Posted in: Comics, Swipe File | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, skeletor, swipe, Swipe File, wondercon

Wondercon Swipe File: The Skeletor Of Spades

Published Sat, 19 Apr 2014 12:00:24 -0500

Last updated Mon, 08 Jul 2019 03:25:59 -0500

This article used to host a swipe file showing two images, one by Tom Bryski, exhibiting at Wondercon, and another by Josh Ellingson created in 2008, that looked fairly similar, sent in by a reader.

Tom got rather upset about this, demanded we take it down and threatened legal action. Swipe File has covered the work of Bryan Hitch, Tony Harris, Alan Moore, Chris Achilleos and hundreds of folk over the years, and this is the first objection of this ilk. We are very much covered by First Amendment legislation.

But also, we don't want to be mean. So, okay, Tom, we have removed the comparison image in question. Instead we just have Josh Ellingson's He-Man/Skeletor design in full, instead.

In Swipe File we present two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences or works of the lightbox. We trust you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself. If you are unable to do so, please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. The Swipe File doesn't judge, it's interested more in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously, as if their time has just come. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit where writers and artist collect images and lines they admire to inspire them in their work. It was swiped from the Comic Journal who originally ran this column, as well as the now defunct Swipe Of The Week website.

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