Comic book creators seek revenge for allegedly stolen ideas

A Montreal-based comic book company is suing Marvel Entertainment and Disney for allegedly repeatedly ripping off heroes from its “Iron Man,” “Ant-man” and “Avengers” series, according to CTV News in Canada.

Horizon Comics and its founders allege Marvel used their designs without consent or compensation, and are suing for damages and an injunction “to end this willful and persistent infringement,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says Marvel editor-in-chief CB Cebulski approached the founders of Horizon to work as artists for Marvel based on the popular series, but they declined the offer. Yet, among a number of issues with other characters, the founders saw similarities between the armored suit worn by Robert Downey Jr. and their design in Marvel’s third “Iron Man” movie, released in 2013.

Marvel’s “repeated violation” follows “years of litigation in the United States and substantial sums” and the company would continue to “copy our characters.” This causes us significant damage and has an impact on our ability to make a living as artists. It is clear that we cannot accept this repeated behavior. The only way to fix things was to initiate this procedure, indicates the prosecution.