Fans of mad scientist Dr. Steel have a death ray trained on Dr. Horrible, the fictional evil-doer at the heart of Joss Whedon's internet musical.
Led by the Dr. Steel fan site ToySoldiersUnite.com, the group claims Dr. Horrible show creators stole the idea of a "musical 'comedy' about a thirty-something, singing mad scientist whose goal it is to take over the world" -- which they maintain has been available online since 1999.
"All we have to say on the subject is we've never heard of Dr. Steel before," said Maurissa Tancharoen, who penned the musical along with Jed and Joss Whedon, in an e-mail exchange Monday. "Whatever he and his fans are claiming is false."
Tancharoen also said that she doesn't feel the two can't co-exist. "There's room for everyone in this party," she said. "There is no hate coming from our end."
In a ToySoldiersUnite post titled "Operation: Dr. Horrible Brainwashing Expo," followers are encouraged to attend the Dr. Horrible panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego, and "pay them a visit, ask some questions and inform the masses about Dr. Steel." Previous posts asked fans to bomb Dr. Horrible reviews and sites with links to the Dr. Steel website.
The plan to sabotage the panel has prompted some Dr. Steel fans to ask for a reconciliation.
"The mad scientist archetype is an old one," wrote a member named Entroy on Sunday. "And if singing is the issue well, we'd better start apologizing to Tim Curry as Dr. Frank
N Furter [of Rocky Horror Picture Show] who, after all, was a singing, dancing mad scientist with a plan to take over the world and who was doing it before 1999."
Another member, under the moniker Green, wrote: "Yes, the concept is dangerously close to Doctor Steel ... but
I no longer think that we need to take up arms.
I do agree that we need to do what we can to make sure that Doctor
Steel is not put in a position where he looks like the copycat, but I don't believe we need to destroy Dr. Horrible."
[via Whedonesque, io9]
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