'Maze, co-created by artist Stephen DeStefano and yours truly, had a twelve-issue run of his own monthly magazine plus three Specials over the next couple of years. Sigfried Horatio Hunch III, independently wealthy because he had won the Publisher's Reading House sweepstakes, donned a helmet he found in the trash and became the superhero of his neighborhood in Queens, NY. He lived in an apartment with Denton Fixx, a comic book writer for BC Comics, and Denton's divorced sister, K.P. The cast was rounded out by young marrieds Brenda and Eddie Valentine and wanna-be lothario Guido Garibaldi. It was a TV sitcom in comic book form, years before six other "Friends" became mainstays on NBC.
"Kitty Catastrophe," 'Mazing Man's cartoon appearance, is loosely based on a story of the same name that appeared in MM #8. (You can watch the cartoon at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A0Kk9DdbWI) Stephen was the one who suggested 'Maze when the show's producers were looking for characters to use. He did the storyboards and gets onscreen credit for his handiwork. (Unless there was something in the impossible-to-read, squished-into-a quarter-of-the-screen-box closing credits of the show, I was not acknowledged as co-creator of the character.)
DC and Warner Bros have nixxed another 'Maze short that Stephen has proposed, so it seems likely that this will be his only TV appearance. As for a reprint collection of the comic book series -- though some fans have suggested it, DC is not listening.
I thought of you when I saw the episode.
ReplyDeleteDamn shame you didnt get credit. And a "Mazing Man collection would rock.
ReplyDeleteThe first time Black Lightning appeared on Batman: The Brave and the Bold, I received about $37 in royalties. I don't think they've paid me for his subsequent appearances.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten some okay checks from his use in the direct-to-DVD stuff, but the latest DC check I got was Bizarro Math. The payment on the check was less than the payments shown on the statement. In fact, I haven't yet been able to find any relation between the amount on the check and the amounts (single or combined) on the statement.
It's DC. I expect them to cheat me. They need the money to pay their scumbag lawyers, the ones who drove Joanne Siegel to an early grave and want to do the same to her daughter.
Spike, thanks for that information. There was no way I would ever have been able to see the credit during the broadcast.
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