You be the judge: Goldman. Greenfield. And Todd? Talking trash about Kelly is one thing, screwin’ with America (by way of Holland)’s Webcomics Sweetheart will get you set on fire in certain corners of the interwebs. Angry mobs, please form an orderly line to the right.

And the great thing is, even if Todd-o can be shown to have not ripped off Greenfield (say, this image shows a clear history of having been produced back before Stuff Sucks started), it doesn’t matter. The default assumption on everybody’s part now is that whatever Goldman “produces” is stolen from somebody with talent and vision. He’ll pretty much never be able to claim original authorship on anything again. That sound you hear is a petard gettin’ hoisted.

The following email was received by my Fleen account twice last night at 9:46pm (GMT-5:00). It is reproduced exactly as received (excepting only that I have edited to make the “<” and “>” symbols visible).

from: Todd <todd @davidandgoliathtees.com>
to: gary@fleen.com
date: Apr 9, 2007 9:46 PM
subject: <no subject>

Thanks for the inquiryÅ 

Here’s my inspiration! Every month I paint the works of a pedophile. This week, I chose the work of Dave Kelly, he’s a huge infantilist furry. This is someone who draws baby anthropomorphic animals either wetting themselves or jacking off. I’m not kidding. Once again, his name is Dave Kelly and this is his FTP full of his lovely art, there are even some photos of the artist himself, handsome fellow isn¹t he?

http://seth.beepboopinternet.com/davekelly/

Next month, please look for my special pedophile/serial killer series when I recreate the works of Jeffrey Dahmer.

Once again thanks for your support and please help me with my cause by spreading the word and showing the world just how creative pedophiles can be.

Do it for the kids.

Todd

Original text with full headers below the cut. I am not qualified to say if the email is legit, but if you are (and can back up your conclusion), please comment. If it is legit, Todd Goldman is even a bigger jerk than we thought. If it’s fake, his fans are even bigger jerks than we thought. Also, one can’t help but thinking that making statements of fact linking identifiable people with pedophile is, oh what’s the word? Actionable. Either way, not real good for Goldie.

Edit: As some have noticed, the link in the email above features images that are arguably pornographic. There is the possibility that the sender sent this email (which was apparently mass-mailed) to minors without any warnings as to the content. This makes for an interesting situation which may involve the sender in violations of Federal law. Now I really want it to be from Goldman.
(more…)

As he said he would here, Sean Conchieri got in touch with Juxtapoz magazine, which is all about the art. They took an interest in the Goldman theft story, and hours later: front page.

Helpfully, they link to a site that’s set up to bring attention to just this sort of situation: youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com, which you ought to bookmark. Because when this is over and done, and Goldman is revealed for what he is, there will be others out there ready to rip off other webcomic creators, and other artists of all stripes.

This little incident has shown that we in webcomics look out for one of our own (even when, as several people have said, they have had criticisms of Kelly), but we need to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. When this happens again (and it will), raise a ruckus whether it’s a webcomic getting stolen or not.

And because Dave “Shmorky” Kelly deserves to be the one to benefit from his creative endeavors, buy his shirt. Kelly never wanted to commercialize Purple Pussy, but showing that his work has value is helpful as he pursues Goldman.

Regarding yesterday’s story about Dave ‘Shmorky’ Kelly gettin’ ripped off, we can add the following:

• The webcomics community is not letting this one go; impressive set o’ links to stories in the first post over at SA
• Kris Straub has perhaps the definitive comment (both artistically and textually) at Starslip Crisis today
• As of press time, I have received no response from Goldman’s PR firm; I imagine they’re getting hammered pretty hard

More on this as it develops.

On Saturday, BC creator Johnny Hart died at his drawing board. As of right now, it’s not clear what will happen to his strip, but it’s hard to imagine anybody else being able to do justice to his batshit insane version of Pentacosalism. As Josh of The Comics Curmudgeon puts it:

Say what you will for good or for ill about Hart’s work, but it has always struck me (despite that note about help from family members) as being indisputably his work. The best way to honor that would be for it to stand on its own, not to be continued by assistants cutting and pasting new dialogue into scans of old strips. Because of the way that comics publishing works, there will be a few weeks worth of Hart-authored strips still to run, but after that it should bow gracefully out.

We at Fleen wholeheartedly concur, and hope this means that newspapers can open a slot for a talented newcomer. I hear Todd Goldman may be looking for work soon.

