I hate this Virgin Comics banner

Every time I see this animated banner ad for Virgin Comics' 7 Brothers, I am first confused and then annoyed. I must voice my disapproval.

My issue with this banner stems from the tagline "Comics will never be the same again." What ticks me off about this is that each time I see this add I automatically think that it is for some upcoming Marvel comic because the characters shown look EXACTLY like older, well established characters. Ripping off character design is nothing new to comics.

First there is the dude who looks just like Wolverine sporting his trusty, if not nonsensical cowboy hat. Really, do many Canadians wear cowboy hats? Anyway, it looks just like Wolverine, right down to the gritty, inky and intense action pose. If the character's hands were in frame, I would expect three foot-long claws sticking out of each.

And then there is the guy who is all leather and spikes, and I can't really say that it looks like any Marvel character. It looks a bit like one of DC's Female Furies as drawn by Amano Yoshitaka. Certainly a pale S&M enthusiast for a villain is nothing new.

And then Dr. Strange shows up! The first time I saw this banner I had to have it cycle through several times before I realized that it was not Stephen Strange at the end. All the text indicates that the banner is for 7 Brothers, which most people know is for Virgin, but they someone who looks exactly like Dr. Strange is in there. It blew my mind. The guy has a flowing red cape with a tall, horned collar, short black hair and possibly a porn star mustache. And he's being all mysterious and mystical. That IS Dr. Strange.

Every time I see that frame I forget what this banner is for and begin to wonder what Dr. Strange story Marvel is trying to promote. (Other than Brian K. Vaughan's kick ass Dr. Strange: The Oath miniseries.)

Curse you Virgin Comics! I thought ripping off characters from the two major publishers died with Youngblood!