Last week Radical Publishing halted the production of its American Manga series Incarnate as accusations of plagiarism arose against the series’ creator Nick Simmons, son of KISS founder Gene Simmons [read Nick Simmons Accused Of Plagiarism For “˜Incarnate’ Comic; Publication Halted].
Simmons issued a statement via representative today responding to the allegations, claiming that his work was “meant as an homage” to the artists that inspire him. He also apologized to Manga fans and artists who may have thought he’d gone too far in his intentions.
“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.”
Radical Publishing verified that the statement issued, which was initially posted on Manga Worth Reading, is from Simmons, who stars with his famous family in the A&E reality television series Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels.
Allegations of plagiarism against Simmons began appearing online last Thursday from Manga fansites, including Bleachness, dedicated to Tite Kubo’s popular Manga series Bleach, one of the works from which fans claim Simmons took artwork and dialogue. The Bleachness site also posted images from both Incarnate and Bleach and superimposed them in an effort to show similarities between the two works.
While Simmons’ statement addresses the allegations, he does not admit to any plagiarism or wrongdoing. No formal allegations have been brought against Simmons at this time from any other publishers. Upon learning of the claims last week, Viz Media, which publishes Bleach in North America, said they were looking into the situation, while Radical said that they were “making efforts now to contact the publishers of the works in question in an effort to resolve this matter.”
At this time, Radical has not announced whether they will resume production on Incarnate, which was scheduled for release this month as a collected trade paperback.
[Source: CBR]
1. Manga sucks a dick
2. Simmons traced that shit
3. Honestly though who could tell, every Manga/Anime character is the exact same person with different hair and clothes
Comment by jon — March 2, 2010 @ 8:53 am
I’ve seen the Incarnate comic pages superimposed onto Bleach manga pages and the similarities are resounding. The gall this guy had to literally trace so much is amazing. So ‘I’ can tell…
Sorta disgusting when you think about it. If I were Kubo, I’d only settle for 25% of Kiss merchandise and jailtime ^^
Comment by BatNips — March 2, 2010 @ 1:30 pm
There was definitely more going on that an homage but because he is a d list celeb and his father is a celeb who won’t go away he will get off the hook.
Comment by Brian — March 2, 2010 @ 7:19 pm
Yea… i definatly don’t believe he traced the shit… all Manga does look similar in characters and plots. I say get the hell over it ppl. He said it was homage to the artists he likes…
Comment by KissiePoo — March 2, 2010 @ 11:12 pm
‘Homage’ is not the same as ‘exact copy’.
Comment by John K — March 3, 2010 @ 4:28 pm
paying “homage” doesn’t mean ripping people off. Look at the deviant artist he ripped from…..exact replicas. homage my ass he thought because he’s rich no one was gonna say anything to him.
Comment by april w — March 4, 2010 @ 10:00 am
The fact that he apologized simply indicates he knows what he’s doing is wrong and that he practically copied Bleach!
true, most characters in anime/manga are similar to one another. However, there is an additional personality trait that differentiates the characters amongst animes and mangas. Unfortunately, his doesn’t. Therefore, he copied the character build off from Bleach.
I pity the waste-up wanna-be. He claims to be a fan of Bleach yet he fails to understand the line between inspired and copying. He loves Bleach so much that he wants to create something as of equal. Something as moving as Bleach that it blinded him. Absolutely disgusting, pitiful and just, well trash. He’s equivalent to the existence of ticks, he’s the lowest form of life in this universe, his name is not even worth mentioning to the point that he should be refereed to with ‘it’ rather than ‘he/him/his’. I seriously just don’t see the point in its existence, it’s just causing nuisance for everyone else. I feel sorry for it’s parents for ever allowing it to exist. Although, I’m sure it’s very happy for receiving this much negative attention and creating that burning rage within genuine Bleach fans such as myself. It makes me wonder just how is it able to walk outside under broad daylight with such shame, actually how is it even able to wake up everyday and live? truly, puzzling~
Comment by coderror — March 5, 2010 @ 6:13 pm
“he’s the lowest form of life in this universe”
Jeez coderror…did Nick kill a guy also?
Plagiarism is one thing; and considering he’s the son of a feckwit git, Nick’s apparent lack of talent shouldnt surprise anyone.
But at the end of the day, that’s all he is. Not a murderer, fascist dictator, or anything remotely close to the lowest form of life in this universe. He’ll never be that important, he’s just a talentless hack.
Oh, and the son of Gene Simmons. A terrible punishment in and of itself, in my book.
Comment by CadmiumLacy — March 6, 2010 @ 6:35 am