderator, Mark Evanier) will tell you how one goes about learning the craft, breaking into the business, staying in the business, and maybe even making a living in the business. This panel is not for entertainment. It's for enlightenment.

Each and every item above is subject to change for reasons that even I may not be able to explain. The entire programming schedule can be found and studied on this page.

Last year in this space, I wrote — and this is a quote, you can go check it — that "as usual, I will be exercising my constitutional right (until the current Supreme Court strips me of it) to not sit behind a table in the exhibit hall very much." Clearly, they're well on their way to doing that but they haven't yet…so this year I will only be writing my name on things at the Dark Horse booth from 2 PM until 2:45 on Thursday. Other than that, you may be able to catch me before or after panels. Please don't try it before or after Quick Draw!

Doctor Octopi

Or maybe this should be "Doctors [plural] Octopi." You figure it out. But this is about cosplayers. There were a lot of them at WonderCon and each time I left the main hall and headed for my hotel room, I tried to spend a little time watching them. Most were in an area outside the convention hall, posing for photos and videos. Some were putting on little performances. There were some concrete benches in that area and I'd park myself on one and just watch the passing show for a little while.

Science-fiction fan conventions predate comic book conventions and there were always cosplayers at the first s-f cons even if the word "cosplayer" had not yet been coined. A masquerade show with all the costumed folks parading before judges was (usually) the most-attended event and it was held (usually) on Saturday night. The costumes ranged from the elaborate to the effortless, the latter exemplified by the inevitable clown who'd enter in his street clothes and call his presentation something like "Man from Planet Zord-7 disguised as an Earthling."

Also simple was the occasional lady who'd parade around nude and call her "outfit" something like "Visions of Love." You could see the folks who spent months and fortunes crafting their costumes resenting the hell out of the attention the naked ladies got.

And I suspect that the best costumes from those days at s-f cons — and the best ones from the first few decades of Comic-Con — would be ranked as the lower end of cosplaying I viewed this past weekend at WonderCon. The A+ ones from then would notch about a C- today. Some of the work is stunning. A lot of it does not look like the work of amateurs, though I'm sure most of it is.

(And before someone asks about this: We don't have naked women "cosplaying" at comic book conventions but if we did, I doubt they'd attract all that much attention.)

A lot of the best costumes are original designs. A lot of the ones based on pre-existing characters are especially astonishing when you consider that someone is replicating a design done by a comic book or animation artist who never dreamed for a nano-second that anyone would ever actually make that costume…but someone did.

Case in point: A lot of costumes designed for comics probably seemed impossible to bring to life and none more than Doctor Octopus, the popular villain who debuted in the third issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Once upon a time if you'd told me someone would build a reasonable facsimile of that gear and wear it to a convention, I'd have bet you a vast sum you were wrong. Not only has it been done by one person but at WonderCon, I counted four Doctor Octopuses or Doctor Octopi or whatever the proper plural is.

(And again, before someone asks: The original look of the Bad Doctor was probably designed by Steve Ditko, who drew the first Spider-Man comics. I say "probably" because Jack Kirby told me that he'd designed some of the early Spider-Man villains and Mr. Ditko agreed, though neither man could tell me for sure which ones Jack did. Both men were more than imaginative enough to come up with something like that.)

Seeing four Doc Ocks made me think of the old cliché about the woman who buys an expensive designer gown for a swanky public affair, gets there and is mortified to see that someone else is wearing the same dress. Imagine spending months building a Dr. Octopus suit, crafting those impossible tentacles that they did via CGI in the movie but you had to really build them and not with the budget and tech crew of a major motion picture. Even if someone is now selling parts you can use to fabricate your costume, it's a helluva lot of work.

And then you get into the get-up, which is probably not the most comfy thing to wear but you figure it'll be worth the time, effort, money and pain because of all the attention you'll get. And then you walk out into the area where cosplayers play and pose…

…and there's another Doctor Octopus. And another. And another…

I managed to grab photos of what I think were the two best. I suspect one other fellow whose simulation wasn't as good disappeared because of how badly he was losing The Arms Race. But I definitely spotted four and since I only passed through Cosplayer Central now and then, there might have been even more. There were others (like someone dressed as another Spider-Man foe, The Scorpion) that were equally as elaborate but I only saw one of each of those.

