Mondo poster is swipe of Alex Ross poster

[Deleted User] · June 2013

I have posted this to the Mondo site, but my posts don't make it past moderation. Wonder why.

If you overlay the images in Photoshop, and line up the right hand fingers, the Ross and Mondo images are EXACT matches, down to the fingernails. The Shuster image does not, as Ross drew his pose to approximate the Shuster pose, and Mondo traced Ross's pose.

I have informed Mr. Ross of this, as well as Uncle Sal.

What I can't figure out, is why an obviously talented artist (Martin Ansin) would feel the need to basically trace someone else's art. It is an incredibly striking image, but negated by the plagiarism by which it was created.

MatthewPetz · June 2013

Huh, I bet Bleeding Cool would totally run this...

BlackUmbrella · June 2013

Obviously swiped, but I doubt it's actionable.

[Deleted User] · June 2013

Yeah... I sent it to Rich Johnston, but no action, so far.

Planeis · June 2013

Tonebone said:
I have posted this to the Mondo site, but my posts don't make it past moderation. Wonder why.

If you overlay the images in Photoshop, and line up the right hand fingers, the Ross and Mondo images are EXACT matches, down to the fingernails. The Shuster image does not, as Ross drew his pose to approximate the Shuster pose, and Mondo traced Ross's pose.

I have informed Mr. Ross of this, as well as Uncle Sal.

What I can't figure out, is why an obviously talented artist (Martin Ansin) would feel the need to basically trace someone else's art. It is an incredibly striking image, but negated by the plagiarism by which it was created.

To me it doesn't look like a trace, at all. It does look like something done to mimic it, because when I saw this poster on reddit the first thing I thought of was Alex Ross, but I don't think they just traced it.

Planeis · June 2013

I don't know. they are wicked similar. Not sure how they could sell something like this anyway. I'm not a copyright Nazi but this strikes me as something where they'd be making money off of DC Comics property.

nweathington · June 2013

Planeis said:
To me it doesn't look like a trace, at all. It does look like something done to mimic it, because when I saw this poster on reddit the first thing I thought of was Alex Ross, but I don't think they just traced it.

He lightboxed (or perhaps Photoshopped) the hell out of Alex’s piece. He even used the same double-source lighting. Yeah, he changed the costume details and the head to match the movie, and for some reason he drew the cape to be about 20 feet long, but that’s Alex’s figure, not his. Alex homaged Shuster. This guy swiped Alex. And then completely screwed up the cape and the lighting of the head/neck.

tazmaniak · June 2013

Planeis said:
Not sure how they could sell something like this anyway. I'm not a copyright Nazi but this strikes me as something where they'd be making money off of DC Comics property.

Mondo seeks out the license for the posters they want to create or the license holder seeks them out and commissions the posters. I believe they've actually had the license for DC Comics posters for nearly 2 years now, since their Fortress of Solitude poster back in 2011. They also hold the licenses to create official posters for for Star Wars, Star Trek, Pixar, Disney, Jurassic Park, Conan, Guillermo del Toro movies, Wes Craven movies and a lot of others.

Any poster they create and sell is legal.

avs · June 2013

Here's a gif from here :

EarthGBilly · June 2013

I was kinda unconvinced until the gif, since it is a well known pose... but, yeah, wow, kinda undeniable now.

Mr_Cosmic · June 2013

Now it's on BleedingCool.com

WetRats · June 2013

Can't wait to hear what Uncle Sal has to say about this.

[Deleted User] · June 2013

tazmaniak said:

Planeis said:
Not sure how they could sell something like this anyway. I'm not a copyright Nazi but this strikes me as something where they'd be making money off of DC Comics property.
Mondo seeks out the license for the posters they want to create or the license holder seeks them out and commissions the posters. I believe they've actually had the license for DC Comics posters for nearly 2 years now, since their Fortress of Solitude poster back in 2011. They also hold the licenses to create official posters for for Star Wars, Star Trek, Pixar, Disney, Jurassic Park, Conan, Guillermo del Toro movies, Wes Craven movies and a lot of others.

Any poster they create and sell is legal.

Legal, yes, but unethical. Warner Bros probably supplied him with photos to use, and he's obviously greatly talented, but chose to steal the work of another artist. DC/WB owns them both, but he took the easy road, and it speaks to his lack of respect of other artists.

