Wednesday is Comic Day!

One of the biggest announcements to come out of San Diego Comic-Con 2009 is that Marvel has acquired the rights to the character of Marvelman. Marvelman was a character created by Mick Anglo and first appeared in British comics in 1954. Marvelman returned in the mid 1980s with stories written by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. At the time, Marvel Comics objected to the name, so in American editions, the character was renamed Miracleman. Gaiman never finished his story and the character has been in lawsuit limbo for about 20 years, as various people, including Todd McFarlane, claimed ownership of the character.

Follow up:

At one of their panels, at SDCC, Marvel made the announcement by introducing the art (above) by Joe Quesada. Their press release reads:

The biggest news of Comic Con International in San Diego was revealed moments ago and jaws are still on the floor-the world-renowned super hero MARVELMAN is now part of the Marvel Comics family! Marvel Comics has purchased the rights to MARVELMAN from creator Mick Anglo and his representatives, finding a home for one of the most sought after heroes in graphic fiction!

"It is an honor to work with Mick Anglo to bring his creation to a larger audience than ever before," said Dan Buckley, CEO & Publisher, Print, Animation & Digital Media, Marvel Entertainment Inc. "Fans are in for something special as they discover just what makes Marvelman such an important character in comic book history."

Originally created in 1954 by Mick Anglo and appearing in some of the most celebrated comic stories of all time, MARVELMAN is Micky Moran, a young reporter gifted with the power to save the world by simply uttering the word "kimota!"

"I did not think it would ever happen," said Mick Anglo. "It's a wonderful thing to see my creation finally back."

MARVELMAN is back and he's found a new home at Marvel Comics! What's next for Mick Anglo's legendary creation? Stay tuned to Marvel.com for all the news on Marvelman and this exciting new addition to the Marvel family!

And to join in the celebration, visit the Marvel Shop to purchase limited edition MARVELMAN t-shirts! Plus, this September, don't miss the MARVELMAN BY QUESADA POSTER exclusively at comic shops everywhere!

It does not appear that Marvel has explicitly said that the have the rights or intent to reprint those Moore and Gaiman issues that haven't been available for 20 years. The general reaction on the internet is that the announcement means nothing if those reprints don't happen. A little searching did reveal the following, though:

In the latest Cup O Joe, is this quote:

"Marvelman belongs to Marvel," said Quesada, saying that the company purchased the character from creator Mick Anglo - a process that started in 2007 thanks to word from Neil Gaiman. "Mick is 94 years old, and I talked to him on Wednesday for an hour and a half," said Buckley noting that Marvel had discussed plans for the character and its stories with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Alan Davis and Mark Buckingham, who was in the audience.

In this May 8th, 2009 interview, Alan Moore said:

I mean, I believe that the Todd McFarlane thing, his ridiculous claims to the character have now been dropped, so it can move on. I believe that they're going to be reprinting some of my stuff, but I'm not sure of all the details, I've just said, "Yeah, go ahead," and all the money from the first book, from the first printing of the book, should go to Mick Anglo.

And a Sequart.com article, in 2003, about Gaiman said:

Quesada seized the opportunity of the Miracleman lawsuit to strike a deal with Gaiman: Gaiman would write a mini-series for Marvel and Quesada would donate Marvel's profits to Marvels and Miracles. In addition, Quesada expressed a willingness to publish Miracleman, despite its adult-oriented content in stark odds with Marvel's normal oeuvre, and promised to allow the name Marvelman, should Gaiman wish to return to it.

So, although they haven't said anything concrete - it looks like they have been pursuing the rights to reprint the 22 issues that had content from Moore & Gaiman.