Got tipped first by Shishio, the full story’s on Something Awful, and the short version is that t-shirt hack Todd Goldman (aka Todd Goliath) has ripped off Purple Pussy for a gallery show. Best summary of the events in question from Randy Milholland:

Todd is also a painter. The Jack Gallery in Los Angeles did a recent exhibition entitled Golddigger of his works. Amongst his paintings in their online selection was this piece.

I like that piece a lot. Of course, I enjoyed it even more when it was this.

Why am I posting about this? Someone told [Purple Pussy creator Dave] Kelly about it after she’d seen the piece at the Wentworth Gallery and then he made it public. And Dave Kelly is known for shying away from the spotlight. Also, this is something everyone who does some form of art has to be concerned about. And honestly, anyone who takes someone ELSE’S hard work and tries to pass it off as their own deserves to be called out.

And the consumer deserves to know where art is coming from. And the real artist deserves the praise and support, whether it’s criticial or financial, that the piece moves the consumer to offer. And I think everyone knows how enraging it is to work hard and have someone else take credit for it.

Well, maybe everyone except Todd Goldman.

Well said, Mr Milholland. What allows ripoff artistes like Goldman to get away with shit like this is not getting called on it. I doubt that being named and shamed will convince Goldman to not do this in future (his entire t-shirt line is liberally appropriated from others), but it may keep future work from coming his way. If you’re a gallery owner and you find out that your star attraction may be involving you in charges of plaigarism, you’re less likely to give him wall space.

Me? I’m going to be contacting Goldman’s PR rep and politely pointing out to them that they’re sitting on a disaster, and that barring a remarkable change in behavior very quickly, their client’s reputation will be inextricably linked with words like art thief.

Editor’s note: letter sent; any reply received will be shared here.

Mike Russell of Culture Pulp has an interview with Brendan Douglas Jones, creator of Breakfast of the Gods, in two flavors: handy webcomic form, or complete text. Hey, Brendan? When I was a kid, there was this Ralston-Purina (!) produced cereal that had a “moon critters” theme … is that them in the tree at the funeral?

New PvP: The Series out, complete with cameo by Scott’s Dad. It’s starting to find its rhythm, and it’s weirdly reminding me of an animated show called UnderGRADS, which ran frequently on Canadian cable but pretty much never in its native US. Anyway, I liked that show which bodes well for PvP:TS.

And that’s it for now; it’s the weekend and I gots some serious relaxin’ to do. Enjoy yours, see you on Monday.

Item 1: Sinister Bedfellows is taking a ten week hiatus so that creator mckenzee can launch a new project: C∂ulhuvi∂a. This project is an automatic win for several reasons:

1. It’s a Norse/Lovecraft mashup
2. It features non-Latin characters in the name
3. It’s produced from linoblock prints

Ha! Try doing that in Photoshop or Poser!

Item 2: Updating the question of the editorial cartoons in The Onion, a definitive take on the story is found in the LA Times, via a link by The Comics Curmudgeon. Good reading.

Items 3a and 3b: If you’re a fan of fumetti (as all right-thinking people are), then browse your way to Telling Tall Tales. Slackers! Oregon! Mutants! Okay, mutant, singular, but it’s a key point. And this is even more key — TTT held off on launch until there were 28 comics to put up, so first-day readers could get good ‘n’ hooked; that’s some pretty smart thinkin’, there.

Similarly, how about some complete webomics short stories from Fortune Cookie Press? The art reminds me a bit of the tragically-unfinished Return to Sender, but I couldn’t exactly say why. Anyway, check ’em out.

Just when I think that Achewood can’t get any more unpredictable, Ray throws a line like There is no false power in the universe at us. If you had told a younger me that on a daily basis I’d be eagerly awaiting updates on a comic strip featuring Simon Cowell and gay porn movies made by cats and teddy bears, I’d have backed away slowly while maintaining a non-threatening demeanor. I ♥ <silhouette of Chris Onstad’s head>. Also, Ray’s hair.

Is this the highest webcomics character cameo density ever? I counted eleven, not including Homer.

Newly enshrined ‘Merican Andy Bell has several art show on tap in a few weeks, one featuring a variety of toy-themed artists taking a whack at his 19″ ZLIKS figures. Cool photos here and here and here. I can’t speak for all the shows and events listed on Bell’s page, but the ones where he’s the feature attraction usually have free beer so go, enjoy, and buy something.

The thing is, today’s Sheldon would work as a traditional newspaper-style strip if you just included the middle tier of panels, but adding the top & bottom? Comedic gold. Also, that bit in the top panel, Copy-right 1955 has a nice newsreel feel to it, like the odd hyphens you used to see from the late lamented T Herman Zweibel (possibly a relation to the early and no-need-to-lament T Campbell). Here’s hoping that Dave Kellett takes more opportunities to do things like this, now that he has no more corporate overseers restricting his panel dimensions and beating his children with stacks of coffee cup lids.

