TWCL

[wrathborne]

I've been a webcomic artist for about a year now have struggled with getting more views and trying to increase my audience, just like everyone.

But I keep plugging away at it and doing my best and then I saw this on facebook the other day and...it really bothered me.





Not just as a Calvin and Hobbes fan, but the sense of false advertising and just the general promotion of Calvin and Hobbes instead of the artist promoting his own comic.

Its kind of low to end up doing stuff like this as its just piggybacking on someone elses success instead of trying to earn some on your own merits. I've never been a fan of seeing Calvin and Hobbes used outside of Wattersons world(The infamous Calvin "urinating" car stickers always make me shake my head), but don't complain when I see others artists do homages to them.

I think in a way we all strive to be like Watterson and create a rich colorful world filled with adventures big and small and characters who are larger than life in their own ways for everyone to enjoy.

Which makes this ad all the more upsetting to me when I think about this ad...I mean the guy even just copy and pasted some of Wattersons artwork for the ads themselves.

Not sure if anyone elses agrees with me, but I really just felt the need to share this with other webcomic artists.

[Marscaleb]

Yeah I saw those, and I checked the link out. It turns out it was just one comic that featured Calvin and Hobbes in a guest appearance. Way to show you have nothing for yourself there, people.

There was another facebook ad for an original comic that advertised itself as "just like Calvin and Hobbes." Now that enticed me much more; it's not actually riding on someone else's glory, just making a comparison. It is also worth noting how the ad featured its original artwork in the ad, too.
But the comic was running on Tumbler, very unprofessional. You may recall another thread on that subject on this board.

I also have seen someone on the internet trying to make a comic about Calvin having grown up, and now his daughter was playing with Hobbes. I think her name was Bacon or something equally ridiculous. I couldn't quite track down the original site, but that one... I honestly don't know how to feel about that one. I can't quite get past how it's some else, talented that they may be, is stealing from one of the greatest cartoonists that ever lived. But neither could I get past the idea of how desperately I want that...
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My webcomic: Mischief in Maytia
http://maytiacomic.com/

[wrathborne]

Actually If I recall the one with Calvins Daughter was just a single comic the artist did as a homage..though I think a few others have done the same idea(Calvin passing Hobbes on to his child).

This guy with the facebook ads is saying hes going to have Calvin and Hobbes pop up again here and there, and thats really not cool.

[Marscaleb]

wrathborne wrote:

Actually If I recall the one with Calvins Daughter was just a single comic the artist did as a homage..though I think a few others have done the same idea(Calvin passing Hobbes on to his child).

I've definitely seen someone trying to make a whole serial out of it. I wouldn't be surprised if several people have been stealing the idea, because I've seen a number of stand-alone pieces of artwork. And maybe it was a short five-page thing that this guy made, but it was definitely not just a single comic.

The comic that was running the facebook ads... When I read the Calvin and Hobbes thing he wrote, it kind of sounded like he actually got permission from Watterson to use the characters. But multiple appearances sounds more like someone who just figured out how "fair use" works.

I see people tribute to Calvin and Hobbes all the time, and in varying degrees. The one comic I read was, by and large, another tribute. A well-made and extensive tribute, but a tribute nonetheless.
But you don't get to advertise your tribute. That's just wrong. You sell your work on its own g**-d***ed merit, not on the fact that you like someone else's work.

(Unless of course you were making something along the lines of Robot Chicken, where the whole premise is nothing but parodies and such. If basically every week this guy did a comic about someone else's comic or other work, I'd have no gripe about him advertising a "return of Calvin and Hobbes" because he's really just advertising a particular page that is an honest sample of what the comic is about.)
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My webcomic: Mischief in Maytia
http://maytiacomic.com/

[iaviv]

Bah.
Didn't see it but wouldn't have clicked it.
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[SidneyConrad]

Marscaleb, the strip you are thinking of is called Bacon & Hobbes. The creator did 5 or 6 comics with the basic premise being Calvin and Susie are grown up with a child and he passes Hobbes down to their daughter, Bacon, when she is scared one night. I found it to be a nice tribute to Calvin & Hobbes but I don't know whether or not the creator did it purely out of love for Calvin & Hobbes or was looking for some personal gain out of it. There is also another strip I've seen that goes along the similar premise as Garfield minus Garfield but it is Calvin & Hobbes minus Hobbes. In that one, we as the viewer only see Hobbes as the stuffed tiger.

It is sort of a slap in the face to the original creator to use their art for your own personal gain. Those ads are pretty atrocious and even advertising yourself as "just like Calvin & Hobbes" still seems like it's trying to curtail on Bill Watterson's fame. Anyone trying to start a comic of any kind should be trying to gain recognition through their own artistic merit. And even with as much as I idolize Bill Watterson, I wouldn't necessarily want to be compared to him or anyone else. Don't get me wrong, I would be giddy if someone did, but any recognition I can gain, I would want to do because of my own talents, not because they are similar to someone else's.

With that said, check out my new strips, Calvin & Hobbes: The Later Years and Calvin & Hobbes in Space, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays!

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Conrad's Inventions

[Marscaleb]

SidneyConrad wrote:

even advertising yourself as "just like Calvin & Hobbes" still seems like it's trying to curtail on Bill Watterson's fame.

I would politely disagree. You're talking about a completely original and new work. So in the advertising they make a comparison to another work. That's common and fair. If you like (A), then try (B).
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My webcomic: Mischief in Maytia
http://maytiacomic.com/

[Marscaleb]

Since we are on the subject of Imitation-Watterson art we've seen on Facebook, I thought I'd share this enjoyable piece I found today.

The artwork is not actually by Bill Watterson, but it is done in his style. But what is more relevant to bear in mind is that the words are his.

http://zenpencils.com/comic/128-bill-watterson-a-cartoonists-advice/
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My webcomic: Mischief in Maytia
http://maytiacomic.com/