The BATMAN: BLACK & WHITE STATUE line continues to expand as THE PENGUIN becomes the second villain to join the series! ( The Joker was the 1st one ). Designed by famed artist Brian Bolland, this pose is taken directly from a panel in BATMAN: BLACK & WHITE VOL. 1. DESIGNED BY BRIAN BOLLAND & SCULPTED BY RAY VILLAFANE. The statue measures approximately 6” high x 4.5” wide x 4.5” deep, is painted in monochromatic tones, features a Bat-logo-shaped base and is packaged in a black-and-white box. Release Date: July 8th, 2009 ( approx. $75.00 ).
It's hard to believe that Batman: The Killing Joke came out 20 years ago, this makes me feel really old! I remember when it came out (I still have my original copy). Even back then it was a very BIG deal because it was written by the famous comic book writer Alan Moore & the artwork by Brian Bolland is still extremely beautiful by today's standards. In fact, this graphic novel is ICONIC. Shown up above is the original 1988 comic book ad hyping the release of the original graphic novel, 20 yrs ago! That famous picture of The Joker has been made into T-Shirts, Posters, Banners, etc. If you have never read The Killing Joke you should because it's really an important piece of history in the Batman Comic Book Universe. Plus, it's just so incredibly well-written & drawn, a great book! Recently, DC Comics published a Special "20th Anniversary" Edition. Here's a link for more information, check it out!
Here's a very cool JOKER Tattoo Photo sent in by a Bat-Blog Fan named Kevin. He has a large tattoo inspired by Brian Bolland's artwork in the BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE Graphic Novel. This book ( and comic book artist ) is a total favorite of mine. Also, this is a great choice for a tattoo because this image is so iconic. A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Kevin for sending us this cool pic. Plus, if any other readers out there get some ink done then please shoot us a picture, thanks!
Here's a very cool photo showing the preliminary sketch done by Brian Bolland for the cover art to Batman # 445. I remember reading this story-arch & it was one of my favorites. The Batman went to Russia. Looking at this cover you can see the amazing detail that Brian Bolland went into. I really like his attention to realism, a great comic book artist for sure!
A friend to the Bat-Blog, named Brad, sent us this very cool photo of an amazing tattoo he just recently had done. It features art of Batman & The Joker. Many Batman Fans will recognize the artwork used is from THE KILLING JOKE Graphic Novel with original art by Brian Bolland ( shown in the photo on the right side ). The tattoo artist's name is Blake Bristow from Clear Lake, Texas. Brad, please pass along to Blake that he did an incredible job on this, it's totally beautiful! The shading & colors look really great! I know in your e-mail you said that it's not 100% done yet, that he will be adding some background design to it, but so far it's amazing! Please be sure to send a photo of the completed artwork because now I'm totally curious how it's gonna turn out, thanks. Also, If any other readers have had some tattoo-work done, that's "Batman related", then please send us some photos!
Here's the preliminary sketch by Brian Bolland for the cover to Robin #3. It's kind of neat to see it with the final cover. Looks like he changed his mind on the "camera angle". I think the one he ended up using was way better. His artwork is awesome!! Be sure to click on the small photo up above for a larger, more detailed, picture!!
Later next year (March 19th) DC Comics will be releasing a special-edition hardback book celebrating the 20th Anniversary of BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE. The classic Batman tale by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland returns in an all-new special edition! This edition - celebrating the 20th anniversary of the landmark work - features all-new coloring by Bolland, and includes the story "An Innocent Guy," previously featured in BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE! It will be 64 pages & $16.99 retail. Then, on June 4th, DC Direct will release a BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE Action Figure Collector Set! This collector set features newly sculpted versions of legendary foes Batman and The Joker as they appear in this classic story! It's everything "Killing Joke Fans" could want! It will be packaged in a 4-color window box. BATMAN and THE JOKER will both be 6 3/4" tall. Includes 48-page prestige format comic book ( NOT the hardback book )! The figures w/ special comic book will be $34.99.
I just came across a very nice website that features the custom work of a small group of very talented artists. It's called HIMESIS. For this post I am showing 2 of my favorite examples which was hard to do because they have a lot of nice stuff, ha ha! The 1st piece is a small sculpture that is a bust of the Joker as seen on the cover to Brian Bolland & Alan Moore's THE KILLING JOKE. It's sort of a 3-D creation of the classic cover. It measures approx. 5" tall & is very well detailed. The next piece is another statue which shows Batman still shocked by the death of his parents, Thomas & Martha Wayne. It's based on artwork from a comic book by Jim Lee, Batman #617. Besides statues there are also a lot of custom toys, action figures, vehicles, & other art at their website. Here's a link to check them out. Please be sure to BOOKMARK the Bat-Blog before ya leave!
Besides sharing the love of the character & the fun of collecting Batman Memorabilia one of the joys I get from doing this blog is meeting a lot of very cool people who also like Batman. And I mean people from all over the world! Some of them are really talented in some field of art or design. Here's an example: We have a friend named "Bacon" who works in graphic design. He has a really great style, sort of grunge-like. For awhile he would periodically send us a nice desktop wallpaper & then, all of a sudden, he stopped! Ha Ha, so the other day I wrote him a message & said, "Hey, where's the wallpaper?". I think he was amused by that ( hopefully so, because I meant it as a joke ). Anyway, a day or 2 later, I got this awesome wallpaper in my mail box! It uses some artwork by Brian Bolland from The Killing Joke graphic novel, a great image! I was gonna save it for Wednesday, because that's "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday", but it's way too cool & I wanted to share it now. Just click on the image up above & you'll see a larger version. Then, if you have a PC, just right-click on it & click "Set As Desktop Background". Be sure to "center" it & not use the "stretch function" as that will distort it. I wanna personally thank Bacon for sending us this wallpaper. Dude, your graphic-style is amazing & we always look forward to getting cool stuff from you, Thank You & I really do appreciate it. I guess at this time I also want to invite other talented people to send us some cool graphics. A HUGE proportion of our readers us 1024 X 768 sized wallpaper so if you send one of those please use that size. Thanks!
A friend told me about this extremely interesting video he found the other day & it's really great! It's an excerpt from the BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE comic book graphic novel by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland. It's acted out by voice artist Patrick Girts and animated with Batman & Joker LEGO Toys by filmmaker Forrest Whaley. Enjoy.
