Write ’em down, Draw ’em in, Roundup

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1. Mike Tiefenbacher

   After ignoring most of the recent comic-book scene for the past few decades, I’ve become recomitted to reading them on a weekly basis again. Imagine my surprise to discover that most of the artists who became popular in the last forty years have almost disappeared from the major companies (probably to make better money doing commissions) to be replaced by new, fully acceptable artists, largely from Europe and South America. What strikes me about them is not their individual styles, their storytelling capabilities or their ability to portray American characters that don’t resemble their own places of origin, but their uncanny ability to render highly detailed cityscapes in perfect perspective. And then it struck me–this exquisite work, which is so highly detailed it would be unprofitable to do with a pencil, pen and ruler, is being handled by AI technology which must be commonly sourced by the comic art world since it’s now so ubiquitous. And yes, it’s individual enough that Metropolis doesn’t look like Gotham City. Sure, it’s not like this manufactured background work spoils my appreciation for the work itself, but it reminds me that when you saw it in the background of a SPIDER-MAN in the ’60s or ’70s, it was the work of a human (Tony Mortellero) and not a computer. Like the passing of hand-lettering (both copy and display) in comic books, we’re losing backgrounds too, since both are considered scut work, and I can’t help but wonder when some company doesn’t go fully artificial on the actual characters too, since it will be cheaper to simply have artists design the characters and leave the actual drawing to a machine which can reproduce their style better and faster than they can. Until the AI can do the design work itself, then the comics need never end with the death of the originator. Who knows–it could very well save comic books at the financial level.