Note from Patrick: After the interview, I got interested in if the comic book world felt that Lichtenstein's work crossed the line from reference to plagiarism.
Drowning Girl is cropped from DC Comics
Secret Hearts no. 83, and Whaam! is pulled from issue
No. 89 of DC Comics' All-American Men of War. This is a hot button issue that was made more complicated by the comic industry not giving proper writing/art credit.
We touched on this topic a little during a deleted bit of the podcast I removed for pacing. I had thought that the painting was based on Jack Kirby, but it turns out it was John Romita!
This topic reminds me of Bill Finger, the guy who created Batman with Bob Kane but got none of the credit. Check out this HULU documentary if you want to learn more -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBDjjY2swE