José Villarrubia unhappy over Tyler Kirkham cover

Colorist José Villarrubia took to social media today to call out Clover Press for using a plagiarized Tyler Kirkham cover. Villarrubia wrote on Facebook that Clover Press had used the “same image Kirkham and De la Cruz plagiarized from the classic Romita Jr. and Sr. cover I colored is being used to promote his art book.”

Back on June 4, 2025, Clover Press posted a Spider-Man image to promote the Kickstarter campaign for Kirkham’s new art book, The Marvel Art of Tyler Kikham. The project is already funded.

On June 25, 2025, Villarrubia took issue with a Kirkham cover by posting:    

“… Let’s talk about the difference between homage and plagiarism.

The image in the center is a great example of an homage. As I’ve mentioned before, John Romita Jr. revisited his earlier cover. The original was penciled by him, inked by his father, John Romita Sr., and colored by me (left). For his Amazing Spider-Man #43 cover (center), the new version was inked by Scott Hanna and colored by Dan Kemp. Each of them did not try to mimic what was done before. It’s clearly inspired by the original, but it adds something new. It is not a trace, not a copy. It is respectful and creative. You would not mistake both images, in their pencilling, their inking or their coloring.

Now look at the one on the far right. The Tyler Kirkham variant cover for Amazing Spider-Man #26, colored by Ceci de la Cruz, is not an homage. It is a rip-off.”

Amazing Spider-Man #43 inked by Scott Hanna and colored by Dan Kemp. Release Date: July 24, 2002

The Amazing Spider-Man #26 Spectral Comics Tyler Kirkham Variant Released May 31, 2023

And here they are, 50% overlaid onto the original:

In the post, some people mentioned that this would fall under the homage banner. Still, Villarrubia quickly replied by posting the Clover Press advertisement.

“Just because something credits something it does not mean it is not plagiarized. It is not enough to call something an “homage” to be one. In any case, rip-off or plagiarized, tomato, tomahtoh.”

Kirmham has yet to weigh in on the situation but rest assured if any developments arise, we’ll keep our readers at The Beat in the loop with the latest updates!