Spider-Man has always been a popular character, one of the most popular heroes ever created for comics. However, we’re now in a world where there are actually two different Spider-Mans (Spider-Men?) who have taken over the cultural imagination. It isn’t just Peter Parker that everybody loves, it’s Miles Morales.
Miles has become a major part of Spider-Man media outside the comics, starring in the insanely popular Spider-Verse movies, which still have a third entry yet to come, and appearing in Spidey video games that have made the character as popular. And, in some cases, he's become more popular than the original wall-crawler. However, this success doesn’t benefit those who invented the character, a fact that has sparked a firestorm of late involving one of his co-creators.
Miles Morales Co-Creator Makes Comments On Royalties That Go Viral
Sara Pichelli is the Italian comics artist who co-created the character of Miles Morales alongside Brian Michael Bendis in 2011. She was recently interviewed by Brazilian publication Jamesons during CCXP 25, and the topic of royalties came up. Pichelli commented that she would “be a billionaire” if she received compensation for Morales’ success, but that didn’t happen. She stated (translated from Portuguese)…
Yeah, but I don't get anything. And that's the saddest part of my life.
Royalties are a major point of contention in many industries. For instance, they were a significant factor in the last major writers' strike. The fact that comic creators rarely, if ever, see any compensation following the success of characters they created isn’t news. It’s been an issue many creators have lamented in the past. Pichelli received an easter egg in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but that's about all.
Pichelli’s comments about her lack of royalties have since gone viral, with many stories written about her comments and lots of opinions being dropped on social media. She's not too keen on that buzz, though.
How Pichelli Has Responded To Her Viral Comments
Sara Pichelli’s comments became such a hot button that the artist herself felt obligated to respond to the online chatter. Via a post shared to her Instagram, Pichelli was critical of the article, stating that the article twisted the tone of the conversation and calling the headline “click bait news.” She called on people not to use her comments to go after one side or the other on the topic of royalties. Pichelli wrote in part…
I know royalties and copyright are hot topic, but please don't use me or my work to take sides or talk sh*t, I won't let you do that. Also when a creator do an interview during a show (and CCXP was insanely busy) is being generous and kind, please don't do ever take advantage of that to create questionable contents to get more followers. Be better, do better.
The fight over comic character royalties isn’t likely to end anytime soon, but Sara Pichelli isn’t looking to become part of that battle. Maybe she'd be rich if things were different, yet she still created a character who had a lasting impact on culture. That's something at least.
