It was named on a whim - a good sign!

[Zem]

Even though it's the exclusive purpose of this forum, it's still odd to post a message - a topic - just to plug my site. Well, whatever. As you may or (more likely) may not remember, I hit this forum with a link to Colin's Comics. No one responded, which is fine, because that was my own reaction to the comic too, and, as such, it kind of faded away on its own accord, to be left sitting on my hard drive, waiting for me to pick it up again if and when I ever feel the urge to do so. (Incidentally, it's also sitting on the Bob and George servers, occasionally using up bandwidth, until Dave decides to take it down. I should probably tell him to go ahead.)

ANYWAY, I now HALF-own a new comic, called, I think, Critical Insanity, which we came up with randomly after tossing out millions of billions of failed names. The name isn't too important. But this time I'm working with one MegamanXR, making a happy collaborated comic. XR makes the scripts, and Colin (tha's me) adapts these into sprite comics. This technically makes me the "artist," a name which hasn't really been attributed to me before, for the very simple and very apparent reason that I can't draw worth crap. But that's the beauty of sprite comics, I guess. I think I was going somewhere with this paragraph initially, but I guess I've said all I really need to say. Um... if you have Netscape, and it's not Netscape 6 or higher, stay away. I've had frustrating experiences with Netscape and my html, many of which are chronicled in my increasingly angry news posts, which you can read if you're bored. Why am I telling you all this? I don't know; I'm tired. It's been like 50-some hours since I last slept, and I can't stop typing. Dammit, what's wrong with me?

Um... yeah... have fn. Which is like fun, only I didn't hit the U key hard enough. It's two-thirds as good for one-eighth the price, which is as good a deal as you'll find anywhere else. I'm not even really certain what I'm typing anymore.

[losttoy]

Okay this is not necessary about you, Zem … but what is it about all these online comic strip that use video game characters and just cut and paste and put dialogue in them? I have seen it with Megaman, Street Fighter, and various other games. Most of these comics are not very funny, nor do they have much of a story. These comics are hardly creative (most being created by kids). Is there some video game editor that people do this with? Is there a web site? The question I have to ask when people do this, WHY? It just makes no sense. Is it a tribute? Is it laziness? Do they actually think it’s cool? Why not use your own characters, designs, and story? The bigger question is, why haven’t companies like Capcom gone and sued the lot of the people for copyright and likeness rights?

[Alexander D.]

Most of these comics are not very funny, nor do they have much of a story. These comics are hardly creative (most being created by kids). The question I have to ask when people do this, WHY? It just makes no sense. Is it a tribute? Is it laziness? Do they actually think it's cool? Why not use your own characters, designs, and story? The bigger question is, why haven't companies like Capcom gone and sued the lot of the people for copyright and likeness rights?

Like anything, I've seen this technique used poorly, and I've seen it used well. You're absolutely right to say it's been used poorly more often than not, but that doesn't mean the technique itself is inherently worthless -- it just means most of the people using it don't have the talent to pull it off. Of course, if you're right in believing most of the people using it are kids, then it could be chalked up to simple lack of experience.

However, I think you're mistaken in believing that there's no creativity involved just because the physical appearance is borrowed from elsewhere. First off, a lot of people using this method do a lot of alteration to their figures, not to mention building backgrounds and objects for them to interact with. These guys give Photoshop a real workout. Plus, if the comic is done well, the writing is still very much a creative effort.

My favorite sprite comic is 8-bit theatre. It's very funny, and while the characters are all taken from Final Fantasy, it should be noted that the characters in the original FF had no personalities -- so the characters' personalities are entirely the authors, even if their appearances aren't. This makes a big difference.

As to why do these -- yes it is a tribute. No, I don't think it's laziness, since these can take just as much work as a fully drawn comic. Although, as Zem pointed out, inability to draw can be a motivating factor. Plus the fact that some people are looking to do parody -- and using the original work within the parody can make it all the funnier, when it's done well.

Now for why they don't get sued -- first off, with the exception of Clevinger, no one is making any money off them. Second, if it's being used for the purposes of parody, it falls under Fair Use and is legal, although the boundaries of how far this goes are fuzzy. But also, since these are tributes, I suspect they actually propmpt people to go looking for the original games and their sequels -- in other words, they're helping to sell product for the software companies, even if that's not their intent.