In Plagiarism and You(Tube), Hbomb says "If you consider something so obscure you can get away with stealing it, you do not respect it." Save that line for the next time someone tries to tell you that Roy Lichtenstein brought respect to comics as art.
It's since been pointed out that while Lichtenstein did copy one of Russ Heath's drawings of an airplane getting hit, the painting depicted above was actually copied off Irv Norvick, because Lichtenstein did this so many times to so many comic artists.
In Lichtenstein's defense, he was doing this in a time when comic artists frequently weren't even credited in the issues themselves. In his condemnation, he never even tried to check, nor has he made any move to pay or credit any of the comic artists who recognized their own work later on. Rather than elevating the "low art" of comics, he was widening the gap of financial success and respect even further.
The Hbomberguy of this story is art historian David Barsalou, who has now spent decades tracking down the original art and the names of the original artists used in Lichtenstein's most famous output. Here's the flickr gallery for the Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein project. Frequently copied were Tony Abruzzo, Ted Galindo, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Kubert, Jerry Grandenetti, and dozens more Golden Age artists who aren't very well known in comics circles, let alone art history books. Many of them died in poverty. That's something that the Hero Initiative, mentioned in Russ Heath's comic above, aims to prevent.
Also, Lichtenstein didn't even paint Ben-Day dots. That's a specific thing.
Wow, just wow. @somerandomdudelmao, your series was incredible. I only found your comic in July and I didn’t become an active tumblr user/follower till September, but I’m so glad I got to watch this project come to a close. The ROTTMNT fandom wouldn’t be the same without you and your comic. You’ve inspired so many people, including me, and I just want to say thank you, Cass. Thank you for making my year a little bit brighter. Thank you for reigniting my love of art. Thank you for creating. Thank you for existing.
You’re no longer just some random dude lmao. You’re the creature who fixed the apocalypse, the creature who brought together thousands of people and built a family. A family of turtles and fans.
In honor of C.A.S I wanted to color and animate the final panel of the comic. Im still learning color theory and digital art but you’ve inspired me to improve, and what better way to start than with the end? It was a beautiful ending, so perfectly paced and full of a peaceful hope twinged with a bittersweet sadness. Your comic might be done, but this turtle family will live on forever.
Now go take a well-deserved nap and relish in your success!
At the Dubai Museum of Contemporary Art there's a scanner digitizes the visitors’ drawings and then using neural networks animates them and adds them to the virtual forest.