Everyone in the world knows who Harry Potter is, after all, it is a franchise valued at $15 billion dollars thanks to a great marketing campaign and free press.
What the world doesn’t know is that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling (Joanne Murray is her real name), seemed to have been “inspired” to inadvertently lift some common themes and visuals from Neil Gaiman’s 1990 comic book character Tim Hunter of Books of Magic.
Warner Brothers owns distribution rights to both properties, so there is no lawsuit. In fact, Gaiman, who has published best-selling novels of his own, and has written and produced movies of his own (the latest being Grendel), has no problems with the similarities. Gaiman himself has gone as record to not have any issues with it.
Well, I have issues with it. You see, any time some mentions Harry Potter to me, I go into a rant about how the character is a rip-off.
Tim Hunter is an English-boy who gets trained to become the most powerful sorcerer in the universe. His stories were about magic, mythology, icons, talking animals, dealing with authority figures who were not supportive to him, and struggling with the responsibility.
Look, it’s true that a young boy with round glasses who is learning to be a magic-user may be considered a “popular motif” (anyone remember the old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon?), but it should be noted Tim Hunter also received a pet owl, and you can go your own search to read more about the dozens of other “similarities”.
I’d also like to note that once Harry Potter made his 1997 debut , it seems like Warner Bros. had DC Comics pretty much bury and phase out Books of Magic, and even aged the Tim Hunter character to become an adult, and changed his physical features and storyline. I guess that’s another coincidence, huh?
For those of you who do not follow comic books, Books of Magic was a critically acclaimed adult comic book series with the DC “Vertigo” imprint, like Sandman, Preacher, and Death. It had a cult following; it was known for its mature storyline, creative mythology, and excellent artwork on the covers. It was not a mainstream comic, but it was published by DC- one of TWO major comic book publishers-, and was marketed fairly well. It sold well considering kids weren’t allowed to buy it.
Anyway, I just wanted to finally go on the record, as J.K Rowling becoming a billionaire is a pet-peeve of mine. I’ve been reading Harry Potter’s adventures 7 years before he first came out. This is something my mother noticed in 1997, as she read more Tim Hunter than I did. She also likes Harry Potter, but J.K. Rowling won’t get a dime from me.
Billionaire Joanne Murray (aka “J.K. Rowling”) having fun from her unoriginal idea
END OF RANT
Amen.
You know what? I just came up with a great idea, guys. It’s called “King of Dreams.” This guy, Sam Zookeeper, discovers he can see dreams that other people have! He goes around, telling people their dreams, and before you know it, people start doing crazy things with their lives, like standing up to their bosses, feeding homeless people, or hugging their kids. It’s crazy stuff, man. I can’t wait to pitch it to this agent I know.
Let’s run with it! Writer’s strike! Now is our window. It’s now or never baby!
Everybody mimics everyone, even without knowing it, though. There is no such thing as a “new idea”.
Maybe she was paying homage.
How about paying GAIMAN?
Maybe she already DID. How do YOU know?
Last time I checked, Gaiman wasn’t even a millionaire or had access to her publishing and marketing empire.
Neil Gaiman doesn’t come up with original ideas, either. From what I’ve heard of him (from his lawsuit against Todd McFarlane) Gaiman just takes old ideas, combines them, and creates something “new”.
The thing about Gaiman is he takes stuff that spooked people in the old country, then he sets it in the present, and makes it so real and believable that it just flys off the page. I’ve wasted lots of time reading, and he’s by far my favorite writer.
Amen
Don’t forget Severus Snape from Harry Potter and Lord Septimus from Stardust (even their names sound the same). It doesn’t help that the movie portrayels of those two characters are very similar…
They sure do look alike and in more than just looks… however Gaiman has said that he doesn’t considers this as plagiarism… twice, even stating that neither he or Rowling were the first to came up with the “teenaged-wizard-with-glasses” concept.
So when did Gaimen start writing? Because J.K Started Writing HP in 1993. Also, ive never heard of this author or this series in my life, so who’s to say Jo has? And dont make things up her name IS Rowling Joanne Kathleen Rowling, Murray, I think is her husbands name, but she still uses ROwling as her pen name, because it is her MAIDEN name, dumbass. You know there is 6 billion people in the world, and god knows how many books, the likely hood is that Jo never read this book, and it is just pure coincidence. So dont make fucking asumptions.
Quote: “So when did Gaimen start writing? Because J.K Started Writing HP in 1993.”
Books of Magic was published in 1989. Gaiman first published in 1984.
Quote: “Also, ive never heard of this author or this series in my life, so who’s to say Jo has?”
If you’ve never heard of Neil Gaiman, then you don’t read enough. Put down the children’s books and start exploring more adult-oriented reading.
