Aladdin R. Collar

Pat’s Pix Episode 30: La La Land Before Time 

In 2021, I made a social media post to publicly call out one of my clients, Z2 Comics, for underpaying their creatives. I received between $45 - $75 a page for my coloring work, always below the industry minimum standard for mainstream work, while being pushed to work at rapid and unsustainable speeds. In that post, I expressed other grievances, as well, such as being told by Z2 leadership that I was simply replaceable - they told me they could hire new colorists for as low as $30 a page. 

The CEO of the company, Josh Frankel, appeared on my public call-out thread to tell me I was being "inappropriate,", and proceeded to terminate all active projects with my coloring studio, I Love Lamp, LLC. He was fully in his right to execute that decision - we had no work-for-hire contracts between us to complicate the business / legal side of things. 

Although Josh referred to himself as my “employer” on that thread, he must have either been confused. Luckily for him, because he was my client, and not an employer, it was not a federal crime for him to terminate our relationship over my open discussion of compensation with other working artists. 

Z2 found new colorists to finish up Elvis The Graphic Novel, Sublime: $5 at the Door, and Machine Gun Kelly's Hotel Diablo Graphic Novel. 

Although I met lots of great illustrators and editors during my time working with Z2, the experience was, broadly speaking, a nightmare. I was more than ready to sever ties. I retained, however, a massive financial stake in the work that I'd done - I never surrendered any of my intellectual property. 

The More You Know: In the American Legal system, a colorist is a co-author of the comic books on which they work, with the full rights that entails. 

I had no energy for a fight, so I straight up offered all of my IP to Z2, for free, under the condition that they write out an official contract. My intention was to have a complete list of work I'd done for Z2, and ensure that I'd be properly credited for my work, by the company, moving forward - a mutually beneficial arrangement, I believed. 

Josh rejected the offer, saying that a contract wouldn't be necessarily, and that the email itself "should work fine." In that same email, Josh also accepted an apology from me that I didn't make. I laughed at the clown, and wrote his name down in my burn-book ("Josh Frankel Is a Fugly Slut").

I made no further attempts to offer my IP to the Z2 circus show. Instead, when Z2 continued use my work in promotional material, I sent a cease and desist to Z2's marketing department, and offered an explanation to the various new hires that Z2 never secured the rights to my work. I was ignored, and the solicitations continued. 

The Hotel Diablo graphic novel, which was completed in my absence, was nonetheless heavily marketed using pages that my studio had colored - because, presumably, other colorists had been paid $30 a page, and their efforts reflected that. BloodyDisgusting and ComicsBeat both published uncredited previews of my work on that book, which have since been corrected to include my name. Explaining how my name had been omitted, the journalist at Bloody-Disgusting told me that he “was only able to run what I was provided with.” 

Z2 comics thought that it was in their best interests, apparently, to simply remove my credits from future publications - or, the company is just so sloppy that no one even knows who worked on what.

When the The Elvis Graphic Novel was released, the final print contained my my covers, my pin-ups, and more than a dozen pages of interior coloring, with the rest of the color art clearly modeled after my own - but my credits had been entirely stripped from the work.

Confused and angry, I checked the copyright text within the book - the Elvis Estate was claiming 100% of the IP rights in the book. Where did my intellectual property go? 

Did the Elvis Estate steal my color art? Does the Elvis Estate even know that my color art was stolen? Does the Elvis Estate they know they are trafficking in grifted IP? 

I'm sure that Elvis would be rolling in his grave to know that his brand was associated with stealing the work of other artists. 

Anyway, I checked online, and there exists no record (that I can find) that credits me for my coloring work on that Elvis, other than my own various social media posts. When I nominated myself for awards in 2021, I had included that Title -  how embarrassing to discover that there was no public record of my involvement.  

Newly incensed, I contacted an Arts / Entertainment lawyer for the first time. I never intended to file lawsuits - I just wanted to be treated fairly, and recover my intellectual property. The lawyer explained the dynamics of IP and copyright in 2022, and sent me on a quest to the US Copyright Offices to look up all the copyrights to the books I've worked on. 

Wouldn't you know it, almost every Graphic Novel I ever worked on with Z2 had been registered, with the entirety of the Intellectual Property being copyrighted by Z2's various clients. These copyrights were not filed independently by the artists - all the copyrights were registered by the same Lawyer in Alexandria, VA. I sent the lawyer an email asking, in effect, "Hey WTF?"

I have received no reply, and have since reported their office to the Virginia State Bar. 