And of course, there were simpler costumes in mass quantity: Quite a few Disney-style (or specific Disney) princesses. A whole bunch of Supermans, Supergirls, Batmen, Robins, Wonder Women…even a Groo. I was asked to pose with a group re-creating the regular characters on the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series. And speaking of "drag," as everyone is these days, there were a lot of ladies as Captain America, Spider-Man, The Flash, et al. Since comic book companies have discovered the merchandising potential of female versions of male characters, I'm not sure if a female Thor counts as cross-dressing.

It was a wonderful assemblage of creativity and artistry out there. I still have the occasional problem with cosplayers who pose and/or swing swords blindly where others are trying to walk but most of 'em are wonderful.

And there's one other thing I noticed which may be helpful if you find that comic book conventions are too crowded and you can't get through the throngs of people. If so, try dressing up as Doctor Octopus. Most people seem to get the hell out of their way. Maybe that's why there were so many of them.

WonderFul WonderCon

WonderCon 2023 starts tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'm getting there or when I'm leaving but I'll certainly be around for the panels below and at other times. Where I'll be when I'm there and not paneling is a good question. Several folks have written to ask that because they have comics they want signed.

I continue to stand on my unalienable rights, among which are Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, not watching Tucker Carlson and not having a table at a convention where I'm expected to sit all day. So I'll be roaming the hall, visiting with friends and perhaps sitting at their tables now and then…and avoiding cosplayers brandishing weaponry. Just think of it as a big, live Where's Waldo? game except that I won't be wearing a striped shirt.

This will be my umpteenth WonderCon because I always have a good time at them and, from what I can see, so do all the other attendees. I believe badges are still available. It's kinda like Comic-Con except that you can get in. If you're there, check out some or all of these events…

Friday, March 24 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 213AB
HOW TO WRITE FOR ANIMATION

Did you ever dream of writing cartoon shows? Well, here's your chance to find out how to do it from three guys who have written hundreds and hundreds of them. The secrets of animation writing will be divulged by WonderCon special guests Tom Ruegger (Pinky and the Brain, Disney's The 7D), Paul Rugg (Animaniacs, Freakazoid!), and moderator Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show, Dungeons & Dragons).

Saturday, March 25 — Noon to 1:00 PM in Room 207
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL

Like we do at almost every convention, we remember the man some called The King of the Comics — the man who created or co-created many of the most popular characters ever in the medium. Discussing Jack Kirby are Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), John Morrow (publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector), Paul S. Levine (lawyers for the Kirby Trust), and moderator Mark Evanier (former assistant to Jack Kirby).

Saturday, March 25 — 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Room 207
CARTOON VOICES

It's another one of Evanier's popular panels where he gathers a bunch of top animation voice actors to demonstrate their craft, tell how they got into the business, and destroy the script for a beloved fairy tale. Appearing this time are Joe Ochman (current voice of Jiminy Cricket), Kaitlyn Robrock (current voice of Minnie Mouse), Neil Ross (Transformers, G.I. Joe), Cynthia McWilliams (What If?), and Brian Hull (Hotel Transylvania). Mark Evanier (of course) is your host.


As always, times, rooms, panelists and just about everything is subject to change so check your Program Guide and this site to make sure. And as always, I refuse to sit behind a table at a convention for very long so I'll be wandering the hall. If you see me, say howdy. The entire programming schedule can be found online here and remember to consult the COVID policy here.

WonderFul WonderCon

WonderCon 2023 starts one week from today…

Friday, March 24 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 213AB
HOW TO WRITE FOR ANIMATION

Did you ever dream of writing cartoon shows? Well, here's your chance to find out how to do it from three guys who have written hundreds and hundreds of them. The secrets of animation writing will be divulged by WonderCon special guests Tom Ruegger (Pinky and the Brain, Disney's The 7D), Paul Rugg (Animaniacs, Freakazoid!), and moderator Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show, Dungeons & Dragons).

