DC/Marvel Treasury Editions Commission Edition

 I think that title makes sense. Here's a couple of commissions requested by the same person--

Underdog! Spider-Ham! Darkwing Duck! Hulk Bunny! Both are funny animal versions of two classic Treasury Editions!

I'm sure many of us thought the characters should have been switched, Superman vs. Hulk and Batman vs. Spider-Man. Those team-ups did happen later, but these were the first!

BAT-HULK!!

The very first Batman comic I owned was The Brave and the Bold #68. It’s an odd story where Batman turns into “Bat-Hulk.” He’s suddenly bulky and has molten-hot hands! I’ve long held a fondness for him and had the urge to do a drawing. You can read a little more about it at the 13th Dimension.

In case you think I'm making it all up, here's the cover to the original comic.

Commissions - Covers Edition

Here's my recreation of X-Men #137. Admittedly, I added a few of my own elements.

The below commission is the first time I've created a "one second later" cover. It's based on World's Finest #3 from 1941. Batman looks funny without blue eyebrows.

Lastly, this commission is for someone with a red-headed spouse!

The title "Red & Ready" has a meaning to the married couple. All four panels are loosely based on existing covers, as per the request. Marvel Girl/Phoenix is from the X-men cover seen at the beginning of this post. Here are the others, for those curious--

All work is black ink on Bristol board, with digital color. I also supplied a one-off, large color print.

Super Antics #19

In the modern telling of Batman's origin, I've never thought a bat could fly through a pane of glass under its own power. Here's my unofficial contribution to the story.

Batman! Joker! Green Lantern! Dr. Fate! Ice Maidens! More Commissions!

The above commission was a request to have "first appearance" Batman hit the Joker with a large, specific sound effect. "Kablamm!" Done and done! I decided to put off-registered color on the Joker. THAT'S how hard Batman hits!!

I'm a fan of the primitive way superheroes' powers were represented in the Golden Age. So, for the above commission I played it up! I never thought about how Green Lantern's beam might be made of flame. It makes so much sense coming from an old-time lantern.

The ladies above are lesser-known DC characters. I’m not sure if they ever hung out together or not. Apparently most of them were part of the Global Guardians at some point. From top to right-- Fire (or Green Flame), Owlwoman (or Owl-Woman), Godiva, Ice (or Ice Maiden II), and Ice Maiden.

Btw, on all commissions, I now offer a color print, hand-signed, by me "1 of 1." Most pieces are created in black ink on Bristol board, which you receive. I then add digital colors, and make only one print. (You also get the digital file.) If you have commissioned it from me, you're the only person to have a high res print. (I go to a printing service for this, to insure quality.) If you're interested, please shoot me an email at KerryCallenArt@gmail.com.

Commissions, Comissions

 If you're one of my two readers, is it better for me to have my artwork in individuals posts, or should I group a few together? Like this--

I was asked to create Power Girl and Firestorm as a "flirty buddy cop duo." Tried my best.

Batman vs. Killer Moth, inspired by Dick Sprang's art style. It's nice that Killer Moth shows Batman what a cool animal costume can look like!

Here's (a version of) my take on the original Phantom Lady #17 cover, from 1948. It is well known to comic book historians. First of all, the cover is by Matt Baker, a fantastic artist who was one of the few black comic creators back in the day. Second, the provocative image is one of the things that helped the US government crack down on comics in the 50’s, leading to the formation of the Comics Code Authority.

Here's the type of commission I always enjoy drawing-- Taking a fairly obscure character and creating a vintage pin-up, pretending they were popular! Black ink on Bristol board, plus digital color. If you're interested in a commission, please shoot me an email, seen in the right column.

Oh! And I've also recently created a portrait of a couple! 😁

Captain America vs Batman, by Jack Kirby

Sometimes I see pencils by Jack Kirby and I have to ink and color them. I HAVE TO!! I've inked Kirby a couple of times for fun and always stuck exactly to his pencils. But, this time I took tiny little liberties that I felt spiffied it up, such as with Cap's shield. Here's his original pencils--

Super Antics #18

I usually draw these in a "golden age" style, but this time I went mostly with my own natural style!

Batman Toys from the 1966 Sears Wish Book Catalog!

I recently stumbled across the Wish Book Web site, and for barely any reason at all, I decided to look at the Batman product from 1966. I was very young in '66 and just discovering superheroes. I lived in the deep country and the Sears Catalog was about the only way I could see lots of toys. 

But enough about me. Let's look at stuff!

If this doesn't feel authentically Batman to you, the ukulele drives it home.

"Holy Slots" sounds dirty, but this car was actually made for race tracks!

"Just use the master pump to force air through the 30-ft. tube-track." I think "Remote-control" meant something different than it does today.

Zooom!

Instead of focusing on Batman costumes, I included the whole page here. Look! A Captain America costume!! In 1966!!! That's unexpected.

It looks like the image coming from the "Projection Gun" is based on the art on the "Bat Cave Hideaway." Did you decide to add this at the last minute, Sears?

A lot of the boy toys were some type of gun in 1966.

But, if you did't have a gun, you could at least learn how to hit! I actually had the Yogi Bear Bop Bag when I was a kid. He now looks so defenseless to me. With Batman, you could pretend you were helping him tighten his stomach muscles!

I also had the Captain Action figure. It was possibly my favorite toy as kid. I had the Batman costume to put on him, but I desperately wanted the Aquaman costume. Never got it. (But, my sweet mother did crochet a tiny orange shirt for me to put on him.)

I think these are merely walkie-talkies disguised as phones. Well played, Remco Toys!

Marx made a phone too, but Batman doesn't want you to talk. Just listen to him and keep your mouth shut.

Oh! And puppets!

Sears mentions "it's easy to order by phone" more than once. So futuristic.

Oops. Look at the time. I better wrap it up!

Super Antics #16

 Ha! I'm digging deep into nerdville on this one.

There was a period from the late 50's into the early 60's where crazy things happen to DC heroes. I thought it would be funny if some of them happened at the same time! Here's the covers for reference--

And, yes, Batman did wear a rainbow batsuit in the story!

Super Antics #13

This occurred to me, so I had to draw it!

Man, I need to post more. Do people still look at Blogger content?

Batman!!!

MAD #5 is on sale now! I have one piece included this month and thought it would be fun to share the uncropped image. Here's how my art appears in the issue--

And below is it my uncluttered art. (Well, I re-cluttered it a bit. I wanted to insure MAD is still represented.) The building color in the background has been changed. It probably blended in too much with the banner below.

I enjoyed drawing this particular Batman parody. Every time I've drawn him previously, it has been a riff on a specific era or established style. This is the first time I've created my interpretation of him. That was fun!