Why Did Dan Frazier Get A Pass For Plagiarism When Other Magic: The Gathering Artists Don't?
By respecting one artist's legacy, Wizards of the Coast disrespects another.
Magic: The Gathering has a disappointingly long history of art plagiarism, but the most recent example of it in The Hobbit is easily its most concerning.
Immediately after its reveal at MagicCon Vegas, players noticed the newest reprint of The One Ring looks eerie similar to the one printed in a bundle for Tales of Middle-earth's bundle box. The shading and position are identical, with the only big differences being a general lack of quality in the newer print, and a squiggly background. Oh, and the artist credit.
(Left) Newer version of The One Ring featuring Frazier's art. (Right) Earlier version of The One Ring featuring art by Marta Nael.
This new version was credited to Dan Frazier, who up until yesterday I'd have called a legend of the game. He has almost 200 cards to his name as far back as Alpha, with his most famous contributions being the five original Mox artifacts. In a statement made on Bluesky, Wizards and Frazier confirmed the art was indeed lifted from Marta Nael's original One Ring, with Frazier describing his "painting over it" a "mistake".
Wizards' response was a bit more substantial, confirming that it has already spoken to Nael and will be paid for the piece, and digital copies of it will credit both artists (Frazier did, after all, do his usual squiggly background).
Magic: The Gathering
This is a shocking development of this controversy, as Magic art agent Mark Aronowitz had previously claimed that neither himself nor Frazier had "never [seen] this version", after Frazier had become "frustrated with [Wizards] making him change stuff". In a comment made after Frazier's admission, Aronowitz then said "at almost 81, the cognitive abilities start to fail. He did the right thing once he understood".
Former Magic artist and note WotC critic Donato Giancola also waded in, saying he "doubted Dan Frasier [sic] had any real say in how this came about". He has since retracted his statement, and in a later Facebook post described his defense as "an unfortunate error," but not without explaining how he "feels sorry for Dan and this mistake he made".
The thing that bothers me the most is Wizards' response, and how unlike previous instances of plagiarism it is. When Fay Dalton's art for Trouble In Pairs was discovered to be plagiarised from a number of sources, Wizards released a short statement saying it was "suspending future work with Fay Dalton". When Jason Felix was caught plagiarising art for Strixhaven's Crux of Fate, and David Sondered plagiarised for Wayfarer's Bauble, Wizards made similar statements that plainly said work with them was being suspended. Crucially, outside of reprints or art already in the pipeline, we've not seen either artist contribute to the game.
The statement on Frazier completely lacks this, despite being arguably more blatant than any of those cases. It even compliments Frazier, calling him a "titan of the art industry", and that is "values with contributions tremendously" and "are grateful for his place in the game".
All three cards above have been the subject of artist plagiarism, criticism, and apology. In all three cases, Wizards of the Coast suspended future work with the artists.
What?
It's easy to point at the increased workload of Universes Beyond art, as it requires multiple parties to approve it and licensing agreements tend to limit what tools artists can use. Sure, maybe Frazier did struggle with using digital art, or getting the One Ring just right. But all of Frazier's most famous contributions to Magic are jewellery. This is his bread and butter. Nailing this should have been the easiest thing in the world for him, and he still decided to lift one of a whopping two other pictures of the One Ring Magic has used and paint over it instead of working his craft.
He may have been frustrated with the process, but he's still a professional artist, and with over 30 years of experience on Magic he knows what is and isn't plagiarism. "We are all human and make mistakes", as Wizards said, but you can't accidentally copy, paste, crop, flip, and paint over an existing piece of art; that was a conscious choice. And it wasn't even a good choice, as the card looks blurry and weirdly stretched as a result.
Frazier's largest claim to MTG fame is illustrating the original Mox artifacts.
It's disrespectful to Nael, and other victims of plagiarism to say that some people can seemingly get a pass from the usual consequences of plagiarism just because of tenure. Magic has hundreds of skilled artists contributing to it and more coming in every set, do we really need more Frazier half-arsing in the future just because he's been around for a while?
I'm not baying for Frazier's blood, or for him to be 'cancelled'. He's 81 and likely nearing the end of his career regardless of any controversy. I wish he'd gone out on a high, but that's life. But I also don't think Frazier needs to work on Magic any more — this is a game known for its art, and its artistic legacy is something that undeniably draws players in. For the response to be a statement that spends more time praising the plagiarist than the artist he plagiarised is hugely disappointing.
