While we’re waiting for Jeet, I’ll relate what I know about Siegel & Shuster, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and supposed broken agreements.
With Siegel & Shuster, there are no claims to the best of my knowledge. Beyond the terms of the written agreements, all Siegel ever alleged was that DC head Jack Liebowitz promised they “would be fairly treated.” This is per his March 1, 1973 affidavit in the lawsuit the two filed over copyright renewal of Superman.
With regard to Jack Kirby, I know that Joe Simon has alleged that Martin Goodman stiffed him and Kirby on promised royalties for Captain America back in the 1940s. However, no formal action was ever taken over it, and to the best of my knowledge there is no evidence corroborating Simon’s claims. That doesn’t mean he’s wrong, just that there’s no proof he’s right.
To the best of my knowledge, Jack Kirby has never alleged that Marvel violated any agreements regarding his ’60s and ’70s work for the company.
Steve Ditko has made no public allegation of broken promises, either. Robert Beerbohm has claimed (click here) that during a 1969 telephone conversation, Ditko said he quit Marvel over the failure to pay promised royalties, although Beerbohm also acknowledged the statements were “cryptic.” The call was not taped. Beerbohm also says Ditko later contacted him and asked him not to print anything that was said during the call. I think it has to be allowed that perhaps Beerbohm’s recollections are off, or that Ditko made possibly inaccurate statements he quickly realized he shouldn’t have put out there.
I don’t doubt the possibility that Ditko felt he was morally entitled to royalties from the licensing efforts that became known just before he stopped doing work for Marvel. But that’s not the same thing as being promised royalties. Martin Goodman’s apparent attitude was that since he was putting up all the money, he was entitled to all the money that was made. As far as he was concerned, Ditko and the others weren’t entitled to anything beyond their page rate.
As far as I know, Goodman also made no active effort to license the Marvel material. The animation people and so on came to him, not the other way around. Goodman apparently saw the licensing offers as nothing more than quick, free money, and never gave the contracts much scrutiny. The animation people and later observers are unanimous in their astonishment at how much Goodman was willing to agree to. It seems he just signed whatever contract he was handed.
In short, I doubt any actual royalty promises were made to Ditko, Kirby, or anyone else.
