Wizards of the Coast (WotC) finally made a statement Friday evening regarding Fay Dalton’s illustration for Trouble in Pairs.
The recent inclusion in Murders at Karlov Manor Commander originally caught the eye of a Reddit user on March 25, when hypnotichog posted a comparison of the card and the cover illustration of the book The Ravengers, which features art by longtime Magic: The Gathering artist Donato Giancola. The post calls out the similarities from the mohawked character from the card and main character on the book cover. Multiple posts on social media followed the original comparison calling out other potential parts of the illustration for Trouble in Pairs lifting segments of other pieces of art.
WotC posted little on the issues revolving the integrity of the art of Trouble in Paris, but did state it is suspending future work with Dalton.
We’ve heard questions on the integrity of the art on the card Trouble in Pairs from the Murders at Karlov Manor Commander set, and we had questions, too. As we have looked into this further, we’re now suspending future work with Fay Dalton.”
Wizards of the Coast
Giancola posted his own comparison of the card and his work on the cover of The Revengers on Facebook on Tuesday with the message, “Hey Fay Dalton, do you mind not stealing my work on highly paid, public commercial commissions in the genre which I make my living and hold my reputation dear?”
More images surfaced showing other segments of the illustration that appear to lift from previous works. These show the character in the foreground of the card looking awfully similar to characters from magazine covers and a painting from the late 1980s.
The head, neck, and left arm of the character in the foreground share many details with the cover illustration of an issue of Trapped Detective Story Magazine by Will Hulsey and a 1987 painting by Boris Vallejo titled “Corniche.”
The fingers, knuckles, and line on the wrist of the character in the foreground all line up with a figure from a Morton Kunstler painting called “The Bull Toughest Marine in the Whole Damned Corps.”
Read the official statement from WotC.