Next week, May 8th to be exact, DC Comics has plans to release Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor’s BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN in the Trade Paperback Format. Now, we have always preferred the hardback editions but this is very good news for people wanting the book at a slightly lower price.

Also, right now it’s available for a limited time, and at a special discounted price, if you CLICK HERE!

Ladies and Gentlemen – We present, for your viewing pleasure, the four BEFORE WATCHMEN: DELUXE EDITION Book Covers Designed for DC Comics by Chip Kidd. Look for these Graphic Novels to hit the shelves this Summer 2013. One important note is that all four books are available for pre-order so don’t miss out, just CLICK HERE!

Please be sure to read the very recent & quite excellent Book Review for BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN over at the TOM BADGUY Website. This guy has an interesting take on the new DC Comics’ Graphic Novel and there’s also some nice pictures to drool over. Overall, it was well designed & very well thought out. ( Thanks Tom, nice job! )

In support of “Heroes & Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross” now on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, the museum has recently released this video with a tremendous interview and biography of Alex Ross at his own studio.

This Alex Ross Art Exhibition is on view at Norman Rockwell Museum from November 5th, 2012 through February 24th, 2013. Video produced by Jeremy Clowe for Norman Rockwell Museum. Exhibition organized by The Andy Warhol Museum, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

At just three years of age, Ross was drawing TV commercials from memory. By the age of 13 he was scripting and drawing original comic books. Ten years later, Ross was hired by Marvel Comics to illustrate Marvel’s central characters in the comic book event, “Marvels” (1994). His impact on the comic book industry became so powerful that his hugely successful comic book series, “Kingdom Come” (1996), marks the close of the “Dark Age” of comic books, in which pessimism, violence, and gritty stories ruled, into the birth of the “Modern Age” of optimism and strong superheroes. Ross would go on to win the Comic Buyer’s Guide Award for Favorite Painter so many times the award was retired.

Here’s a quick post to share some of the process that goes into making a DC Comics Graphic Novel. As an example we’re using BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN, which was written by Chip Kidd and beautifully drawn by UK Comic Book Artist Dave Taylor. This example mainly focuses on the Joker!

OK, the graphics are being shown in order and they should explain their self pretty good. Here, we get to see how the scripted page starts out as a simple layout and then it grows into a final page.

The first page shows the script sketched out by Chip Kidd and it’s also sort of mapped out with basic dialogue. By the way, this was done on Quark! Then, we get to see Dave Taylor’s blue-line ( non-photograph able ) artwork. This gets approved and then he does his light pencil work in black. Then the next image shows a lot of the deep blacks that are added on top & the art is cleaned up a little bit. OK, this is now scanned into a computer and some digital coloring is added. The last photo is the finished work sort of as it appeared in the book. Pretty cool, huh?!

Here’s a quick post to share some amazing artwork we came across the other day. This is a recent drawing of Batman and The Joker done by the ultra-talented DAVE TAYLOR. He did this art for a Fan at a recent Comic Book Convention. Now, for the few people who don’t know, Dave was the official Artist for Chip Kidd’s recent Graphic Novel (DC Comics) titled, “Batman: Death By Design”. The art shown here is slightly different than the version seen in that book but it is still a lot of fun. To view more of Taylor’s stuff just CLICK HERE!

Celebrate The Spirit of Giving this holiday season by gifting signed and personalized books & comics by famous authors from Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! When you do, The Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation will make a contribution of $2 for every donation and gift order placed on the CBLDF's Website by December 12th. In addition, they will contribute $10 for each new membership and $5 for every gift membership made from now until December 31st! Now, we’re mentioning this offer here because Chip Kidd has two books for offer there ( Batman: Death By Design and Shazam: The Golden Age of The World’s Mightiest Mortal ). but it’s important to note that there are many other books and Graphic Novels offered and some of the other Authors/Artists include: Paul Levitz, Rebekah Isaacs, Dave Roman, Chris Burnham, Larry Marder, Evan Dorkin, Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, Raina Telgemeier, Alan Moore, Bryan Wood, Brian K. Vaughan, Jason Aaron, Howard Cruse, and Cliff Chiang.

