Image Comics co-founder and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane is getting heat from comic book professionals and fans for allegedly letting an AI-generated entry win a recent Spawn art contest.
In January 2024, Todd McFarlane launched “Spawnuary”, a promotional event inviting artists to submit speculative cover artwork for his Spawn comic book series. The challenge promised that selected entries would feature as variant covers for published issues. Among the winners was artist Luis Ruiz, known as @robot9000 on Instagram, whose victory stirred controversy due to suspicions of AI involvement in his submitted artwork.
CONGRATULATIONS SPAWNUARY 2024 WINNERS! Be on the lookout for a DM from us with NEXT STEPS!
THANK YOU to the THOUSANDS that participated and made this contest AWESOME!TODD.
#toddmcfarlaneproductions #spawnuary #spawnchallenge #toddmcfarlane #spawnuniverse pic.twitter.com/hNmH0XbxHP
— Todd McFarlane (@Todd_McFarlane) March 12, 2024
Ruiz’s entry showcased imagery resembling the iconic character Gunslinger Spawn, a creation associated with McFarlane’s Spawn universe. Another entry is supposedly Violator, though the image itself has very little resemblance to Spawn’s longtime adversary.
Despite Ruiz’s assertion that his submission was solely the product of his artistic prowess, scrutiny arose when it was discovered that similar images attributed to Ruiz appeared in his Midjourney gallery, a platform known for showcasing AI-generated artwork. Notably, these images bore prompts referencing another artist, Ashley Wood, who has contributed to Spawn comics in the past. On X (formerly Twitter), Devrim Kunter shared the discovery via a tweet.
Hey @Todd_McFarlane ! The picture in which the robot9000 participated in the competition is directly from midjourney. This is proof.#toddmcfarlaneproductions #spawnuary #spawnchallenge #toddmcfarlane #spawnuniverse https://t.co/U0Y7zFys2A pic.twitter.com/HOlnqPUW6z
— Devrim Kunter (@devrimkunter) March 17, 2024
The revelation sparked outcry among comic book enthusiasts and industry professionals, who questioned the authenticity of Ruiz’s submission and its compliance with the Spawn art contest rules, which explicitly prohibited AI-generated entries. Calls for disqualification ensued (given that it was specifically stated A.I. would not be allowed under the rules), yet neither McFarlane nor his team have addressed the controversy or responded to the mounting criticism as of the time of this writing.
The controversy underscores broader concerns within the comic book community regarding AI-generated imagery and its implications for artistic integrity and ownership rights. McFarlane, a pivotal figure in the industry as a co-founder of Image Comics, played a significant role in championing creator ownership—a principle that challenged the dominance of established publishers like DC and Marvel.
Todd McFarlane cut his teeth as an aspiring comic book artist. The Canadian comic book superstar would finally hit the big leagues being hired to handle the art chores for The Amazing Spider-Man. McFarlane put his stamp on the modernized look of the Wall-Crawler, thanks to his dynamic action poses, detailed linework, and popularizing the “spaghetti webbing” look to Spidey’s webshooters.
After a 29-issue run, McFarlane would expand to writing his own stories in a new standalone Spider-Man title. But his biggest power move would be quitting from Marvel Comics and forming Image Comics with other superstar creators. They would establish their own creator-owned superhero properties such as Rob Liefeld (Youngblood), Jim Lee (Wild C.A.T.S.), Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), Whilce Portacio (Wetworks), Marc Silvestri (Cyberforce), and Jim Valentino (Shadowhawk). Todd McFarlane’s own contribution would be Spawn, thereby starting a franchise that has found multimedia success in comic books, animation, video games, toys, and feature films.
The emergence of AI-generated artwork poses challenges to the foundational principles of comic books of the past, as it blurs the line between original creation and automated production. Issues such as ownership rights, copyright infringement, and artistic attribution come to the forefront, raising concerns about the future landscape of artistic expression in the comic book industry.
On that note, Image Comics’ ethos prioritized creators’ rights and autonomy. But that contrasts sharply with the current era’s exploitation of the art of creators, facilitated by AI art platforms like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion with their reliance on copyrighted content in their datasets.
As discussions surrounding AI-generated art continue to evolve, it prompts reflection on the core values that define the comic book community and its commitment to fostering creativity, innovation, and ethical practices. But with a figurehead as big as Todd McFarlane now seemingly apathetic toward the abuse of AI as reflected in the “Spawnuary” contest controversy, how should the industry address the growing influence of AI technology while upholding the principles of artistic integrity and creator rights?