Point being that one version was a huge success while the other was all but swept under the rug by Time-Warner, who just happens to own the publishing rights to Detective Comics and the movie rights to both Tim Hunter and Harry Potter. You tell me who the real winner is here.
Amazing how JK has so many defenders on the net.
AS far as the person who said Gaiman doesn’t care- he doesn’t have a choice. Read the article.
It doesn't really matter. Gaiman himself has been inspired by other writers like Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison and I'm sure they, in turn, were influenced by others.Coraline, one of Gaiman's best has obvious "Alice in Wonderland" similarities, but Gaiman puts his own touch to make a great idea seem fresh. Who knows if J.K read Books of Magic and who cares? Harry Potter fans and Neil Gaiman fans are two different crowds. I'm agreat fan of Gaiman's work and if Neil doesn't mind then neither do I.
Already mentioned in the post:
"Gaiman himself has gone as record to not have any issues with it.
Well, I have issues with it. You see, any time some mentions Harry Potter to me, I go into a rant about how the character is a rip-off."
Your argument is weak anyway, as you obviously are a fan of Harry Potter.
Both Rowling and Gaiman have stated that they were influenced by T. H. White.
There is your answer!!!
Because fantasy writers, artists, and "RPG players" are so creative AND detailed, it's very possible nothing is "new" anymore in the particular genre, and that only amalgamations can be created. What J.K Rowling did is no different than what Sega's Phantasy Star did when it ripped Final Fantasy or what Tolkien did when he borrowed from folk tales. [For the record, I give him credit for being original with The Hobbit due to it's 1930's release date, but by the time Lord of the Rings was finally completed and published in the 1950's, the market was already flooded with fantasy books, such as The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser - sacrilegious I know.]
Look every writer and artist take bits and pieces, changes things, spins things, inject ideas from their own personal experiences, mixes it together and POOF! and idea is made, just like a magic spell. It is what it is.
And the bottom line is that all of this is fine; but let's not just put J.K. Rowling on a pedestal or act like her work of art is something special (i.e. unique)- it's not. And she didn't direct the movies either, folks. It's just ironic to me that she wrote the #1 book series of all time, and that millions and millions of people are fans of the Harry Potter character and his stories, when if fact, it's derivative- to put it politely.
FYI: Those of you expecting direct copying from Hunter to Potter will be wrong- details were changed. It doesn't change the fact that the visuals and theme were copied. If you read the first 50 issues of Books of Magic, you can see many parallels between the two. You can nitpick the differences by saying the parents are different or the glasses shape is different all you want.
A great analogy is JM Straczynski's RISING STARS vs Tim Krings' HEROES TV show.
You can read RS and watch Heroes and list all the DIFFERENCES, but it doesn't change the fact that *HEROES would not exist if it wasn't for Rising Stars.*
My POINT is that Gaiman and JMS should be financially compensated by the Borrowers, perhaps in the form of having them write stories or just a straight one-time check with an agreement waiving the right to sue.
Gaiman and JMS aren't publicly bothered that their ideas are making millions of dollars without getting a dime. It doesn't change the point.
Using a slightly different analogy- pro wrestling: In the 1970's, Jesse the Body Ventura directly copied Superstar Billy Graham's gimmick (his look, speech, and style). He admits this in his autobiography. Jesse's fame, fortune, and Minnesota governor win are due to Jesse copying Superstar Billy Graham. I would HOPE that Jesse has helped Billy with his medical bills, although I doubt it.
Harry Potter is a ripoff of the old DOS game Spellcasting 101.
nice ass j.k r
JK Rowling is a fabulous author, and came up with the idea by herself. Everyone always accidentally uses other's ideas beacuse there is a limit of ideas. Anyways, the result of her writing is the best series ever!
You guys are all so smart, especially the ones who read the adult comics. And you’re good spellers, too. I am truly envious of you all for participating so well in such an important debate. I hope I can be that smart when I get to high school.
And you’re envious of me being envious. What a vicious circle!
There is no such thing as a new idea. Schools of Magic aren’t knew. Good guys defeating bad guys is not new. most stories are not new. Its the way they are told that makes them special. Most people don’t read comic books. I don’t like comic books. harry potter probably has lots of similarities with this comic but it will have similarities with a lot of stories.
You could maybe, MAYBE argue that the Orochi and associted flames are 'magic' and thus able to harm Supes, but that wouldn't explain Iori's endurance.
TWO AND A HALF MEN IS “WINNING”
Roy was IMO the best writer of Conan in comic book form ever.
Watching harry potter x) after that ima call it a night
The two war books intrigue me… not heard of those before. Two more to add to the 'look for at the library' list.
I have eight books out of the library at the moment so I'm trying to resist more, but I did find book two of Alexander McCall Smith's 'Isobel Dalhousie' series, Friends, Lovers, Chocolate. I read the first one last week – I didn't love it but liked it enough to read book two.