Batman Poster #36 FRAMED Batman #679 (2008) Alex Ross

Description

You are purchasing the item pictured, framed. Priority mail, tracking and $50 insurance is included with purchase. Item will be bagged to protect from dust, packed in packing peanuts and boxed. Just open box and hang it on the wall…makes a perfect gift!

In 2008, Alex Ross became the first cover artist in history to work on the monthly Superman and Batman titles at the same time. This cover from the “Batman R.I.P.” story arc was painted in Ross’ trademark hyperrealistic style and reflects the artist’s desire to strip the Dark Knight’s character design down to a few core elements. “It’s difficult working on Batman because so much has already been done with him. The challenge is to bring something new to the character that doesn’t feel forced or illogical. And the movies have gone so over the top with effects, gadgets, glitz etc. So I went lo-tech with him, and took steps they wouldn’t- the fact that, in the films, he has all his riches so conspicuously displayed, to me, turns counter to hiding his identity. My approach is to not show any of the trappings, it was the case with the very first version of him in 1939- no Batmobile, no Batplane. I love all that stuff, but it takes the focus away from the character himself, which is what interests me. It should all be a mystery. Nobody knows if he has a plane because no one’s ever seen it. He has a rope, an unmarked car, a few crude weapons. He just appears, which is even scarier.”-Alex Ross. Batman R.I.P. is a comic book story arc published in Batman #676-681 by DC Comics. Written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Tony Daniel, and with covers by Alex Ross, the story pits the superhero Batman against the Black Glove organization as they attempt to destroy everything for which he stands. Discussing the genesis of the storyline and its linkage to the rest of his run, Morrison notes that: “I can tell you this much – this is the first story I had planned when Peter Tomasi, the editor at the time, asked me to do Batman, which must have been two years ago now…or longer. And the very first story title I noted down was “Batman R.I.P.” I had a particular image for the cover, which Alex Ross has done a bang-zoom, thousand-times-better version of for the second part of the story. So it came from there…and out of that notion came the idea for the big overarching story I’ve been telling since I first came on the book. Everything…the “Zur-En-Arrh” graffiti, the Joker prose story, the Club of Heroes…every detail that’s been in the book for the last couple of years is significant, everything is a clue to the grand design that’s unfolding.” In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Grant Morrison explained that Batman’s fate in the story is “so much better than death. People have killed characters in the past, but to me, that kind of ends the story! I like to keep the story twisting and turning. So what I am doing is a fate worse than death. Things that no one would expect to happen to these guys at all. This is the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman.” Nelson Alexander “Alex” Ross is an American comic book writer/artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries Marvels, on which he collaborated with writer Kurt Busiek for Marvel Comics. He has since done a variety of projects for both Marvel and DC Comics, such as the 1996 miniseries Kingdom Come, which Ross also co-wrote. Since then he has also done covers and character designs for Busiek’s series Astro City, and various projects for Dynamite Entertainment. His feature film work includes concept and narrative art for Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, and DVD packaging art for the M. Night Shyamalan film, Unbreakable. He has also done covers for TV Guide, promotional artwork for the Academy Awards, posters and packaging design for video games, and his renditions of superheroes have been merchandised as action figures. Ross’ style has been said to exhibit “a Norman-Rockwell-meets-George-Pérez vibe”, and has been praised for its realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. His rendering style, his attention to detail, and the perceived tendency of his characters to be depicted staring off into the distance in cover images has been satirized in Mad magazine. Because of the time it takes Ross to produce his art, he primarily serves as a plotter and/or cover artist. Comics Buyer’s Guide Senior Editor Maggie Thompson, commenting on that publication’s retirement of the Favorite Painter award from their CBG Fan Awards due to Ross’ domination of that category, stated in 2010, “Ross may simply be the field’s Favorite Painter, period. That’s despite the fact that many outstanding painters are at work in today’s comic books.”