The Big Black Eye Pt. 2

Yes, PLANET GRIFFIN boldly goes where some blogs won't... dares to claim certain things that certain creators don't... PLANET GRIFFINPLANET GRIFFIN believes in giving something back to the innovators that gave birth to the PLANET in the FIRST place, so therefore I must be responsible in producing NEXT LEVEL INNOVATION and not rub shit back in their face. Welcome to another special edition of The BIG BUZZ, today known as THE BIG BLACK EYE.

Now, everybody and their grandmother's know of the scandal surrounding NICK SIMMONS and INCARNATE... (The evidence and extent of his scavenging from well known manga titles can be seen here) The firestorm blazing through the Radical Publishing Offices right now is pretty harsh, as Manga fans across the country scream bloody foul against the son of former KISS frontman, GENE SIMMONS. Today, through a representative, Nick released a statement in response to the allegations:

“Like most artists I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities between some of my work and the work of others. This was simply meant as an homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any Manga fans or fellow Manga artists who feel I went too far. My inspirations reflect the fact that certain fundamental imagery is common to all Manga. This is the nature of the medium.

“I am a big fan of Bleach, as well as other Manga titles. And I am certainly sorry if anyone was offended or upset by what they perceive to be the similarity between my work and the work of artists that I admire and who inspire me.”

Meanwhile, upon learning of this, Bleach creator TITE KUBO responded, "I'm more interested in the fact that Gene Simmons' son is a mangaka than whether he's plagiarizing me or not." (Not surprising in the least bit considering that Kubo has sold upwards of 50 million copies of his creation. His comment displays real class and humility in light of all this. Well, that and he can AFFORD to be amused at all this.) Of course, despite this, the Facebook manga fans that feel betrayed amid all this, are demanding a la massive petition a class action suite against Nick for what he's done. From the NY TIMES to CNNGo.com, I almost feel bad for the kid in all this, as his efforts to be recognized has practically turned him into a divine object of hatred overnight... Notice that I said 'almost'. Wait, let's try this again...

“Like most artists (CON artist), I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities (yeah, in science, we call it 'mitosis') between some of my work and the work of others. This was simply meant as an homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any Manga fans or fellow Manga artists (tell that to some of the kids who's work you ripped from Deviant Art) who feel I went too far. My inspirations reflect the fact that certain fundamental imagery (dangerous choice of words here. You've got to learn how to construct an image first) is common to all Manga. This is the nature of the medium.

“I am a big fan of Bleach (We can tell in your overlays), as well as other Manga titles. And I am certainly sorry if anyone was offended or upset by what they perceive (it's here that he deflects blame and sets himself up as a victim... Remember kids, you've only made him out to be bad) to be the similarity between my work and the work of artists that I admire and who inspire me.” (Be glad, Nick, that rabid fans didn't kill the messenger)

Honestly, INCARNATE proves far too blatant on too many levels to be genuinely considered original. In his claims, it's bad enough as the artist to scavenge and overlay (or trace) with no sense of composition or layout and claim yourself as 'bad ass' ( as Nick claimed in his first Deviant Art Journal "If you steal any of my artwork, you will pay. In cash.")... It's even worse as the writer to lift entire segments of the dialogue to justify a story you hockneyed together after using daddy's name to get yourself an on-the-spot meeting with a publisher...

Radical Publishing, you're not off the hook in this, either. For a company boasting such a rich lineage within it's ranks, you definitely lost sight of editorial control, which means you took this kid at face value in light of his heavyweight father's 'business moxie', or you were too blinded by the possible Hollywood potential that the 'family name' brings with such a venture. ( Which is dangerous, because that could easily mislead people people into thinking that comics and hollywood are NOT mutually exclusive as some companies are anxious to tell you, as well as display a form of desperation on Radical's part to gain notoriety) Oh yeah, lets not forget another fact in this--- I've never heard of a comic company that has NO sense of comics history to the point where your FANS recognize the blatant rips almost faster than a company who has spent time with the material in it's production, not to... Sorry fellas, your quality control takes a shot in the Family Jewels on this one.

In light of this situation, the upshot of this is that companies will take more responsibility in the material they attach their studio name to... Unfortunately, this may also prove to be a setback to many unknowns who are trying to break in due to industry paranoia over '...possible derivative product...'

And we ALL know the industry doesn't want what it already produces, right?