Early in my tenure contracting for Z2, in 2020, Z2 co-founder Josh Frankel explained to me, at his birthday party, that he was withholding my creator credits in the press so that I wouldn't get poached out from under him. It was his clever solution for retaining my services. At the time, I didn’t have other offers for work, and I was encouraged by other creators to push through my frustrations, and earn my place at the table. I kept working for Z2, despite feeling devalued (because I was literally being devalued). 

Upon further reflection, there is reason to suspect that Josh's idea to withhold my credits may have had even broader implications than what he revealed to me. The concerted effort to minimize my association with Z2 comics happened to dovetail quite nicely with a possible corporate embezzlement scheme - Z2 had legal access to, but not legal ownership over, my Intellectual Property. Somehow, all of Z2′s clientele seems to be under the impression that they own 100% of the IP contained within their various projects.  I haven’t fenced a lot of stolen goods, but I imagine, as an arm-chair gangster, that it’s lot easier to sell stolen material if the buyers don't know that it was stolen. Did the clients even bother to check if the colorist had signed away his rights? 

From my studio in Baltimore, I can't do much other than speculate. Some questions remain, for me:

What happened, behind the scenes, that caused Z2's clients to believe that they owned all of my IP? 

Is there a relationship between this years-long IP 'displacement,’ and the fact that Josh Frankel left the company this Fall? 

If Z2 did, in fact, intentionally embezzle hundreds of pages of my coloring art over the course of 3 years, would that constitute a valid RICO case to be mounted against the company? 

Did God himself orchestrate these events to amuse himself over the irony of a bunch of 'anti-establishment' Artists and musicians using the power of the State to facilitate the theft of art from smaller creators? 

When I colored 2 pages of the Magic comic for Boom!, I was credited in their press release, and was tagged in tweets for months as the book was reviewed, and later collected into trade paperback editions. 

Z2, meanwhile, has sent dozens of my pages out for previews, while withholding my name from the credits. Some popular outlets that currently feature my uncredited work online include Paste Magazine, ScreenRant, the Hollywood Reporter, the Comics Journal, and BleedingCool. 

Was there a legitimate corporate conspiracy against me, with agents in place across all spectrums of Pop Culture? Is the US State going to stand in my way as I march through Hell to take revenge on God for his failure to protect me and my family? Must I surrender my own humanity in order to summon the cyberpunk that lurks within? What will I become? 

Sorry, my degree is in “Dramatic Writing,” not “Intellectual Property Law.”

Anyway, here's a non-exhaustive list of of Copyright Claimants that have filed, with the US Copyright Office, for full legal ownership over my Intellectual Property on their various publishing projects. For the lulz, I have added three asterisks to each book that utilizes “Anti-Authoritarianism” as a major literary theme. 

Grateful Dead Productions  Grateful Dead - Origins ***

Dominic Harrison ("Yungblud") Yungblud Presents: The Twisted Tales of the Ritalin Club *** Yungblud Presents: Weird Times at Quarry Bank ***

Moriah Rose Pereira ("Poppy") Poppy 1: Genesis *** Poppy's Inferno ***

Universal Music Group The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology.

Skillet Eden II: The Aftermath ***

Dance Gavin Dance  Tale of the Robot ***

Rico Nasty, Inc.  Nightmare Vaycay *** Note: all images in this post were colored by Aladdin Collar for I Love Lamp, LLC, whose services were solicited by Z2 Comics. The Elvis Estate actually made minor adjustments to the Elvis cover, to their credit, they were very helpful in making their final touches, instead sending a thousand emails about inane bullshit. The paper texture on A Robot’s Tale was taken from an old book on archive.org, I don’t remember which one. The b/g textures of the Yungblud Presents cover below were originally from scans of a silk tie-dye scarf I originally made with my Mom for the Grateful Dead book and reused in at least 4 different projects. 

New Intellectual Property Ranch is up! I think this is the last one. It’s full of great characters and bad jokes. 

Free Public Domain Superhero Stock Art: Big Tiddy Goth Super Girlfriend 

Straight from my male fantasy to yours, it's Big Tiddy Goth Super Girlfriend! 

Her body may be invulnerable, but, watch out, you can still hurt her feelings! 

After her parents were eaten by bears or whatever, Regular Tiddy Goth Girlfriend went to a techno music party at a toxic waste dump. After falling into a puddle of toxic waste, she emerged as Big Tiddy Goth SUPER Girlfriend! 

Now, she can light her clove cigarettes with her laser vision, and she always knows what she wants to eat tonight, it's not even a conversation we need to have. Sometimes, she stops crimes, when she feels like it. 

It's not a phase, Mom - it's Big Tiddy Goth Super Girlfriend! 

Free Public Domain Superhero Stock Art: Moth Maid 

What if Mothman was a girl? Is that anything?

