Francesco Mattina has a controversial history of allegedly plagiarising and stealing the work of other artists for his DC Comics contributions. Despite that, he's still gainfully employed and has at least three covers which are being released by the publisher this September.
However, it's his Action Comics #1069 cover that's generating considerable negative attention today.
As you'll see in the X posts below, there are telltale signs of the piece being AI-generated. As is so often the case with any image dreamed up by artificial intelligence, there are errors which stand out like a sore thumb; in this instance, it's an extra piece of Superman's iconic "S" shield.
Fans and artists alike have expressed their unhappiness with DC Comics' willingness to allow one of its most prolific artists to use AI, with one of the loudest voices being acclaimed artist Adi Granov.
Best known for his work on Iron Man - a comic book gig which led to him being enlisted by Marvel Studios to design the Armored Avenger's live-action suit - Granov has long criticised Mattina.
He wasn't holding back with his latest post on Facebook, though...
When image generators first came to prominence the first person who came to mind was the serial plagiarist Francesco Mattina as I thought he'd think all his Christmases have come at once. If you don't remember, he made a whole career out of photobashing other people's art (mine included) into whatever you want to call his 'work.'"
"I don't post about artists I dislike, but I neither consider him an artist nor can I hide my dislike for the continued blatant plagiarism. Anyhow, here's his new cover. Not only is he a hack, but he's not even good enough to hide the glaring mistake on one of the most iconic symbols in all of pop-culture."
Alex Garner, Jeehyung Lee, and Walter O'Neill are among the artists to have called Mattina out over the years, though it appears to have made little difference to his standing in DC Comics.
Whether AI has a place in comic books is up for debate but, as with most artforms, it seems to be on the rise whether fans like it or not.