Showing posts with label DC Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC Comics. Show all posts

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Batman and Doctor Mid-Nite & The Atom



Earth 2. If you have never read a single comic book, just hearing that term opens up a world of possibilities. A second Earth, where things turned out familiarly, yet quite differently at the same time... It was very appealing to me as a young reader. So there is no surprise that I was a huge fan of the Justice Society and all of its members.

Doctor Mid-Nite had no Earth-One counterpart and The Atom was the same in name only to the one he had, so they had even more of an air of mystery about them. The JLA/JSA team ups to me were the big events of my time. This cover was no request, just something I would have wanted to see on the stands when I was a kid.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Batman and Doctor Doom



This one took a very long time, but it was worth it. It was hard replacing Doom's former victims with Batman's buddies but fortunately a little cloud placement covered many a flaw.

If I had only a few of my covers that could be made into actual stories, this is one I would pick. I would love to see this match-up! Doctor Doom is my favorite Marvel villain, hands down! His diplomatic status, his relationship to Reed Richards, his look and especially his attitude serve to make him one of the most interesting characters ever in comics, a creation as great as the FF itself.

Of course, this is why I was so annoyed with the portrayal of Doom in the FF movies. All that great stuff to work from, and they turn him into a Donald Trump type. The actor didn't even bother to put on an accent! Hopefully there will be a more faithful version in the upcoming reboot.

Batman and Dial "H" For Hero



Another old-school cover as the result of a request. Coincidentally, Batman was solicited to team up with Robby Reed in the current B&B series just as I started this one. I wish I had used better quality pics to work from for this cover, as the colors are kind of oversaturated.

Dial "H" For Hero is a series that I think would work really well as an animated kid's series. Of course if they put one out now, folks might see it as a rip off of Ben 10, even though it predates that concept by decades.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Batman and Devil Dinosaur



This request had me stumped because I just couldn't fit the Jack Kirby artwork with a Batman cover to my satisfaction. Then I decided to see if I could find a Kirby Batman on the web. This turned out to be a lot harder than I though it would be. Kirby illustrated the two Super Powers minis series for DC in the 80's, but Batman was not featured prominently on the covers and I could not find many scans of the interiors. Finally I found a decent copy of the promotional ad to the series and was able to pull the Batman image off of there.

I never read the short lived Devil Dinosaur series, but from the covers it looks like a fun Kamandi style romp. Regardless of how much sense the stories might make, you gotta love the inventive visuals Kirby gave them.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Batman and Deathlok



Here's another character that I wish Marvel would do more with. I think my first exposure to Deathlok was in Marvel Two-In-One. I always dug his look and concept. When he was first introduced he was pretty original and since then we have seen many variations on the man/machine hybrid in film and comics. But good ol' Luther Manning was a pioneer and should not be relegated to a 4 issue miniseries once in a blue moon. I think I read that Marvel is ready to give the character another shot, hopefully this time he will find an audience.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Batman and Death



This is a case where swapping out characters makes a huge difference. The original cover had Cat-Man taunting Batman in a standard villain's death trap scenario. By using the embodiment of Death instead, the story possibilities open right up. I mean, she wouldn't be there unless this was the real deal, right?

It's Amazing how Death, Sandman, and the rest of The Endless have fallen off of the map lately. Neil Gaiman created such a rich universe and while I understand DC's decision not to let other writers muck about in his creations, it would be nice to see some new stories involving them. The collected editions of their comics apparently sell well so at least new readers are being exposed to some of the most thought provoking writing in comics to date.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Batman and Deadpool



OK, I am not a huge fan of Deadpool. I have read a few funny comics featuring him, but these days Marvel seems determined to oversaturate the market with him for some reason. Anyway, I never thought I would do a team up with him until I stumbled onto a cover with his mask pinned with a knife and I knew it looked very similar to a cover John Byrne for the "Many Deaths of the Batman" storyline several years beck. It's a very simple concept, but I think it worked out quite nicely.