Moth Maid! 

The bug who slugs! 

After her parents died in a plane crash, Moth Maid swore that she would never again surrender to gravity - and so she invented a flying powder, and it works OK as long as no one touches her cape. Now she fights crimes as Moth Maid! 

Moth Maid also has mind-control hypnosis goggles, which transfixes her victims, like moths drawn to the flame. 

Kid tested, Moth Maid Approved! 

Free Public Domain Superhero Stock Art: Moonstar

He might be out of this world, but he’s still down to Earth! 

It's Moonstar! 

He has a beard! 

Prince of the Galaxy, hero of the Nebula Wars! 

There aren't very many superheroes with beards, but Moonstar, he has a beard. That’s kind of his thing.

After his parents were killed in an alien insurrection, Moonstar escaped on a rocket ship to Earth! He grew a beard as part of his disguise, so the aliens can’t recognize him. 

The beard is part of it! 

Moonstar! 

Free Public Domain Superhero Stock Art: Watchman

Justice never blinks! 

It's Watchman! 

Who oversees the overseers? Watchman does! 

After his parents were killed in a freak star-gazing accident, young Watchman was raised by a mad scientist with a heart of gold, who turned the boy into a super powered freak! 

Now Watchman is all grown up, and he's got a vision... for fighting crime. He might not have depth perception, but he's got a solid right hook. 

Now that’s a fight for sore eyes!

Free Public Domain Cartoon Stock Art: Earthworm Criminal

When Earthworm Jim was first released in the 1990's, I think that we, as a society, really took it for granted that if a common Earthworm found an alien super-suit, he would use his new powers for good; to become a hero. 

Earthworm Criminal challenges that whole paradigm. 

Unlike Earthworm Jim, the only thing that Earthworm Criminal cares about is cold, hard cash; he doesn't care who he has to double-cross or murder in order to secure his bag. He leaves a line of bodies in his wake; no one stands between him and the next big score. 

This isn't some light-hearted worm cartoon concept for babies, no. Earthworm Criminal has the potential to be a dark, no-holds barred look into the American outlaw underground, if one of the outlaws was an Earthworm wearing an alien super-suit. 

Anyway, for some reason, our pitch didn't get a lot of traction with the Baltimore County Spring Children's Theater Festival, and they gave me three reasons why they were going to pass on the show:  

One: They said Earthworm Jim isn't culturally relevant anymore, which, you know, I can see where they’re coming from. But, I also don’t think that it matters, because Earthworm Criminal stands on its own merits. 

Two: They said "Earthworm Criminal" isn't a good play on words, it's barely a pun. And, that's fair. But, see point of order number one, our title doesn't need to be clever or punchy. We're continuing the literary dialogue between Nizche's Ubermensch theory and Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. The individual gags and hijinks don't really matter in that broader context. “Earthworm Criminal” is a great character name because it’s as concise a description of the character as you’re going to get, like Spider-man, or, Home Alone.  Three: Their last criticism was, 'Kids aren’t enthusiastic about morally grey psychological crime thrillers.' And to that I say, well, no one's making good morally grey psychological crime thrillers for kids. But a few shows, like Scooby Doo, and a few episodes of Blue Clues, they came close, and they were very popular. I think Earthworm Criminal has a lot of market potential.

Free Public Domain Cartoon Stock Art: Comfortably Thumb

I'm not sure what this image is, or what it's supposed to mean, because, I don't remember drawing it. The file name on my computer is "Comfortably Thumb" dot PNG.  

On the one hand, it's a vaguely optimistic image - the character is clean, he's shiny, he's well dressed, and he's gesturing towards the ideas of a "thumbs up," which is, ostensibly, a good thing. 

But he's also eating his own thumb, which seems bad, right? That’s a pretty horrible thing to be doing, for any reason, whatsoever. 

But, we take in his expression, and this weird fellow seems totally resigned to his fate… comfortable, even. Comfortably thumb. 

I think he's got a lot of potential as a nihilist icon - like a Bartleby the Scrivener for the 21st century. The symbol is almost alchemical, in its mysteries, but it speaks to the modern Zeitgeist; our weird fellow is compliant in his posturing, and yet, he has chewed off the mechanism of his compliance like a wolf chewing off its leg to escape from a trap. 

Could there be a more apt symbol for the hollow contrivances of our hyper normalized society? 

The merchandising possibilities, you can imagine, are endless. 

Baffle your friends and family by embracing this clean, shiny, thumb-gnashing freak as a symbol, an archetype, a new motif in your life moving forward. He makes a great bumper sticker, or neck tattoo, or Non Fungible Token, or custom-printed weighted-blanket.  What about a Comfortably Thumb rubber squeaky toy for your dog? Now that's something to chew on.

