If you haven’t heard of the Rob Granito situation, then you are missing out on one of the biggest fraud crackdowns we’ve seen in recent years. Sure there are those who go after the bastards who swipe legitimate artist’s work, tweak a few things, and them slap them on T-shirts to sell on line for a quick buck, but the Granito situation is much different than that. Rob has not only been accused of swiping others art, but has claimed that he has worked with and for everyone under the sun. And he’s been doing it for a decade, if not longer.
Things finally reached a boiling point this past weekend at MegaCon, when Ethan Van Scriver and Mark Waid confronted Granito at his booth.
Via Mark Waid’s Facebook and Twitter feeds:
Don’t give me too much credit for the co-smackdown, folks. It’s just that when I heard that he’d tried to capitalize off Dwayne’s death, that was the last straw for me. I saw red and stormed over with Ethan. We were both livid. I told Fraudboy in no uncertain terms that I will personally contact every convention there is and warn them… not to give him a table if they ever want to see me or MY friends there, EVER. I also screamed at him when he said “Well, truthfully–” that he is not allowed to use that word, ever, ever. That word means nothing coming from him.
I believe my exact endquote, two hours before the show closed, was, “Make your money here, because this is your last convention. Do you understand me? This is your last show.” That’s right, I was so pissed, I unilaterally appointed myself Sheriff of All Comicons. I should have a badge made.
I think my favorite moment was when this kid said to Ethan–after lying when asked if he’d actually claimed to have worked with Dwayne (a claim he ABSOLUTELY made)–”I just considered him a friend, same as I’d consider you a friend–” and E…than growled “Let’s make this clear: I am NOT YOUR FRIEND.”
Dear Fraudboy: When you have comics’ leading leftwing socialist hippiefreak AND comics’ leading rightwing Nazi teaming up to smack you down, YOU HAVE FUCKED UP.
Apparently word is spreading about this guy. According to Bleeding Cool, who broke the story and seems to have made it their mission to bring Granito to the ground, Wizard World has now banned Granito from all future shows, and Dragon*Con is considering doing the same.
13 Comments
Good! Jerks like this deserved to tarred and featherd and run out of town. Good to see that some people like Waid, and Van Sciver, are kind of holding the line for those who bust their asses to come up with their own creative endeavours only to have “underdwellers” like Granito steal their thunder a “spit” in their faces. I’d support Sheriff Mark Waid anyday.
Mark Waid, you are my hero.
http://www.facebook.com/RobertGranitoIsAFRAUD
I read Ethan Van Sciver’s side of this over the weekend as well as a ton of posts over on deviantART.com (including David Yardin, who is one of the people Granito swiped from) where this guy’s page is gett9ing flamed into oblivion.
I think my favorite claim made on his website is that he worked on Calvin and Hobbes. If you’re looking for brass balls, this guys got ’em in spades.
I’m glad that word is out and the community is shutting him down.
Doesn’t look to good there Robby…
This person has some mental issues that need to be addressed. Seriously folks he really does if he is basing his entire being on this fantasy of what he has done. Get him some help and court intervention.
This is the first I’ve heard of this beyond Waid’s tweet at the end there – this is just… wow. Claiming you’re friends with the people who are screaming at you to stop your charade? Claiming you were not only friends with a very suddenly dead creator but also a collaborator with people who worked with the man and know you’re stone-cold lying? I agree with Eric – there is some sort of mental illness going on there, but it doesn’t excuse him profiting from it as he seems to be doing.
Who wants to bet cold, hard cash that this guy shows up at WizardWorld Philly? They might let him in hoping for a confrontation.
Sooo… which one is the “leading leftwing socialist hippiefreak” and which is the “leading rightwing Nazi”?
I’m surprised Waid didn’t try to pull his weave out of his head. Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!
I love how the “Dear Fraudboy” comment makes it sound like it was Green Arrow and Hawkman attacking Granito
Wow, just Wow! I’m glad they finally got him, but what get me is that he, and correct me if I’m reading this wrong, doing this for a decade! How has nobody nail this guy before now if he been doing this this long. I would think somebody claiming ownership of other people work would of been nail long ago. Again, I glad they caught the guy, but yeah. I shock that he manage to get away with this for a decade.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out this guy had a history of mental illness or something, I mean it takes a lot of balls to even attempt this, rubbing shoulders with the very people you are ripping off… that’s not even smart con man behavior.
There’s a guy on ebay right now selling a sketch and a painting that Granito swiped from other people. The guy online is saying that they are Granito and setting the price way too high in my opinion, but no mention that they are obvious swipes and stuff like that. I sent him a message about each one, but we’ll see. Also, it’s pretty funny that his DeviantArt page and his actual homepage are both shut down. That’s great.