Batman and Atari Force



Here's a new one I just did as a request. I don't remember much about Atari Force back in the day, I think I only had one issue - but I have heard many good things about the series so maybe it is something I need to check out if a collection is ever released.

One major thing the series had going for it was the absolutely phenomenal artwork by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. It's too bad that licensing red tape is probably preventing this series from being reprinted.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Batman and Daredevil



I thought this would be a simple matter of swapping in Daredevil for Green Lantern, the original co-star in the issue of B&B that I used as a template here. I then realized that because of his DD chest symbol I couldn't flip his image, so I would up flipping the entire B&B issue and adding him in, and then I had to re-flip all of the logos and dialogue. It would up being a lot of work for such a simple looking cover. It's a good thing that Batman has a symmetrical costume or this is a problem I would probably run into a lot more often!

Even though the Ben Affleck Daredevil movie met with only a lukewarm response, I still feel that ths is a character very well suited for live action. I think a TV series would be great, half lawyer dramas and half action show. Daredevil's powers are relatively easy to represent and his rogues gallery are mostly street level characters, so this would be easy to produce. I've heard rumblings of a reboot for the film franchise, so we will see what the future holds.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Batman and Cyborg



This is a team up we might have seen had B&B run for a couple of more years as The New Teen Titans was just starting up as the series ended.  The George Perez art works well with Aparo here I think.  Cyborg has done well in other media with animated appearances on Super Friends and Teen Titans, and  a live action depiction on Smallville.  Given that, I think that he should have a higher profile in the comics than he does, caught in an endless loop of being destroyed and reassembled.  Yes, he just gained membership in the JLA but that seems like a temporary thing until the Geoff Johns/Jim Lee takeover on the horizon (no, there hasn't been an official announcement, but enough hints have been dropped).

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Batman and Conan



I was never a big sword and sorcery fan as a kid so I did not come to appreciate Conan comics until much later in life. Now I look back on those old issues and can't believe all of the gorgeous artwork by John Buscema and others within. This is a match up that just writes itself, whether Batman was thrust back to Conan's time, or Conan found himself in present day Gotham.

Sometimes I have to add in a caption or word balloon on these covers in order for the scene to make sense, but this was a situation where the guest star fit right in. Batman's actual teammate in this issue was The Spectre and it was a relatively simple matter to swap him out.

I read that Conan is headed back to the big screen. It will be interesting to see a new film interpretation so many years after the Arnold Schwarzenegger versions.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Batman and Cloak and Dagger



This is one of my more recent efforts, I made it just a few days ago. I would have definitely like to see this follow up to the "A Death in the Family" storyline back in the day.

I always thought that Cloak and Dagger were a great addition to Marvel's heroes. ThEY were and still are pretty unique characters and it is too bad they do not get used more often. They traditionally have had a tough time holding their own series, but I still think they can make for some interesting tales in a mini-series or as guest characters with street level heroes like Spider-Man or Daredevil. They have never looked better than when Rick Leonardi drew them back in the 80's.

Batman and Challengers of the Unknown



This cover is special for me because it features my two all time favorite artists - Jim Aparo, of course, and the legendary Joe Kubert.

Through Tarzan, Tor, Hawkman, the Haunted Tank, The Unknown Soldier, Sgt. Rock, and more, Kubert has been dazzling fans with his moody, expressive art for over six decades. I was fortunate enough to meet him briefly last year at the Baltimore Comic Conventions, and the rumors are true - even at almost 80 years old, he still has a grip of iron, no doubt from wielding a pencil for so long!

I never got the chance to meet Jim Aparo before he passed away, so it was a real pleasure for me to finally meet my other favorite artist. He was very nice and gracious to me despite my gushing of praise.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Batman and Captain Marvel Jr.



