Nick Simmons Statement on Alleged Bleach Plagiarism

Nick Simmons has released a formal statement regarding the allegations of plagiarism raised last week by the Bleach LiveJournal community Bleachness.

Like most artists I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities between some of my work and the work of others. This was simply meant as an homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any Manga fans or fellow Manga artists who feel I went too far. My inspirations reflect the fact that certain fundamental imagery is common to all Manga. This is the nature of the medium.

I am a big fan of Bleach, as well as other Manga titles. And I am certainly sorry if anyone was offended or upset by what they perceive to be the similarity between my work and the work of artists that I admire and who inspire me.

Simmons’ own work, titled Incarnate has been suspended from publication and sale pending the outcome of investigations undertaken by the publisher Radical Publishing and Viz Media respectively.