Artist Mark Raats Accuses Artist Of Stealing His Star Wars Artwork For An Official TOPPS Card Set

Artist Mark Raats accused Star Wars and TOPPS of stealing his artwork.

As first reported by Disney Star Wars Is Dumb, Raats took to Twitter to write, “If you really want to piss me off then steal my art, use it in an official TOPPS card set and pretend its your own.”

He added, “As if to irritate me even further its clear all this genius did is trace (badly) my comp – flipping it as if that would make it ok.”

He concluded, “Get your grubby shit together.”

TOPPS sketch artist KSGeekMan aka Ben AbuSaada on Twitter would take issue with other artists’ practices.

He would also claim that the artist accused of ripping off Raats’ work is Norvien Basio.

Raats would later clarify that his accusation had “nothing to do with either LucasFilm or Disney.”

He wrote, “This has nothing to do with either LucasFilm or Disney. It was an accredited artist who on his own and using a loophole in the official card submission process, used an official card to create the art. The artist posted a public apology and so I consider the issue closed.”

Raats added, “STOLEN ART. Please note this had nothing to do with either LucasFilm or Disney. It was an accredited artist who on his own used an official card to create the art. The artist posted a public apology & so I consider the issue now closed. Thank you to everyone for the support.”

AbuSaada would also clarify his comments in regards to other TOPPS artists.

He stated, “Two things about this story. 1. To Mark Raats point, sketch artists aren’t “Topps” or Lucasfilm”, they are contracted for short term projects. 2. I’m not a self proclaimed Topps artist, I did projects for them. 3. There is no “calling out” of artists….”

He added, “I simply have a strong dislike for the practice taken in lifting other people’s artwork and passing off as your own. I also have an appreciation and love for the Topps SW brand. These practices should not be acceptable.”

Related: Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Allegiance Series Accused of Tracing Fan Models for Mon Calamari Fleet Artwork

This isn’t the first time Star Wars artists have been accused of ripping off another person’s artwork. Back in November, Star Wars: Allegiance #4 artist Luke Ross and Marvel Comics were accused of ripping off Mel Minatures’ creator Ruiz Anton’s model designs.

Marvel Comics’ main Star Wars series and artists Jorge Molina and Salvador Larroca were also accused of using fan-made 3D art in the series.

**Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with further clarification from Ben AbuSaada. An update on Mark Raats accusations has also been included. The headline has also been updated.**

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