Ninja and Pirate

This is a guest comic I have been pretty dang excited for- mostly so I could tell this story.

On September 29th I received an email from a man named Phillip. In that email this gentleman told me about his webcomic he had been making since December 5, 2012. His webcomic called Mateys is about a pirate and a ninja who happen to be roommates. Mateys also features an alien character as well as a valkyrie named Helga. Sound familiar to anyone? Phillip’s email was sent to me to let me know he was totally unaware of Ninja and Pirate when he launched Mateys.

His email was genuine and humble so I really have no reason to believe that Mateys was set up to sabotage or copy Ninja and Pirate. He told me he searched for Ninja and Pirate themed webcomics before he posted Mateys and didn’t find anything, which makes sense because even though I began publishing my webcomic in May of 2012, I really didn’t start putting it on social media or anything until several months later. But really, what are the odds that two comics so closely similar to each other in tone and overall composition would start without one of the creators copying or plagiarizing the other?

Well, pretty darn good I’d say. On March 12, 1951 Hank Ketchum published a comic strip about a rabble-rousing youngster and titled it “Dennis the Menace.” On the very same day in Scotland, David Law published in Beano magazine a comic about a troublesome tyke titled “Dennis the Menace.” The name and core elements in the strip were identical but there was absolutely NO WAY either of the cartoonists knew what the other was doing. My point is, things like this happen and instead of taking sides and thinking one strip is attacking/copying/ripping off the other- why not just enjoy both strips for what they are? Mateys is a loveable romp that is well worth a read as it is very entertaining. Ninja and Pirate and Mateys share several elements but each is their own comic and each have their strong unique points. The only issue you have to figure out is whether Phillip or myself are the evil twin of the other.