Are AI comics telling good tales? An investigation

[Editor’s note: We here at the Beat are aware of the controversy about AI generated art and writing and we believe in and support the efforts of human artists. We’re against AI art that impersonates the work of artists or attempts to conceal its true nature. Those who think AI is a high-quality form of outsourced labor may be in for a rude awakening, and we support those who are working to make AI algorithms use exclusively opted-in and public domain sources.

But we’re also aware that the technology is likely here to stay, and is already being used experimentally by some in our comics community (who are adding their humanity and storytelling skills to the process). To that end, we’re presenting this survey of early efforts in AI comics making. Will these be remembered as nostalgically surreal artifacts or the first steps in a new form of expression? Here’s where we begin to find out.

Also: Please be kind. We know stress is high, but don’t take it out on a fellow creative. The creators featured here are respectful, hard-working, and transparent, and in many cases were empowered to create something that otherwise would never have existed.]

by C. Stern

Artificial intelligence (AI) artwork mills like Midjourney, DALL-E and Stable Diffusion have lately superior in leaps and bounds, attracting extra severe curiosity. Professional artists have comprehensible considerations concerning the moral use of that expertise, and the way it might relate to their futures. Numerous comics creators have weighed in on social media about AI artwork, and plenty of different essential conversations are persevering with to occur throughout the online.

No one is aware of for certain what automation via AI will do to creative professions long run. What is evident, although, is that, like it or hate it, the genie is out of the bottle.

Indie creators have already begun to make use of AI-generated artwork of their comics. Several of these comics middle their works round semi-dystopian commentary on AI itself: notably, Christen Bach in Entering the Data Core, Carson Grubaugh (with C.S. Lewis’ textual content) in The Abolition of Man, and The Singularity by Kris McDermott a.okay.a. “The Maphatter”.

Numerous information articles focus on the novelty of some creations and who obtained there first (the glory of first graphic novel with AI artwork may go to Lungflower by sci-fi writer Brian Martinez, revealed in June 2022). Now that the mud has settled, one other key query is: does AI artwork translate to good comics?

I learn 19 comics with AI-generated art work, all of which I downloaded or learn without cost on-line. In addition to the query of high quality, I wished to reply a couple of different questions: Do these comics share widespread traits? How concerning the creators? Are conventional comedian creators getting one thing helpful from these instruments? Here are among the broad traits I noticed:

AI Comics Creator Traits

The creators of AI comics usually fell into a number of of three classes:

1. They had a narrative imaginative and prescient that had been sitting on the backburner and have been impressed by AI artwork to make it a actuality, or AI took their concepts in a brand new route. These have been sometimes indie writers and/or designers/filmmakers/different kind of artists. This was the most important class. Several of them additionally famous that they didn’t have the assets to rent an artist, so AI was the explanation they have been capable of inform the story in any respect.
2. They have been skilled artists and writers already in comics, and used the device to increase their capabilities.
3. They discovered the AI medium fascinating (or in some circumstances, disturbing) and wished to see what the “machine” was able to. In some circumstances, in addition they AI-generated the story or visualized a narrative or poem within the public area to mess around with its potential.

AI Comics Genre & Style

Science fiction was by far the preferred style of the AI comics I might discover, with horror a powerful second. Fantasy and surrealist tales additionally made a exhibiting.

These genres appeared a mirrored image of AI’s capabilities, as futuristic pictures, surreal or fantastical surroundings, and mutated beasts are all strengths of AI artwork technology. Given present capabilities, it’s laborious to see AI succeeding at advanced superhero battle scenes or quieter slice-of-life tales with out assist from conventional artistry.

Some comics developed by creators who mixed AI artwork and story for experimentation’s sake took extra avant-garde instructions and browse much less like true tales.

Creators usually selected colourful painterly types with various ranges of realism, with a couple of choosing subdued black and white ink, line artwork, or perhaps a blended media look. Midjourney was the favored device for many. There have been no “borrowed” comedian artists’ types I might detect, apart from one paying homage to Moebius that was referred to as out as an homage within the description.

