Uh….what?

So just because he has a giant Abe Lincoln get defeated by a giant John Wilkes booth who last I checked is summoned by the rumor which is nothing like the south park episode in question…he doesn’t deserve his eisner.

Just….what? I’m lost as to how pointless this “blog” post is.

Not to mention that your clip and the link to where to read it don’t match up with anything your describing. Seriously….wtf?

I love My Chem and Jay Company Comics!

Yeah, it was weird that scene was used, but besides that, how was that episode so similar to this issue?

Actually, I believe it was Alan Moore who coined the term “Ideaspace”

Greg –

You sound like an angry man. Perhaps some bran might help.

Why is it that people must always invoke the “Liefeld” name when mud slinging occurs? It’s rather old and worn out. If the six other Image Founders can all kiss and make up with Liefeld, then I think “Rob issues” can be put to rest completely. Liefeld bashing is sooooooooooo ’97. Get over it.

For the blogging idea you noted above, please see the intro to this article. “Attention Readers: Noted retailer Jimmy Jay will begin a series of blogs from the retailer perspective in the very near future. ” Who knows. He MIGHT very well talk about some of your “issues” but it looks like the retailer focus is what has been established.

You seem to take issue with “how your company specialises [sic] in reselling old comics with shiny new covers.” Sounds to me like he found a nice niche market. Greg, the world runs on supply and demand. If there was no demand for “old comics with shiny new covers” as, you put it, then this marketing idea would not continue. If this is an ongoing market for Jay Company, then perhaps people want these? I remember three packs of comics being sold, back when I was a kid, with their covers ripped off and polybagged together. Those would sure suck for collecting, but they were fantastic for reading. I guess you think that marketing idea blew dog too, huh? In the case of “new covers on old books”, I’m taking you at your word on this one, Greg, since I have not purchased such a book from Jay Company. My only recent purchase from them was a Secret Invasion #2 alternate cover back in November at Wizard World Texas.

For the sake of full disclosure, I haven’t seen the episode of South Park referenced here, nor have I read the Umbrella Academy. However, opinions are like . . . well, you know . . . and apparently you have a big, gaping one, Greg. Opinion that is. A big, gaping opinion on what does and does not constitute a swipe and what does. Too bad that others might see something differently. What a pity that different people interpret things differently. Too bad we can’t all be mindlessly led automatons . . .

I still don’t really see how the rest of the issue is a riff off of the episode, as this blogger’s post implies.

This post comes across as someone who’s tone betrays a jealousy of the “outsider,” of someone who came into comics and had a well-received, bang up mini last year (which, technically Way is not a comics outsider, as he interned at DC before he even had his band, etc).

South Park is popular enough that I doubt Way would knowingly rip this off…possible he just forgot he had seen it, and thought it was his own idea; Ba is Italian, and may not have seen it, so I guess this is a case of the editor not catching it for whatever reason. I don’t see Way secretly wringing his hands, thinking, “I will intentionally steal this funny idea, and use it in my own work, cause this episode is like totally old and no one will remember that it’s not my idea.”

And I doubt the Eisner judges who were obviously boughten or tricked into voting for the series last year (maybe they wanted to look cool?), the “emos” who only bought this cuz they like “emo” music, or the rest of us illiterati who only read it cuz we are Morrison-philes and blindly purchased this book (because someone said it was inspired by Grant), will have our opinion changed based off one scene in the comic. Since all these people, implied by you, are the only reason this book was made-perceived as successful.

Keep in mind you couldn’t pay me to listen to MCR; he and BA had to overcome big prejudice by readership like me for their previous series to be as well-received as it was…and they did it all on quality.

One thing I won’t be reading though, is this column if the tone is consistently as, “I’m so excited I caught someone I was jealous of in the act of making a mistake.”

Can I throw in a mention of the Dexter’s Laboratory episode “Rushmore Rumble” where an animated Abraham Lincoln statue fought an animated George Washington? Which was made well before either of these two stories?

Or Ghostbusters 2 where the guys animated the Statue of Liberty and walked her uptown? made well before that?

