Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. | Site re-design in progress—pardon the mess. Full re-launch coming soon. | Upcoming books: Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien/Predator, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Universal Monsters and Battlestar Galactica. |
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Thoughts on Rob Granito: Why the Gift of Gab
Is Mightier Than the Grift of Grab |
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Posted by Rich Handley, Mar. 27, 2011
Theft and con artistry are ugly crimes, and are particularly damaging to struggling artists and writers, for whom their creative efforts may be their only source of income. When a conman without any real creative talent claims the work of an artist as his or her own, it is the equivalent of reaching deeply into that person's wallet or bank account and pocketing the money found within, or of going into the artist's refrigerator and stealing food. Not only is it dishonest and unethical, not only is it a massive insult to those who spent a huge amount of money and time actually learning how to create art, but it also leaves the pilfered artist feeling violated, as surely as if that person had been physically mugged at gunpoint.
This is what Rob Granito has apparently been doing—a lot. As reported in a series of recent articles posted on BleedingCool.com, Granito has allegedly been swiping artwork from innumerable artists of widely varying styles, and covering a wide range of subject matters, and selling it as his own. He has claimed to have worked on Batman: The Animated Series, Spiderman, Iron Man, and a ton of other work, not only for DC Comics but numerous other publishers and corporations, including Calvin and Hobbes (a particualrly absurd claim), Garfield, X-Men, Superman, Aquaman, Teen Titans, the Gargoyles TV show and so many other titles. An impressive résumé, if it were true.
The problem? Apparently, no one at any of these companies has ever heard of the man. (Until now, that is.)
Over the past few days, inspired by the BleedingCool stories, a Facebook page, Robert Granito Is A Fraud, has been quickly growing in followers, up from only a couple hundred on Friday to almost 2,000 today—and as word spreads like wildfire across the geek Internet that Granito has been conning conventiongoers, more and more people are clicking "LIKE" on that page and are VERY vocally expressing their disgust for the man (and for the reportedly armed bodyguard said to travel with him on the convention circuit). The Comic Book Database has listed him as a fraud. Art fans are attacking Granito's DeviantArt page, on which more stolen works are listed for sale. And YouTube viewers have joined in the game as well, using hidden cameras to document Granito's recent signing (of others' work) at Megacon, held this week in Orlando, Fla. (Particularly amusing is Kevin Conn's Unemployed Skeletor video, in which the Masters of the Universe villain offers Granito his evil support.)
For years, Granito has apparently passed himself off as a working professional, and people have believed him, even though it now appears he's never actually done much of the work he's claimed to have done, if any of it. All of his works have been forgeries—and bad ones at that, as actual legimitate artists are reporting that his attempts to slightly alter their works to make them his own (usually with just a couple of brush strokes) have all been inept. In the past 10 minutes alone, I've seen no fewer than three people online call him the Milli Vanilli of comic-book artists, and it's a fitting description to some extent (though it should be noted that Milli Vanilli could actually sing and dance, whereas Granito doesn't appear to have any talent whatsoever). It's unclear how much money he has made by tracing the works of others and signing his name to it at conventions, but it must surely be a very hefty sum.
Mark my words: It won't be long before the phrases "pulling a Granito" or "you've been Granito'd" will be widely recognized as referencing intellectual theft. (And now that I think of it, it's ironic that his first name is Rob. That's kind of like a murderer having the first name Slay.)
Much to the frustration of many, MegaCon and Chiller Theater have both refused to prevent Granito from selling his false wares on their sales floors, citing legal limitations, and it's likely future conventions will take similar stances. But the industry IS taking notice—and it's proving that the gift of gab is mightier than the grift of grab.
Author and AOLNews writer Joe Peacock was duped into creating a Web site for Granito, on which the supposed artist uses fabricated credentials and a fictional biography to sell others' works as his own. Joe has now done what writers do best: struck back with the written word, and created a spoof of Granito's page, about a fictional DC Comics executive named Jay Diddilo, for whom Granito has claimed to have worked, but who doesn't actually exist (click here to learn more). He was interviewed by Non-Productive about the experience of being conned by Granito.