Saturday, March 25 — Noon to 1:00 PM in Room 207
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL

Like we do at almost every convention, we remember the man some called The King of the Comics — the man who created or co-created many of the most popular characters ever in the medium. Discussing Jack Kirby are Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), John Morrow (publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector), Paul S. Levine (lawyers for the Kirby Trust), and moderator Mark Evanier (former assistant to Jack Kirby).

Saturday, March 25 — 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Room 207
CARTOON VOICES

It's another one of Evanier's popular panels where he gathers a bunch of top animation voice actors to demonstrate their craft, tell how they got into the business, and destroy the script for a beloved fairy tale. Appearing this time are Joe Ochman (current voice of Jiminy Cricket), Kaitlyn Robrock (current voice of Minnie Mouse), Neil Ross (Transformers, G.I. Joe), Cynthia McWilliams (What If?), and Brian Hull (Hotel Transylvania). Mark Evanier (of course) is your host.


As always, times, rooms, panelists and just about everything is subject to change so check your Program Guide and this site to make sure. And as always, I refuse to sit behind a table at a convention for very long so I'll be wandering the hall. If you see me, say howdy. The entire programming schedule can be found online here and remember to consult the COVID policy here.

WonderFul WonderCon

WonderCon 2023 starts two weeks from today so it's time for this…

Friday, March 24 — 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Room 213AB
HOW TO WRITE FOR ANIMATION

Did you ever dream of writing cartoon shows? Well, here's your chance to find out how to do it from three guys who have written hundreds and hundreds of them. The secrets of animation writing will be divulged by WonderCon special guests Tom Ruegger (Pinky and the Brain, Disney's The 7D), Paul Rugg (Animaniacs, Freakazoid!), and moderator Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show, Dungeons & Dragons).

Saturday, March 25 — Noon to 1:00 PM in Room 207
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL

Like we do at almost every convention, we remember the man some called The King of the Comics — the man who created or co-created many of the most popular characters ever in the medium. Discussing Jack Kirby are Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), John Morrow (publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector), Paul S. Levine (lawyers for the Kirby Trust), and moderator Mark Evanier (former assistant to Jack Kirby).

Saturday, March 25 — 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Room 207
CARTOON VOICES

It's another one of Evanier's popular panels where he gathers a bunch of top animation voice actors to demonstrate their craft, tell how they got into the business, and destroy the script for a beloved fairy tale. Appearing this time are Joe Ochman (current voice of Jiminy Cricket), Kaitlyn Robrock (current voice of Minnie Mouse), Neil Ross (Transformers, G.I. Joe), Cynthia McWilliams (What If?), and Brian Hull (Hotel Transylvania). Mark Evanier (of course) is your host.


As always, times, rooms, panelists and just about everything is subject to change so check your Program Guide and this site to make sure. And as always, I refuse to sit behind a table at a convention for very long so I'll be wandering the hall. If you see me, say howdy. The entire programming schedule can be found online here and remember to consult the COVID policy here.

Today's Video Link

Devin Stone, the "Legal Eagle" of YouTube, explains about copyright and gaming and Dungeons and Dragons…

ASK me: Developing vs. Creating

Brian Dreger has yet another great question…

I was reading in your archives about how you "developed" a Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, but the actual cartoon was "created" by someone else. Why wouldn't the creator also develop it (and what is the difference)?

It seems to me that, although the idea is obviously important, figuring out just how the show would work (especially since it was based on a game) would be more important than what the creator did in this case (and also a form of "creating" it). I don't understand why someone would create something and then pass it off to someone else (is it like penciling a comic book and then passing it off to an inker…more work can get done faster?).

Also did you already know about the game or did you have to learn about in order to properly develop it? I can understand developing, say, The Odd Couple TV series from The Odd Couple movie…the developing is pretty much "creating" the TV show. I just don't get how a TV show based on a game can be created and then still require someone to "develop" it.

M*A*S*H was a novel written by a doctor named Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr. who wrote under the name, "Richard Hooker." He sold the movie rights to a movie studio and then either (a) he had no interest in being involved in a movie or (b) the studio didn't want him involved in case they wound up changing it a lot or (c) they wanted an experienced screenwriter on the job. I think in this case, it was all three. They hired Ring Lardner Jr. to write the screenplay and later, Larry Gelbart to perform the surgery necessary to make it work as a half-hour TV show.

