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

Friday, May 7, 2010

Batman and Doll Man



Sometimes these come out of the blue, even for me. I was looking for images of a completely different character and stumbled on a cover of Doll Man holding a key. I knew instantly of a picture it could work with, because I always thought that this Batman in cuffs cover by Brian Bolland was very eye catching.

I remember reading tales of Doll Man in a few 100-Page Spectaculars that DC used to publish. I liked his solo adventures more than his time with The Freedom Fighters, as the art on the stories was always well done.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Batman and Beta Ray Bill



Beta Ray Bill has one of the coolest character designs ever. It doesn't seem like it would work, but it does. Walt Simonson did a great job with him and gave him a great introduction - literally smashing on to the scene in that Iconic cover from his first appearance in Thor. I was happy as a reader that despite initial appearances he turned out to be a god guy, and that he stayed on as a supporting character for a while.

One of the nice surprises in the Planet Hulk Direct to DVD Animated flick was that due to rights issues, the Silver Surfer was replaced with Beta Ray Bill. It was very cool to finally see him animated, and his scenes are my favorite part of the movie.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Batman and Howard The Duck



This was the first cover I made featuring a non DC character. I figured if I was going to try for a team up nobody would expect to see in B&B, that I might as well go for broke. Besides, a good friend made the request and I didn't want to disappoint him. Howard started as Steve Gerber's commentary on, well whatever he felt like tackling from month to month and was definitely a product of his times. What I liked was the the series was set firmly in the Marvel Universe, it was interesting to see this funny animal character hobnob with the likes of Spider-Man, Man-Thing and the Defenders.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Batman and Hourman



Here's a little change of pace with and old school look cover. Hourman is another one of those great Earth-2 characters that did not have a counterpart on Earth-1, making him even more intriguing to me as a young reader. Plus he had a great hook - powers for only an hour at a time, never knowing the optimum moment to begin the power boost and always running the risk of losing it at a critical moment. Unfortunately, the hour of power was originally administered through taking a drug - a Miraclo Tablet... that and the loose fitting mask that many artists struggle with have I think held him back from breaking through to the big leagues. Those are relatively easy problems to overcome so I hope to see this character grow in popularity in the years to come. Hey, sometimes it takes half a century or so...

Monday, May 3, 2010

Batman and Hercules



Hercules has always been a fun character and I am happy to see that he has gotten a higher profile over the past couple of years. He is appealing in that he is one of the few superheroes that seems to truly enjoy his line of work, and that is refreshing as a reader. I think it was a good idea to give him a sidekick in Amadeus Cho, as he is the most effective when he has a straight man to work off of.

There are certain characters in which I hear a particular voice in my mind when I read their dialogue. With Hercules, the voice of John Rhys-Davies (Gimli in The Lord of the Rings and Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark) seems to fit perfectly.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Batman and Hawkgirl



This is one of the very first covers that I created. I have always felt that the silver age Hawkgirl had the coolest designed helmet in all of comics, just a great look. I was glad to see this character return to life in her Shayera Hall persona in the conclusion to the Darkest Night mini series, it will be great to see her and Hawkman operating as a true team once again after so many years where she had no memory of their lives together.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Batman and Hawkeye



Hawkeye has always been a great character, but he has had a rough go of it for the past several years. Killed off, brought back to life but in another identity, then watching a villain take over his persona... It's been a frustrating time to be a Hawkeye fan. This looks to be changing as he is about to begin a new self titled series, finally back in costume and alongside Mockingbird. I am not that familiar with the artist or writer, but I do like the character, so I will give it a try and hope for the best.

I heard a rumor that actor Jeremy Renner may be playing the role of Hawkeye in the upcoming Avengers film. I don't know how true that is, but after seeing him in The Hurt Locker, I think it is a pretty solid choice for the role.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Batman and Catwoman



OK, this one is admittedly very goofy but I just couldn't resist when I saw how well the images worked together. I always liked that Batman and Catwoman married on Earth-Two and had a crime fighting daughter, the Huntress. Unfortunately very little was written about that time in their careers before Crisis on Infinite Earths came along and wiped them out of continuity. Maybe now that the multiverse is back, we'll get a chance to see the Bat couple back in action in their prime.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Batman and Hawk & Dove



Yes, I know Hawk and Dove actually appeared in B&B - but that was before the original Dove was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths and later replaced with Dawn Granger so technically this is a new team. I loved that B&B issue, written by Alan Brennert - it was my first introduction the Hawk & Dove and made me want to seek out more of their appearances. They were victims of the violent age of comics and were eventually corrupted and killed, to my dismay. Fortunately they have both been recently revived and hopefully will be redeemed as well. I am optimistic as they will be appearing as a part of the new Birds of Prey team as written by Gail Simone. She is one of the most dependable writers around these days in my opinion and I look forward to her take on these heroes.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Batman and Aqualad



I am always happy when I can make a cover that utilizes 100% Jim Aparo images, like this one. Poor Aqualad - he has fallen prey to the curse of the Teen Titans, having had tragedy repeatedly visited upon him. First his long time girlfriend, Tula, was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, then years later his wife Dolphin and their baby were killed in the sequel, Infinite Crisis (off panel, adding insult to injury). Now in the latest crossover, Blackest Night, he has been murdered by the Black Lantern Aquaman and was not among the heroes revived at the end of the story. The guy just can't get a break.

