January 2017

As most of you know, and the rest of you are about to find out, the first comic book I ever bought was the 1989 Batman movie adaption. I was particularly drawn in by the art by Jerry Ordway. I had been drawing for the previous 10 years of my life, but only doodles and cartoons, with no real “direction” to work towards. Once I discovered comics, that was it. Every day since (aside from a short period of exploration in interpretative dance) has been geared towards one thing: a career in commercial art.

I say commercial art because, as you can see from the rest of my site, I’ve gotten a bit away from comics and into book cover illustration and children’s book work. While these outlets are fun, and rewarding, my heart still belongs to comics, and while my tastes have changed (no longer married to just DC superhero books), I will always have a soft spot for the book that got me involved in the first place.

So, when I saw this French edition of the Batman book pop up on eBay the other day I knew I had to bid. Well, not bid, it was buy it now, but you get the point. I had to because every other country in the world, except those publishing manga, print their books larger than we do here, and on better paper, so this was a great opportunity to see the art in a whole new light. And man, did it not disappoint! I find myself, when I should be working on, ya know, actual work, gazing off towards the book and eventually succumbing, picking it up, and flipping through trying to figure out what the hell they are saying in French.

Who am I kidding– I watched that movie and read the book so many times I know the whole thing by heart… Which means, with a little concentration, I may be able to read French soon!