Other Traits of AI Comics

Current peculiarities to comics with AI artwork embody:

• Inconsistent faces, our bodies, props, and clothes (though grassroots communities and tutorials have sprung up the place comedian creators swap tips about main challenges like attaining character consistency, so that is already exhibiting main indicators of enchancment from new creator methods)
• Stories that concentrate on one character with only a few group pictures, characters’ faces obscured by darkness, masks, or helmets, and what seems like too many zoomed-in faces or backs of heads
• Distorted palms with too many fingers (that is presumably probably the most well-known AI artwork situation)
• Often, a visible emphasis on surroundings and ambiance over main characters, doubtless as a option to keep away from anatomical and consistency weaknesses and showcase AI’s surroundings strengths – though design consistency in environments, particularly for advanced designs, can also be missing
• Sometimes a “story” that’s extra of a philosophical musing via a surreal world with none main characters
• Faces, our bodies, and objects that look distorted or with items lacking, or that appear to mix into different issues on the planet
• “Artifacts” in surroundings, like components of a constructing that make no sense for those who look intently

Comics creation with AI proper now appears partly a technique of creators accepting that their work can have sure peculiarities and making an attempt to emphasise the areas the place the artwork is robust.

Reading certainly one of these comics can really feel akin to watching The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, during which Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all stepped in to play Heath Ledger’s character after he handed away mid-filming. All of those pictures within the comedian with completely different and/or distorted faces symbolize a single character and also you simply need to go together with it.

The necessity of steady and constant visuals in comics emphasizes the present weaknesses of AI.

The strongest works have been by creators who had the flexibility to edit the AI pictures to some extent, and had a powerful grasp of favor, structure, dialogue and lettering. Those creators have been additionally typically skilled storytellers and/or designers already.

Note: New comics are showing weekly in personal communities like closed social media teams and artist mailing lists in addition to publicly on small creator web sites.

As methods and expertise enhance, one other wave of AI comics not listed below are starting to enhance dramatically on facial and costume consistency, and among the extra apparent artifacts and anatomical issues are beginning to disappear. The sci-fi and horror genres are nonetheless among the many hottest.

Insights from Creators

Here are a couple of fascinating quotes from creators commenting on their course of:

“I’ve got many different comic stories scribbled out on notes and when I started putting together the idea of creating a graphic novel with Midjourney, everything fell into place.”

[…]

Using black and white pages helps me take away the life like strategy that many different artists are utilizing, which makes it simpler to maintain my characters extra loosely constant. For this e book, manga comics and Blade Runner are the premise for the look, after which I apply pen, pencil and ink wash types to get a pleasant number of backgrounds that don’t need to be stuffed with buildings, timber, and so on. It’s extra stylistic and illustrative.”

Then you repeat, repeat, repeat 20 extra occasions till you might have a handful of attainable components that may create one web page. Those that say you simply kind some phrases and also you’re achieved are flawed. I don’t contemplate myself an artist after I take a look at these pages. I merely say I’m a storyteller and that is my creation.”

– Randall Rozell, author of Whitaker Knox and creator of AI comedian Death’s Dream Kingdom

“There is a lot of focus on A.I. generated imagery these days, and with it a debate about its value to the arts. What is the merit of these tools? can it be categorized as original? Will it steal our jobs? Is it cheating? Is it copyright infringement? Is it art at all?”

A few weeks in the past I made a decision to dip into the A.I. pool and perform a little mission softly impressed by @davidoreilly s musing on the topic – and @booker_makes ‘ beautiful A.I. comic ‘The terrible misfortunes of an intergalactic traveler’ – amongst a lot [sic] different issues.”

I discover all the Midjourney/Dall-e/Disco Diffusion generated imagery an excellent fascinating device for us as visible storytellers. I don’t nevertheless consider the photographs has [sic] any benefit on their very own. There are a variety of good photos being generated, however it isn’t a skillful course of: It is an opportunity generator you might be curating greater than the rest.”

