It reminds me of in 2008 when that Japanese yaoi manga-ka stopped working and went into retirement because it was found out that many of her splash pages were altered versions of magazine advertisements for clothing designers.
" I'm Usagi Tsukino, 16 years old...in the first year of high school. I'm a bit rash and a crybaby...but, I'm actually an agent of love and justice....pretty Sailor Soldier, Sailor Moon"
Wasn't there some mangaka who copied a bunch of slam dunk panels for their basketball manga a few years ago? And someone or another that copied a bunch of tenjo tenge too. It always amuses me that any manga/comic artist could possibly think that some fan wouldn't notice when they tried to pull that kind of thing. I mean, when it comes to comics and manga, fans tend to be more than a little obsessive about details.
Hector the Collector loved these things with all his soul,
Loved them more than shining diamonds, loved them more than glistenin' gold.
Hector called to all the people,"Come and share my treasure trunk!"
And all the silly sightless people came and looked...and called it junk.
What is wrong with these artists? If you are going to put the time and energy into creating something and if you have the talent to do it, why would you rip off another artist's ideas/character/story/composition etc? Isn't the joy of art making something that is truly original and your own? It is not that hard to set up your own reference either.
Elementary and middle school students often copy their favorite artists work and a lot of people have fun doing fan art, but being a professional working artist and doing this is lazy and rotten.