“Superman fights Catupus-man in 1930s Cinema Hall” by Severin Sorensen on 4/10/23 using MidJourney AI for personal and educational use only. Not for reproduction.

Prompt: Superman fighting cactuspus man based in the 1930s cinema hall.

No this did not truly happen, nor was this catapusman character ever an action figure. I was reaching for the absurd and challenged AI to create a new super hero villain to fight the much beloved Superman. I asked it to create fanciful characters like Catapusman and Octopusman and it came up with some wonderful renderings.

Now here is the problem for would-be artists wanting to use MidJourney or other tools. The “Superman” Character is well known and is the property of DC Comics. And while the artwork above is entirely original, the character seed or inspiration of Superman along with the memorable “S” logo on the breast are clearly the property of DC Comics. I strongly encourage those creating art to NOT use characters and figures that are copyrighted as seeds, lest you fall into a potential legal snare.

Presently you are allowed to use a style, however I encourage you not to use a likeness or image of a protected character or attribute in your image creations. Further, while the suggestions above may sound reasonable, please check with your own attorney or legal advisors for current information on legal issues involving imagery, copyrights, and the law.

By the way, for those who are interested, on April 18, 1938, National Publications released their first issue of Action Comics highlighting a character hero named Superman. It was a popular comic that has take on greater and greater audiences over the decades.