BATGIRL (Tribute to Longshot#3) by Maria Laura Sanapo

Batgirl
by Maria Laura Sanapo
After Arthur Adams' Longshot #3 cover
11x17 ink on comic board
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I was fourteen years old when Longshot#3 was released. I had first become aware of Arthur Adams via X-Men Annual #9, and digging through my back issues I realized that he drew the Marvel Team-up cover with Spidey in the black suit. The Longshot mini-series followed and the layout on the cover to the third issue has remained a nostalgic favorite.

Not long ago I saw Maria Laura Sanapo's variant cover to Man-Eater's #1, which is a tribute to Joshua Middleton's Batgirl #33. I quickly sought more of her other work and thought she would be a good candidate for a Batgirl commission. I knew I wanted a Barbara Gordon cover tribute and became fixated on what a Batgirl centric version of the Longshot #3 cover would look like. So I selected a handful of Bat villains who have crossed paths with Babs over the years and sent M.L. a comprehensize set of reference images. We worked out a payment schedule and she was able to turnaround the commission within mere weeks.

Keen observers will spot Joker's prop pistol, Grotesque's electrified lance, Penguins's umbrella, Strix's sword, Ventriloquist's puppets, Velvet Tiger's cleaver, Condiment King's gimmick gun, and Agrippina's gauntlet. The best part is that she captured the iconography of the original layout but in her own specific style. While perhaps best known for her work on Wonder Woman, DC editors should definitely take notice of Miss Sanapo's Batgirl!