Over the last couple of years, I've also been looking for other legendary creators to pair up with Gerhard on one of my "Gerhard projects." A Bolland Killing Joke piece was at the top of my list, but it was told to me the odds of getting an actual commission were pretty slim. Then, it dawned on me, perhaps Gerhard could do something with the Joker piece already in my possession. What Gerhard is best at is problem solving - I figured he'd figure someway of turning a quick sketch into a masterpiece!

I sent the sketch along with a couple ideas to Gerhard. One of those was adapting the sketch based on an old Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening post for which I own a preliminary study. The "Fireman" SEP cover showed a picture of a fireman coming to life as he sees that a passerby had left a burning cigar on the mantle. This was originally inspired by the fire that burned down Rockwell's studio back in the 1940's. The fireman was shown surrounded by an ornate frame that decorated with themes that paid homage to firemen. Rockwell modeled this frame based on one that he had found at a local flea market.

Anyway, enough of the back story... Gerhard adapted to the frame to celebrate the life of the Joker and also adapted the theme of the picture interacting with the real-world environment around it. In this case, we are transported the the room of a comic collector whose prized possession is this Joker sketch that he obtained from Brian Bolland (let's say at the Balimore Comic-Con back in 2012). He's lovingly framed it in a custom frame and has displayed it on the mantle with other prizes from his collection - a playing card adapted from Jerry Robinson's first sketch of the character and an old Joker action figure. Will the Joker come alive to exact his revenge?

Originally (as can be seen in the preliminary design), I was hoping that Gerhard could do some clean-up to tighten up Bolland's sketch, but ultimately we decided to just leave it alone. I think it worked out for the best.

This one was a little different than some of the other Gerhard projects... love to hear what others think of the final results.

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