Remember that awesome steampunk Iron Man suit that won the costume contest at Comic Con recently? Well, as it turns out, the idea may not be all that original.
In fact, it appears that the costume is nothing more than a repainted and slightly tweaked version of a Tin Man suit made for an indie movie. And, Bill Johnson, the designer of said Tin Man suit is understandably pissed off.
Just found out that the Tin Man suit was taken and modified into an “Iron Man” suit that won the costume contest at the NY Comic Con by my ex assistant. The suit was changed without my knowledge or permission and I’m royally angered by this action. It’s also sad to see that the only screen used version of the suit that exists, is now a cheapened knock off of a popular character. I don’t get people anymore and it makes me want even more to become more reclusive.
Interestingly, Dustin Fletcher, one of the men behind the development of the suit left a comment in the original Fashionably Geek article about the Iron Man modification, but the tone was positive—even complimentary towards Sliva’s modifications. It’s only now, through comments left in TheEffectsLab forum, that we learned the full story behind the costume.
The good news is that the two men have apparently ironed things out:
I had a long talk with him and we ironed things out. It was all part of a huge lapse in good judgment that blew up. I hate to see a piece of history, such as this piece, fade away like that. I guess that I am getting old and sentimental.
He was acting as the person who was holding on to the suit for promotional events for the film. He did help build it and said that it was constantly needing repair (which I do believe). He’s not very old and just showed a serious lapse of good judgment. As for the suit’s ownership, that is a grey area. The company that made the film paid for the materials and did give me a very small amount of money for all the work that I did (Production design, make up effects, etc) just to help with my bills while I took time off to do the project. I have most of the items created or bought for the film, but agreed to let them hold on to the suit for display in their office or promotion for the film. I would not say that it was stolen, but was not used in the manner of our agreement. He truly feels horrible for doing such an idiotic thing and I know that he is really a good kid at heart. Ultimately, what’s done is done and I’m sure he won’t do such a stupid thing again in the future.
I don’t know that I would call the move idiotic just yet. It never fails that people in these types of situations fail to see how the press coverage benefits them. After all, who the hell would have even heard of this movie, or the men behind the suit design had it not been for the Iron Man costume?
(via Bleeding Cool)
