AI ?
Should AI-generated content be used in the production of comic books?
Because of the rapid advancement of AI, a creative might use a variety of AI to conceptually produce a whole book from idea to final art.
But, should AI be used?
There are numerous authors and end users who believe that AI comics should not exist at all. However, times are changing, and it is difficult to reverse technology once it has been disseminated.
AI will affect everyone who uses a computer for work on a daily basis, and a large majority of the remainder will be influenced indirectly.
It doesn’t take long for artists to hear how clients are reducing their use of graphic artists. I’ve been on both sides of the fence.
Our client wanted a character design for their comic universe. We created basic concepts, added a loose history, and brought in a pro to finalize the look.
A year had gone, and AI image generation was booming. We decided to use AI to help me imagine this character once more. There were many of duds, but one concept stood out.
So we went back to the pro and had the character redesigned.
We had done all of this without the client’s knowledge because we were experimenting with how (and if) we could use AI into our production pipeline. Unbeknownst to us, the customer had gone through the same process and determined they didn’t require a graphic artist for their needs and instead relied exclusively on AI. We understood why the customer didn’t require our assistance and why it was important for them to work out their ideas on their own. AI enables you to iterate a concept at such breakneck speed that it would take a graphic designer a big multiple of time and money to complete.
Which leads me to our other AI dilemma, we are hard at work producing a 90 page graphic novel. The book is split between two art teams as the story takes place in two different realities. To visually queue the reader about which reality they are currently reading having two totally different art styles made sense. Team I steams ahead knocking out pages, meanwhile Team II is being held up by the main artist on that team. So much so that we start looking for backup artist pretty early on, however we are given assurances that they will get back on track and get through the book. The hard date comes and passes and no new pages. Around this time AI started buzzing and as we did the with the previous example we started playing around with the possibilities of completing the Team II’s art using AI. At this point we have gone through several backup artist for Team II meanwhile Team I has been finishing chapter after chapter. The idea of using AI to fill in for Team II was extremely enticing however we don’t believe the market is ready to accept a book utilizing artwork from an AI. We could be wrong but with the time and money already invested we decided to err on the side of caution.
Our thoughts and experiences with AI are multi-faceted and we still don’t have a firm like or dislike about the possibilities of using AI. Our feeling is that at some point it will be commonplace so my advice is to engage in the technology as much as you can and be ready to use it when the market feels ready for it.
Here’s an example of a comic created entirely by AI.
The developer isn’t just any ordinary person experimenting with AI; they are the creators of the Blair Witch Project. In spite of not having traditional cinema budgets, that film pushed mountains in terms of story. They had a concept but lacked the resources of Hollywood studios. So they created a plot and a shooting technique to bridge the gap between what they could do and what was currently the Hollywood standard.
AI is today’s bridge for certain creators; it will allow them to produce inexpensively and without much risk. I believe that the mindset of creation is where magic can happen, and we will all be stunned by a creation created by a dreamer with a prompt very soon.
What do you think? Take the poll below to let us know how you feel about AI being used to create Comic Books