And because I love you people, there’s a bonus review just down there. You’re welcome.

The thing to understand is, we get a fair number of “Hey, please check out my comic that you’ve never heard of” messages coming to the authors link up there to the right; most of these are the email equivalent of cold calls, and the strips they reference usually don’t last a month. The good discoveries are usually word-of-mouth.

But there are good ones out there, and we got one for you today; it’s called Fish Tank, it’s by a guy named Carl Ray, and it’s got a breezy style (both artistically and on the writing) that I find really appealing. Just look at the title banner from the FT homepage, that insanely positive fish giving you the fins-up? That’s Ted. He’s got more bad ideas regarding technology than Wile E. Coyote, but Ted’s usually result only in setback, not utter disaster. The storylines careen from near-disaster to nearer-disaster as Ted, Angelo (a narcissist angelfish) and Hoover (a bottom-feeder — and proud of it — out for himself) start out with what seems like an ordinary situation and quickly find all rationality going out the window.

Case in point: having seen a nature documentary about salmon returning to Alaska, only to be eaten by bears, Ted is determined to help. He and Hoover end up (don’t ask) in Brazil, threatened by piranhas. How to get out of it? How about comandeering a satellite, James T. Kirk style? For my money, the best gag there isn’t the Wrath of Khan joke, it’s the exchange between Ted and Angelo:

T: I need you to punch up the data charts of the Iridium communication satellite’s command console.
A: The what?!
T: Okay look, just click “Start” and go to “Programs” …

This ends up with Ted and Angelo deorbiting an entire constellation of satellites into the Amazon basin, which would be the cue for any regular comic to say, Okay, wackiness complete, send the characters home and let’s pop a beer. Nope, Ray sends them on their
merry way to Alaska, where they have to deal with bears and … piranha?

Along the way, Fish Tank is chock-full of batshit insane, MacGyver/A-Teamesque concoctions like hypergolic spacecraft engines, homemade thermite, and a fascination with Lifetime TV movies, with a distinct Lord Flasheart vibe from time to time.

The strip goes color about 60 installments in, and it’s a nice addition to the artwork; Ray is on a hiatus for vacation, so you’ve got a good opportunity to catch up on the 130 strips in the archive. I imagine that some of it is probably funnier if you’re a “fish person”, but for my money, Fish Tank is pretty funny on its own.

Hey, ever wonder why Wizard‘s online site is so much better (and webcomics-acknowledging) than the print magazine? It’s because there’s two guys that pretty much run it by themselves, and they like webcomics. In fact, they came to the Goats party on Saturday to tell some creators how much they like webcomics, and we had a cool talk about some creators that are deserving of wider attention. They’re also running a really embarassing photo of many of the partygoers.

Onwards. I can’t believe I missed it until now — a perhaps-misnamed discussion on Project Wonderful over at Comixpedia, part of the (inevitable?) backlash when something neat comes along that doesn’t work equally well for all people. It’s not the first set of complaints that I’ve seen that Project Wonderful isn’t enriching everybody who uses it.

One point that I think that’s been missed in the discussion (which has focused on the cost per ad on big vs. little sites) is that advertisers care about more than just the number of readers a site has — they care a great deal about which readers a site has:

• Questionable Content taps into the emo/indie college kid niche, with a seemingly limitless appetite for t-shirts
• Penny Arcade (they don’t use Project Wonderful, but bear with me) is read by a 95.5% male audience with clearly-defined age ranges
• Fleen appeals to 100% of an audience consisting of Wizard online editors and Paul Southworth

Being able to reach not just a given number of eyeballs, but the right eyeballs, is what gives some of these sites what you might call premium pricing. If I want to pitch a new webcomic about women, for women, I’d be far better off using a PW button ad on Planet Karen than Penny Arcade, even if the prices were the same and I could get exponentially more impressions at PA.

The other point that I think has been somewhat overlooked is that a lot of people seem to be saying, PW is really neat, but it would work better for me if the following changes were made: Item 1…” So far, Ryan North has been very responsive about making improvements to the system, but that should not set your expectations. North has set out to accomplish certain things with PW, and Making everybody happy isn’t one of the things he can practically achieve, despite the fact that he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.

Ultimately, the priorities for the system will be, should be, and can only be his own. Want to make money on PW? Have a site that appeals to an advertiser in terms of audience (quantity and quality). Want to use PW to advertise things? That costs money. Want changes to the system? If they happen — bonus. If not — oh, well.