I can probably keep going, right on back to Pygmalion.

There are only seven original ideas, all others are shadows of the source.

Calm. The hell. Down.

Greg O….

for someone who hates Rob and all things Liefeld as much as you say you do, you certainly cant keep away from discussions whenever his name is mentioned. As soon as his name is brought up, you are on the thread faster than paris hilton on a crack pipe. Perhaps you have a bit of a man-crush on him? You gotta let the hate go…no one gives a damn about you or your crusade

It actually has nothing to do with you rob, shocking no?

The Harm is well let me quote the actual article

“Do you think Eisner judges and the critics will think the same after looking at the new issue? Or, perhaps Gerard Way can be seen as the Trey Parker or Matt Stone of 2001 instead. Seems like the story was almost an exact retread on the SUPERFRIENDS parody from season 5, episode 5- Superbest Friends.”

He’s basically accusing the entire issue to be a retread of South park when in fact the only thing they have in common is the statues fighting. I don’t see Jesus Christ or any of his superfriends in this issue of Umbrella Academy. The accusation is unfounded.

Or David Blaine being evil for that matter.

What I see in Umbrella is the rumor summoning the John Wilkes booth statue and the entire family recuperating from the last mini’s events.

Jim seriously man I really hate to continue to nitpick here but I’ve seen the southpark episode in question and I’ve read the first issue of Umbrella Academy Dallas and guess what? Other then the statues themselves…they have absolutely nothing in common.

Only 1 of the umbrella academy kids is responsible for the John Wilkes Booth statue, her name is the rumor. The way the statue comes into existence is completely different. Yes the statue shoots abe lincoln statue in the head but the actual back of the statue is shown in full impact with the back of the head of the statue basically blowing up.

Seriously if your going to nitpick this much and claim that gerard way ripped off of the south park guys then you might want to turn right back around and throw it back at the south park guys for doing it the last couple seasons with a few things that have been almost shot for shot recreations of scenes from movies like they live.

Seriously though at the end of the day Gerard way’s idea was handled completely and utterly different then Matt and trey’s. Especially when their is soo much more in the issue.

Great blog Jim-master Jay. I look forward to reading more! Write often!

@M!

Read the whole issue before you write it off.
It held little to no great importance to the issue as a whole, just a fun establishing scene, but yes it did bother me when I read it, things like that leave a bad taste in your mouth.

However, I doubt referencing an old @ss South Park scene was swiped to create buzz…and still doubt Gerard be dumb to think he could slip this scene past most people, taking credit for the idea.

A lot of Word Balloon podcasts have had writer’s interviewed admitting to doing the same thing Gerard did, though they, or more importantly their editors, have caught it. Not an unuasual thing to happen to someone pumping out stories; I think it was Bendis who gave the sound advice of (to paraphrase), “if you can’t get over how great a scene is that you just wrote, run it past someone else to see if you’re remembering it from somewhere else forgotten.”

I once half-watched a youtube video that had a joke in it about Admiral Ackbar’s commercial for a cereal, saying “You can’t repel a flavor of this magnitude,” or some such. Anyway, the next morning at work, I had completely forgetten even watching it, and made a very similarly worded joke, and verbally patted myself on the back for thinking it up, only to be called out on it. Maybe that reference is a stretch, but I’ve experienced it first hand.

What bothers me is that I feel like Way is catching extra flak because his band, well, blows pretty well and is-was popular, and is an “outsider” to the industry.

Also, doesn’t matter if a ton of “Emo” kids like it and make it popular (if true); new-young readers in this industry are more than necessity. We should be welcoming them with open arms…when we were young, and most of us first started reading comics, how “awesome” were our tastes anyways.

And it helps when you’re the Leader of a social group within the population with the most disposible income.

M! You openly admitted to not reading the comic so I don’t really think you have any right to even talk about anything connected to it.

It won an eisner, at the end of the day that makes a good comic. I’ve never read about a bad comic winning an eisner. And yes I’m this late responding to you sir.