Prompts and Circumstances

+Visual AIDS, Commander Tomorrow & Bored To Death

Awhile ago an editor I've known for many years contacted me to see if I'd be interested in writing and drawing a short, stand alone story for a back-up feature in a comic book mini-series. He was working for an independent publisher known for its marketing stunts that disgruntled creators, retailers and customers. I had serious misgivings but needed the work (welcome to the freelance life).

The caveat was that the editors of the publishing house would provide a few prompts. Story ideas tailored for a creator to develop and manifest once approved. The reason a prompt was given was so the publisher could claim ownership and retain full copyright. As if saying, "Tell a story about a man who can fly" gave a publisher the rights to Superman, knowing fully well that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster wrote and drew much more than just about a man who could fly. Not the greatest example because the origins of creating and selling the Superman story is a wholly different situation, (which veers into work-for-hire assignments and is a whole other beast when working in the franchise business). But I think you get what I mean. Bottom line: I was given a few prompts by the radical publisher. One I personally connected with, one I didn't, and one I thought my studio mate could do a great job writing.

My studio mate wrote a brilliant script and we produced a really cool and heartfelt tale that wound up in the back of a comic book nobody could find anywhere. Fans of ours asked where they could buy it. We had no idea. It was absurd and frustrating. All a communication artist wants more than money is to be able to communicate their art. I've come to understand that my work isn't finished until you've received it. But our effort was reduced to a rare item. A collectible that hardly anyone was aware of. Shortly thereafter, my editor friend quit the company. He, too, couldn't make sense of them.

But this isn't about a radical comic book publisher with antithetical publishing practices. This is about the word "prompt." As if it's just enough to provide a one sentence prompt and pay creators a one-time buy out fee so the publisher can own something that's been nuanced and exponentially expanded into something so much more.

Nobody put a gun to my head and forced me to co-create something I didn't own. I did it because I needed the money and, more importantly, I wanted to collaborate with my studio mate. The biggest crime was that nobody ever saw or read it. But this gig made me think more about Artificial Intelligence and the ability for anyone with a keyboard to type a few prompts into an AI story/art generator that could immediately vomit out reams of an elaborate response. And the more we employ AI, the more we feed it, the smarter it will get. The better the stuff it will spit out in record time. I started to think about the future of publishing where authors will be usurped by editors who will become prompters and flood the market with cost-effective stories co-created by machines. Airport spinner racks dominated by novels produced “From the minds of...”

On some level, I'm curious to see a publisher unapologetically double-down on AI produced prose and art. It's probably already happening. As publishing companies continue to reduce their staff or collapse altogether, I don't blame some money-makers trying to make a fast buck with get rich schemes. I mean, don't giant corporations basically hire smart people to provide expert prompts and staff a laboratory of young creators and technicians to test ideas? Isn't that how a lot of things get made already? Wasn't Stan Lee the last man standing at Timely Comics in 1961, doors about to shutter, when Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko came in and lent their monumental talents to help launch Marvel Comics?

Not to knock some of the greatest producers of pop culture and artistic movements. Idea people who lay down the foundations for what's to come. Some of those producers are incredible progenitors who break molds and galvanize innovation. They can “see” the future. Imagine if I had a ton of great ideas but no time (and money) to produce them all. Wouldn't it be prudent of me to ally with investors and other creators to help manifest all these proposed great ideas of mine?

I suppose the takeaway is that prompts come and go and come again. Rinse, repeat and hope to sell. Meanwhile, underfunded artists and outliers will always have something original and meaningful to say (for better or for worse) as they, we, me...I compete for your time, interest, and a few bucks so that I...me, we, they may live to make some more. Besides, aren't prompts something we naturally do to each other to provoke our imaginations in a studio, on a three-hour drive, walking down the street, over a fire?

I know rebelling against technology is a slippery slope since so many creators rely on it to produce and promote their art (guilty as charged). But there's gotta be a line before another person steals another image, distorts it just enough to claim creative license like a modern day Roy Lichtenstein. Before the existential equator between man and machine crackles and fizzles into something that no longer recognizes nor recommends our humanity.

I attended the opening for the annual POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, a benefit for Visual AIDS (that utilizes art to fight AIDS). The exhibition was at the Berry Campbell Gallery in NYC, from January 19 - 21, 2024. Over 1,532 artists created postcard-sized art, including myself. My piece was titled, “Toxic Optics.” Each postcard sold for $100.

Comic book writer Kevin Conn commissioned me to draw a pin-up for his sci-fi, adventure graphic novel, COMMANDER TOMORROW.

This is what Kevin had to say about his upcoming launch:

"Commander Tomorrow is a love letter to all the comics, cartoons and movies I watched while growing up. On the surface it’s a fun sci-fi adventure, but underneath deals with mental health issues.  It will be launching on Kickstarter first in April or May from Rocketship Entertainment, with a release date estimated by October of this year.

Kyle Landon is a geek in his thirties, still trying to figure out who he is and where he's heading in life. All the while, battling his depression. But now his internal war will take him to a new war in a universe based on his favorite cartoon from his childhood.

Kyle becomes COMMANDER TOMORROW and with the help of the warrior VEGA they team-up to battle the villainous ZYGORE in an emotionally intelligent Sci-Fi adventure for all ages!"

My pal/artist John Tebeau commissioned me to draw a “Bored To Death” illustration. Likeness was never my forte but it was nice to revisit this trio of well-intentioned troublemakers. Characters I used to illustrate for the HBO show (and won an Emmy Award for) created by my good friend, writer, and sometimes collaborator, Jonathan Ames, whose recent Happy Doll series of detective novels are a delight to read.

For those interested in my art, I am open for new commissions. Direct message me so we can discuss.

If you haven’t yet gotten my recent two self-published comix, Covid Cop, and Billy Dogma + Jane Legit, you can get ‘em directly from me (DM) or via my Etsy store.

See you in the gutters!

love, Dean

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