Topic: Critisism on my characters?

Maybe I should have gotten in Animation instead of Computer Graphics...
As I wanted to be a Graphic Designer so I could do all the official stuff for Mauspek, like websites and covers and make it look presentable to print out and stuff. With Animation I could have learn to actually draw better... or should I stick with Computer Graphics? Seeing as mostly everything is computer based and an easier way to touch things up.

Nice characters, Kaiser.

Btw I think some of you don't know or didn't think about it but Kaiser Jr. is a teddy bear in a knight helmet.

I can't think of any criticisms, Kaiser. You are a good drawer with some creative characters!

It's pretty good. To say the the least, it's a lot better than I could do really.

You're really talented. I really am not.

I should maybe get Art Academy and improve? Lol Does that really help? I need help with shadows and such.

Great stuff dude.You got some talent. Just keep going with it .It looks great to me.

Good drawings, but you oughta change the main character's name as Maus is already a popular graphic novel about the Holocaust.

Just fixing to say that and to top it off, he also was a mouse-so if you want to do anything professional with this, you'll need to change the name to avoid any lawsuits.

What I can't use the german word for mouse for my main character that just happens to be the title of another book? Saying I can't pull off a Kong? Is the word maus copyrighted?

yay! With some characters its effect will be more obvious than others--since this guy is pretty short and stubby, it will be more subtle, but I think it's helping. With short guys like this, stretching and adding some elasticity to your characters help them appear more expressive and cartoony. Watch some of the Spumco episodes of the Ren and Stimpy show and watch Stimpy's character movements as an example

Take both if you can. Learning to use Photoshop is very helpful for coloring your drawings, among other things, while animation may teach you about construction and other important drawing skills--nobody taught me stuff like that in high school. I'm having to teach myself

@KaiserGX: the name of 'Maus' for a mouse character in your game could potentially get you into trouble, is all, considering the other 'Maus' is also illustrated.

That book sounds like a madman made it.

It may be copyrighted, it may not be, but calling your character Maus will draw detractors who think you're trying to leech off the fame of another's work and associations with the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. People will automatically be pushed away by these things, in my opinion.

And even if your argument held up in a court of law, you risk getting involved in a lawsuit that would be more trouble and cost than it's worth. It's one that they might win, too, especially as Maus is possibly the most popular graphic novel ever written.

Also, it's just polite. If you want to become a member of the graphic novel/ comic/ hand drawn art community, which you do if you want your work to be a success, you don't want people to automatically think that you're trying to rip off, copy or draw success from the original Maus. I'm not saying that you are trying to do these things, but people will automatically think this right off the bat, and that's not a good place to start. Additionally, Maus is a very, very serious work, about the author's real life father's experiences in concentration camps. Though you mean no disrespect to his still living, real life grandchildren, do you really want to risk their taking offense at however they interpret your work?

it's based on the author's father's actual experiences during the holocaust. no madmen involved.

But it does say that maus is German for mouse.

@khaoz: if he wanted to call it a 'maus' in-game, as in its species or race, that's one thing, but actually naming it 'Maus' would be another.

Not to mention this: If his last name was Schindler, and he'd made a list of the cartoons he wanted to draw, and thus named the end product "Schindler's List," legal arguments aside, what do you think the consequences would be? What if Oskar Schindler had had kids, and they got in contact with you and were upset by your title? What if the Holocaust Foundation got in touch with you? What if they were offended and emotionally upset rather than legally threatening? What if you saw a funny, cartoony graphic novel, comic book or video game called Schindler's List? Would you judge it on its own merits? What would you automatically think of the author, just on the knowledge that he or she had created it?

Is this hypothetical argument a stretch? Maybe, but if graphic novels continue to increase in legitimacy as they have been over the past years, it won't be for long.