Showing posts with label Team Up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Team Up. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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.
Labels:
Batman,
Brave and the Bold,
Captain Carrot,
DC Comics,
Jim Aparo,
Team Up
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.
Labels:
Batman,
Brave and the Bold,
Brother Voodoo,
DC Comics,
Gil Kane,
Jim Aparo,
Marvel Comics,
Team Up
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!
Labels:
Batman,
Blue Beetle,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jim Aparo,
Team Up
Batman and Black Panther
The contrast in brightness between the two images was tough to work with on this one so I have never been 100% pleased with how it came out. Maybe I'll do another Black Panther cover one of these days.
The image here is from T'Challa's first appearance in Fantastic Four. I always liked how Marvel had heroes and villains who commanded entire Nations. Dr. Doom, Namor, Black Bolt and The Black Panther seemed to rise above their peers for that reason. Over at DC I guess Aquaman ruled Atlantis, but I seem to remember him being exiled a lot.
Labels:
Batman,
Black Panther,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jack Kirby,
Jim Aparo,
Marvel Comics,
Team Up
Batman and Black Orchid
This was one of the earliest ones that I made and I think it shows in it's roughness. Still, I am happy I was able to make a cover with the character at all given the limited amount of images of her to work from.
The Black Orchid is still pretty much a blank slate as DC has barely used the character in the past few decades and most of that has not been in DC proper, but rather the Vertigo Imprint. As with Swamp Thing, I think the character would have a much better chance to flourish if reintegrated with the mainstream DC universe. DC needs more female characters that are not just feminine versions of male characters. The Black Orchid, like Halo of the Outsiders, is just sitting there unused and it's a shame.
Labels:
Batman,
Black Orchid,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jim Aparo,
Team Up
Batman and Big Barda
This one was a request and I got lucky to find a picture of Barda that worked with this Batman cover. Well, OK there's no real reason for her to be at a hockey rink, but it does look like she is flinging pucks at Batman.
Most of Kirby's New Gods material didn't appeal to me as a kid, but the exception was Mr. Miracle. His escape artist identity was as cool as his more superheroic side. I was first exposed to him through his three B&B appearances and Barda appeared alongside, but never got solo billing. I have liked her portrayal on the Animated JLU series and I hope she and Scott Free are brought back to the forefront of the DCU soon.
Labels:
Batman,
Big Barda,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jack Kirby,
Jim Aparo,
New Gods,
Team Up
Batman and Batman Beyond
A good idea in concept, I think this one suffers a bit from the disparate art styles between the two Batmen. Now that Batman Beyond is being introduced into the mainstream DCU, there is more non-cartoony imagery of the character out there than when I created this cover,I may take another crack at this pairing.
I remember being disappointed when I learned the creators behind the great cartoon Batman: The Animated Series were going to switch gears and move to Batman Beyond, featuring an elderly Bruce Wayne mentoring a teenage Batman. I figured the network was just aiming for the kiddie market and trying to sell more toys and while that may have been partially true, I should have had more faith in Bruce Timm & Company. They continued the excellent work they had begun on Batman and Superman and made the show a welcome addition to the Batman canon. I especially love the director's cut of the DTV, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
Labels:
Batman,
Batman Beyond,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jim Aparo,
Team Up
Batman and Ant-Man
OK, since this blog is so new, I have decided to add more than a cover per day at the beginning, just to give folks a little more to look at when they visit...
The figures are blurrier than I would liked on this one but it still works out OK due to the easy swap between Ant-Man and the Atom. Actually I cheated a bit here because I used a Scott Lang Ant-Man picture and not Hank Pym.
Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne have suffered more than the rest of the founding members of the Avengers. Neither really ever rebounded from the ill advised idea to have Hank smack Janet a couple of decades ago. I'd love to see Hank back in the Ant-man or Giant-Man gear and Jan back among the living, working together in new adventures. There was a chance to clean the slate with Secret Invasion, but no such luck. Still, this is comics, so I live in hope.
The figures are blurrier than I would liked on this one but it still works out OK due to the easy swap between Ant-Man and the Atom. Actually I cheated a bit here because I used a Scott Lang Ant-Man picture and not Hank Pym.
Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne have suffered more than the rest of the founding members of the Avengers. Neither really ever rebounded from the ill advised idea to have Hank smack Janet a couple of decades ago. I'd love to see Hank back in the Ant-man or Giant-Man gear and Jan back among the living, working together in new adventures. There was a chance to clean the slate with Secret Invasion, but no such luck. Still, this is comics, so I live in hope.
Labels:
Ant-Man,
Batman,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jim Aparo,
Marvel Comics,
Team Up,
Wasp
Batman and Ambush Bug
I thought this cover would be too simple in design but I think it really ended up working well. Besides, who wouldn't want to see this team-up?
Ambush Bug was a unique concept - wisecracking, breaking the fourth wall and commenting on his own publishers years before Deadpool or even She-Hulk made waves doing the same. I'd like to see DC do a little more with the character.
Labels:
Ambush Bug,
Batman,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jim Aparo,
Team Up
Monday, April 5, 2010
Batman and Alpha Flight
Here's an issue where I couldn't find an appropriate Aparo Batman for so I opted to use a piece by Shawn McManus from Legends of the Dark Knight.
Alpha Flight is another one of those properties where Marvel just couldn't leave well enough alone. If they revived the series with the original cast from Byrne's run, I bet it would find a following, but every revival seems to have too many radical changes in roster and tone and does not last long. Alpha Flight is like the Doom Patrol of Marvel in that way.
Labels:
Alpha Flight,
Batman,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Jim Aparo,
Marvel Comics,
Team Up
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Batman and Air Wave
Welcome to the Blog!
My favorite comic book series of all time was "The Brave and the Bold", which featured Batman teaming up with a different guest star each month and was illustrated by the great Jim Aparo.
I was disappointed with its cancellation at issue #200 because there were still so many team ups that I wanted to see. Bored one day, I decided to create covers of issues that I wished would have happened but never did.
I began with team ups from the DC Universe that the company never got to and posted them in a forum that I frequent. They were well received so I began to do some more and even take requests. Pretty soon I was branching out to more obscure DC characters, Marvel characters and beyond. At this point I have made well over 100 covers and a friend suggested that I begin this blog and feature a cover a day.
OK, that sounds like a good Idea, so here I go. I will post the covers alphabetically at first and then any new ones that have been created in the interim. Enjoy!
A few notes:
- Each cover was created by manipulating existing artwork using Microsoft Paint.
- My goal was to only include characters that never actually appeared in The Brave and the Bold and use artwork by Jim Aparo whenever possible.
And here we go!
First up is Air Wave:
This one was tough because I had a lot of complicated background to create after eliminating Dr. Phosphorous from the original cover. The Air Wave Image I got from an issue of DC Comics Presents. I always had a soft spot for the character but he hasn't seen much action in the past 2 1/2 decades. Yeah, he was just featured as a zombie in Blackest Night, but who wasn't?
My favorite comic book series of all time was "The Brave and the Bold", which featured Batman teaming up with a different guest star each month and was illustrated by the great Jim Aparo.
I was disappointed with its cancellation at issue #200 because there were still so many team ups that I wanted to see. Bored one day, I decided to create covers of issues that I wished would have happened but never did.
I began with team ups from the DC Universe that the company never got to and posted them in a forum that I frequent. They were well received so I began to do some more and even take requests. Pretty soon I was branching out to more obscure DC characters, Marvel characters and beyond. At this point I have made well over 100 covers and a friend suggested that I begin this blog and feature a cover a day.
OK, that sounds like a good Idea, so here I go. I will post the covers alphabetically at first and then any new ones that have been created in the interim. Enjoy!
A few notes:
- Each cover was created by manipulating existing artwork using Microsoft Paint.
- My goal was to only include characters that never actually appeared in The Brave and the Bold and use artwork by Jim Aparo whenever possible.
And here we go!
First up is Air Wave:
This one was tough because I had a lot of complicated background to create after eliminating Dr. Phosphorous from the original cover. The Air Wave Image I got from an issue of DC Comics Presents. I always had a soft spot for the character but he hasn't seen much action in the past 2 1/2 decades. Yeah, he was just featured as a zombie in Blackest Night, but who wasn't?
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