Batman by Kelley Jones

Last Tuesday - 20th of June 2023 -, I had the luck of meeting the amazing Kelley Jones in a comic book shop in Ghent. One of my favorite Batman artists has been doing a sort of Eurotrip, & that was a great opportunity to finally meet the living legend.

Back in April, I heard through the grapevine that Kelley Jones was visiting Europe & got in touch with his lovely rep Filippo. I don't say that lightly, but since those few weeks, Filippo has been helping me out here & there, and it's great to see the amazing people in the hobby. Anyways!

We talked and set up this bust commission where I gave Kelley "carte blanche" except for my character choice. He went with that iconic floating cape front & center, and a depiction of his gothic yet muscular Caped Crusader. Ready to beat you up, but looking so damn scary while doing so. Size is a bit smaller than 11x17.

It's interesting that I have loved his typical 90s Batman, even before I knew any artists or consciously knew that people actually drew these iconic images, when I was a kid. I love how horror & larger-than-life his version of the Caped Crusader is. Gothic Batman is my Batman.

More on my meeting with this legend below:

Tuesday afternoon, 4 pm, I'm second in line & I already have one commission with me (which was shipped) & the other was predone. Zero stress! I was able to enjoy the venue & catch up with some friends there. The man before me took about 45 minutes, so the shopkeeper tried to moderate time a bit more afterwards. In that time span, about 20-25 people show up & join the queue.

I'm up & get to meet Kelley. We were able to talk for almost exactly 30 minutes - about his work, his passion for history (and his son's for Waterloo), his visit to Europe, and so much more. One question I just had to ask, was if he never gets tired of drawing Batman. Kelley said that he didn't, because he has a specific "model" in his head, but always tries to switch it up the composition etc.