Gene Simmons' son Plagiarizing Bleach?

Neko-tan passed me the link, and I must say I'm amazed by the nerve and stupidity of some people. Seriously, Bleach and even people's DeviantArt? Did the guy think that comic book readers wouldn't notice, that readerships don't cross over between comic and manga? I mean, come on, Bleach is one of the best known and followed series in North America. And stealing someone's personal artwork is more unforgivable than plagiarizing a published work in my book.

I have no idea who Gene Simmons or his son is. The only Simmons I know is Mark Simmons, who is known as the Gundam expert in the English-speaking world. Never read his famed work Gundam: The Official Guide, though, as I prefer to read up on my Gundam in its original Japanese.

Anyway, back to the topic on hand. The publisher of Incarnate has already halted production of the series and is investigating the matter, so I won't troll. But I do want to present my view regarding some of the comments in the link. No, of course I didn't read all 20+ pages of comments, just part of what's on that linked page.

First off, I wouldn't blame anyone from the publisher for not noticing earlier. Working in the comic book industry doesn't mean the person reads the similar medium populating the other side of the world. Heck, they might not even read publications produced from other companies beside their own depending on their time and interests. This is not a fault. Maybe not diligent enough to stay on top of things, but definitely not a sin.

All artists start out by sketching what they see, be it photos, drawn images, or real life objects. I am no artist, but I, too, have been doing this before I learned how to write. Some people's style is similar to some other artist's because they imitated it during their learning stage. As far as I know, everyone evolves into their own style eventually. This is being inspired and influenced by someone or something, and it's part of the creative cycle.

Tracing is sometimes overlooked depending on the situation, but it's definitely not tolerable for passing as original and making profits off of. It doesn't matter if you have a good original plot or interesting concepts. Once you venture to copying something and claiming it as your own, it's game over. If it's just one or two panels, you might contribute it to paying homage to someone's work, but there's way too many instances in this case to be innocent hat tipping. This is plagiarization, and it only leads to an ugly cycle. It's extremely difficult to come clean once soiled.

Someone mentioned doujin and had no answer for where doujin stands. Personally I think there's no comparison between the particular issue on hand and fan-based/derived doujinshi (referred to as just doujin in the rest of the post because I'm lazy). Plagiarization is taking credit for something stolen, while doujin recognizes and honours the original work and creator. Doujin allows existing characters to experience different settings and scenarios, and the drawings often only somewhat resemble the original design and are heavy with personal touches. The doujin field encourages creativity and collaboration, and many artists and character designers have doujin backgrounds.

Even though most of the doujin publications are sold for a price, the group producing them rarely make any profit. But through the act of doujin distribution, the original work gets known by more people, and the popularity life span of the work is prolonged or renewed. Authors and publishers of the original works probably won't acknowledge or approve doujin, but the influence of doujin is undeniable.

I do not plan to flame this Simmons boy for the incident; copyright laws and the huge fan base of Bleach and other plagiarized works will surely take care of him. I am merely prompted to rant from the angle of an ordinary fan of Bleach who has sketched dozens of fan art based on various manga and am still learning art. On this note, I bid you good night.