“We’re not machines, we’re people” – comic artists speak out on AI
by https://www.creativebloq.com/author/joel-meadows · Creative Bloq
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What's the Lake Como Comic Arts Festival?
Established by the American convention organiser Steve Morger, a promoter of the Big Wow! Comic Fest in San Jose, California, and the French comic showrunner and retailer Arno Lapeyre, one of the forces behind the Paris Comics Expo, the Lake Como Comic Arts Festival is uniquely just about comic art. It has now grown into arguably the world's premier show focused on comic art.
The spectre of AI is creeping into every aspect of our lives, and it has felt for some time as if artists and creatives in general are on the front line. We’ve heard how comic artists such as Stanley 'Artgerm' Lau have even told us, “In the future, there will be fewer artists like me – real artists”.
With that in the back of my mind, I attended the new-ish, by Comic-Con standards, Lake Como Comic Art Festival, founded back in 2018. Unlike other traditional comic conventions, Lake Como is a festival purely dedicated to the art of comics and its practitioners. It has other unique approaches too: tickets are capped, and fans can interact with their favourite creators without spending hours queuing with hundreds of others. Its location, the 18th-century Villa Erbe on the shores of Lake Como, is unlike anything else.
This year’s Como show featured over 60 artists from the US, the UK, and Europe, and included acclaimed illustrator Bill Sienkiewicz (Batman, Daredevil), UK comics veteran Alan Davis (Captain Britain, Excalibur), show regular David Mack (Daredevil), legendary Spanish comics illustrator Juanjo Guarnido (Blacksad) and iconic Spanish artist Jordi Bernet (Jonah Hex, Torpedo) were just a few of the guests at this year’s show. British artist Liam Sharp created a Conan portfolio, showcasing images he created specifically for this item, which was available for purchase only during the show’s weekend.
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The impact of AI on art
And so, with such a focus on handmade, human-made, often traditionally drawn and painted art, AI is becoming an increasing topic of discussion amongst these artists and the comics industry in general. To hear what’s what, I got two of the guests at this year’s show to offer their take on the subject.
David Mack, artist on Daredevil and creator of his own Kabuki series, who’s been a regular at Como for many years now, had this to say about AI and how it could affect both this show and in a wider context his own work and career: “I'm just focused on my work, making my work the way I like to make it, so I don't really have an interest in using it [AI], and I just like making stuff by hand. We're not machines, we're people.”
He adds, “We can't do everything precisely. Probably because of [AI], people who make handmade art will be more in demand. That'll be a more precious commodity because not everyone can replicate it. Talking about the tactile nature of things and a real 3D material object that exists in the physical world. People like that, and that'll probably be even more treasured, in the future, if more and more people lean towards prompting things on AI to magically just make something.”
British artist Gary Frank, whose career has included drawing Hulk for Marvel but who has now won plaudits as artist on Image’s Hyde Street, part of Image’s Ghost Machine imprint, had his own take on AI: “I think AI is possibly something which has its uses. I don't think that any of those uses include making art, because art is a human thing. The worry I've got is not so much that AI is going to replace people like me, because I'm known and people know I'm a real person.”
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He explains it's the next generation of artists who could suffer more, saying: “My worry is the next generation coming through. So we're going to have to compete with dishonest actors who are using AI to fake stuff. We've already seen a little bit of this in the comic industry with people using AI to fake covers. So it's more whether it ends up making it difficult or impossible or damaging the prospects of young people coming through.”
Lake Como Comic Art Festival is an annual celebration of the best in comic art from creators from around the world in a tranquil and unique setting, and fans should try to make it to this show at least once in their lives. It's spaces like this that are becoming increasingly vital for artists to share their work and fight the creep of AI.
But how do you think AI is and will affect art and comic art? Take our poll below and let us know in the Comments.