Ray Felix then respondedFor the last few years, DC Comics has been swiping and redesigning characters from Ray Felix. Frustrated by this barrage of blatant theft from DC Comics, dating back to the infamous Marvel/ DC comics lawsuit that tied up Felix in Trademark court from 2010-2014. Despite, Felix's settlement with the big 2, DC has continued to stress their agreement by having their editors and creative staff use Bronx Heroes/ A World Without Superheroes properties and making them their own. Even as to going so far using the term, " A World Without Superheroes" in their comics, which is a direct violation of their contracted settlement. Among the many characters that DC swiped that are most obvious are Mystery Man, Black Power and Punchline, to name a few. DC claims that the features of Black Power and Punchline are generic. In an email to Ray Felix,DC lawyers stated, " First, as for your claim that current imagery of DC’s character Duke Thomas, aka The Signal, resembles your character Black Power, I refer you to my March 2017 correspondence with you in response to your claim that DC’s Duke Thomas, then known as The Lark, resembled Black Power. As noted in the March 2017 correspondence, the similarities in appearance of these characters remain limited to basic generic components shared by many comic book characters and action heroes, such as a mask, gloves, knee guards, and a chest emblem, and do not constitute infringement. This analysis remains as true with respect to the current version of the Duke Thomas character as it did with the prior version". Ray Felix then responded to DC's lawyers, "If you look at the redesign of the signal costume, it isn't a generic comparison. From the ridges on the neck and trapezius, to forearm, knee pads and the actual silhouette of Black Power's costume you will see comparisons. In addition, He was originally advertised in a yellow orange costume, and we even conducted an online contest in 2009, when artist, Trevor Von Eeden and myself decided to change his color to purple. The costume was then drawn by veteran comic artist, Paris Cullins, while the DC character Duke Thomas was published in a comic, "We are Robin" where he appeared as a Black Robin. We distributed thousands of posters at New York Comic Con with the Black Power character in yellow". Felix then continued, "We had several creators and interns from the DC booth visiting our table and taking photographs of our banners and purchasing our books. It is no coincidence that DC now features Black Power alongside, Black Lightning (Trevor Von Eeden co-created the DC character in 1975) in the comic "Batman and the Outsiders". (see attachments STL134367 and other Black Power/ Bronx Heroes covers). I also included a rough sketch of how the yellow suit would now inhabit a young sidekick to Black Power that was published on social media Twitter, Facebook and Instagram which hundreds of DC professionals follow on my page". Felix is waiting or DC to respond.
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