Nova Phoenix

I've had a very personal connection to Marvel Comic's Phoenix since my very first issue of the X-Men (I think it's 176, Child of Light and Darkness). I kind of hate Chris Claremont for stealing her from me (you know, out of the universal consciousness), and I really hate how they handled her in just about every single episode. But I love her, and would love to tell my version of her story. If I was working and supporting myself, I'd just throw it out as fan work, or publish my own work using a different name--I can't so much change the character, since she's the me no one gets to see, and I just find Jean and Rachel to be uncanny reflections of my inner self. What do you do when your inspiration spills out in someone else's work, and not up to the standard you'd hold your own work to?

Can't say I know. It makes me think twice about the whole concept of intellectual property. As a starving artist, I feel the need to get paid for my work, but I can't see how exclusive ownership of ideas is to anyone's advantage in the long run. Pay the artist for the work, invest in an artist if you want to see where their vision goes. Embrace the vision of another artist, especially if they're following the inspiration another artist's work has given them. No one owns the human imagination. It's more fun to share it.