Mike Richardson (picured above) actually is aware of comics! The veteran comics writer and media producer has been within the enterprise for nearly 4 a long time, founding Darkish Horse Comics in 1986, after he used the earnings from his early book-shop enterprise to launch what would turn into one of the vital influential unbiased comics homes within the US, with early successes together with main licensed strains (reminiscent of Aliens and Star Wars tie-ins) and creator-owned hits.
From the beginning, Richardson constructed Darkish Horse on a easy however revolutionary precept of giving creators possession of their work, and that ethos rapidly attracted a number of the largest names in comics. Through the years, artists and writers reminiscent of Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, and Gerard Means have all discovered a inventive house beneath the Darkish Horse banner, producing groundbreaking collection like Sin Metropolis, Hellboy, The Masks, and The Umbrella Academy.
With Richardson’s dedication to creators proudly owning their very own work, it’s no shock that he has numerous opinions on AI. Talking at Lucca Comics & Video games 2025, Richard weighed in on the subject…
“We don’t enable AI in our books…,” he affirmed. “What bothers me is that individuals are borrowing different folks’s work, as a result of that’s what it’s. I’m undecided how that may ever be resolved. As a result of should you’re utilizing AI, you’re utilizing all the things else, and also you’re simply tailoring it for what you need.
“I believe that there’s additionally a chance for excellent exploitation in a foul means. That’s the scary factor and naturally, we simply had a writers’ strike over AI. Comedian creators are very involved about AI (although some are utilizing it for backgrounds) however we’re making an attempt to maintain it out of our comics for now. We’ll see the place it goes sooner or later. You’ll be able to’t cease it.
“As Jim Cameron stated, we’re all going to be destroyed by it sometime!”
Lucca Comics & Video games 2025 is happening from 29 October to 2 November. Discover out extra concerning the competition – together with which visitors are already introduced to attend – right here.
