In the lawsuits, Marvel argues that the characters were created under “work for hire” arrangements, and that the heirs have no valid claim to the copyrights. Strange), Don Heck (Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye), Don Rico (Black Widow), and Gene Colan (Captain Marvel, Falcon, Blade). Toberoff represents Larry Lieber, the brother of Stan Lee and a co-creator of Thor, Iron Man, and Ant Man as well as the estates of Steve Ditko (Spiderman, Dr. The county, meanwhile, has outlined steps needed to move forward with the transfer, including assessing the value of the parcels and trying to find a means to lessen the tax burden on the heirs.“This is the deep dark secret of the comic book industry, if not now the entire entertainment industry, due to the explosion of these superhero franchises,” Toberoff told Variety in an interview. This year, the City Council formally condemned the efforts of their early 20th century predecessors to displace the Bruces and several other Black families. In Manhattan Beach, an upscale Los Angeles seaside suburb, the population of 35,000 is more than 84% white and 0.8% Black, the city website says. The county's lifeguard training headquarters building sits there now, along a scenic beach walkway called The Strand that is lined with luxury homes overlooking the beach. The Bruces' property along the south shore of Santa Monica Bay encompasses two parcels. Newsom said the Bruces could have become like other leading Southern California entrepreneurs, like the Getty family that garnered fame for its oil wealth and art collection. “The law was used to steal this property 100 years ago, and the law today will give it back,” Hahn said. The organization is looking at several other unspecified projects, including one in California, to see if its goals are possible. Ward also cofounded Where Is My Land, an organization that aims to return land taken from Black Americans and get restitution. “The journey here was far from easy,” said Kavon Ward, a Black resident who learned of the property's history and founded Justice for Bruce's Beach.

The legislation unanimously approved by state lawmakers was necessary to allow the start of the complex legal process of transferring ownership of what was once known as Bruce’s Beach. It came with restrictions limiting the ability to sell or transfer the property, which could only be lifted through a new state law. In 1995, it was transferred to Los Angeles County for beach operations. Yet the land lay unused for years until was transferred to the state in 1948.

The Manhattan Beach City Council eventually used eminent domain to take the land from the Bruces in the 1920s, purportedly for use as a park. There even was an attempt to burn the resort down.

The Bruces and their patrons faced constant racism and harassment.

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