If Ai is so uncreative, why are you using technology (photoSLOP) to draw a cliche 100 ish year old Corporate SLOP character?
Kind of proves all the screaming about AI is "Hallp us! Thur Turkin r jurrb!" and wanting to do one of 99 cover variants for the 1/2 issue of the re-re-re-release of Bat-Mutant...competing with 3rd worlders for the tragic low 'wages'...
By all means I'd support a human ONLY league - but it'd have to be ANALOG.
Rules - use any reference - pinterest, 3DCG, paused videos, models, persons... even Ai. BUT - NO TRACING. That means lightboard, projection, tracing over a monitor, camera obscura/lucida... ONLY eye to mind to hand to paper. 70% outside the computer - full linework and ideally color. Pencils, pens, brushes, inks, paints, paper, canvas. If you are afraid of ruining your ink work just photocopy it and color it. IF you color inside the computer ONE layer - "Auto Color" IS an Ai based tool just pre generative era.
ONLY new characters, stories, independently owned...
That remaining 30% where PhotoSLOP does minor corrections and prepares for print/web/distribution cost a LOT of "Jurrbz" and nobody cared...
This would be a re-launch of the 1960s Underground Comix and early Direct Market 1980s movement in essence. The fans would besiege the local comic stores with requests to carry these on consignment - so no risk free inventory and $ is split if a sale, if not sold after a while they are moved to the next store and the creatives (and kind fans) need to pay for the printing of their books BUT this model they can do ultra low print runs. If these take off these first printings will be GOLD for collectors...
Another cool thing - since there's AI and before we had bland PhotoSLOP tracing of Google/3D images we'll have what we had with this underground/direct market - a wild anarchy of styles and stories. They'll have to draw things good to look at and do good stories of course but won't be slaved to bland realism....
Nowadays the monopoly Corporate SLOP companies chew up and regurgitate mostly Bronze Age stories and the "Art" is bland realism from tracing so it's hard to tell one illustrator from another. The "Debate" on Ai again is just fear for one's "Jrrrb!" there's ZERO "Art" left, it's all just a craft and nobody cares that fabric, containers, utensils are all the same made by machines with slight variations, do they... And indies using Ai on their own isn't going to "Turk R Jurrb!" the big Companies are going to do it since they own the "Copyright" for all the "Bat-Mutants" ancient properties and all the Art is theirs to train an AI with no "Theft" at least well look how brutal they were to the various creators...
Wouldn't it be COOL to see a shelf full of hand drawn comics forced by fans into every comic store as wild as the 80s and crazy as the 60s indies...? THAT should be the reaction to AI - a "Human League" for one field an individual or small team CAN master - the comic book. Not whining online "Hallp us! Turk R Jurrbz!"