Once again, my week to write Previously On starts with the impact of artificial intelligence on creators. Procreate made a public statement regarding their stance on AI:
Generative AI is ripping the humanity out of things. Built on a foundation of theft, the technology is steering us toward a barren future. We think machine learning is a compelling technology with a lot of merit, but the path generative AI is on is wrong for us.
Besides calling out, correctly, generative AI as theft, they go on to emphasize that creators work belongs to them and that they do not track activity in their app.
Nada Mougheeth, wife of Ashraf Omar, spoke with The New Arab in an exclusive interview. On July 22nd, Omar was abducted by Egyptian government security forces and later charged with terrorism-related crimes as a result of his satirical cartoons about the Egyptian government.
Mattel and DC announced on Instagram their release of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy dolls, placing emphasis on them being “best friends,” which they might as well have called them “roommates.” Fortunately, folks are making clear in the comments that these two are more than friends, and it’s canon.
Now let’s end things on a lighter note.
Garth Ennis, Ram V, Marguerite Bennett, Joe Pruett, and Adam Glass have launched a new publishing company called Ninth Circle, an imprint of Image. Ninth Circle borrows its name from Dante’s Inferno and will, surprise, focus on horror comics with plenty of dark comedy thrown in the mix! The plan is to deliver monthly double-shot comics, starting with Ennis’s Freddie the Fix, a horror comedy, that will debut in December. There’s more on the plate for 2025, including one by Marguerite Bennett and illustrated by Jill Thompson (cue squeeing).
Ahead of his debut in the newest Superman movie, DC is launching a new series for quirky superhero Metamorpho. Al Ewing and Steve Lieber will lead the charge and promise to keep the tone as cheeky as the original. In a press release on the DC blog, Ewing promises:
“This is 100% fun comics, delivered with total confidence, visceral joy and absolutely no winking to the camera. It’s a love letter to Bob Haney, Ramona Fradon and the spirit of superheroes at their wildest and weirdest—we’re aiming to catch the essential fab-freakiness of Metamorpho like lightning in a bottle and get groovy with it in our own special way.”
That’s it for this week’s Previously On. Stay tuned to WWAC this week for reviews from the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, and we’ll see you for next week’s Previously On!
