Why DC — the oldest comic book publisher — will ‘never’ use Gen AI

DC superheroes may not be human, but their creators definitely will be, as the comic book publisher pledges not to use AI-generated storytelling — “not now, not ever.”

At New York Comic Con 2025, DC's (Detective Comics) president, publisher, and chief creative officer, Jim Lee, announced to fans that the 91-year-old American comic book company will not be using generative artificial intelligence to create art for its comic books. 

According to The Verge, an American digital publication, Lee said that DC would “not support AI-generated storytelling or artwork. Not now, not ever, as long as [SVP and general manager] Anne DePies and I are in charge."

The announcement received loud cheers from the fans, as per the report. The public support hints at growing concerns about AI creeping into all kinds of art forms and threatening the livelihoods of artists.

Trivia: Detective Comics (DC) is the oldest surviving comic book publisher in the world. It was established by pulp-fiction writer Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1934 in New York City. It is responsible for giving the world iconic superheroes like Superman (1938), Batman (1939) and Wonder Woman (1941). 

Explaining his anti-AI stance for the foreseeable future, Lee, an accomplished artist himself, stated, “People have an instinctive reaction to what feels authentic. We recoil from what feels fake. That’s why human creativity matters.”

“AI doesn’t dream, it doesn’t feel. It doesn’t make art. It aggregates it," he added. 

Lee also addressed concerns about the unauthorised use of AI to represent DC heroes, noting, “Anyone can draw a cape. Anyone can write a hero. That’s been around as long as comics have been. It’s called fanfiction, and there’s nothing wrong with fanfiction.”

“But Superman only feels right when he’s in the DC universe,” he added. “Our universe, our mythos. That’s what endures. That’s what will carry us into the next century.”

DC likely made the public announcement in response to the accusations it faced for allegedly using AI in its comic art and covers starting in early 2024.

Key incidents include fan scrutiny of artist Andrea Sorrentino's work in Batman: Joker Year One around March 2024. The publisher was also forced to replace multiple variant covers by artist Daxiong (Jingxiong Guo) in April 2024 and others by Francesco Mattina later that year, all due to strong suspicions of generative AI use.

In yet another use of generative AI in the comic book world, legendary comic book creator Stan Lee, who passed away in 2020, was resurrected using a gen-AI hologram at the Los Angeles Comic Con in September 2025, leading to public outrage. 

Art and AI-generated art have been at odds with each other for as long as the latter has been coded into existence. Both Disney and Universal Studios sued Midjourney, an AI image generator, in June 2025, alleging copyright infringement for generating their iconic characters like Darth Vader and the Minions.

Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki has famously criticised AI as "an insult to life itself" in response to the viral controversy surrounding "Ghibli-style" AI-generated images, which has sparked a worldwide ethical debate and legal speculation regarding the unauthorised use of his highly recognisable art without his consent.