I was always fascinated by this character when I was a kid and would read the Golden Age reprints of the Shazam family. While Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel had solo adventures illustrated in the traditional comic style of the time, Jr. was depicted in a detailed realistic style. Amazing artists like Mac Raboy gave him a modern look that was decades ahead of most other comics on the stands. The covers especially had an almost painterly feel.

Captain Marvel Jr. and the rest of the Fawcett characters seem to be on hold at DC for the time being, and that's fine considering some of the storylines involving them in the past few years. Fortunately Geoff Johns left them in a position to have a clean slate when they return. As much as I do like seeing them team up with mainstream DCU characters, I think maybe it's time they get there own separate Earth again now that the multiverse is back.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Batman and Captain Kirk






It's true, Shatner makes everything better, and this blog is no exception. This request was a real challenge, I knew Star Trek had plenty of comics printed but was stumped as how to combine him with Batman. The design is a little wonky on this, but I think the story potential makes up for it.

I would have loved to have seen Adam West and William Shatner swap roles for a couple of episodes back in their prime. West would make a great Starfleet Captain and The Shat certainly has the swagger to be a 60's superhero!

If you haven't watched this Shatner music video yet, treat yourself. It's mesmerising:

Batman and Captain Carrot




Another request. Wasn't sure how the dead serious Aparo art would work with Scott Shaw's cartoony style, but I think it adds the absurdity of the scene. My criteria for a cover is whether it would make me want to read the story inside and although simple, this one would pass the test with me.

Captain Carrot was the head of the Amazing Zoo Crew in a series during the 80's that skirted the line between funny animals and superheroics. DC included the Zoo Crew world as part of it's multiverse and they even had crossovers with Superman, Changeling, etc. The stories were always pretty much played for laughs though, so I thought it would be fun to show a slightly menacing Captain Carrot here.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Batman and Captain Britain



This is another one of my favorite covers. It took a lot of work to eliminate Spider-Man from the Marvel Team-Up cover that served as the template here and then to rebuild girders and background areas. Also, the in the Batman image I used, a character had his hand wrapped around Batman's wrist, so that had to be removed as well. It was worth the effort though.

I love this original costume Captain Britain used to wear, I always thought the lion looked cool.

Batman and Captain America



So, Chris Evans is playing Captain America. Well, I am pretty happy with this choice. He has acting chops and certainly looks the part, especially in recent pics where it is clear he is bulking up for the role. He's young enough to convincingly play the role for a while to.

The Director, Joe Johnston, made The Rocketeer - one of my favorite superhero movies. I always thought that Captain America would be a hard sell for a movie but with Marvel producing and Johnston behind the lens, I am cautiously optimistic.

I just hope they keep the little wings on his cowl. I know they are goofy, but he looks naked without them!

Batman and Brother Voodoo



This one is one of my favorites. At first, I never thought I would come up with a cover Idea for such an obscure character. Then I saw the image with the snakes I realized I had a B&B cover featuring Batman and The Red Tornado battling robots that I could use with it. With a little tweaking, I was able to transform one of the robotic tentacles on Batman into a snake and he fit right into the jungle scene!

This one was a request. I never read much of Brother Voodoo aside from his guest appearance in Marvel Two-In-One. I know Marvel has given the character a push recently with him taking over for Doctor Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme, But I don't know how long that will last.

Batman and Blue Beetle



Ah, poor Ted Kord. A pretty interesting character that didn't seem to have an large enough fan base until he was killed off. I read somewhere recently that now that Barry Allen has returned then Ted Kord will have to be the new Patron Saint of DC, as his death now holds the most resonance. Unfortunately that probably means no revival anytime soon.

His replacement Jaime Reyes is a likable character with a neat look who I have warmed up to due to his animated appearances on the Batman: The Brave and the Bold (gotta love that title!) DC wisely connected him close enough to Blue Beetle to adopt the name, while making him different enough in appearance and abilities that there would be room for both characters if Ted Kord should return. Ted could take the name Scarab or something, I think it could work. Come on, DC!

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