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POLL

I’ve recently returned to school and I’m finding it too demanding to keep up with my classes and produce three online comics. I’ve tried, but have been forced to come to the realization that if I am to continue producing GenXorcist.com at all I’ll have to drop (or put on indefinite hiatus) two of my series and concentrate on producing only one.

Poll 7

First I accused DC Comics of stealing my giant crab (scroll down and see Poll 1), then I accused them of ripping of my "demon getting its arm ripped off" move (scroll down to Poll 2). Well, now it's Marvel Comics' turn. See, I picked up a copy of Captain America #33 during the first week of January 2008 and immediately noticed some stunning similarities between it and Episode 7 of The Cabal, which went live in August of 2007 (a full 4 months earlier). Let's see if you see what I saw:

First, both stories circle around super heroes who both have bionic left arms: Marvel's Winter Soldier and Cabal's Reengineer. Here's what happened to them both:

Reengineer is captured by a paramilitary organization (Godsreich) that chained her up and removed her arm.

Winter Soldier is captured by a paramilitary organization (SHIELD) that chained him up and removed his arm.

A scientist examines Reengineer's arm and is intrigued by its construction.

A group of scientists examine Winter Soldier's arm and are intrigued by its construction.

Suddenly, Reengineer's arm springs unexpectedly to life!

Suddenly, Winter Soldier's arm springs unexpectedly to life!

Reengineer's disembodied arm delivers a wicked zap and our hero is saved!

Winter Soldier's disembodied arm delivers a wicked zap and our hero is saved!

Sooo, how many coincidences can happen IN A ROW before it's no longer a coincidence? You guys tell me. Oh, and I'd better not forget to say that all the images from Captain America #33 are the property of Marvel Comics. Heaven knows I wouldn't want to be accused of ripping off someone else's work…


Poll Results:
    50% - Get a lawyer.

    39% - Okay, this time it really looks like something's going on.

    7% - There are similarities, but not enough to accuse Marvel of anything.

    4% - It's just a series of coincidences

And if you'd like to make a comment about this, stop on by the GenXorcist.com Forum.


Poll 6


Question:
    With the discovery that Reactor not only has a twin sister, but a super powered twin as well, should she join The Cabal?

Poll Results:
    57% - Yes. It'll add a sort of Zan and Jayna dynamic to the team.

    29% - No. One pyrokine is plenty.

    14% - Forget her. Will you please settle once and for all whether Tangent's gay or not??

Poll 5


Question:
    So what do you think happened to Commander Steele and Professor Fenix when the Godsryche Sub-Orbital Platform was seemingly destroyed?
Poll Results:
    52% - Surprise me. It's your series.

    38% - They both escaped. Villians always do, right?

    10% - They both died. So sad.


Poll 4


Question:
    So what do you think happened to Commander Steele and Professor Fenix when the Godsryche Sub-Orbital Platform was seemingly destroyed?
Poll Results:
    52% - Surprise me. It's your series.

    38% - They both escaped. Villians always do, right?

    10% - They both died. So sad.


Poll 3


Question:
    There are many versions of Cain listed under Wikipedia's Cain disambiguation. I would, of course, like my Cain listed as well. But if I added it myself would the entry be legitamate? I mean, wouldn't that reduce Wikipedia to nothing more than an alternative to Google?
Poll Results:
    47% - You should wait until you are listed by someone else. Listing yourself would compromise the integrity of both GenXorcist.com and of Wikipedia.

    39% - Go ahead and create an entry for yourself. Wikipedia IS nothing more than an alternative to Google.

    14% - What do you want an entry in Wikipedia for anyway?

Poll 2


Question:
    Okay, you all assured me that I wasn't simply being paranoid about DC Comic's 52 possibly basing a giant crab sequence on a scene from Episode 1 of The Cabal (scroll down for more info on that). Well, my paranoia's at it again. Here are two more scenes that are somewhat similar.

    First, scenes from CAIN:




    Now, a sequence from DC Comics' SHADOWPACT:



    So I paranoid or what?
Poll Results:
    7% - You're being paranoid. Powerful entities rip demons' arms off and beat them down with it everyday
    22% - It's just a coincidence. This move really isn't so rare for supernatural horror action
    52% - I dunno. Looks really similar. Maybe you're not so paranoid
    19% - Looks like DC did borrow from Cain, but so what? Comics creators always borrow from each other. It's the nature of the beast
Maybe I'll just send DC a bill for my creative services...

Poll 1


Question:
    Am I paranoid?

    Check this out. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a picture from The Cabal published last year:

    Here are two pictures from DC Comics' 52 published last week:

    Clearly one is much better drawn than the other (you decide for yourself which) but aside from that, is it me or is there something similar here? I mean, what are the odds of 2 shape shifting super villains both deciding to become giant crabs!? In The Cabal the villain in question (Crustacean) is an aquatic villain that can only become a giant crab. Plus, The Cabal fought Crustacean and the rest of the Pelagians in the middle of the ocean. Kinda makes sense.

    In 52, the super villain Everyman can become anything he wants but he arbitrarily becomes a giant crab in the middle of downtown Metropolis! Pretty incongruous, yes? Of all things, why a giant crab!? Almost as if the writers of 52 saw the giant crab scene someplace else, thought it was neat and decided to use it…

    They say imitation is the finest form of flattery. Can it be that someone in DC has actually visited my little site or am I being paranoid?

    Did DC Comics swipe my giant crab

Poll Results:
      2% - You're being paranoid. Super villains turn into giant crabs everyday. In fact, I'm doing it right now
      25% - It's just a coincidence. You know, kind of like how Superion is coincidentally similar to Superman
      58% - I dunno. It looks kinda fishy (or "crabby") to me. Maybe you're not so paranoid
       15% - Looks like DC did borrow from The Cabal, but so what? Comics creators always borrow from each other. It's the nature of the beast

    So I’m not paranoid. That’s a relief. I will now proudly consider myself an unofficial member of the creative team behind 52. Oddly, even if it turns out DC did rip me off there’s an honor in that. It means they stopped by my little home on the web, saw something they didn’t think of and used it.

    That’s not a bad thing, but I do have one complaint: Of all the cool and innovative stuff I’ve done, why’d they choose to swipe the goofy-ass giant crab shtick? Perhaps we shall never know.

    Thanks for participating and keep an eye on your emails for the announcement of the next GenXorcist.com Special Feature.

    By the way, not only are the above images property of DC Comics, but I highly recommend 52. If you haven't been following it, you're missing out on something great and good luck on finding the back issues.