Free Public Domain Cartoon Stock Art: Guilty Turkey

A regional lunchmeat distribution company commissioned me directly. They wanted me to help them sell a new Smoked Turkey product, but they wouldn't let me consult on the mascot design. They had a very specific vision they wanted me to realize. I was the third designer they'd contacted to bring this monstrosity to life. 

What they told me that they wanted was a classic cartoon turkey with a guilty, shameful, grin on his face - because that way, they said, customers wouldn't feel bad about eating him, because he's obviously done something wrong. Whatever it was that he did, he doesn’t feel bad that he did it; he’s only embarrassed that he got caught. 

I was asked by the client to make the Turkey sweaty, as well, to emphasize that the meat was juicy, and they wanted him to be smoking a cigarette, to emphasize that the meat was smoked. The logic is sound. Do birds sweat? No, but they don't smoke, either. It’s an internal logic, and it’s consistent. It makes its own sense, in defiance of all measures of taste or decency. 

I hated every minute of working on this turkey, and I still hate looking at it now. But I think we can all agree that, in the end, I nailed it. And he client said they were very happy with the results. 

Anyway, for whatever reason, the Guilty Turkey lunch-meat never made it into stores, and ownership of the intellectual property rights, unfortunately, reverted back to me. 

Now, I pass that burden onto you. You can use the design however you want, but, whatever you do with it, please keep it away from me and my family.

Free Public Domain Cartoon Stock Art: Goat Wizard

Goat Wizard was created as a character design for a mobile game, but it got rejected by the developers for being too "Satanic," even though, Goat Wizard is not satanic, he literally doesn't worship Satan, and I tried to explain that to the developers multiple times.  

Despite his outward appearances, Goat Wizard is actually a committed Lutheran; he's so active in his community that he can be a bit condescending about his own piety at times. He's always referencing Luthor's '95 Theses,' but like, out of context, and he just sort of expects everyone else to know what he's talking about. And it's like, Goat Wizard, the rest of us don't have a strong opinion on the doctrine of justification that scripture is the final authority on all matters of faith. That doesn't come up in most of our day to day activities. 

It’s not relatable - but it’s also not Satanic. 

So, like I said, I explained all of this lore and backstory to the developers, but Goat Wizard still got dropped from the game for some reason. 

Their loss is your gain - Goat Wizard can now be whatever you want him to be. He's sure to spice up any fantasy adventure or commercial product design.

Free Public Domain Cartoon Stock Art: Sprinkle Frosted Donut Girl 

Sprinkle Frosted Donut Girl was originally designed as a potential mascot for a local cafe, and they passed on Donut Girl - and I think that was for the best, because this character has so much more potential than just being some mascot for a cafe. It's a powerful image that I accidentally kind of stole from Neutral Milk Hotel, but I think I made it my own. And now I'm making it yours. 

Sprinkle Frosted Donut Girl... she just radiates energy, doesn't she? She's caffeinated, she's sugary, and she's bright yellow. She's an avatar of consumption, of fast-burning fuels, but she's elegant, and poised. She's bouncy, but she isn't jittery; she's spiritual, but she's not religious. Between the bitter coffee in her hand, and the sweet glaze upon her brow, she is symbol of the union of opposites, the harmony of yin and yang. 

Free Public Domain Superhero Stock Art: POWER PUPPY 

]"Let loose the dogs of war," you say? You asked for it! 

It's Power Puppy! 

“Bow wow wow”? More like, “Pow! Ow ow!”

Power Puppy was just a regular puppy with dead parents until he ran out onto the road and caused an accident between a truck carrying an experimental super soldier serum, and another truck, carrying Bibles. 

Now, Power Puppy is the most powerful Puppy in the world! Not only does he have super powers, but he serves directly at the mercy of a God that only he can hear!  

Every dog has his day, and Power Puppy's here to save it! 

The year is 2000. I have just turned 11. Over the course of exactly one afternoon, I sit down to compose my magnum opus, an X-Men adventure featuring too many Cables. 

Smiley Bone hosts; live musical score by my older brother, Orpheus. All editing and effects were done in-camera. 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RANCH: FREE TO USE PUBLIC DOMAIN OVERSTOCK CC0 CARTOON CHARACTER ART

As a graphic designer, most of the work that I do won't ever get used. It's the nature of the profession. The client wants to see 5 different options for any one project, but they're only going to pick one at the end of the day.

So what happens to all of the rejected pitches? Some "professionals" in my field just throw their unused art work in the trash after the job is over. I think that's barbaric.