A winner of Todd McFarlane’s Spawnuary contest has been accused of using AI. DC pays tribute to Rachel Pollack with special Pride issue. Brian Cunningham heads to Ghost Machine. All on Comic Book Club News for March 14, 2024.
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Episode Transcript:
Spawnuary spawns accusations of AI.
DC pays tribute to Rachel Pollack with pride issue.
Brian Cunningham heads to Ghost Machine.
This is Comic Book Club News for March 14, 2024.
Spawn Contest Winner Accused Of Using AI:
Today is 3/14, aka Pi Day. So in honor of that, we’re going to do 3.14 news stories! Here goes:
On March 12, Todd McFarlane announced the winners of Spawnuary. The contest challenged fans of Spawn to draw their own covers for Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn, The Scorched, and any Spawn villain. The four winners would potentially have their art used as covers for actual issues of the Spawn titles later in the year. However, the announcement of the winners has been overshadowed by accusations of AI-usage by fans and professional artists alike.
The winner in question uses the user name robot9000 on Instagram, and regularly posts art created using AI. In fact, three posts of Gunslinger Spawn that directly preceded the winning entry all copped to using a combination of Procreate, Midjourney, Photoshop, and Maya. However, the winning entry says differently. Labeled “Look Ma, No AI versions,” robot9000 claims to have only used Procreate and Photoshop to make the picture of Spawn villain The Violator. He further reveals his name is Luis Ruiz, and attended the Savannah College of Art and Design, adding, “So I guess, my 5 years of drawing class did serve me well, huh???” This is particularly important as the rules seem to explicitly state that “A.I. generated submissions will not be accepted this time around.”
However, multiple professional artists aren’t buying it. Mahmud Asrar, an artist who has worked for Marvel, DC, and more expressed displeasure on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter; with fellow artists Bengal and Martín Cóccolo joining in to lament the state of the industry – and express hope that McFarlane will invalidate the entry.
Comic Book Club News reached out both to McFarlane and robot9000 for comment and clarification but did not receive a reply as of the time of this taping.
DC Pays Tribute To Rachel Pollack With Pride Issue:
Rachel Pollack, the iconic comic book creator who passed away last year at age 77, is getting a special tribute during this year’s DC Pride month celebrations. The issue, titled DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack, will feature two stories by the writer, as well as an original story by a friend and collaborator of Pollack’s.
The first issue featured is Doom Patrol #70, written by Pollack with art by Scot Eaton, which introduced Cagula, DC’s first-ever transgender superhero. The second story, with art by Michael Allred, comes from the one-shot Vertigo Visions: The Geek. And the new story, also featuring Coagula, is written by Joe Corallo with art by Rye Hickman.
The 96-page one-shot is just part of DC’s Pride celebrations, that include an anthology, YA graphic novels, and a slew of variant covers.
You can pick up the Rachel Pollack tribute on June 6.
Brian Cunningham Heads To Ghost Machine:
Brian Cunningham, former DC editor, as well as from Dynamite and AfterShock, is heading to Ghost Machine as Editor in Chief. The comics collective is led by his former DC writer Geoff Johns, and many others.
The news comes via Bleeding Cool, which also shared a quote from Cunningham on the hiring: “Ghost Machine reimagines the original Image Comics model with fresh and intriguing new characters that readers will fall in love with. I couldn’t be more excited to join this monster roster of talent, most of whom I’ve worked with over the years. In a way, it’s like a family reunion!”
Cunningham has already hit the ground running, having edited the first few titles that are headed to stores this April. Congrats!
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And here’s the .14 story: Marvel has confirmed the new X-Men comics will be announced today at SXSW! Stay tuned for more!
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