Following DC licensee VeVe's announcement of aį£ new line of Baź§tman Black and White digital statues tied to NFT (Non Fungible Token) authentication, the widow of Darwyn Cooke has asked DC not to use images created by her late husband as a basis for NFT crypto art. NFT crypto art has been a recentšÆ toš pic of controversy due to the large environmental cost of producing NFTs.
Marsha Cooke, who manages Cooke's estate, that she did not approve of the use of her husband's art for NFT crypto art, š¹citing the environmental costs associated with it.
"Back briešfly to put notiš§ce up that I will not be participating in NFT crypto art, it's an environmental disaster and you shouldn't participate either," Cooke posted on her previously dormant Twitter account.
"Consider this legal notice that no Darwyn Cooke artworks that I have control of will be offered as NFTs and any that appearš¤” are with the objection of his estate," her Twitter thread continues. "I will reconsider this at a point where the environmental issues had been addressed."
Newsarama reached out to Cooke regarding the VeVe NFT statue based on Darwyn's Batman design, following . Cooke states she has asked DCą¦ to remove her husband's name and wš¦ork from the project.
"I don't support the use of Darwyn's work in the NFT system based on the enviź¦æronmental impact these types of transactions have on the planet," Cooke tells Newsarama. "If the NFT system is a sustainable one, it will be around in the future. I have called DC and am waiting for a return call to discuss how we can remove Darwyn from this project until environmental issues are addressed. I've always had a good relationship with DC so I expect they will respect my decision."
Meanwhile, artist Gary Frank, whose desš¦ign forms the basis of another of VE-VE's most recent line of NFT art, also voiced his "bewilderment" at the use of his design for an NFT digital statue.
"I'll echo what Marsha said," Frank tšÆells Newsarama when reached for comment. "This is the first I've heard of it. I have no interest - financial or actual - in NFTs beyond bewilderment at what people can be persuaded to pay for."
The line of four stšatues (with the remaining two based on the art of DC publisher/chief creative officer Jim Lee and artist Jae Lee) is not the first line of NFš T crypto art digital Batman Black and White statues VeVe has released. This is the crypto art curator's fourth wave of Batman Black and White NFT statues, but the first to gain notoriety, due to the for crypto art pieces.
VeVe has also produced a line of four Harley Quinn digital NFT statues based on the art of Guillem March,ź¦ Babs Tarr, Terry Dodson, and Steve Pugh.
NFTs are essentially unreproducible digital certificates of ownership that denote the holder of the NFT as the 'owner' of a piece of digital art by linking it to Bitcoin-style blockchains which provide verifiable encryptź¦ion for the digital art tied to the NFT. While an NFT does not prevent the reproduction of digital work, it does denote one version of the digital art as the 'original,' owned by the holder of thše NFT.
Like mining bitcoin, produciāng NFTs requires significant electricity consumption in order to power the computers which create the NFT. This has led to widespread criticism of the idea of creating NFT art, which drastically increases the environmental impact of individual digš¬ital artists.
As of publicatiź§on, DC has not responded to Newsarama's request for comment on the matter.
is a subsidiary of Singapore-based crypto company . Neither VeVenor Ecomi could be reached for comment. Ecomi's website describes the company as the proprietors of "a oneš-stop-shop for digital collectibles through the VeVe app bringing pop culture and entertainment into the 21st century. Ecomi sees digital collectibles as a new asset class whā±ich offers intellectual property owners the opportunity for new revenue streams in the digital landscape."
Darwyn Cooke, Gary Frank, Jae Lee, and Jim Lee have all drawn signature Batmans. Newsarama looks at the creators who've had the ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:most impact on the Caped Crusader over eight decades.
I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictšures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)
