Homage vs. Rip Off
Over the years, Marvel comics has always been Sue Happy. I can think of two examples right off of the top of my head. Back in the 90s, Marvel sued Jim Shooter's new company, Defiant, over the title of Defiant's launch book, "Plasm". Turns out, Marvel had a comic that no one ever read ever called "Plasma". Ooooh, that's a good reason to sue somebody. A letter. Anyway, Marvel won, and Defiant had to change the name to "Warriors of Plasma", and Marvel promptly cancelled "Plasma". In another incident, that Rat Bastard Rob Liefeld got fired off Captain America for sucking. Liefeld said Screw You and bought the rights to Jack Kirby's preexisting character "Fighting American", changed the character so it was a blatant rip-off of Captain America, and got sued by Marvel. Several court ordered Costume Changes later, and Liefeld had another sucky book that was still a blatant rip-off of Captain America.
Meanwhile, back in the 70s, Marvel "came up with" a group of characters called "The Squadron Supreme". Now, the Squadron Supreme is DC's JLA. Period. Different costumes, different names, same guys. DC never bothered to sue Marvel over the deal. (Side Note: Marvel recently reinivented and redesigned the Squadron for a new book called Supreme Power which is quite good, but at the same time a blatant shot at DC's Entire Universe.)
So, today's question is, where does Homage end and Rip Off begin? When is one character inspired by another, but at the same time not anything like its predecessor? Rip offs happen all the time in the comic industry. Hell, at the end of the day, EVERY superhero is ultimately a rip off of Superman, Batman, or Spiderman. Where does the line exist?
Thankfully, most of my characters are pretty original. The only blatant exception is the Cosmic Fool. The Cosmic Fool is my homage to my favorite Marvel Character EVER, the Silver Surfer. There's really only a few cosmetic similarities at the end of the day, and I've never stolen an actual Surfer story (yet), but most people will call me on it at a glance. And the reason why I did it is obvious. I've always wanted to work on the Silver Surfer, but have never wanted or been good enough to work for Marvel. So, am I just another rip off artist, or is it cool to use something as a template if you move beyond your beginnings?
Meanwhile, back in the 70s, Marvel "came up with" a group of characters called "The Squadron Supreme". Now, the Squadron Supreme is DC's JLA. Period. Different costumes, different names, same guys. DC never bothered to sue Marvel over the deal. (Side Note: Marvel recently reinivented and redesigned the Squadron for a new book called Supreme Power which is quite good, but at the same time a blatant shot at DC's Entire Universe.)
So, today's question is, where does Homage end and Rip Off begin? When is one character inspired by another, but at the same time not anything like its predecessor? Rip offs happen all the time in the comic industry. Hell, at the end of the day, EVERY superhero is ultimately a rip off of Superman, Batman, or Spiderman. Where does the line exist?
Thankfully, most of my characters are pretty original. The only blatant exception is the Cosmic Fool. The Cosmic Fool is my homage to my favorite Marvel Character EVER, the Silver Surfer. There's really only a few cosmetic similarities at the end of the day, and I've never stolen an actual Surfer story (yet), but most people will call me on it at a glance. And the reason why I did it is obvious. I've always wanted to work on the Silver Surfer, but have never wanted or been good enough to work for Marvel. So, am I just another rip off artist, or is it cool to use something as a template if you move beyond your beginnings?
4 Comments:
Nice blog. I have a fast home equity loan blog. It is about fast home equity loan related stuff. Please visit, thanks!
Man, whoever the hell posted that one did it quickly. I mean, the Comment was up, literally a minute or two after I posted this post.
On the upside, at least he likes the blog.
I'll change your security to require text confirmation for comments.
Y'know, I was actually thinking about this earlier in the week. True, most heroes are rip-offs of past heroes and ideas (Apollo and the Midnighter?) that the writer wants to blatantly take and make his own way with. Sometimes I think that creators have run out of originality in ideas, and have to revise old concepts for modern times (Ultimate Universe).
Then there are others, like Grant Morrison, who tend to be hugely imaginative. Those are the ideas I appreciate more. If a concept is blatantly copied, it is frowned upon, but can be used for a great story sometimes ( most of The Authority).
Post a Comment
<< Home