I missed posting about the Watchmen fiasco. Basically, Fox once owned the rights to the Watchmen movie and actively decided not to make the film. So a few months before Warner Bros. releases their version, Fox sues saying it still owned the rights.  To keep its release date, Warner Bros. settled, paying off Fox for doing nothing. Copyright doing its duty, right?

Activision, likely giddy at the prospect of being its own Fox, is threatening to sue EA for publishing a game Activision gave up on.  Activision merged with Vivendi Games and in the merger, Activision dropped several titles including Brutal Legend, which EA picked up. Now that Brutal Legend is getting hype and an anticipated release, Activision is claiming EA is infringing on their rights on a game Activision said they don’t want to release – they want money for doing nothing.  I particularly love EA’s response.

We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy.

Watchmen is remembered for not being your traditional super hero comic.  Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s classic is praised as the greatest super hero comic, providing a view of what super heroes might be like in a real world setting.  The dark tale set the stage for gritty and emotional spandex adventures with few matching the unique perspective Watchmen offered, one that begins with a simple murder mystery and ending with the astonishing twist where the villain wins.  Watchmen commented on the preceding decades of colorful adventures while setting the stage for a new generation of grown up comics, ready for something a deeper and richly thought provoking. Someday those comics will arrive.