Put a bunch of monkeys in a room and eventually theyll write Shakespeare.
Basically, simplistically, it means that anybody can come up with anything at anytime. I dont know where that phrase originated from, but someone probably thought of it a long time ago, did nothing about it, and then someone else came along and "thought of it first" and became super rich cuz they didnt just sit on their butt.
And that, my friends, is why were all here.
When I was younger, I used to enjoy drawing. It was cool, it was escapism, and for a bit I thought I had some sort of talent, talent that would lead me to Disney - which at the time was the only kind of art I really knew. My interest in drawing led me to comic books. And comic books led me to a mind filled with ideas - ideas for the next big character and for the next great comic book. I was delusional.
The story I had written isnt really complicated, but too long to actually get into here. But I had plans, big plans. And stories, big stories. But then something happened... I lost interest. I stopped writing and I stopped drawing. Completely. Cant really explain why, but it is what it is. As I went back and looked at my Tripod account to research for this post, it showed that I uploaded my pictures and rough drafts back in May of 1999. Even though they had existed well before that, if we use that upload year for our example, Ive done nothing in 8 years.
So much for Disney.
Lets jump ahead to 2003. A new book was coming out - "Supreme Power" - and I thought it would be interesting to read since it was basically a Marvel take on DC characters. Going in, I knew nothing about any of the characters, but it didnt take me long to find quite a bit of similarities to this book and what I had written many years prior.
Before I continue, I dont mean to imply that anything published in these comics was stolen from me. To my knowledge, nobody had ever seen a single word I had written, so I dont see how anybody could have stolen anything. Its just that this is where the monkeys and Shakespeare come in. For example, lets look at the main characters - Marvels "Hyperion" and my "Diablo."
Raised by the US government, against his will, to be used as a weapon. Questioning his role and his existence, he left the government compound and ran away. In an effort to bring him back to the fold, the government sent a group of super powers after him. Not wanting to go back, he fights the government causing massive damage in the process. Teams up with eventual "Squadron Supreme" members to track down a bad guy who was given powers after being injected with alien DNA. Rejoins "Squadron Supreme" and becomes their leader - under the control of the US government.
Recruited by the US government, against his will, to be used as a weapon. Questioning his role and his existence, he left the government compound and ran away. In an effort to bring him back to the fold, the government sent a group of super powers after him. Not wanting to go back, he fights the government causing massive damage in the process. Teams up with "Badd Company" to track down bad guys who were given powers after being injected with alien DNA. Rejoins "Badd Company" and becomes their leader - under the control of the US government.
Like I said, I dont see how they could have stolen anything, but can you see how I would think its my story being written by someone else?
"Supreme Power" would eventually morph into "Squadron Supreme" and soon after that I stopped reading it. Some of the characters were just really weak DC rip offs, so the aspect that attracted me to the title in the first place ended up driving me away. So I dont know how closely their story follows mine anymore. Maybe its for the best.
Now, lets jump to 2007. A couple weeks ago to be exact. Im in bed, reading "Robin" - my favorite character - and a couple pages before the end of the book a new villain was introduced. Her name is "Skill" and she bares a striking resemblance to..... "Diablo."
Actually, to be completely honest, the majority of her is "Diablo" and there are bits and pieces of another character I created - "Coda" - thrown in.
Anywho, take a look - http://www.geocities.com/dbwcv/Comparison-01.JPG - and decide for yourself. "Skill" is on the left and the other two pictures are "Diablo" (on top) and "Diablo" and "Coda" (on bottom).
I got to meet Freddie E Williams II - the "Robin" artist - at Comic-Con this year and he doesnt seem to be the type to steal someone elses work. So once again I have no choice but to blame those damn monkeys.
Anyway, thats it for me tonight. So until next time.....
-- DBW --
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