Chuck_Melville · June 2013

Tonebone said:

tazmaniak said:

Planeis said:
Not sure how they could sell something like this anyway. I'm not a copyright Nazi but this strikes me as something where they'd be making money off of DC Comics property.
Mondo seeks out the license for the posters they want to create or the license holder seeks them out and commissions the posters. I believe they've actually had the license for DC Comics posters for nearly 2 years now, since their Fortress of Solitude poster back in 2011. They also hold the licenses to create official posters for for Star Wars, Star Trek, Pixar, Disney, Jurassic Park, Conan, Guillermo del Toro movies, Wes Craven movies and a lot of others.

Any poster they create and sell is legal.
Legal, yes, but unethical. Warner Bros probably supplied him with photos to use, and he's obviously greatly talented, but chose to steal the work of another artist. DC/WB owns them both, but he took the easy road, and it speaks to his lack of respect of other artists.

I agree with that, but I'd have to add the caveat that it might not be the artist's fault -- he may have been instructed by Mondo to copy from Ross' painting. I recall the story about how one of the marketers who finagled a license from Marvel to produce Marvel merchandise: t-shirts, posters, etc. Kirby produced a Hulk poster for them, but the guy running the company (I think, but am not sure, that this might have been FOOM) didn't like Kirby's art... so he got Herb Trimpe to redraw the poster. Trimpe's poster was exactly the same as Kirby -- same pose, same scenes depicted in the background, same colors, etc -- except that it was drawn by Trimpe. Kirby was upset about it but not angry with Trimpe because he realized that Trimpe was just doing as he was being instructed.

Planeis · June 2013

Chuck_Melville said:

Tonebone said:

tazmaniak said:

Planeis said:
Not sure how they could sell something like this anyway. I'm not a copyright Nazi but this strikes me as something where they'd be making money off of DC Comics property.
Mondo seeks out the license for the posters they want to create or the license holder seeks them out and commissions the posters. I believe they've actually had the license for DC Comics posters for nearly 2 years now, since their Fortress of Solitude poster back in 2011. They also hold the licenses to create official posters for for Star Wars, Star Trek, Pixar, Disney, Jurassic Park, Conan, Guillermo del Toro movies, Wes Craven movies and a lot of others.

Any poster they create and sell is legal.
Legal, yes, but unethical. Warner Bros probably supplied him with photos to use, and he's obviously greatly talented, but chose to steal the work of another artist. DC/WB owns them both, but he took the easy road, and it speaks to his lack of respect of other artists.
I agree with that, but I'd have to add the caveat that it might not be the artist's fault -- he may have been instructed by Mondo to copy from Ross' painting. I recall the story about how one of the marketers who finagled a license from Marvel to produce Marvel merchandise: t-shirts, posters, etc. Kirby produced a Hulk poster for them, but the guy running the company (I think, but am not sure, that this might have been FOOM) didn't like Kirby's art... so he got Herb Trimpe to redraw the poster. Trimpe's poster was exactly the same as Kirby -- same pose, same scenes depicted in the background, same colors, etc -- except that it was drawn by Trimpe. Kirby was upset about it but not angry with Trimpe because he realized that Trimpe was just doing as he was being instructed.

I agree.

nweathington · June 2013

Chuck_Melville said:

Tonebone said:

tazmaniak said:

Planeis said:
Not sure how they could sell something like this anyway. I'm not a copyright Nazi but this strikes me as something where they'd be making money off of DC Comics property.
Mondo seeks out the license for the posters they want to create or the license holder seeks them out and commissions the posters. I believe they've actually had the license for DC Comics posters for nearly 2 years now, since their Fortress of Solitude poster back in 2011. They also hold the licenses to create official posters for for Star Wars, Star Trek, Pixar, Disney, Jurassic Park, Conan, Guillermo del Toro movies, Wes Craven movies and a lot of others.

Any poster they create and sell is legal.
Legal, yes, but unethical. Warner Bros probably supplied him with photos to use, and he's obviously greatly talented, but chose to steal the work of another artist. DC/WB owns them both, but he took the easy road, and it speaks to his lack of respect of other artists.
I agree with that, but I'd have to add the caveat that it might not be the artist's fault -- he may have been instructed by Mondo to copy from Ross' painting. I recall the story about how one of the marketers who finagled a license from Marvel to produce Marvel merchandise: t-shirts, posters, etc. Kirby produced a Hulk poster for them, but the guy running the company (I think, but am not sure, that this might have been FOOM) didn't like Kirby's art... so he got Herb Trimpe to redraw the poster. Trimpe's poster was exactly the same as Kirby -- same pose, same scenes depicted in the background, same colors, etc -- except that it was drawn by Trimpe. Kirby was upset about it but not angry with Trimpe because he realized that Trimpe was just doing as he was being instructed.

