Writer Bill Willingham Fires New Salvo At DC Over ‘Fables’
by Tom Smithyman
Calling DC Comics a “bully,” comics writer Bill Willingham has accused the publisher of relying on implied threats instead of facts after he announced he was releasing Fables into the public domain.
In an interview this week for his upcoming Fire and Ice: Teegra one-shot, Comicon asked Willingham about the controversy over his September announcement regarding Fables, which ran from 2002 to 2015 before being revived in 2022. Willingham claims he alone owns the intellectual property for the series and made the move to the public domain after DC violated its contract with him.
“I decided to do it this way because it was one of the few avenues available to fight back against the proverbial 300-pound gorilla, whose only move was ever to throw its weight around like every other bully in history,” Willingham told Comicon.
In his September announcement, Willingham listed an array of complaints against DC, from failing to consult him about artists for new Fables stories and covers to not paying him for third-party licensing agreements.
The publisher responded with a statement that read: “The Fables comic books and graphic novels published by DC, and the storylines, characters, and elements therein, are owned by DC and protected under the copyright laws of the United States and throughout the world in accordance with applicable law and are not in the public domain. DC reserves all rights and will take such action as DC deems necessary or appropriate to protect its intellectual property rights.”
DC’s response was predictable as it is flimsy, Willingham said during the Comicon interview.
“I wouldn’t call DC’s one official response to my announcement a refutation, since that word implies presenting an argument, employing facts and precedents and such. Maybe even a modicum of evidence,” Willingham said. “No, I would only characterize DC’s statement as, `We got caught with our pants down, and all we have on our side is the implied threat of what we will do to anyone who tries to capitalize on this event.’ Maybe, when DC works up a more reasoned response, we’ll see how they hope to deal with the change in status on Fables.”
Fables is about a group of fairytale characters secretly living among humans in modern-day New York City. DC has slated the series’ last two issues for release in early 2024. Willingham said he has “fired” DC and has no more work planned with the publisher.
