Trouble in Pairs Artist Accused of Plagiarizing Cyberpunk Novel Cover

Josh Nelson • March 26, 2024

Art News
An image of Fay Dalton's art for Trouble in Pairs and Donato Giancola's art from a 1994 cyberpunk novel: Cyberpunk 2020.

Fay Dalton has been credibly accused of plagiarizing the art on Trouble in Pairs from another Magic artist: Donato Giancola. Fay Dalton is a relatively new Magic: The Gathering illustrator known for her work on the Secret Lair x The Evil Dead drop and the Secret Lair: Magic: The Baseballing drop. Her work most recently appeared in the Murders at Karlov Manor Commander decks, notably for the card Trouble in Pairs. 

On r/MagicTCG, user u/hypnotichog gave proof that Fay Dalton stole art from Donato Giancola for Trouble in Pairs.
On r/MagicTCG, user u/hypnotichog posted this image as proof that Fay Dalton stole art from Donato Giancola for Trouble in Pairs.
In a Reddit post on the subreddit r/MagicTCG, user u/hypnotichog posted damning evidence that Dalton used artwork from veteran Magic artist Donato Giancola for the illustration of Trouble in Pairs. By horizontally flipping the art for the Magic card and placing the figure in question onto the comic art, u/hypnotichog revealed a 1-to-1 proportionate duplicate of the figure.

Many users quickly jumped to follow in u/hypnotichog's accusations. In doing so, they verified that the figure was indeed originally in the illustration for a novel. For reference, the Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop game had a companion novel called The Ravengers. You can find the cover for this novelization on ISCDB.org. The cover of the novel, released in 1995, was illustrated by Giancola, lending verity to the claims set forth.

The figure in the art is not the only case of duplication, either. While the torso of the figure in the foreground is somewhat obscured, a closer inspection shows both figures are wearing the same vest. Plus, the axes of both figures are the same, merely flipped horizontally and slightly rotated, as can be seen by the awkward lighting on both:

An analysis of the art for Trouble in Pairs, wherein both figures' axes are seen to be identical down to the lighting.
An analysis of the art for Trouble in Pairs, wherein both figures' axes are seen to be identical down to the lighting.
One concerning point that arose was the fact that Wizards of the Coast does not own Cyberpunk 2020; R. Talsorian Games does. This information, in turn, brought up talks on r/MagicTCG about the potential for the latter to bring litigation against the former.

Donato Giancola's Response To Trouble In Pairs

Giancola confirmed the truth behind this revelation soon thereafter. In a post in that same thread, Giancola matter-of-factly stated, "The art is stolen". Giancola then provided an image comparing the two, with the following caption, as well as copyright attribution:

"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? This is criminal and theft.

What other works have you stolen..."

- Donato Giancola

Donato Giancola's response to Fay Dalton's illustration of Trouble in Pairs.
Donato Giancola's response to Fay Dalton's illustration of Trouble in Pairs.
Giancola also posted about the plagiarism on Facebook, where other pronounced Magic artists weighed in on the matter as well. Lars Grant-West spoke up, for one, saying, "Definitely a violation of her contract with Wizards (and pretty much any other client work contract). You're supposed to be able to claim anything you send in as your own work, so the company isn't on the hook for copyright violation." Many other Magic artists gave their take on the situation, including Justine Jones, Heather Hudson, and rk post. All of them were unanimous in their stance that Dalton was in the wrong. Even Tony M. DiTerlizzi managed to get in a pithy, "Wow".

Jeff Miracola also said his piece on the topic, adding:

"And the nerve to lift from one of the most well-known, respected Magic: the Gathering artists for her own MTG illustration is just mind-bogglingly stupid.

You literally would not have had to share your source image for me to know which of your paintings she plagiarized because it's that well known (to me at least).[...]
 
WOTC just can't seem to catch a break from artists plagiarizing other art for their mtg assignments. What is this, a half dozen instances of artists doing this now? Sheesh."
- Jeff Miracola

Giancola Is Not The Only Artist Victim Here

Unfortunately, Giancola is not the only person affected by this blatant case of plagiarism. The iconic fantasy artist Boris Vallejo, an iconic fantasy artist, has also been plagiarized here. Dalton appropriated the arm from his 1987 painting "Corniche" for the free hand of the figure in the foreground of Trouble in Pairs, as seen below.

Corniche (1987). Boris Vallejo. Acrylic on canvas.
Corniche (1987). Boris Vallejo. Acrylic on canvas.

Plagiarism In Magic's Past

Magic: The Gathering has had its share of plagiarism in recent years. In 2021, artist Jason Felix plagiarized art by two artists: Magic illustrator Raymond Swanland and fan artist Scarypet - for the Strixhaven Mystical Archive's version of Crux of Fate. Much more recently, a version of Wayfarer's Bauble used in the Commander decks for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan was revealed to use stolen art as well. New Magic artist David Sondered plagiarized original art from Lorenzo Lanfranconi to create that piece.

Both times these plagiarism incidents occurred, the internet was diligent and quick to confirm them. Furthermore, the artists have both since apologized for their actions. However, this was not before Wizards of the Coast made statements about the plagiarized art on DailyMTG. You can find the statements for both cases here and here, respectively. These cases both reached a fundamental conclusion: Wizards of the Coast suspended both artists' contracts.

An Update To This Story

A recent development on Reddit, thanks to u/BinaryLegend on the subreddit r/mpcproxies, has revealed that the foreground figure in Trouble in Pairs is also a case of plagiarism. The pulp artist Will Hulsey painted the original piece for the cover of Trapped, a story from Detective Magazine. According to the auction block website Heritage Auctions, the piece is called A Question of Guilt, and it was published in June of 1957 with that same oil painting.

A Question of Guilt. Will Hulsey. 1957. Oil on board. Featured on the cover of Trapped, a story in Detective Magazine. Image credit: Heritage Auctions.
A Question of Guilt. Will Hulsey. 1957. Oil on board. Featured on the cover of Trapped, a story in Detective Magazine. Image credit: Heritage Auctions.

Additionally, not long after we penned the above update, another update surfaced. This one comes courtesy of the Howling Salt Mine Podcast on Twitter:

Morton Künstler's 1931 painting The Bull Toughest Marine In The Whole Damned Corps was sampled for the right arm of the figure in Dalton's foreground. According to Heritage Auctions, the artist completed the watercolor painting in 1931. The work was featured on the cover of Stag Magazine's February 1966 issue. At this stage, only the figures' axes and vests, as well as the jacket of the figure in the foreground, remain unsourced. Meanwhile, the number of plagiarized artists has, so far, reached four, for those keeping count.

The Bull Toughest Marine In The Whole Damned Corps. Morton Künstler. 1931. Watercolor on board. Used in Stag Magazine, February 1966. Image credit: Heritage Auctions
The Bull Toughest Marine In The Whole Damned Corps. Morton Künstler. 1931. Watercolor on board. Used in Stag Magazine, February 1966. Image credit: Heritage Auctions.

A Statement by Wizards of the Coast

On Friday, March 29th, Wizards of the Coast posted a statement to their DailyMTG news hub website. In it, they said:

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.

This pithy statement tracks with the other statements Wizards has made regarding other artists accused of plagiarism. As of writing, Fay Dalton still has yet to make a statement about this story herself.

Josh Nelson

Josh Nelson

Josh Nelson wears many hats. They are a music journalist when not writing gaming news. Beyond this, they're a scholar of the Sweeney Todd urban legend, a fan of monster-taming RPGs, and a filthy Aristocrats player. Josh has been playing Magic since 2001 and attributes their tenure to nostalgia, effort, and "aesthetic".