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Lee has drawn creative inspiration for his unconventional baseball heroes from the Sammi Superstars, one of the pioneering professional baseball teams in South Korea. Their story of resilience resonated deeply in a nation often overshadowed by military rule. This connection helped Lee’s series cultivate a dedicated following among those yearning for a creative outlet amid political constraints, captivated by his striking artistry and cinematic storytelling that pushed the boundaries of traditional cartooning.
The central character, Kkachi, in A Daunting Team, serves as a representation of Lee himself. Sporting wild, spiky hair, Kkachi embodies the spirit of a rebellious underdog, passionately confronting societal challenges with a courageous heart. He has emerged as a recurring figure in numerous works by Lee, evolving each time with a richer emotional depth. Kkachi has taken on various forms, portraying a supernatural savior in Armageddon and a tenacious police officer tackling a formidable crime syndicate in Karon’s Dawn, ultimately becoming a cultural symbol in South Korea over the decades.
However, Lee expresses concerns for Kkachi’s legacy. He observes a stark contrast between South Korea’s artistic landscape and that of the U.S., mentioning that characters often fade into obscurity with their creators. “In South Korea, when an author dies, his characters also get buried in his grave,” Lee reflects. He yearns for a lasting artistic legacy where his characters continue to inspire future generations on digital platforms. “Even after I die, I want my worldviews and characters to communicate and resonate with the people of a new era. That’s the kind of immortality I desire,” he states.
To achieve his vision, Lee believes artificial intelligence (AI) can play a crucial role. Collaborating with Jaedam Media, a web comics production firm in Seoul, he has developed the “Lee Hyun-se AI model.” This initiative enhances the open-source AI art generator Stable Diffusion, crafted by the UK startup Stability AI. The model is specifically fine-tuned using a dataset of 5,000 comic volumes that represent Lee’s prolific career spanning 46 years, aiming to replicate his distinct artistic style.
This year marks the release of his inaugural AI-assisted web comic, a reimagining of his 1994 work, Karon’s Dawn. The reworked narrative transforms the story into a modern crime drama featuring Kkachi as a contemporary police officer in Seoul, alongside his love interest, Umji, a bold prosecutor. Art students at Sejong University, where Lee serves as a lecturer in comics, are tasked with creating visuals employing his innovative AI model.
The creation process is multifaceted. Initially, Lee’s AI model produces illustrations derived from text prompts and reference visuals, such as 3D anatomical models and hand-drawn sketches that serve as guides for action and expression. Lee’s students then refine and adjust these illustrations, fine-tuning character poses, enhancing expressions, and blending them into dynamic comic layouts that AI alone cannot achieve. Following several rounds of refinement, Lee adds his unique artistic touch to finalize the work.
AI developers envision a future where artists can minimize the repetitive tasks of drawing and redirect their creative energy towards storytelling and artistic direction.
“Under my direction, a character might glare with sad eyes even when they’re angry or display fierce eyes when they’re happy,” Lee explains. “It’s a subversive expression, a nuance that AI struggles to capture. Those intricate details I feel compelled to oversee myself.”
Ultimately, Lee aspires to create an AI system that reflects his detailed approach to human emotion. His ambitious project involves developing a “Lee Hyun-se simulation agent”—a further evolution of his AI model designed to emulate his creative thought processes. This advanced model would undergo training using a digital archive encompassing Lee’s essays, interviews, and comic texts—all of which were highlighted in an exhibit at the National Library of Korea last year—aiming to encapsulate his philosophies, personality traits, and values. “It’s going to take a long time for AI to absorb my various worldviews because I’ve produced so much material,” he notes.
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