Stardust’s Eisner Nomination Removed from Ballot while Comic-Con takes a look at its Submission Policy
Last week, we broke the news that a nominee for the 2026 Eisners featuring some AI work. Stardust the Super Wizard Anthology was nominated this year under “Best Anthology.” Managed by Van Jensen, the anthology featured an impressive amount of talent and raised over $39,000 from 614 supporters on the Zoop crowdfunding platform.
One of those who contributed was Michael Todasco using his “AI persona,” Alex Irons for an included page. Irons has an author page on Amazon showing numerous releases over the years and the bio admits it being an AI “author.” Todasco boasted on LinkedIn about the page inclusion in the anthology. You can see Todasco’s post as well as the page from the anthology on our original article. Below is the author bio from Amazon.
Alex Irons is not a real person. Books under his name are written by AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, and other large language models. The real-life person guiding those queries is a writer, entrepreneur, and technology enthusiast currently pursuing an MFA in writing at Johns Hopkins University.
All proceeds from Alex’s books go to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley.
Numerous contributors have come out publicly stating that they had no idea about the use of AI until after it was decided and the inclusion was not disclosed on the crowdfunding page.
As you can imagine, the nomination ignited a firestorm with petitions launched to not just rescind the nomination but also ask Comic-Con and the Eisners to create a policy regarding AI and its use in works submitted for nomination in future awards.
Comic-Con has released a statement that Stardust‘s nomination has been rescinded by its editor and that the convention will look at drafting a policy that will impact future awards.
In light of the recent disclosure that Artificial Intelligence was included in a work submitted for Eisner Award consideration, the judges have indicated that had they been aware of this information, they would not have voted for its inclusion. The editor of the anthology in question has also rescinded this submission for inclusion. Therefore, the submission has been removed from the list of nominees and will not appear on the ballot.
It is clear that the ever evolving landscape of technology, as it relates to art, will benefit from further review and discussion. For this reason, San Diego Comic Convention will undertake that effort and will produce a policy that better reflects its long standing efforts in the protection of artists and creators alike.
-Comic-Con International
