Style of the Cities: From NYC to Gotham

One of the most exciting (and simultaneously scary) things about starting a new project is the world building. It’s a blank canvas that you get to fill up with all sorts of new ideas and approaches, and it sets the stage for everything going forward. Normally, the first thing I would design is the protagonist of the story, but on Sirens of the City, I did something totally different.

This book is set in 1980s New York, and the city is one of the most important characters in the entire book. The hairstyles, the music, the swag—it’s easily the most stylish decade of my lifetime. But there was also AIDS, crack, urban decay, and violence. People didn’t live through 1980s New York so much as survive it. I’ve had an infatuation from afar with this city for a very long time, and I’ve always known that one day I would work on something that was a love letter to this time period.

It called for a stylistic shift on my part. I’m known for clean, simple, COLORFUL linework. I’ve been doing it my entire career. I needed an outlet for something different, and 80s NYC was the perfect setting to try new things. It’s grungy and messy. Darker. Part of the city looked downright post-apocalyptic, and I wanted to capture that. It needed an edge, and so I explored a number of sketches of the city trying to nail that urgency of line.

It’s less about perfection and more about getting to the feeling of the scenery. And NO RULERS.

The lack of color speaks to that same point. From the moment we started this project, I knew that it had to be in black and white. There was never another option.

You will see splashes of color here and there, but this story is being told in shades of grey. And if there is a color on the page, there is a good reason for it. Keep that in mind going forward.

So that’s the process. I’m still flying by the seat of my pants and refining things as we go, so buckle up. Things are about to get real!

In Other News…

I Am Batman #6 is in stores on February 8th, with a variant cover by myself and colored by my esteemed colleague, Emilio Lopez. Here’s the official press for this issue from DC Comics:

Jace Fox's baptism by fire as Batman during "Fear State" was the first step toward his next great challenge—a relocation to the Big Apple! Joining his mother and sisters in the move as they arrive to the city, Jace will find new adventure, a rekindled love, and terrifying new adversaries as "Empire State of Mind" begins!

See y’all on the next one.

k.