I see it like this: These new instruments have an immense energy. They are tremendous quick. They can tirelessly generate new variations on a theme. They are a collaborator that may excite and shock you within the artistic course of (in addition to frustrate you when you’re out for one thing actually particular). They can assist loosen your thoughts out of your regular artistic patterns. BUT… it isn’t concerning the photos being generated, it’s about how we as artists or storytellers select to make use of/curate/stage these photos.”

I began out in comics years in the past and have been interested by getting again into it for a very long time. I simply haven’t had the time between being a mum or dad and being completely swamped in animation- and VFX-work. As I began enjoying round with ‘the Tools’ it dawned on me how fast it could be to generate fairly advanced imagery and string it right into a narrative – and determined to reignite my outdated love for the comedian e book format. The course of comes with a value although. You must view the A.I. as a collaborator. You can notch it in a route, however you don’t have 100% management, so it’s essential to preserve a versatile thoughts. I generated tons of of pictures for these 10 pages, and always needed to compromise on the photographs and sequences I had locked in my thoughts whereas writing it. Still I used to be capable of churn every part out in about 3 workdays (ca. 24 hours collected) from nothing to last end result.”

– Christen Bach, Danish animation director and creator of AI comedian Entering the Data Core

Numerous creators have likened comics creation with AI-generated artwork to improv. It’s difficult to attain fascinating and constant outcomes, however generally a cool end result takes the story in an sudden route.

They sometimes famous that AI was a key contributor to their course of someplace on the duvet or throughout the description. Common patterns within the credit included “art by Midjourney” or the creators calling themselves author, imagineer, structure, storyteller, or artwork director.

Top 5 AI Comics Highlights

Here are my favourite tales from this medium to this point and why they stood out:

1. A Different Aftermath by T. Kingfisher This story revealed to Twitter might qualify as eco-fiction in addition to sci-fi. Kingfisher is each an expert fiction author and creator/artist of the webcomics Digger and different illustrated works and—maybe unsurprisingly—I discovered her comedian to be probably the most cohesive visually and narratively of all those I learn. It’s a quick however transferring and delightful piece about an environmental dystopia that she notes she in any other case wouldn’t have had time to make. She additionally used probably the most hybrid artwork technique of the comics I learn, largely with Midjourney but in addition a small quantity of DALL-E, and she or he hand drew silhouetted characters.

1. The Lesson by Steve Coulson Coulson is likely one of the most prolific creators within the AI house to this point, with 4 sci-fi comics (and counting) identified collectively as The Bestiary Chronicles. They are all freely downloadable. My favourite of the primary three was The Lesson, which options humanity studying about their very own dystopian world. Coulson appears to get pleasure from pioneering methods for utilizing AI—Midjourney on this case—sharing his ideas and discoveries for comics as he goes on. He is a artistic director for an advert company (learn: robust storyteller). His tales are set in a single universe of monsters and tech, and have a playfully retro artwork type with narrative drama and powerful command of layouts and dialogue.

1. Death’s Dream Kingdom by Randall Rozell Death’s Dream Kingdom is a brief sci-fi comedian that teases a bigger universe of time distortions and alien menace. It stood out to me for its intriguing narrative and constant character appears (uncommon within the medium). Rozell is a graphic and internet designer in addition to a comics author who efficiently Kickstarted his comedian Whitaker Knox. According to his again of the e book notes, he was compelled by the thought of creating a Midjourney-centered comedian and reworked among the Midjourney artwork with Photoshop.

1. Goats by Elvis Deane This horror comedian, accessible for a free learn on-line, incorporates a feminine protagonist who has disturbing desires that she finds tough to shake and shortly has extra nightmarish waking experiences. The story delivers a powerful sense of dread and a haunting narrative. Deane referred to as his use of Midjourney “imagineering.” In the again of the e book, he describes his earlier efforts to make comics and enhance his artwork, and that he was getting burnt out. He additionally famous that Goats, which advanced from enjoying with Midjourney, wouldn’t have occurred with out it.

