"Huang Illustrator" used AI to generate "customized character comics", Chinese comic fans reported the crime in anger

◆A die-hard Chinese comic fan bought a "customized character comic" from a comic fan group, only to open it and found that the compressed package was full of unsightly and obscene pictures. Seeing that the Chinese comic character he had been following for ten years was pranked like this, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, so he reported the case to the police.

◆These obscene pictures were created by Chen, a "post-00s generation". When he was looking for a way to make money, he discovered that using AI software to turn anime characters into obscene pictures was a "zero-cost" business - there was no need to have painting skills or buy expensive equipment. All he needed was a computer, an AI drawing software, input keywords to generate pictures, and he could sell them for money.

◆In order to improve his drawing skills, Chen spent day and night in various Chinese comic groups, "diligently" drawing and selling. As time went on, Chen controlled dozens of comic fan groups.

◆In order to win over customers and improve user experience, Chen has successively developed a variety of gameplay methods such as voting, crowdfunding, and customization. He also deliberately wrote prompt words and tags in English to bypass platform review.

As AI technology becomes more and more mature, some people are actually focusing on "character comics" and using AI to turn them into obscene pictures, and then make profits from them.

Hidden "Customized Character Comics"

Mr. Xu, who lives in Wucheng District, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, likes a certain Chinese comic character very much. One day in December 2025, he purchased a "customized character comic" from a comic enthusiasts group. When he happily opened the compressed package and prepared to appreciate the beautiful pictures, he found that the compressed package was full of unsightly and obscene pictures...

These obscene pictures were created by Chen. Chen is a "post-00s generation" and has been working as a waiter in a hotel before becoming a "yellow painter". Being a waiter is hard work and the salary is not high. Chen's life has been tight and stretched. In order to make more money, he tried every means to find ways to make money. One day, Chen saw a blogger sharing how to use AI software to create obscene images on the Internet, and decided to give it a try. After trying it, he found that this was a "zero-cost" business. There was no need to have painting skills or buy expensive equipment. All he needed was a computer and an AI drawing software, input keywords, generate pictures, and then sell them for profit.

In order to further improve his AI drawing skills, Chen spent day and night in various Chinese comic groups, "diligently" drawing and selling. "It's much easier to worry about than working in the wind and rain." Chen became obsessed with this "job" from then on. As time went on, Chen controlled dozens of comic fan groups, and most of the group names contained words such as "national comics", "fans" and "character exchange". In addition to selling the compressed image packages that have been produced directly in the group, in order to attract customers and improve user experience, Chen has also successively developed a variety of methods such as voting, crowdfunding, and customization.

First, fans select the Chinese comic characters they most want to "renovate". Chen is responsible for uploading the characters' images to the AI ​​software, repeatedly generating, filtering, and fine-tuning them, and finally generating a character album, which is then packaged and sold in the group at a price of 5 yuan to 20 yuan each. In order to bypass the platform review, Chen also deliberately wrote prompt words and labels in English.

Mr. Xu spent 10 yuan to buy the "Character Comic Pack" from a comic lovers group where Chen is the leader. "This is the character I have been chasing for ten years!" The more Mr. Xu thought about it, the angrier he became, so he reported the case to the police on January 19 this year, and provided screenshots of the group chat, transfer records, and compressed picture packages.

The public security organs followed the clues and quickly located Chen and summoned him to the case. The police found that in addition to Chen, there were 6 people including Song and Li who used AI to generate obscene pictures. Their modus operandi was similar to Chen's. They all used AI software to batch generate obscene Chinese comic pictures and then sold them through group chats for profit. After investigation, it was found that in more than a year, Chen and other seven people sold more than 130,000 pornographic pictures and made a profit of more than 160,000 yuan.

In view of the novel type of case, the Wucheng District Procuratorate intervened in advance to guide the public security organs in collecting evidence.

According to Chen's account, some groups were disbanded by him, and some groups were banned by the platform. This also means that the chat history has been cleared and the clues seem to be interrupted. However, the data will not disappear out of thin air. The public security organs extracted and compared the electronic data integrity check values ​​of Chen and others' desktop computers, mobile phones, and mobile hard drives one by one to prevent the evidence from being contaminated or tampered with during the extraction process, and restored the deleted group chat records, picture compression packages, and generation logs.

Shockingly, the police found far more evidence on the computer than expected. The folders are divided into categories according to "character name + date + price". Finished pictures, intermediate pictures, and discarded pictures are piled together. The English prompt word document records how he bypassed the review and how to batch produce pictures. Some folders also contain screenshots of voting by group members. It is clear at a glance who voted for which character and who participated in the crowdfunding.

At the same time, the case handlers retrieved data such as group creation information, member lists, and background retention records from the platform. Based on this, search for the compressed package purchased by the buyer and compare it one by one with the files in Chen's computer. Correspond to each link of "generation-screening-packaging-sale" to realize the interlocking chain of evidence.

On July 3, the public security organ transferred the case to the Wucheng District Procuratorate for review and prosecution.

The prosecutor handling the case found that unlike traditional cases of producing obscene materials, which require the perpetrator to draw and take photos by hand, in this case, Chen's obscene pictures were all generated by AI, and with the help of technical means, the number of pictures was infinitely enlarged. So, how to determine it accurately?

In this case, although Chen and other seven people used different drawing tools, different material libraries to generate pictures, and different ways of delivering pictures, their payment methods were basically the same.

Therefore, in view of the fact that Chen and other seven people all use WeChat and Alipay payment codes to collect payments, the procuratorial organ guided the public security organs to obtain the WeChat and Alipay transaction records of the seven people, and based on the verified chat records between the buyer and Chen and others, they sorted out the "characteristics of the transaction involved" "Amount", for example, the price of each compressed picture package is 5 yuan, and the accounted amounts of 5 yuan, 10 yuan, 15 yuan, etc. are the characteristic amounts. The above transaction records are then handed over to Chen and others for identification, and interfering items such as transfers from acquaintances are eliminated. Finally, the respective transaction amounts are used as the basis for conviction and sentencing.

"Technology is neutral, but the series of actions such as setting prompt words, filtering results, and packaging and selling are never neutral." The prosecutor handling the case said that Chen and other seven people used AI technology to vulgarize popular Chinese comic characters, which polluted the online environment and hurt the hearts of fans who like these characters.

On August 21, the Wucheng District Procuratorate of Jinhua City filed a public prosecution against Chen and seven others. On October 26, the court comprehensively considered the circumstances of Chen and the other seven people, who had no criminal record, voluntarily returned illegal gains, and voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted punishment. The court sentenced Chen and the other seven people to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from two years to eight months for the crime of making, copying, selling, and distributing obscene materials for profit, and all were subject to probation. Currently, the judgment has taken effect.