Rhapsodies

Batman Sketch Challenge – Day Seventeen – Robin

by wpmorse on April 17, 2018 at 10:21 am

Posted In: Art

For day seventeen of my Batman Sketch Challenge I drew Robin I really wasn’t looking forward to doing Robin, I really should really learn not to tempt the whims of the Magic Tupperware.

For me, Robin is an extremely problematic character. For a guy who likes a little realism in his comics (okay, the illusion of realism but I trust you all know what I mean) I do not understand the concept of the teenage sidekick. Yes, I do understand why comic companies do them, It gives the kid reading the comics someone to identify with) But from a proper Watsonian perspective, it’s hard to explain why a superhero would endanger minors like that.

But since that marketing thing clearly works, and the nature of this project means I can’t just ignore the legacy of the characters. So I need to find an angle…

Here we go.

Jokes about disposable sidekicks aside, I liked the various stories that acknowledged all of the “wards” existing simultaneously, with Robin as Batman’s senior apprentice or, as the “squire” to the Dark Knight.

Or Robin could be the generic term for all of the trainees in the Bat dojo. I think I’ll run with that one for now.

So here’s what I assume are Tim, Stephanie, and Damian suiting up after their workout.

└ Tags: Batman, Pen and Ink, Sketch Challenge

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Batman Sketch Challenge – Day Sixteen – The Huntress

by wpmorse on April 16, 2018 at 10:58 am

Posted In: Art

For Day Sixteen of my Batman Sketch Challenge I drew The Huntress At risk of sounding like an MRA idiot, I’ve been having some difficulty justifying Batgirl and Batwoman in this sketch challenge. Batgirl as a teenage sidekick fits under the Robin file, (another difficulty I hope to figure out before the Magic Tupperware makes me address it) And if we go to the original setting where either Barbara Gordon or Kate Kane are doing their thing independently, well the Bat organization in this setting is a lot better at enforcing the franchise… fortunately, I still have the Huntress.

I’m mostly sure this version is still Helena Bertinelli, though I could just as easily make it an alternate identity for Kate Kane. Either way, she’s an independent operator whose level of vigilantism the Bat Group is not entirely comfortable with.

As a fan of the Escher Girls blog, I’m very embarrassed that I caught myself having her pivot a little more than anatomy allows in the rough sketch.

└ Tags: Batman, Pen and Ink, Sketch Challenge

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Batman Sketch Challenge – Day Fifteen – Alfred

by wpmorse on April 15, 2018 at 12:36 pm

Posted In: Art

For Day Fifteen of My Sketch Challenge I drew Alfred Today, as we reach the official halfway point of this challenge, the magic Tupperware told me to draw Batman’s loyal batman, Alfred.

Alfred’s another one I hadn’t thought about much. I’ve mostly kept the snarky conscience that he is in the comic and the animated series. For the sketch challenge setting, I’ve been playing with he’s the chief of staff in the cave watching over all of the departments (while still being the man who gets’s the boss his tea when he’s in the mood.)

I spent most of this sketch as a way to readdress my approach to Batman having kind of avoided going into any details in my first go. I’m mostly borrowing from a good friend’s thoughts on how to do a “thinking man’s Batman” rather than the antisocial, marginally sane, “Bat-thug” popularized by Frank Millars among others. Someone who was the detective as well as a warrior.

For his perfect choice for an actor who could pull that off was Mads Mikkelsen, based on his performance in Valhalla Rising. Since I’m fond of Mikkelsen’s performances I decided to go with it.

└ Tags: Batman, Pen and Ink, Sketch Challenge

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Batman Sketch Challenge – Day Fourteen – The Scarecrow

by wpmorse on April 14, 2018 at 10:59 am

Posted In: Art

For Day Fourteen of my Batman Sketch Challenge I drew The Scarecrow! For today’s sketch, the magic Tupperware told me to draw Professor Jonathan Crane The Scarecrow!

My interest in the Scarecrow as a character has evolved over the years. When I first encountered him was in Challenge of the Superfriends where he was just a man dressed as a scarecrow and my reaction was so what? Later when I found him again in the comics as the “master of fear” he became more interesting.

Having said that, I really didn’t have much to add to his concept. I only tweaked his look in an attempt to make him just a little scarier and slightly more realistically dressed (for example do those floppy hats that most people draw scarecrows wearing even exist in real life?)

Anyway, other than rushing a little bit and doing a lousy job on the rats and snakes and somehow having ink accident with a marker, I’m mostly happy with the design.

└ Tags: Batman, Pen and Ink, Sketch Challenge

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Batman Sketch Challenge – Day Thirteen – Killer Croc

by wpmorse on April 13, 2018 at 10:28 am

Posted In: Art

For Day Thirteen of my Batman Sketch Challenge I drew Killer Croc! I just finished reading the first fifteen issues of the New Batman Rebirth title, and while Tom King is certainly an excellent writer, in an effort to make it clear the Batman setting is part of the DC universe, stuck in a lot of fantastic elements that were

so blatant they didn’t even pretend to be science fiction. This drew attention for me the necessity, at least for this sketch challenge, to keep Batman as realistic as possible. But today, for the first time* the magic Tupperware told me to draw one of the more problematic characters, Killer Croc.

Waylon Jones aka Killer Croc has been all over the place from bruiser with a skin condition to a ten-foot tall walking reptile. These days the writers and artists seem to lean towards the superstrong reptile-man. For the purposes, I’m going back to basics, where he’s a legbreaker with Ichthyosis.

Jones kept the moniker “Killer Croc” from his wrestling days partially from his distinct skin condition and partially from his habit of using Gotham City’s extensive sewer system as a bolt hole. While never really a “master criminal” he’s many master criminal’s first choice for a caper’s security, or if a few heads need to be banged together. For the most part, I’m thinking Maurice Oboukhoff from The Killing (though I can’t imagine Croc playing chess in his spare time.)

At the moment I’m seeing him played by Dave Bautista.

*Okay technically it’s the second time but there is no way I could squeeze Man-Bat into my version of the setting.

└ Tags: Batman, Killer Croc, Pen and Ink, Sketch Challenge

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Batman Sketch Challenge – Day Twelve – Two Face

by wpmorse on April 12, 2018 at 12:52 pm

Posted In: Rhapsodies

For Day Twelve of my Batman Sketch Challenge I drew Two Face Harvy Dent, AKA Two Face is one of the Batman villains who is really easy to overthink. Just how does his dissociative personality work. Is he quite as much obsessed with dualism and random chance as he thinks he is. For that matter even if you’re flipping a coin to make a choice, do you have to flip the coin to propose what choices to make in the first place.