1. Novel Creatures by Leonardo Roma This brief and experimental piece stretches the boundaries of each comics and authorship. Roma, a real-time 3D artist (in addition to a co-founder of Art Ex Machina, a company gathering AI sequential artwork into anthologies) used unspecified AI instruments to immediate a narrative with excerpts from Italo Calvino’s If On a Winter’s Night A Traveler… then edited, laid out, and generated AI artwork to associate with the surreal, dream-like textual content. It is Roma’s talent at artwork directing—as he calls it—that makes this work shine. He selected a mixed-media search for his imagery, which seems like paper sculpture. Each picture idea is rigorously thought out to boost the textual content: the outcomes are attractive and thought-provoking.

The others on the listing beneath are additionally value a learn: you might in all probability get via all of them in a day or two, with most being issue-length and even shorter.

Sci-Fi

1. A Different Aftermath by T. Kingfisher 
2. Chronos: the Spacetime Machine by Timothy Parish 
3. Death’s Dream Kingdom by Randall Rozell
4. Entering the Data Core by Christen Bach 
5. Exodus by Steve Coulson
6. Stargazer by Adam Rodriguez
7. The Lesson by Steve Coulson 
8. The Singularity by Kris McDermott a.okay.a. “the Maphatter”
9. The Terrible Misfortunes of an Intergalactic Traveler by Jordan Booker 
10. Zarya of the Dawn by Kristina Kashtanova 

Horror

1. Goats by Elvis Deane 
2. Lungflower by Brian Martinez
3. Mask Temple at Seorak Mountain by Yongwook Seong 
4. The Last Journey by Melita Meklusakova

Fantasy

1. AbsXess #1 by Chris English 
2. The Cell by John Osmett

Surrealist

1. The Question by C.A. Salyer 

Avant-Garde

1. Abolition of Man by Carson Grubaugh (textual content by C.S. Lewis) 

Novel Creatures by Leonardo Roma (with AI story prompts from Italo Calvino’s If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler…)

Associations Gathering AI Comics

A number of organizations have begun to gather and collectively promote comics with AI-generated artwork:

• Art Ex Machina Art Ex Machina gathers and publishes quarterly collections of AI-generated sequential artwork: collaborations between writers, artists, and AI. Stories are free to learn on their platform. Founded by Timothy Parish and Leonardo Roma, each creators of comics listed above.
• AI Comic Books Stories are additionally free to learn on this platform devoted to comics with AI artwork, with some overlap of creators. Founder Jeff Weiner introduced he additionally plans to publish print runs for distribution in comedian e book shops, in partnership with a longtime comedian e book writer.

Social media communities on channels like Facebook, YouTube and Discord have additionally gathered to share methods and art work.

Closing Thoughts

AI artwork is extending the capability of some professionals on this notoriously labor-intensive area, whereas bringing new creatives into the fold who wouldn’t in any other case have had the assets to execute their imaginative and prescient. It can also be pushing some creators in several conceptual instructions.

Editors at some conventional comics publishers—notably, BOOM! Studios, IDW, Z2, and Mad Cave Studios—have spoken out in opposition to AI artwork submissions. Jon Moisan, acquisition editor at BOOM! later up to date a tweet to make clear that he was primarily involved with artists trying to cross off AI artwork as unassisted.

A Kickstarter in Italy for a graphic novel utilizing AI as an instance the Hans Christian Andersen story “The Shadow” revealed by Inkdrop Studio met its aim a couple of months in the past. The creators observe that collage chopping and retouching of Midjourney pictures was crucial to attain the specified high quality. The creator Rozzell, whose e book is talked about above, launched a Kickstarter for an ongoing story of Death’s Dream Kingdom, additionally upfront about the usage of Midjourney, which has additionally surpassed its modest aim. There appears to be an enthusiastic readership for these works, so we might even see extra creators taking this route sooner or later.

So does AI translate to good comics? Yes, if the creators have storytelling chops and powerful visible sensibilities, however the artwork has notable limitations and quirks. For comics and different steady artwork varieties, AI artwork nonetheless requires a substantial quantity of iterative work and a creative eye to wrangle it into one thing that matches story intent. Ultimately, the standard of the comedian nonetheless comes down to 1’s human means to inform a coherent, compelling narrative and perceive the interaction between visuals and textual content.

Given the velocity at which such comics are being created, this text is certain to go old-fashioned rapidly.

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