The comic book industry exists largely in a vacuum, playing by our own rules – and fast and loose even with those. Among them: the “blind eye” that publishers turn towards Artist Alley’s bustling commerce of non-licensed trademark exploitation. The dollars are generally too small, the usage too benevolent, to raise corporate eyebrows. Tradition says, as long as we avoid the rampant bootlegging of the hucksters, the Alley is healthy for our industry and its fans. Now, though, the game may be changing.