Batman Remark 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.

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.

Thanks to his rep, Filippo, a friend of mine was able to make that visit to Ghent happen. I had helped set up another shop visit in Antwerp the day after, but couldn't quite make that one. In the time we were chatting, Filippo was kind enough to set up a commission for me, while I had also ordered one through the shop. I know, I know, but at least I waited a few days before I ordered the second one to give other people a shot...

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.

During our chat, Kelley did remarks in all of my books - some quite extensive & even double remarks. Enjoy!