Incarnate
The tsunami that is the Nick Simmons affair is beginning to crest; ever since fans noticed, a couple of days ago, that some panels of his comic Incarnate bore a suspiciously strong resemblance to Bleach (and Bleach fanart!), the internet has been swelling up in outrage. If you’re coming late to the party, or just need a good laugh, check out Rob Bricken’s beatdown at Topless Robot, which hilariously sums the whole thing up and includes the news that (of course) there is a Facebook group about it and a fake Nick Simmons joined it just to denounce and threaten his detractors. Johanna Draper Carlson takes a more serious tack at Comics Worth Reading, with a discussion of swiping, plagiarism, and piracy. Deb Aoki has been asking tough questions and tracking the controversy on Twitter, and Christopher Butcher sums some of that up with a stern admonition to fan artists at Comics212.net:
Here’s the thing: I’ve got infinitely more respect for obvious thief Nick Simmons than I do for the legions of artist-alley dwellers selling mass-produced copies of their fanart for characters. Nick Simmons is (badly) taking his influences and turning them into something (horribly derivative but at least nominally) “new”. It’s not original, it may not even be good, but every artist or writer is comprised mainly of the sum of their influences and experiences. But at least Simmons on his first shot out of the gate managed to synthesize all that shit into something other than “Here is a terribly drawn portrait of two BLEACH characters making out, in tribute to an author who clearly never wanted this to happen or he’d have done it himself. I am charging $10 for this colour photocopy.”
As usual, Butcher takes no prisoners, although he makes it clear that he supports fanart but draws the line at selling it. Simon Jones adds his own thoughts on doujinshi vs. fanart at the Icarus blog.
Paul Gravett writes about some spring books he’s looking forward to, including quite a few manga.
David Welsh’s license request for this week: Freesia, by Jiro Matsumoto.
Looking for a job in the manga biz? Viz is hiring a Purchasing & Logistics Coordinator.
News from Japan: ANN has news of a few new series, including one by the creator of Boys Be…
Reviews
Leroy Douresseaux on Croquis (I Reads You)
Kate Dacey on Devil, No. 1 (The Manga Critic)
Saranga on The Moon and Sandals (New readers…start here!)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of One Fine Day (Manga Bookshelf)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 32 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 22 of Yakitate!! Japan (Slightly Biased Manga)
