Detective Comics (Vol. 1) 1027 Original Variant Cover Art (Mitch Gerads)

Detective Comics (Vol. 1) #1027 Variant Cover Original Art (DC, November 2020). Detective 1027 was a huge issue celebrating the 1000th issue since Batman was introduced in Detective Comics. As DC likes to do these days for key or important issues, there were about half a million different variants, and I can only rattle off a handful of them myself. Many were exclusives for different stores, and Comics Conspiracy Store did an exclusive cover featuring artwork from Mitch Gerads that was limited to 2500 published copies. This cover was accomplished on 2 boards, one featuring the primary image of the Dark Knight flying down into who know knows what, until you see the second board functioning as the overlay image with glass shards flying everywhere, realizing he has busted through some sort of glass ceiling. The image of Batman has incredible shading and details, and the depth on the page is incredible. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Even the details and placement of the glass shards on the second board is quite well thought out and very realistic. The published version of the comic combines them nicely and also added faces of key villains from the Rouges Gallery (e.g. Joker, Bane) reflected in the glass shards, but I assume these were added digitally since they do not show up on the original art (something I plan on asking Mitch when I get him to sign my copy of the book pre-CGC grading). Both boards are done in pencil and ink with dimensions of 11" X 17". The overlay image with the glass shards is basic pencil and ink, but the image of Batman uses a few different types of ink that give it almost a painted appearance, including a roughness that adds to the depth of the image. This may not be one of the most well known covers for this special issue, but this cover in my opinion is quite special, and it is one of the few that Mitch has done for a mainline Batman title, making it a bit of a rarity for him. Definitely happy to add it to the collection!