Yesterday, my mother was joking around with me when she saw this cover to a plumbing magazine called Angie's List.
Something about the artwork seemed familiar to me, and then it hit me:
This is from the last page of Infinite Crisis #1, with pencils by Phil Jimenez. Now, it's entirely possible that the artist just used the original art for a reference when they drew it, but looking at the inking lines, the sizes and proportions, and the like it seems to be awfully close to the original art.
We're asking Angie's List for a comment, but none so far. Think I should e-mail DC or Phil Jimenez?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Plagiarism?
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10 comments:
It's like Greg Land all over again.
Interesting find.
Actually, it isn't a plumbing magazine (what kind of magazine's do you think we get around here???)
Angie's List is a site that provides reviews of local contractors, service companies, and health care providers. Their monthly magazine includes articles, interviews and advice. Apparently, they annually do a "bathroom" issue, and the artwork was the cover of that issue.
When you have to hire someone to fix your roof or your car, it is nice to have a service that provides reviews of potential contractors or mechanics. Hopefully, it means we are less likely to use a disreputable vendor.
I still haven't heard from them regarding my query. We'll see.
Hey, bear in mind you had to point it out to me in order for me to notice the magazine at all! I'm never sure what mail we get 90% of the time.
Good lord. I've seen a lot of traces in my day, but wow, that one... its like whomever did it didn't care if they got caught.
Not necessarily. After all, plenty of artists get away with tracing in the actual comic book industry, plus they might be able to get away with it if they claimed purposes of parody.
This isn't a Jimenez swipe. This Superman pose originated with Jose Luis Garcia Lopez for merchadising art. I still have an old Superman paint-by-numbers kit where this pose was one of the pieces. Jimenez merly adopted the pose for the Earth-2 Superman's return.
If anything, the Angie's List thing is just spoofing the Superman pose. It's been around long enough that people would be aware of it.
I think Jimenez is SOOO overrated, and I hate the way he draws faces; but it actually says "After Garcia-Lopéz/Giordano" on the page, so it's not plagiarism. It's an homage and he credits the original artists.
Ah, the great debate on whether or not you can plagiarize a pose. Unfortunately, from what I see (as an artist myself), too much of the picture itself has changed to adequately make an argument over plagiarism. I'll admit, the line structure and pose are very similar, but the costume design and face have been significantly altered, so it would be unlikely that you can nail this guy for plagiarism.
Hmm, it may be a parody, but it's still a relatively clear swipe. What I find rather sad is that the original is really not all that great an image; the detail on Supe's face is almost agonizing to look at and there's just something about the foreshortening of his right leg that seems a little off.
It'd be one thing if the drawing simply copied the pose(you can't really trademark or copyright positions of the human body), but the lines do match uncannily.
Copy a pose: No big deal.
Copy a style: Hmm... gray area.
Copy pose and style: Swipe.
Using the idea of other writers is a different thing, but using their lines amounts to plagiarism. Therefore, you need to remain conscious about content stealth.
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