DC Comics Pulls Upcoming Variants Over A.I. Allegations

DC Comics is taking some A.I. allegations very seriously by pulling three planned variant covers. The publisher has removed the variants after allegations that artist Daxiong (Jingxiong Guo) used generative A.I. to make them. DC first addressed the accusations by launching an investigation into the claims. Of course, it seems that the investigation found something to stop the release of the planned variants. The variant covers were planned for upcoming issues of Wonder Woman, Power Girl, and Shazam. New variant covers have already been solicited for the three titles. 

DC Comics And A.I.

DC Comics came to the decision to remove Daxiong’s variants after several people online began accusing the artist of using the computer generating system. People, like award-winning colorist Joe Villarubia, noted that the artwork read high on popular A.I. detection sites. However, Daxiong denies such allegations. He claims that as an artist, A.I. and this “witch hunt” hurts him as well. Though many have noted that he generally shares videos on social media of his process but has not shared a process video for these sketches. Daxiong claims he spoke with DC and they were considering changing the covers over the controversy not over any proof of A.I. use.  

This is not the first time that A.I. accusations have followed a DC Comics series. Last month, writer and designer James Leech accused the new Batman series of utilizing A.I. artwork. This was based off of several telltale signs that indicate the use of artificial intelligence. This includes several errors in anatomy, like odd hands, that most human artists would not make.

New Covers

Still, DC Comics is replacing Daxiong’s three variants. A new trio of artists have amassed new covers for the titles. This includes Dave Johnson who crafted a new variant for Power Girl #10. Meanwhile, Cully Hamner is doing the variant for Shazam #13 and Dan Panosian is tackling Wonder Woman #10.