Tribute And Ripoff: How To Distance Yourself From The Latter

This is the second part of my originality series, to read the first part please click on the link here.

Several authors have written works that pay tribute to some classical works of fiction. For example "A Study In Emerald" was a tribute that Neil Gaiman did for both Sherlock Holmes and Cthulhu Mythos. Comic writers like Mark Millar even wrote a mini series called "Superior" that pays tribute to both Superman and the Christopher Reeves interpretation of the character. What makes both of these examples similar is that while both took inspiration from another work of fiction they still made their inspiration feel like their own work.

To use my own example. I've always considered doing a superhero series that pays tribute to the DC Universe because I've been dissatisfied on how it has been handled as of recently. Especially in live action format, with a few exceptions. So I narrowed down what part of the DCU I must pay tribute to and how?

After mulling it over I've came up with a solution. The Killing Joke. I really don't care for the comic version and I've made my thoughts of the animated version known. Short version, it did nobody any favors. So I've decided to do a superhero web novel that does the concept behind The Killing Joke and it's characters involved justice. Except the characters I'm using are original characters but you can tell where the inspiration came from. A hint, my hero characters are more wolf than bat themed.

I'm looking at writing it during the fall of this year.

There is nothing wrong in taking inspiration from another work as long as you don't completely emulate it. Have enough creativity to make the inspiration into something that is more you.