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Incarnate's Simmons Addresses Alleged Bleach Copying (Updated)

The Comics Worth Reading blog reports on a statement issued by Nick Simmons, the artist of Incarnate comic book series, regarding the alleged plagiarism of Tite Kubo's Bleach manga:

Like most artists I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities between some of my work and the work of others. This was simply meant as an homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any Manga fans or fellow Manga artists who feel I went too far. My inspirations reflect the fact that certain fundamental imagery is common to all Manga. This is the nature of the medium.

I am a big fan of Bleach, as well as other Manga titles. And I am certainly sorry if anyone was offended or upset by what they perceive to be the similarity between my work and the work of artists that I admire and who inspire me.

The Robot 6 blog at the Comic Book Resources news site has confirmed with Radical Publishing, the publisher of Incarnate, that the statement comes from Simmons. Radical announced on Wednesday that it halted the production and distribution of Incarnate and was attempting to "contact the publishers of the works in question in an effort to resolve this matter."

Posters on several online communites noted the similarities between Kubo's artwork (pictured at right) and Simmons' artwork (pictured at left) early last week, and the controversy caused Radical, Viz, and even Kubo himself to react.

Update: More background information added.

Update 2: A person claiming to be "Nick Simmons" posted a series of inflamatory comments on a Facebook page "calling for legal action against Nick Simmons for plagiarism of other works." Those comments, which have since been removed from the Facebook page, have not been verified by any reputable source as coming from the actual Nick Simmons. On the other hand, the entirely separate statement on the Comics Worth Reading blog has been verified by Simmons' publisher.