BWS is proud of his work on RUNE.
Unfortunately it has been out of print since its 1993 publication in
comic book form. Malibu had a collected edition in production,
and even solicited to retailers, but before it was published Malibu
was bought out by Marvel, who gutted
the company for its digital coloring department and cancelled the entire
Ultraverse line, including RUNE. BWS has
approached Marvel several times in the years since, requesting that
they either publish a collected edition of his RUNE material
or return the rights to him. They have refused, claiming that their
ownership of the Ultraverse characters may not be "free and clear,"
referring to the part ownership of the characters by some of the Ultraverse
creators. Marvel is unwilling to set a precedent, either by publishing
any of
the material
or
by acknowledging the rights of the individual creators.
It is sad and ironic that Malibu's RUNE met the same fate as
Valiant's
Archer & Armstrong. Both represent some of Windsor-Smith's
finest modern work, and both remain in a legal limbo, unavailable as
collected editions for potential audiences who
would
enjoy
these
stories
by one of comics'
most successful creators.
Click here to go to
the BWS RUNE Gallery
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