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    Posted February 10, 2013 by
    paulmartinDJ
    Location
    Beverly Hills, California
    Assignment
    Assignment
    This iReport is part of an assignment:
    The written word: Your personal essays

    More from paulmartinDJ

    Our Superhero family...a true story !

     

    " We created a FANTASTIC SUPERHERO comic in the 70's.....here's our true story "


    Now here's something I DO know about folks and can relate to and share with everyone.It is a personal and true story straight from the pages of me and my family...enjoy.



    It was early70's and I was single Dad with two Aussie Sons. I had already been successful as a radio DJ in America at the peak of the British invasion. I had also introduced most top British bands including the Stones all over the US at their concerts. Now I was back in Sydney and needed to raise the boys and at the same time make a living. So we created Captain Fantastic and the Wonderboys. I had been a reporter at 15 so I could write and amazingly.....never get writer's block.....I just let my imagination run wild ! then collaborated with some VERY good and talented artists. The comic sold well, but we made nothing from it as the printing and publishing absorbed all the $...lol....!



    A couple of years later Elton John released a record called Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy also the Captain Fantastic pinball machine with Bally co. the rest as y'all know is history because now everyone thinks he was the original Captain fantastic and of course we didn't have the $ to sue someone that rich and famous even though we are supposed to be automatically protected with intellectual property rights,etc for 70 years...and then some.



    So that was the end of our nice comic adventure. However if someone made us a decent offer I would sell the World rights and they could re-release it. I still have 2 copies of the original comic # 1 issue in English and Japanese in mint condition and as I understand it...uncirculated, original superhero comics CAN and DO fetch a fortune these days ! I was actually offered 5 figures for the rights in the 80's but I thought well why not wait and hang on to it.......you never know...lol.



    The unique thing about this particular comic folks is that it has a REAL family,rather than a fictitious or imaginary history behind it and with the RIGHT promotion could be as big as.....YOU NAME IT !...... together with Brand,TV and Movie rights,etc ! Even a breakfast cerial co. contacted me several years ago and was interested in us promoting them with a new cereal with our comic cover on it......lol.



    We did get a lot of offers from the media publicity and pretty soon appeared at live shopping center shows doing magic, escape feats and kung-fu before large, mostly kids audiences. Later we appeared on every major TV show across Australia with TOP personalities. ( Many folk there still remember us) After that we even did a cruise as entertainers and had our own regular show at Sydney's Adventureland which drew large crowds. We do still perform occassional appearances and advertising promotions,etc.




    One thing we learned from this folks is that you can dream up the BEST and most TALENTED ideas.....but without the proper $$$ backing,legal protections......and connections......those ideas are VERY limited ! The comic industry is unique in itself because there are VERY few distributors of comics and only a tiny handful have actually monopolized the industry as most comic creators sooner or later discover ! Trying to compete with the HUGE budgets of old school comic corporations like Disney, Marvel, DC to name a few and the World's by far biggest distributor Diamond in Maryland is pretty futile for the little person.....no matter HOW good the comic may be because the whole thing was designed generations ago to prevent the one thing that made comics and America great............




                                         FREE ENTERPRISE COMPETITION !


    paulmartinforeigncorrespondent.blogspot.com

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