Popverse says the artist Stanely Lau, aka Artgerm, known almost entirely just for coverscan art, made clear at London’s MCM Comicon panel he’s standing tight by human art as the legitimate approach to production:
“I think it is very important to understand that art is an exclusively human endeavor,” Artgerm explains at his MCM Comic Con 2025 panel. “That’s how we record our journey and our experience. There’s nothing that AI can do. It’s not just because of how high quality it is. I can tell any of you who collect my covers – do you want to buy an AI cover or do you want a cover that is by Artgerm? It is obvious, right? Because we go through so many obstacles to get where we are – that’s why the artwork has value.”
He closed with a message of resistance for any who were worried about AI becoming the norm in art. “I hope that you don’t give up. Never give in. Myself, I will never give in to AI. I will die on the hill of human art.”
I appreciate this position itself, but if there’s a drawback to how Lau runs his business, it’s that there’s times when his art has gone on the covers of certain stories that are repellent, and completely not worth buying if the cover comes with the badly written issue’s story. He may have even illustrated a cover for a Marvel story featuring the Muslim Ms. Marvel, and the problem there is that he’s granting validity to a series that was used to propagate for the Religion of Peace, in a way. That’s what makes his willingness to associate with such products so appalling. If the Islamic component were removed from that, it wouldn’t be as bad. But since the whole Kamala Khan “franchise” is still reliant on said component, that’s why it’s a problem, and therefore a shame Lau’s drawing anything for it.
Since the subject of AI comes up, Superhero Hype lets us know that Marvel is changing Captain America’s costume to something based on AI, and if it matters, this may be the Falcon they’re actually talking about who’s getting an outfit generated by said technology:
Whenever a superhero alters their costume, it usually upsets someone. Many comic fans are traditionalists and resist any change to a classic look, however logical it might be. However, the new super suit adopted by Captain America in Avengers #26 seems likely to spark controversy for reasons beyond simple change. […]
Dubbing itself “Suit” this new AI reshaped itself to become a new armored costume for Captain America. Its shape-changing powers enabled it to replicate the flight powers of Sam Wilson’s damaged uniform. It also acted as a living cast, enabling him to fly and use his shield despite a broken arm.
While a temporary measure, Captain America’s use of Suit seems likely to annoy readers for many reasons. The chief one is that it seems like a general endorsement of artificial intelligence, which is a hot button issue in the real world. This is particularly true in the world of comics, where many artists and writers have had their work used without permission to “teach” AI writing and art programs. This, in turn, has led to pushback against publishers using such technology in their publications.
Very interesting! Though not something I would recommend buying years after Marvel’s effectiveness collapsed, courtesy of Quesada/Jemas/Alonso’s meddlings. This can suggest there’s contempt behind the scenes at Marvel for artists opposed to AI employment at their expense. And maybe one more reason why the publisher would be better off closing down, because this has long become very unfunny.
AI has certainly become a divisive issue in the modern age, but the quality of writing – and even artwork by some Liefeld-like clones during the past decade – shouldn’t be overlooked even now. Some could easily argue the whole AI issue is being used as a distraction from merit-based production, and that’s why we can’t let it obscure challenging topics that’re still problematic even today.
Originally published here.
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