We’re not even officially begun here at New York Comic Con, but — and I usually hate this sort of construction of a story, though it feels appropriate here — Jim Lee has already won the con, thanks to his impassioned speech about why DC Comics will never use AI, during the annual Retailers Day.
The President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics took the stage during the day, which is reserved for publishers and others to take a more business forward approach than the pop culture fan-focus of most of the rest of the con. While Lee was there ostensibly to talk about DC’s expanding plans into other formats like WEBTOON, during a longer speech that went BlueSky viral almost immediately when shared by The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald, Lee explained why AI was no go for DC.
“That’s the point – the smudge, the rough line, the hesitation – that’s what makes my work come alive,” Lee said. “AI doesn’t dream, feel or make art, it aggregates it.”
Even more specifically, in the speech itself, via The Beat, Lee expanded that, “DC Comics will not support AI-generated storytelling or artwork. Not now. Not ever—as long as Anne Depies and I are in charge.”
While it was received well online, as noted by SKTCHD legend David Harper, it also “was EXTREMELY well received in the room. Cheering!” Which is good news that the assembled retailers, press, and other industry also aren’t ceding ground to the plagiarism slop bots that are eating the internet and destroying our real-world ecosystem.
ComicsXF contributor and podcaster Adam Reck gave a different take, posting that, “The STARK difference between what Jim is saying here and what we got from The Man in the Hat playing around with Gemini a few weeks ago is stunning. Very refreshing to hear the most famous artist in comics speak out publicly against A.I.” And if you don’t know the context there, he’s referring to Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort, who came under fire back on August 31 for playing around with AI to generate logos for his blog. Two weeks later, Brevoort put the newsletter/blog on hiatus, though explained that it was because it was eating up too much of his time (he has yet to address the AI controversy).
Back to Lee, though, Reck is right: it is great to hear someone in charge of a company like DC taking a strong stand, particularly as so many creatives have started to waffle or say, “yeah, I normally won’t use AI, but just for…” Comics is an art-driven medium, Jim Lee began and continues to be an artist, and like he says: the joy is in the flaws. It’s not about creating something perfect, and most art is not. But what art is, is pure human expression. It can’t be quantified in ones and zeroes, and never will be.
Here’s hoping this speech continues to inform DC’s decisions, and leads the way for other publishers, as well.
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