Why hasn't DC ever done anything more with this character?
>>84205441
Because he doesn't sell toys like he used to.
>>84205448
heh
because they would ruin it
>>84205448
I loooove toys.
>>84205448
Because he isn't Harely Quinn.
>>84205678
That rock in the background...
>>84205441
There's two major possibilities:
They may not actually own him. The episode had three writers; any one (or any combination of the three) might actually own the concept in whole or in part, especially after it going mostly unused for 24 years, as there's often a time limit after which concepts and whole works revert to their creators if the buyers have no further use for them. While possible, this is still unlikely.
A more likely reason for not owning it would be the signing away of the rights; given that The Shadow was released in 1994, and the producers of that - specifically veteran producer (Scarface) Martin Bregman - might have objected to the Gray Ghost's similarity to The Shadow, which would have been enough to kill off any serious resurrection plans. A homage is only a homage until you turn it into a serious IP and start trying to make money from it in its own right - as it stands, GG is background color. Even the possibility of legal action - which DC/WB would certainly lose were they found to be using a Shadow clone - would be enough to put them off more widespread appearances. Media groups like their IPs to make money before they start costing money; so while they would technically own the character, they'd be unable to exploit it fully (see also Captain Shazam)
The second reason is that they may feel the character just isn't popular, either because he's a oneshot side character who doesn't have a wider application (since he's basically admitted to be the inspiration for Batman - though it's also possible that while Bob Kane was alive, this itself was a reason for not using him because of the Shadow connection) or because he just isn't very good.
tl;dr nobody knoooowwwwws
>>84205441
It's basically the same as the Sandman (Wesley Dodds).
>>84206461
>Even the possibility of legal action
So you make a 'fan comic' on the downlow, and let the 'independent creator' get a C&D letter or not instead to gauge popularity and bitchery first. If all goes well, buy the 'independent creator' out and go to town.
He's basically just the Shadow and there's no reason to bring in a Golden Age pastiche when there's already more Golden Age characters than they know what to do with.
It'd be like using the JSA expies they had to invent for the Justice League cartoon.
>>84206526
I don't think you understand what you've done here, but it's hilarious.
This is such a Rube Goldberg way of getting around someone else owning something. You don't have a conspiracy involving a probably low-paid artist. What you do is you go to legal and you ask what the chances of winning a case like that are. Legal tell you. You decide based on what legal - who are actual lawyers - say whether or not to make your thing, your actual thing, or not. If you decide not, then all you're really doing is changing key points (which legal also made clear to you were the sticking points). If you end up with something that doesn't resemble the original, so be it. If it's no longer popular, that's the risk you take. If you don't want to make changes, you go to the original creator - or in this case, to Martin Bregman, who owns the Shadow rights - and you license what you need.
There's a few good reasons you do it above board. Firstly, if you don't really care who owns what, you're not going to care about legal action. Really. People don't.
Secondly, 'fan comics' by 'independent creators' don't usually attract C&D letters, because they're not making any money or even covering their own costs. They're labors of love and, usually, fall under fair use to boot, because the people making them don't want to get sued; but making a 'fan comic' isn't in itself a guarantee of legal action or of no legal action. You have big IPs - like Star Wars and Star Trek - where there are actual guidelines laid down for what you can and can't do. That's how deeply ingrained the idea of not suing fans is.
Thirdly, if your 'independent creator' turns out to be wholly owned by you anyway, not getting sued as a fan is immaterial. YOU'LL get sued - when it becomes apparent you owned the independent all along. You can't just clone an IP as "fan work" and then "buy" it, that's retarded.
He's in Arkham Knight, at least.
>>84206461
>>84206673
In reality the answer is that it's a one-off pastiche character and DC already owns a bunch of Golden Age, and Golden Age pastiche, characters. Any lawsuit over The Shadow would hinge almost entirely on content due to the rather generic appearance of The Shadow. There would also be massive industry pressure to not sue, as a successful lawsuit based on anything other than blatantly copying Shadow stories would force a massive legal fight between Disney and WB over dozens, if not hundreds, of characters. Imagine DC being forced to sue Marvel over the Squadron Supreme, with a separate lawsuit over the Squadron Sinister, only to face a countersuit over the Justice Lords.
>>84205448
Is this itself a meta-joke about how the Batman series was nearly finished until the TV show revitalised it?
Hence why the DCAU Gray Ghost is voiced by Adam West?
>>84207848
IIRC the villain of the Batman episode used toys as explosives.
He's a playable character in Lego Batman 3.
>>84205441
I think this is the simplest way DC can make this character interesting again.
And before you say anything, it worked for Batwoman. 'Nuff said.
He's a teacher at Gotham Academy...drama, of course.
Ami the only one who reads Gotham Academy?
>>84209509
The gay ghost is a different DC character.
>>84205441
>Why hasn't DC ever done anything more with this character?
Just read The Shadow, and The Spider and imagine real hard
>>84207848
Well that and he doesn't really sell toys.
I thought DC owned The Shadow.
Would love to see grey ghost, since it would be constrained to it's time period.
>>84205441
I honestly feel like they should replace the Mark of Zorro from Batman's origin to The Grey Ghost.
Keep it more in universe.
