Radical Halts NICK SIMMONS' Incarnate Amid Claims Of Plagiarism
February 25, 2010, 14 years ago
Kevin Melrose from Robot6.comicbookresources.com is reporting:
Radical Publishing has stopped production of its comic Incarnate while it investigates growing accusations that creator Nick Simmons plagiarized Bleach and other popular manga series.
The allegations against Simmons, son of KISS frontman and reality-TV star Gene Simmons, emerged at the beginning of the week on the GameFAQ forum before gaining steam Wednesday on fan sites and LiveJournal. The latter link presents perhaps the best visual support for the Bleach claims.
The Wikipedia entry for Nick Simmons now includes a section detailing Accusations of Plagiarism that lists eight manga - the insanely popular Hellsing, One Piece and Vampire Hunter D, among them - and an amateur artist from DeviantART. There are assertions that, in addition to character designs and poses, Simmons lifted dialogue and "plot segments" from other works. A group calling for legal action against the 21-year-old Simmons has begun on Facebook, where some members have declared today Bleach Protection Day.
When contacted Thursday night for comment, Radical Publishing released the following statement: "We at Radical Publishing Inc. and Radical Comics Inc. are quite concerned to hear the news surrounding Nick Simmons’s Incarnate comic book. We are taking this matter seriously and making efforts now to contact the publishers of the works in question in an effort to resolve this matter. We have halted further production and distribution of the Incarnate comic book and trade paperback until the matter is resolved to the satisfaction of all parties. Rest assured that Radical is taking swift action regarding this matter and will continue in its efforts to maintain the integrity and protect the intellectual property of artists throughout the world whose creative works are the bedrock of our company and the comic book industry."
Read more here.