Batman and Animal Man



Animal Man # 1-26 by Grant Morrison and Charles Truog is one of those perfect comic book runs. I encourage anybody who has not read these issues to go and check them out. Morrison took a forgotten d-list character and told and incredibly complex tale, deconstructing comic book tropes and providing the reader with laughs, excitement and tons of thought provoking ideas.

Unfortunately Morrison did such a good job writing Animal Man that no writer has seemed to really know what to do with him since. The recently finished Last Days of Animal Man was pretty good though, so that is an encouraging step in the right direction. I don't think it sold very well, hopefully more people will check it out in TPB form.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy



This one was a request, and it turned out to be a fun one. I have not followed the Guardians much aside from some guest appearances here and there, but I have heard good things about their solo series.

The bad guy on the cover here is Professor Hugo Strange, one of Batman's earliest villains. I'm not sure what Christopher Nolan's plans for the next Batman film are, but I think Strange could be a good choice for an adversary. I can see Ben Kingsley in the role. Hugo Strange used to deal in genetic manipulation and Monster Men, so they could even introduce characters like Man-Bat and Killer Croc through his involvement... although they may be a little too fantastical for the tone Nolan has set.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Batman and Doc Samson



This one I made just today and since we have already passed the appropriate spot in the alphabet, up it goes. Doc Samson was another of Marvel's C-listers that I always liked as a kid. I thought his job as a psychologist was a nice juxtaposition with his gamma produced strength and that he had a cool costume. There have been redesigns of his outfit over the years, but nothing tops his original look.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Batman and Green Lantern (John Stewart)



I usually don't use very modern images in these covers, as I am usually trying to evoke a silver/bronze age feel. This one is an exception. I saw these two great pieces by Jim Lee and Ethan Van Sciver and thought the could work together, so I gave it a shot. I still couldn't resist one old school trait by adding in a couple of word balloons. Comic covers do not have nearly enough word balloons these days!

John Stewart is a great character and I am glad that his role in the JLA/JLU animated series has given him a much higher profile. Geoff Johns and others have done some great work with him in the past few years.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Batman and Concrete



This one is a little more light hearted, as Concrete is hardly a traditional superhero. I encourage anyone who hasn't to go and check out some of the collected editions by Paul Chadwick, they are a revelation. They are filled with thought provoking stories, fully three dimensional characters and jaw-droppingly beautiful art. I think I read Concrete: The Complete Series and Concrete: The Complete Short Stories all in one weekend, I could not put them down. There have also been a bunch of mini-series featuring the character, but I haven't seen anything new in a few years. Hopefully that will change soon.

I had been wanting to do a Concrete cover for a while, but Chadwick's art was too different from Jim Aparo and I wasn't having much luck. I saw a Legends of the Dark Knight cover by Seth Fisher, and thought it would be a good fit. Not a perfect cover, but I think it worked out OK.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Batman and Godzilla



When I got this request I though that there was no way I would be able to fulfill it. But then I checked around and I found an issue of the 70's Marvel Godzilla series that would work by mixing it with a B&B cover that originally co-starred Swamp Thing. I was glad to do the hunting because is reminded me what a wonderfully offbeat series it was.

I have read that Godzilla is about to be Americanized and updated once again. I hope the filmmakers learned from the last attempt. They strayed too far from the original design and the monster spent too much of the movie hiding, giving up screen time to less interesting smaller versions of himself. The film Cloverfield showed that you can have an effective giant monster movie with a reasonable budget, so I have hope that we could still see Godzilla done right.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Batman and Ghost Rider



There was a lot of cleanup with this one so it took a while. There are certain characters that I think Jim Aparo could have really excelled on if given the chance, and Ghost Rider is one of them. I have alway's loved Aparo's versions of DC's more monstrous characters like Swamp Thing, the Demon and Two-Face, and I bet he could have offered up a nice dark moody version of Johnny Blaze.

The Ghost Rider flick was crippled by a weak script, laughable villains and a hammy performance by Nicholas Cage, but I have to admit I get a kick out of the scenes featuring the title character in action. That's a testament to how great the design of the character is. It's hard to make a flaming skull with a leather jacket and motorcycle not look cool!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Batman and Galactus



Galactus is yet another great creation by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. I loved the fact that he was not described as good or evil, but a force of nature. My young mind thought that the concept of this world-devourer was just about the coolest thing ever. When I heard thet the second FF film was going to tell the Silver Surfer/Galactus saga, I was more than pumped... and then all we got was a cloud in place of the majestic villain. I really don't know what the filmmakers were thinking with that one.

This is a very lopsided team up, but it's the very oddity of the pairing that made me want to give it a shot. I know I would surely like to read a tale inspired from this cover.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Batman and Elektra



Everybody wonders who would win in a fight between Batman and Captain America, but here is a battle that I would really like to see. Both a great fighters, Batman has better gadgets, but Elektra is willing to be more lethal.

It's too bad that the vast majority of people only know Elektra from the mis-cast performances of Jennifer Garner in her two film outings. Hopefully folks who had a little interest from Daredevil and her self titled film checked out the comics and got a chance to see the correct portrayal.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Batman and Doctor Strange



I was glad to be able to use a Paul Smith version of Dr. Strange here, as he is my favorite artist to work on the character. This was one of the easier covers to come up with - as soon as I saw the Batman cover, I knew exactly which character to use with it, it was just a matter of finding the right picture.

Dr. Strange has been somewhat quiet as of late, even giving up the Sorcerer Supreme title to Brother Voodoo. Hopefully a creative team will find a new approach on him soon and he will rise in prominence again. I did love the Marcos Martin illustrated mini series of a few years back.

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