Batman and Catwoman: an art commission by Tom Grummett

[Mr. Comic Book]

I've been fortunate enough to commission legendary DC/Marvel artist Tom Grummett thrice courtesy of his representatives on Statue Forum. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Grummett was DC's go-to guy during the bulk of the '90s, working for nearly a decade on the various Superman books, launching the Robin solo book during the "Knightfall" arc, co-creating The Power Company with Kurt Busiek, and doing the various Titans books from the '80s all the way until recent years. He opens up a commission list every so often when he gets breaks from his current gig at Marvel Licensing, so me being me, I have to hop on when time and funds allow.

The first time I commissioned him, I got his take on Max Fleischer's Superman. The second time I commissioned him, I got him to do Sandy from Grease. (It should be said that Grummett draws beautiful women better than most anybody else in comics.) This time around? Well...



This marked his first time ever drawing Catwoman in her 1966 costume; usually he does the purple dress/green cape version, so this was a nice change of pace for him. It was also the first time he'd done a kind of romance novel-style take on Batman and Catwoman, and I've got to say, he really sank his teeth into it. There's a lot of Adam West and Julie Newmar in the characters' personalities here, and I applaud it. It makes the piece feel that much more authentic.

Anyway, there it is. I hope you like it as much as I do.

[clavierankh]

Purr-fect!

[Mr. Comic Book]

Purr-fect!

That it is.

[Bob]

Well done. I hope you find a place to display it

I was going back and forth with artist Al Rio on a commish. Now that he is gone I wish we had made that deal

[elmrgraham]

Purrfect Art.

[Mr. Comic Book]

By the by, if anyone would like to see more of Mr. Grummett's Batman art, Comic Art Fans has a nice selection of it. Just punch in "tom grummett [insert name of batman-related character]" to the search engine on the site and you're good to go:

http://www.comicartfans.com/

And just for fun, here are the other commissions he's done for me. They're not Batman-related, but they are nice all the same.

Superman


and Sandy


I definitely plan to have him do a Poison Ivy piece at some point, but I'd also like to see him tackle Star Trek, George Pal's War of the Worlds, He-Man, Flash Gordon, and James Bond eventually as well. The man's versatility is astounding.

[Bob]

Love the pose on the "Superman"

[Gernot]

Thanks for including the Superman picture! I was about to ask if you could post it when I saw it down in the thread.

Love that Batman/Catwoman art, too.

Oh, and NOTHING against Bob, but if you go to deviantart, be warned! Not all of the pictures there are work-safe or appropriate for children! I just don't want anyone to get in any kind of trouble1

[Bob]

Good point, I will take it down

[chrisbcritter]

What great drawings!
Now where did I put my crayons? I'm real good at staying inside the lines...

[Mr. Comic Book]

I've actually gotten requests to ink these drawings on and off. Some inkers want to do it right over the pencils, others want to ink over bluelines (specialized pencil scans made for comic book production). I haven't decided if I want to do either yet. If I do get these inked, I'd want it done by inkers who are known for keeping loyal to the pencil art. So we'll see what happens down the road.

I will say this: the Batman/Catwoman art alone would be an inker's dream due to all the detail in it. They could really go to town with that.

[RuxieCat121]

My God, that artwork is gorgeous!

~Heather

[Mr. Comic Book]

My God, that artwork is gorgeous!

~Heather

There's more where that comes from, as I have a mini-theme in my art collection of Batman and Catwoman together:
http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=129414

It's actually pretty rare that I get Batman by himself. Usually when I commission Batman, Catwoman's with him. I tend to view them as inseparable. But that's the way love is, after all.

[RuxieCat121]

The one with her holding the cowl has been one of my favorites for a while. I see it around the net every once in a while. I love these!

~Heather

[Jthree]

Guys! Does anyone know if Mr. Grummett or the owner of the original art, can put out autographed prints or copies of that incredible piece of work?

JThree
carolyn3@midco.net