DC Chief Creative Officer/Publisher Jim Lee drew two more sketches over the weekend for auctions to benefit comic book shops: Deadman and alt-reality Batman, Grim Knight.
Saturday’s Deadman was chosen by the high bidder of Doomsday, with Lee deciding to homage Neal Adams’ classic Strange Adventures #207 cover.
“Neal was my favorite artist as a kid; everything he drew just felt so real, immersive and dynamic. Remains one of my main influences of all time!” Lee wrote on Instagram. “Even enlisted some friends and family to give me some distinct faces to work off of. Was inspired by some scenes from Game of Thrones as well. This will be a variant cover on a future DC comic!”
Sunday’s Grim Knight was picked by the person who won the Batman Beyond auction.
“Channeled a bit of the late great maestro Jorge Zaffino – whose work I admired when he did some Punisher stories for Marvel,” Lee wrote. “So kinetic, fearless and direct – I would pour over his originals when I had a chance to see them in the old offices on Park Ave South. So much you could learn about art and technique by just gazing at the original art itself!”
The eBay auctions for Deadman and Grim Knight are live. All the auctions last three days on eBay. Each auction winner not only gets the original 9″x”12 sketch, but she or he gets to select the next DC character Lee will draw, so long as it isn’t a character he’s already sketched.
In addition, guest artist Rafael Albuquerque has drawn Phantasm – the DC animated villain that is scheduled to make its DC comics continuity debut in the upcoming Batman/Catwoman series. That piece is available for auction here, with proceeds also going to BINC.
Looking at the tally of Lee’s auctions so far, he has raised $102,620 so (not including Rafa’s Phantasm) from 12 sketches – with the recent Batman: Red Rain peaking as the highest individual item at $17,300.
BINC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to assisting booksellers in need – including comic booksellers. In the past, BINC has offered financial assistance to comic book stores affected by natural disasters and other unexpected financial crises.
On March 18, BINC stepped up to specify its continued support of comic book retailers in light of the coronavirus pandemic.