X-Men/Futurama Fan Art Gets New Love as Artist Reveals Widespread Piracy
When artist Carl Broaddus first uploaded his epic crossover poster mashing together the X-Men and Futurama franchises into a work of genius fan art onto DeviantArt in 2009, he never expected that he would still be finding out that his artwork was being sold without any credit being given to him twelve years later. Piracy is something that affects all forms of media, but it is especially egregious when the art is stolen from an independent creator.
Broaddus has continued to make gorgeous art, including more art of both the X-Men and Futurama. However, in a recent Tweet Broaddus once again brought the issue of piracy into the public eye, reminding his followers that, "...anyone who ever bought this fanart online or at a comic-con, please know it wasn't sold to you by its creator or with their permission." After being reached for comment by Screen Rant, Carl Broaddus had this to say about his inspiration for the gorgeous piece of mashup art:
"As a closeted kid, the X-Men were my 'feared and hated' heroes that I read for escapism. Futurama came along while I was in college and it was so clever and beautiful, and it had Katey Sagal so naturally I was hooked! I made this poster in 2009, just for fun. X-Men and Futurama are two of my loves so naturally I wanted to smush their faces together."
Making the continued piracy of Broaddus' art even more harmful is the fact that the X-Men franchise is often used as an allegory for the oppression of marginalized groups, particularly people of color, Jewish people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Broaddus himself identifies as a gay man, and connected with the X-Men because of their (very obvious) allusions to queer oppression. Elaborating on his experience of discovering his own art being sold on websites and at conventions, Broaddus said:
"Truthfully, I never thought it would have a life outside of me and my friends. Over the years, I’ve seen sites selling the mashup in all types of formats, most amusingly on a onesie that I was tempted to buy for myself! But I always imagined these were small-time faceless scammers and thieves throwing stolen art at the wall to see what stuck, so it never quite got under my skin.
Then last week I was tagged on Reddit about a Futurama/X-Men poster bought off someone that was very much not me a few years ago at the Indiana Comic Con. It hurt my heart to imagine someone so brazenly claim my hard work and bury the truth behind it."
Piracy and copyright infringement can be detrimental to burgeoning comics creators in terms of the mental and emotional toll it can take on them, potentially causing the world to lose out on its next Jack Kirby or Grant Morrison. Thankfully Broaddus has been able to gain some healthy perspective, especially after receiving so much support from his Tweet calling out the years of piracy. He is moving forward with focusing on his commissions and personal projects.
"But perspective helped a ton, and after a quick vent on Twitter, I’m letting go. After all, it's really just a fond memory from my past that keeps popping back up every now and then. This little Comic Con hiccup has convinced me it’s time to take control over how my art is consumed. I’m going to make what brings me joy and share it freely. I’m opening commissions to people who want personalized art from me, something I've never done before. And I’m going to put myself out there for opportunities in the comics space that I've previously struggled to believe I could fit into."
Carl Broaddus' X-Men/Futurama poster is iconic, turning Professor Farnsworth into Professor Xavier, Leela into The Phoenix, Hypnotoad into Havok, and Mom into Emma Frost. Since Hulu has ordered 20 new episodes of Futurama to be made, Broaddus' Futurama art is even more relevant! To check out more of Carl Broaddus' gorgeous work, request a commission from him, or just support his art in the future, follow him on Twitter (@gottabecarl), and spend some time looking at his fan art poster combining some of the best characters from X-Men and Futurama.