Similar ideas
Okay, here’s a dilemma for the day:
Say that you get what you think could be a great idea for a comic. There’s just one problem, though: The idea has strong similarities with another, relatively famous, comic, TV series or movie.
What do you do? Scrap the idea? Or make it anyway, and get tons of “plagiarism!” comments every time you open your e-mail?
Here’s my best tip: Focus on the differences.
The How to make webcomics guys (I think it was Dave Kellett, but I could be wrong) used Get Fuzzy as an example. A comic about an evil lazy cat and a really stupid dog and their owner — that’s the elevator pitch for Garfield! Arne Bye took it even further: When people criticized his Holger og Hagbart for ripping off Frode Øverli’s Pondus (he wasn’t — a few readers just saw a couple of similarities), he replied with posting pictures of Garfield and Hobbes with the comment “Gasp! Two orange cats! Plagiarism!”.
And there’s this video, of course:
Of course, having similar ideas doesn’t equal plagiarism. But it can dangerously approach plagiarism if you decide to let the previous work influence you. As shown in the Get Fuzzy example, a concept can be played out in very different ways. Don’t be afraid to make a comic about a group of children just because Charles Schulz already did it. But if you read too much Peanuts and you’re not aware of it, you may end up making a carbon copy of Schulz’s comic. And that’s clearly a no-no.
So therefore, my suggestion is that you try to figure out what’s different from the previous work, and focus on that in your comic. For instance, say that you get a comic book idea which focuses on a high school girl who has been chosen to secretly fight demons. If you don’t watch out, you’re looking at a Buffy copy here. So look through your ideas: What is the difference between Buffy and your character? Does your character have a completely different personality, like being a big geek or a snob? Great, focus on that! Is the source to her powers purely in her blood, or are her powers magnified by a magical bracelet she always wears? Focus on the bracelet, let your protagonist show it off on a cover, perhaps write a storyline where it gets stolen. Are her enemies only vampires and demons, or does she also fight, say, aliens? Let the aliens attack town in the very first storyline. And of course, you have to give her a visual design vastly different from Buffy’s — I’m no expert on visuals, but it’s amazing what a different haircolor, the right pair of glasses, and a few freckles, or piercings, or tattoos, can do. People will still compare it to Buffy, but they can pick up a copy of your “Jenny Darkness: Demon Hunter” and still feel as if they’re getting something original, something they can’t get elsewhere.
Use your own ideas — but there’s nothing wrong with having ideas that are similar to existing concepts, as long as you focus on the differences.
(Obviously, this tip doesn’t apply to parodies.)
ALWAYS STATE YOUR INFLUENCES.
ALWAYS.
The Matrix-staff openly admitted they were influenced by Mamoru Oshii’s film-version of Ghost in the shell. That way transparency is ensured and nothing is hidden to create conspiracies.
1I couldn’t agree more! Always state your influences in comments to your work, that’s just common courtesy.
2Her gjelder de tjo å finne de riktige forskjellene til karakter og univers. Jeg er ingen ekspert på dette området. Jeg driver jo for det meste med parodier. Men samtidlig er jo likhete der i og med at du må skape noe eget. Det er vanskelig…
3Interessant innlegg. Det er vanskelig å finne opp noe helt nytt og originalt, men ingen fortellinger er jo i bunn og grunn det. Se på diverse filmer, bøker, tegneserier. Mye er tuftet på de samme grunnidéene, bare med forskjellige vrier og løsninger, og der — som du skreiv i innlegget her — er jo det viktigste: Å fokusere på forskjellene.
Flott blogg, har lagt den til i bloggrullen min
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