A Peak Inside My Stechbook

It's been kind of a hectic few days, and what was supposed to be a more relaxed day turned out to be... not so much one. So as I'm preparing to head up to Morristown, NJ for Garden State Comic Fest tomorrow to hopefully add a sketch to my sketchbook from one of my all time favorite comic artists, I thought I'd put up a handful today.

I started this sketchbook on Free Comic Book Day back in 2011, and have constantly added new sketches at each FCBD and con I've gone to since. I've got over 50 sketches based around the theme of Batman, his allies, and his enemies (I know, what a surprise from me), and here are some of my favorites.

Here's the very first sketch I got, a classic Batman from Fernando Ruiz, best known for his work on Archie, Archie Vs. Predator, and his creator owned Die, Kitty, Die!

Art Baltazar, co-creator of Tiny Titans, does great crayon sketches, and back at NYCC, I got him to draw the three Robins, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake, as well as his creator owned character Patrick the Wolf Boy dressed up like Robin. Some day, I'm going to dig up my Patrick singles and write up a recommendation on it, 'cause it's awesome.

Ryan Dunlavey, who's worked with Fred Vane Lente on Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics, as well as the upcoming Action Presidents, did an appearance at Dewey's, and he gave me my first Mr. Freeze in his classic Batman: The Animated Series armor.

I've loved Jim Calafiore's art from the time he worked with Peter David on Aquaman, and have followed his work in Exiles, Leaving Megalopolis, and plenty of other comics. But my favorite work of his has to be Secret Six with Gail Simone, so I asked him to do Deadshot for me, and not only did he do it, but he rolled up the mask so we could see Deadshot's signature 'stache.

Tim Sale. Tim freakin' Sale. He has drawn some of my favorite Batman stories of all time, from "Blades" in Legends of the Dark Knight, to the Haunted Knight Halloween specials, Long Halloween, and Dark Victory. And when I got the opportunity to get a Sale, I was completely torn on who to choose, so I went with Scarecrow. With a little ink and a few brushstrokes, he was able to evoke his signature Scarecrow.

Joe Staton is a living legend, having worked with Paul Levitz on the '70s revival of the JSA, where he also co-created the original Huntress. But he also drew one of the stories from The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told, Brave and the Bold #197, "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne," the story of how the Batman of Earth-2 and the Catwoman of that world finally got together, so his piece is  Catwoman of Earth-2

And the final piece for today is a recent addition, from Diane Leto, who co-created The Halloween Legion, as well a plenty of other work. I was really pleased to finally get my first classic Harley Quinn, here with her signature mallet and everything.