Ty Templeton, author and artist of Mr. Comics' Revolution on the Planet of the Apes miniseries, wasted no time in reacting to Granito's grifting of his artwork with his "Rob Granito Comic Fraud Funnies," a hilarious mocking not only of Granito's thievery, but also the poor grasp of grammar and spelling he displays on his site and even on his signings (Google "legitomite" and "legit-o-mite" if you're curious—artists and fans have done a number of great send-ups to that particular misspelling, creating shirts, posters and the like). Writer, model and photographer Anastasia Acid PopTart has been quite vocal about grifted photos containing her likeness, and has been virally raising public awareness of what he has done, while also promising to eventually confront him as well at a future convention. And Flash and JLA artist Ethan Van Sciver actually publicly confronted and embarrassed Granito this weekend at MegaCon, and has been holding no punches in discussing it online.
And there's more: Image Comics artist Colleen Doran showed just how untalented Granito is, by displaying a rarity—a piece of artwork actually produced by Granito... which, quite frankly, looks like my nine-year-old son drew it. (See the drawing at right—that is NOT the work of someone who could possibly produce any of the brilliant art he has claimed over the years, such as this painting of Darth Maul or this illustration of Acid PopTart). Malibu Comics' Planet of the Apes artist Leonard Kirk chimed in on his blog regarding Rob Granito as an artist... of plagiarism. DeviantArt posted a warning, calling Granito a fraud. The Comics Cube was more direct, calling him an asshole for claiming to have drawn Calvin and Hobbes—a strip with only a single creator, Bill Watterson. Today, artist Tom Martin shared some notes he'd taken about a bad experience with Granito in 2008, long before any of this came to public light, showing that even then, he'd already pegged the guy as a con artist and a thief devoid of talent or integrity—click here, here and here. And other artists have also illustrated (pun intended) their artistic superiority over Granito, with amusing results.
And then there's this gem, in which Granito posted a note to his Facebook page regarding the late Dwayne McDuffie, whose recent death is still a source of pain for many in the industry. Granito claimed McDuffie "was a pleasure to work with," and on the very day McDuffie died, despite his never having worked with the man. It doesn't get much lower than that.
Artists' and publishers' rights are being grossly violated here, and the professional and fan communities are not taking it sitting down. Respecting a creator's work is vital, which is why at Hasslein Books, we've made sure to make it abundantly clear that both Timeline of the Planet of the Apes and Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes—while designed to be as professional and high-quality as we could make them—are nonetheless unofficial and unauthorized works, and that the Planet of the Apes mythos is the sole property of Twentieth Century Fox. And the same will be true for our upcoming books about the Back to the Future and Red Dwarf mythos, as well as any other titles we might produce. Although we're playing in others' sandboxes, we have the utmost respect for the original creators (we were fans long before we were writers, after all), and we would NEVER pass off someone else's work as our own. That is unethical, unacceptable, un-adult and unforgiveable behavior, and is the mark of someone devoid of honor or integrity.
In Planet of the Apes, the Lawgiver was said to have warned his simian brothers, "Beware the beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." Although I would like to believe mankind to be better than that, the actions of one particular damn, dirty human who puts the "con" in "convention" and takes the "vention" out of "convention artist" have sadly taken a large step toward proving the Lawgiver woefully right. Damn him... damn him all to hell.
NOTE TO ARTISTS WHO'VE BEEN GRANITO'D: Artist Chip Wallace, who is archiving evidence of such fraud, posted the following on the Rob Granito Is a Fraud Facebook board: "To ANY artists that have been ripped off by Rob Granito. Please submit info at www.legit-o-mite.com [you can click on the e-mail address to do so]. Images should be no more than 800 pixels wide. Original on the left, and Granito's copy on the right. DO NOT put ANY text on the images. I noticed some are marked as 'fraud,' etc... and I wish to keep everything neutral, as the evidence will speak for itself. Articles can be in the body of an e-mail or a link to another site on the Web. Please site your source if it is other than a link."
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