In the case of The Odd Couple, Neil Simon probably didn't want to soil his hands working in sitcoms and I believe the deal he made with Paramount for the movie rights allowed them to do a TV show without him. He and the studio probably preferred it that way.

What may be confusing you here, Brian, is an assumption that these titles mean the same thing everywhere. They sort of do on a TV show produced under the rules of the Writers Guild. I will way oversimplify and say that if you wrote the pilot for a TV show and it was completely original, you would be entitled to the "created by" credit. If it was based in any way on pre-existing material (a movie, a book, etc.) then the credit would be "developed by."

Example: Gelbart got a "developed by" credit for the M*A*S*H TV series since it was based on pre-existing material. He got a "created by" credit on his later TV series, United States since it was not.

In an animated series not done under WGA jurisdiction — and Dungeons & Dragons was not — there are no such rules. My agent negotiated for my credit on that series. It was appropriate because I did not invent all those characters or the format. There had been several scripts by several different writers before me and CBS had not been willing to commit to the show until I did a bible and pilot script that changed or excised a lot of things that others had put in before me.

The credits on the show look like this. If you watch an episode, you may need a speed-reading course to see what they say…

Kevin's name was bigger than Dennis's and I would assume that was also the result of some lawyer or agent negotiations. I don't think I've ever met Kevin Paul Coates and I really have no idea what he did on the show. It may well have been substantial but it was before my involvement.

Dennis Marks was a friend of mine and a terrific writer but he was largely off the project before I was called in on it. We talked about it but not much. He was busy with another show at the time.

Dennis had worked on the development and pilot script of a show a year or two before that NBC did not pick up called something like Monsters and Magic. It was a show about kids getting trapped in a game like Dungeons & Dragons but without direct reference to that famous and successful game. I never saw any of that development but I was told elements of it had found their way into the Dungeons & Dragons presentation when Marvel's animation studio secured those rights.

I also had never played Dungeons & Dragons but I knew enough about it. I was, after all, not hired to create a game. I was hired to create or modify characters in a standalone context that used some elements of the game.

From my standpoint, I was handed a whole pile of scripts and outlines and bibles and drawings by a whole bunch of folks and I was told, "Turn this into something that CBS will buy…and you have about three days to do it in." And for doing that, I received the fee and the credit that my agent had demanded for my services and he got 10% of that fee.

The point is that I did not get the credit because some Higher Authority had looked over the whole project and assessed what each contributor had done and decided to award me that credit. I got it because my agent negotiated it. There was no governing body or rulebook as there is when the Writers Guild decides the credit on a script under its jurisdiction.

There has never been any such body or rulebook for credits in comic books or most animation. Leon Schlesinger, who owned the cartoon studio but did not write or draw, was often credited as the creator of Bugs Bunny. Others who worked for the studio could just say "I created Bugs Bunny" (and many did) because there was no formal, official credit established…

…and when one is on a property in animation or comics, it's often a contractual matter that may or may not reflect reality. Bob Kane negotiated a "created by" credit on Batman and any character added to the Batman comics. The contract was amended a few years ago so Bill Finger could be included but before that, if you'd created a new master villain for the Caped Crusader to fight, DC Comics was contractually obligated to say it was "Created by Bob Kane."

The lack of any rules or arbiters in comics has caused all manner of anger and frustration and certain folks being denied credit and/or compensation for what they did. It's why at one point, Martin Goodman — then the Publisher at what we now know as Marvel Comics — was the "creator" of Captain America. No one believes that. No one ever believed that…but there was nothing to stop it. It's why Stan Lee could, until there were legal settlements that stopped it, sometimes be billed as — or bill himself as — sole creator of properties that he, at best, co-created.

It is sometimes confusing and even when there is a system in place to determine credit, the system isn't perfect. But what you need to remember is that such credits do not magically appear, nor are they handed down on stone tablets. There are reasons for them and sometimes, those reasons differ depending on how the determination is being made and who's doing it.

ASK me