Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Emily The Strangely Familiar


As if I didn't already have enough reason to hate Emily The Strange; the quintessential example of corporate synergy, the insipid icon of consumer culture, the sad mascot for sadder Hot Topic shoppers. For those blissfully unaware, Emily The Strange is a cartoon character designed to appeal to the tween and teenage goth crowd. She adorns merchandise with such witty bon mots as "I WANT YOU to go away." It's incredibly safe prepackaged rebellion that looks custom made for girls who are ready to let go of Hello Kitty, but may still find Wednesday Addams too provocative. She even has her own lame, boring comic from Dark Horse Comics. But it seems banality isn't Emily's worst crime. Apparently she's a shameless identity thief. Check out this comparison between an Emily bumper sticker and the classic kid's book series NATE THE GREAT courtesy of CoffeeGhost.net:


You can see other comparisons HERE.

It seems this and other blog posts stirred NATE's writer, Marjorie Sharmat, and artist, Marc Simont, to action. Cosmic Debris ETC., who own EMILY, have just responded to this attention in a most dickheadedly fashion by launching a preemptive lawsuit threatening to sue if attempt to sue them. Excerpt from Courthouse News Service:

Cosmic Debris Etc. has sued two children's book authors, claiming its "Emily the Strange" character does not infringe on Marjorie Sharmat's and Marc Simont's "Nate the Great" copyrights... Cosmic Debris asks that the defendants be restrained from recovering damages regarding Emily, and that they be prohibited from claiming that Emily infringes on their work.

This kind of thing really rubs my rhubarb. Hard. Let's hope justice eventually prevails.

Official Site: http://www.emilystrange.com/

4 comments:

  1. but may still find Wednesday Addams too provocative.that made me laugh.

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  2. Truly wretched behavior from these assholes.

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  3. The original writer and artist (who are both something like 90 years old) have officially sued Cosmic Debris despite their bullying tactics.

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  4. It makes me laugh that Reger cites the fact that Simont and Sharmat hadn't complained about Emily before as a reason against them sueing his pants off. Um, hello- Sharmat and Simont are in their 80s and 90s. Since when do you see old people in Hot Topic? And octogenarians are hardly known for their mad internet skills. Get a grip Cosmic Debris. You're done for.

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