Jim Palmiotti Defends Creators From Hollywood Machine

Jimmy Palmiotti C2E2 2014

As Hollywood continues to create box office gold out of comic book characters, the creators seem to be left in the cold. Bob Kane created Batman 75 years ago but Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. are the names associated with the common fan. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is dominating the box office but does anyone know who Joe Simon and Jack Kirby are? Simon and Kirby created Captain America in March of 1941.

Warner Bros., DC Comics and previous copyrights holders have been in legal battles with the creators of Superman Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster and their estates since 1947.

Comic book creator and industry veteran Jimmy Palmiotti voiced his opinion on the subject to small crowd at a discussion panel at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida last week.

“Hollywood has a disconnect between the people that create the material,” Palmiotti said.

Palmiotti then described what happened to the film “Jonah Hex” and how the film was just an amalgam of the original character.

“Captain America is a fine example. If you notice halfway down the credits, after the guys who park the cars, if you look in a small type face it says Captain America created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Those are the guys that created captain America from scratch,” Palmiotti said.

For most comic book creators they understand the history and of the industry and hold the founding fathers like Kane, Siegel, Shuster, Simon and Kirby in high regard.

“This is the disconnect that happens and why the face comics is changing right now,” Palmiotti said.

Palmiotti, who by then had taken over the discussion panel ended his train of thought on a positive note.

“These are the voices of the artists. For first time in a while we are able to own the characters that we work on, This is really an exciting time,” Palmiotti conclude.