That was Marvelmania International, and they ripped a lot of people off, including Kirby. Kirby did a lot of work for them, including eight posters—only four of which were actually produced. He got paid very little of what he was owed. Of course, MI also took a lot of orders—and the money that came with them—which they never filled. They went out of business in just under two years. If you ever get a chance to talk to Mark Evanier, ask him about it. He worked for them for a while until he found out what was going on there.

[Deleted User] · June 2013

Chuck_Melville said:

Tonebone said:

tazmaniak said:

Planeis said:
Not sure how they could sell something like this anyway. I'm not a copyright Nazi but this strikes me as something where they'd be making money off of DC Comics property.
Mondo seeks out the license for the posters they want to create or the license holder seeks them out and commissions the posters. I believe they've actually had the license for DC Comics posters for nearly 2 years now, since their Fortress of Solitude poster back in 2011. They also hold the licenses to create official posters for for Star Wars, Star Trek, Pixar, Disney, Jurassic Park, Conan, Guillermo del Toro movies, Wes Craven movies and a lot of others.

Any poster they create and sell is legal.
Legal, yes, but unethical. Warner Bros probably supplied him with photos to use, and he's obviously greatly talented, but chose to steal the work of another artist. DC/WB owns them both, but he took the easy road, and it speaks to his lack of respect of other artists.
I agree with that, but I'd have to add the caveat that it might not be the artist's fault -- he may have been instructed by Mondo to copy from Ross' painting. I recall the story about how one of the marketers who finagled a license from Marvel to produce Marvel merchandise: t-shirts, posters, etc. Kirby produced a Hulk poster for them, but the guy running the company (I think, but am not sure, that this might have been FOOM) didn't like Kirby's art... so he got Herb Trimpe to redraw the poster. Trimpe's poster was exactly the same as Kirby -- same pose, same scenes depicted in the background, same colors, etc -- except that it was drawn by Trimpe. Kirby was upset about it but not angry with Trimpe because he realized that Trimpe was just doing as he was being instructed.

As someone on Bleeding Cool pointed out, it's not the first time he's plaigerized... this is a magazine illustration which he ripped off an image of Spidey from Byrne.

sandman · July 2013

Uh, guys, I don't think that its fair to call the Mondo poster a swipe. Because in this case the Alex Ross poster itself is a homage. I'm really surprised that people started flying off the handle about this, and didn't recognize the reference. The reason why both images are nearly identical is because they are both drawing the pose from the cover to Superman #1.

If Mondo is doing a swipe, then Alex Ross swiped it first.

rebis · July 2013

Swipe. A swipe of the hands at the very least.

nweathington · July 2013

sandman said:

Uh, guys, I don't think that its fair to call the Mondo poster a swipe. Because in this case the Alex Ross poster itself is a homage. I'm really surprised that people started flying off the handle about this, and didn't recognize the reference. The reason why both images are nearly identical is because they are both drawing the pose from the cover to Superman #1.

If Mondo is doing a swipe, then Alex Ross swiped it first.

There is a difference between swipe and homage. With an homage you are redrawing an image in your style, usually with modifications, and usually giving credit. Ross publicly stated the source of his poster image in the advertising and marketing of the poster.

Swipe, on the other hand, is blatant tracing without giving credit to the source, which is what this other guy did.

WetRats · July 2013

What @nweathington said.

[Deleted User] · July 2013

sandman said:

Uh, guys, I don't think that its fair to call the Mondo poster a swipe. Because in this case the Alex Ross poster itself is a homage. I'm really surprised that people started flying off the handle about this, and didn't recognize the reference. The reason why both images are nearly identical is because they are both drawing the pose from the cover to Superman #1.

If Mondo is doing a swipe, then Alex Ross swiped it first.

As I said in my original post:

"If you overlay the images in Photoshop, and line up the right hand fingers, the Ross and Mondo images are EXACT matches, down to the fingernails. The Shuster image does not, as Ross drew his pose to approximate the Shuster pose, and Mondo traced Ross's pose."

The Shuster image does not exactly, or even closely, line up with Ross' image. He looked at the Shuster image, and reinterpreted it. The mondo poster was TRACED from Ross' image.

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