Here's How The Personalization Works

When you place your order with the CBLDF for these holiday premiums, you can have each of the offered books personalized to one or two names, and the artist will sign and personalize the book on a high quality CBLDF-branded bookplate. When you place your order, please indicate how you want the book personalized in the comments section. Please include the personalization request, such as: For Will, For Carl & Nancy, or To The Groppers! Sorry - artists will not be able to provide sketches or other messages.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SHIPPING

All books will be personalized the week of December 5, and will be mailed the week of December 12. If you have questions about whether a book will reach you in time for a specific day, please email Alex Cox at info@cbldf.org

International donors, please note, we are happy to ship anywhere in the world, but due to extended international shipping times and potential customs delays beyond our control, we cannot guarantee these personalized items will arrive for Christmas delivery.

At Norman Rockwell Museum
November 10, 2012 – February 24, 2013

Heroes & Villains is the first museum exhibition celebrating the artwork of Alex Ross, today's foremost comic book artist. Ross, acclaimed for the photorealism of his work, is often referred to as "the Norman Rockwell of the comics world." Heroes & Villains features over 130 paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures from Ross's personal collection. The pieces range from a crayon drawing of Spider-Man that he created at the age of four to paintings from his early career on projects like Marvels and Kingdom Come through to his more recent work on Flash Gordon and Green Hornet. This exhibition outlines Ross's career of redefining comic books and graphic novels for a new generation of followers of Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and other classic comic book superheroes.

Showcasing the strong influence of American illustration and Pop Art on Alex Ross, original works by Norman Rockwell, Andrew Loomis, J.C. Leyendecker, and Andy Warhol are included. Artworks by Ross’s mother Lynette Ross (a successful commercial illustrator in her own right) are on display as well. A selection of comic books and related paraphernalia collected by Warhol throughout his life are showcased within the exhibit.

Heroes & Villains is the first museum exhibition of Ross's work and comprises four galleries. Ross has graciously prepared an original artwork for Norman Rockwell Museum which is available to the public in poster form exclusively at The Museum Store, and online, in November. Ross will also make a rare appearance for the opening celebration on November 10, 2012. This night ( Nov. 10th ) is also a great opportunity to get your ROUGH JUSTICE: THE DC COMICS SKETCHES OF ALEX ROSS Art Book signed by Ross!!

For more info just CLICK HERE!

Awesome! We wanna thank Zainab over at the COMICS AND COLA BLOG Website for doing a very excellent Book Review on BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN. For the 2 or 3 people living under a rock ( Ha Ha! ), this is the latest Batman Graphic Novel published by DC Comics. It was written by Chip Kidd and the incredible artwork was done by a very talented Comic Book Artist named Dave Taylor ( Who lives in the UK ). Here’s a LINK to check it out, please do. Also, Thanks Zainab!

YES! Excellent! There’s a big buzz today over at the Los Angeles Times HERO COMPLEX Blog all about the new BEFORE WATCHMEN “Rorschach” No. 3 Variant Cover that was designed by Chip Kidd for DC Comics. The Reporter, Noelene Clark, got the scoop to present the exclusive 1st photo of the cover at the HERO COMPLEX website!!

For the few people who don’t know, DC Comics recently started publishing a fresh comic book series called BEFORE WATCHMEN that is sort of a “prequel” to the now-iconic WATCHMEN Graphic Novel Book that was originally published back in 1986-87. The new comics are being published with both a regular Standard Cover and a Variant Cover. Chip Kidd was asked to “do the Variant design” for the Rorschach character ( Issue #3 ) which comes out around November 21st, 2012.

Also, The new "Before Watchmen" series is written by Brian Azzarello, with art by Lee Bermejo. For more details, please visit the HERO COMPLEX site and, if you could, please “share or tweet” about it! Thanks.