Quick Hits | DC is looking into whether Andrea Sorrentino used AI to create art for a recent ‘Batman’ story

Plus: Steve Ditko is a Disney Legend, Ngozi Ukazu, Denny O’Neil, banned books and more!

DC is investigating whether artist Andrea Sorrentino used AI to create some of the artwork in a recent Batman arc. Sorrentino contributed some of the artwork to the recent “The Joker Year One” story that ran in Batman #142-144, and that work has come into question as to whether he drew it or if he used AI in some capacity.

A spokesperson for DC Comics told indy100 that”DC Comics has longstanding policies in place that all artwork must be the artist’s original work. We are looking into the specifics of this situation.”

The concern was initially raised on social media by James Leech, who expressed his concerns that Sorrentino hadn’t drawn the artwork himself. “First off, there are the usual telltale signs – strange anatomy, errors a human is unlikely to make. The weird hands, Joker being insanely ripped in one panel and wasting away in another. His wandering nipples!” Leech said. “Secondly, there’s the style, which Sorrentino doesn’t appear to have used before outside of a couple of instagram posts. His other work is very distinctive – heavily photo-referenced, high contrast lighting. This is quite a departure from that. Not enough on its own, but telling.”

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Comics Lowdown: Rest in peace Sam Glanzman, George Romero

Plus: teen romance, and Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and others become Disney Legends

Sam Glanzman (1924-2017): Navy veteran and and Eisner Award-nominated comic artist Sam Glanzman, 92, passed away July 12. Over the span of his 75-year career in comics, Glanzman worked for Marvel, DC Comics, Charlton, Harvey and Dell, among others, on titles like G.I. Combat, Sgt. Rock, Hercules, Jonah Hex, Fightin’ Army, Savage Tales, Semper Fi, Zorro and Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle. Marvel published his A Sailor’s Story graphic novel in 1987, a personal account of his time on the U.S.S. Stevens during World War II. A sequel followed. New stories about his time on the U.S.S. Stevens appeared in DC’s Joe Kubert Presents six-issue anthology limited series, and those stories, along with the two volumes of A Sailor’s Story, were collected in U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories, which is nominated for the Eisner Award this year. A successful Kickstarter campaign to bring Red Range, a story drawn by Glanzman and written by Joe R. Lansdale, recently wrapped up.

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