Radical Halts Production and Distribution of Nick Simmons’ Incarnate, in the Face of Plagiarism Accusations!

Nick Simmons (Gene Simmons’ son) recently released a three-issue comic book series through Radical Comics, called Incarnate. The series, written and illustrated by Simmons is clearly heavily inspired by Japanese Manga, but according to many Manga fans, the series doesn’t just pay tribute to Manga classics, but in fact outright plagiarizes them. Series that Simmons has been accused of plagiarizing include Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bleach, Hellsing, Vampire Hunter D, NANA, Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, Deadman Wonderland, One Piece, and the work of online artist Rae.

[UPDATE: To see Simmons' response to these accusations, click here]

Many of these series are published by Viz Media in the United States, and Viz is purported to be looking into the matter, and has a legal team on it. Kubo Tite, the author of Bleach, has also announced on Twitter that he is aware of the plagiarism. However, as yet, no cases have been filed, and no official statements have been made by the injured parties.

This all changed today though, when Radical Comics announced that in the face of these accusations, they have decided to halt further production and distribution of the Incarnate comic book and trade paperback until the matter is resolved. Here is the full statement that they released:

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.

This is a wise move on behalf of Radical, because if these accusations turn out to be true, they could stand to be involved in a number of legal cases. By acknowledging the accusations, and halting production, they are trying to cover themselves, and indicate that they had no knowledge of these similarities prior to the production of the series.

So, are these accusations founded? Well, a quick glance at the panels below would indicate that they are very founded! All of the below comparisons are between Incarnate and Bleach, to see more head over to http://community.livejournal.com/bleachness/446299.html, where there are dozens of them!!!!

Related posts:

1. Nick Simmons to Sign Copies of Incarnate, His Radical Comics Miniseries, At the First Annual Long Beach Comic Con!
2. Len Wiseman to Direct Movie of Mark Long & Nick Sagan’s Radical Comics Series Shrapnel
3. Advance Comic Review: Incarnate #1 (of 3)
4. Darren Bousmann Attached to Write and Direct Radical Comic’ Abattoir as a Feature Film
5. Radical Welcomes David Wohl to the Fangoria Trinity of Terrors Convention