Nick Simmons is famous, primarily, because he’s Gene Simmons’ son.  Yes, that Gene Simmons, the demonic bassist from the rock band Kiss.

Left: Bleach / Right: Incarnate

But Nick is a talented artist in his own right.  He’s now published an anime/comic of his own, entitled Incarnate.   Quite suddenly, however, Incarnate is controversial.  It seems that a number of the panels in Incarnate are quite similar to art in the famous manga work, Bleach.   I’ve attached an example of the “plagiarized” images, so you can judge for yourself.

This controversy has been brewing for days.  Now Nick Simmons has finally responded, and he had this to say:

Like most artists I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities between some of my work and the work of others. This was simply meant as an homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any Manga fans or fellow Manga artists who feel I went too far. My inspirations reflect the fact that certain fundamental imagery is common to all Manga. This is the nature of the medium.

I am a big fan of Bleach, as well as other Manga titles. And I am certainly sorry if anyone was offended or upset by what they perceive to be the similarity between my work and the work of artists that I admire and who inspire me.

Opinions on this matter vary quite a bit.  Many are positively irate that Nick so blatantly plagiarized Bleach.  Others aren’t so sure.  Nick, obviously, feels these are nothing more than an “homage” to artists he admires.

What do you think?  Plagiarism?  Too close to call?  Much ado about nothing? Sound off in the comments!

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