Today, I have something very important that I'd like to share with you, something that concerns me greatly. It's something that involves every Strider fan, from the most casual ("what's a Cypher?") to the most die-hard ("...so if you take out Beluga F in under twenty seconds, the number of penguins that greet you at the bottom of the hill doubles."). This thing plagues the internet, junking up perfectly good searches on Google and preventing Strider fans worldwide from finding what they desire: quality Strider art.

I'm talking about crap art here, people. You've all seen it. You know what I'm talking about. It's the stuff that looks like it was drawn by a three-year-old with extra-thick jumbo-size Crayola crayons, the stuff that makes you cringe whenever you lay eyes on it. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

See what I mean? This must have been drawn by a fifth-grader, because there's no way on Earth that any self-respecting fan artist would put this up on a webpage. And this isn't even a *bad* example of Strider fanart! This person actually did a pretty good job...they just don't have access to Photoshop to make their fanart look as snazzy as it could. This was based off of the Marvel Vs. Capcom toy of Hiryu, which you can tell if you look close. He copied every detail, from the rivet right below the left shoulderguard, to the way that Hiryu's sash wraps around his waist. At least this person is *trying* to create something original. Still, this is generally the quality of the art you come across on Google. Every once in a while, you'll get something good, like Niki Foley's or something, but by and large, this is the quality of the stuff you get.

What's even worse is, some of the quality artwork you come across is actually drawn quite well...it just happens to be a complete ripoff of another piece of art. Take a look:

Artistically, I have no problem with this guy. His technique is pretty good, lines crisp and sharp (before he blurred them up with Illustrator)...maybe he needs a little help with realistic lighting (check out Hiryu's torso), but other than that, he's fairly good. So what's wrong with it?

This is a ripoff of Bengus' illustration of Hiryu for Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, that's what's wrong with it. I can tell that this isn't a trace job, but it comes damn close. Now, I understand that in order to learn how to draw, you have to emulate someone. Heck, that's how I learned to draw. You don't post a drawing that you practically traced and claim it as your own, though! I found this on a site and the guy was claiming ownership of this art like he'd thought of the posing of the character and everything...you just don't do something like that! You can learn how to draw by emulating someone else's drawing, you can even post it on a site...but you damn well better not claim it as your own, because that is stealing.

There's also a third type of crap art floating around out there...and this is the most insidious type of all. Look at this one closely.

This sickens me. I can't tell if this person actually lifted this image of Hiryu from the Strider 2 promo and then used Illustrator to touch it up (the hair's lighting tips me off to that), or if he hand-drew/traced it himself. All you fanarts protection people out there, quit coming after me and Bueno and go after sickos like this. This guy Tenshi is guilty of two crimes: 1) taking his nick from a godawful anime series, and 2) claiming Bengus' artwork as his own. Look at it. It says, "done by Tenshi" and it has the Network Planet logo on it...so they're claiming it as their own. I hate people like this. The claiming of another person's artwork as your own is stealing. I mean, all these people had to do was say, "I copied the original idea for Hiryu from a Strider 2 promo...all the rest, the smoke, the fire, and the sidebar, are my idea." That's all. But they didn't. They claimed that they had rights over it, thereby stealing it from its creator.

Don't put up with this, people. If you find someone with ripoff art like the second and third pieces mentioned here, write them an email. Let them know that they're wrong for claiming someone else's art as their own.

...and with that, I'm out of here. That's it for this time. See you around!