Around the time the episode was 75% over, I wasn't editing Probeersel pictures anymore. (Sorry, fans..)
Meaning it was a pretty good show. For those of you who've missed it or who have never heard of it, here's a quick rundown of the concept:
A young kid dies and is then trained to be a Grim Reaper. All the (all too human) details of Death are revealed, and in fact it's a reasonable bureaucratic, necessary process. The Reapers are all squatting in buildings that are vacated by dead people. The show also lashes out towards corporate culture quite a lot, and the wit and pacing of this funny show are of a refreshing quality.
Sound familiar ? I'll say this in my defense:
- The kid in the show is a girl;
- The way Death is portrayed is quite different from my concept;
- There is no stereotypical Grim Reaper. Basically, Death is an all-human business (and there are some alien-like creatures involved who cause the accidents that kills people)
- The Reapers don't actually perform the killings. They are only there to guide souls to their destination (up or down);
- It's a TV show, not a webcomic;
- There is no DotCom involved. Not even a morale officer (thank god);
- I had never heard of this idea before, when I started The Grim DotCom.
There is also a French comic out there starring the Grim Reaper who has silly adventures (in fact I have both albums at home now) but I wasn't informed by my comic-loving buddies until I already had half a year of backstash built up. I *did* know about a show called Grim&Evil, which, to date, I still haven't seen. Also, the very same week I was developing the concept, and already scribbled down in my draft notes that this was supposed to be a macabre version of "Dilbert", Scott Adams, out of nowhere, suddenly introduced a Grim Reaper in the Dilbert cartoon who came to take Dilbert who'd worked himself to death. I CURSED the computer screen when I read those episodes, because I felt Scott Adams had read my mind and beat me to it. Luckily, this Reaper's appearance (who, by the way, didn't look grim because "unlike you, I like my job.") only appeared about three times and that was that. I felt confident that my concept was still original enough to pursue.
And I still feel that. Yes, it seems to have elements of all of the above. But as explained, they're all coincidences. I won't assume any of these people bother to read *my* comic. My delusions of grandeur are not THAT far from reality, yet.
So, please, everyone, enjoy Dilbert. Enjoy the French comic (I'd post the name here but frankly I forgot what it's called and I'm at work right now so I can't easily look it up). Enjoy Grim&Evil (hell, send me a tape of it if you have the time and want to). Enjoy every other cartoonist who takes a stab at making the Grim Reaper seem silly. I won't feel offended, really. And please accept that I still see my idea as original.
I can't help it that it's such a great concept that many people have stumbled upon it.
Annnnd.. if you're in Holland, please join me Sunday evening in watching episode two of Dead Like Me. Yorin, 10 o'clock. Its entertainment value is seriously promising.