Ma, Simon :: Comic Art

Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight 42 – page 1

Artists: Craig Russell (Penciller) , Craig Russell (Inker) , John Francis Moore (Writer)

2 Comments - 237 Views - 1 Like

Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight 42 – page 1 Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight 42 – page 1
Artist:	Craig Russell (Penciller)
Artist:	Craig Russell (Inker)
Artist:	John Francis Moore (Writer)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	237
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	2
Added to Site:	10/30/2023
Comic Art Archive:	Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Issue: 42 Page: 1 View

Description

The last time I felt an almost uncontrollable urge to steal something, the last time I am willing to freely admit to it in mixed company, was back in September of 1992 at the UK Comic Art Convention in London. I was at the DC Comics booth and amongst the usual promo material spread across their table – info sheets, bookmarks, mini-posters – were a number of preview copies of upcoming titles of which I remember only one: Legends of the Dark Knight 43 which was the second half of the John Francis Moore-scripted, P Craig Russell-drawn two-parter, Hothouse, which features Poison Ivy. This dummy copy was black and white, comic-sized, and published on white paper and if you were in a generous mood you might describe it as a poorman’s Artist Edition/Artisan Edition, but realistically it resembled more a bootleg production copy. However, the artwork divested of its colour really allowed you to appreciate the purity of the linework which was elegant and graceful. And enchanting. It was almost as if Pamela herself were saucily winking at me (although she never needed to be that forward in the comics to get what she wanted), inviting me into taking her away, leading me on like I was just another one of the many lovestruck fools who had fallen under her spell before and since. I said “almost uncontrollable urge”, as if there was one thing I had absorbed from having read superhero comics at that point for around twenty years was that there were certain moral standards, and although in the real world there are a lot of grey areas, there are things which were unequivocally right and unequivocally wrong, and pilfering a comic for self-gratification and depriving others of the pleasure of also seeing it was most definitely wrong, so I left it on the table after putting on a pretence of just casually leafing through it, and waited the three or four months (which when you are young[ish], as I was then, seemed like three or four years) for the proper published comic to come out. And they wonder where all the heroes have gone. I don’t believe in karma otherwise why are some war-mongering despots still drawing breath in this world when by all rights they should have been fatally struck by lightning at some point in the last 20 months, but around about 10 years later I would be given the opportunity to acquire a page or two or three from the two issues of LOTDK that PCR drew when he started to put handfuls of pages in several drops on eBay. I can’t remember for sure but I think I must have been priced out of any of the pages which feature Bats (not to mention any of the pages which show Poison Ivy in her barely-there outfit; ahhhh). But back in 1992 I would have taken your arm off for a single panel (dependent on which panel) from that two-issue run, so to score three pages was more than enough to satisfy that urge. The other common denominator that all three pages have (other than not featuring Batman or Poison Ivy in costume) was that they were all chapter title pages which usually afforded PCR an opportunity to render a semi-semi-splash and in this respect two of the pages were especially and literally, to use a very 90s term, “lush”.

Like a lot of comics readers of my generation I first started to sit up and take notice of PCR’s work after seeing his and Roy Thomas’ adaptation of Elric: the Dreaming City, which, in my opinion, after more than 40 years is still one of the most beautifully drawn and coloured comics ever created. Ever since, PCR has been on my list, a list we all have, of artists who whatever comics they do full pencils and inks on immediately promotes that comic to a must-buy title, even if it is a comic you would never normally get. I mean I have no interest in opera and I am way too long in the tooth to start learning to appreciate it now – it is far too refined and cultured for a lowbrow like myself – but PCR is obviously devoted to it and when he does his comics version of operas you can easily see he puts every effort into it and the least I can do is pick up a copy.

So my thanks to Craig Russell for releasing some of his pages of original comic art from Opus 35. I am sure every fan who picked up a page really appreciated it. I know I do. I hope you are having/had a terrific day.

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About the Owner

	Simon Ma ( 2 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	April 2013
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED KINGDOM
On CAF:	Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

Posted on 11/18/2023

Yeah, I remember seeing those bound preview photocopies at the DC tables, but I don't remember that they had the word balloons in them yet. I like this first panel a lot with the swirl in one eye and the fading into darkness on the other side. Fist panel is just a face, but illustrated tightly. In contrast, the last panel is busy, but drawn loosely somehow.

Simon Ma
Member Since 2013

1 - Posted on 12/22/2023

Marcus Wai wrote:

“Ah, yes, I remember it well.” My memory is a bit hazy about the finer details of the dummy copies but considering all the abuse I have subjected my mind and body to in the intervening 31 years it is incredible I have any brain cells left to remember anything at all. Thank you for setting me straight on that.

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