CSBG Archive
Temptation’s Page #1 – Batman Confidential #1, Page 6
Here’s a new comic book art contest! In the comments section recently, people were discussing how it is interesting to see different comic book artists interpreting the same comic book script. So it struck me that that would be a cool idea for a contest!
So I’ll put up one page from a comic book script by a notable comic book writer. If you want to participate, you will then draw that page and e-mail it to me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com by Saturday, March 5th. On Sunday, March 6th, I’ll post all the pages people have sent in. Then the readers will vote on who they think did the best job on the page (I might do a secret panel, as well, but there will definitely be a public voting option). Sounds fun, right?
Well, read on to see the first page, courtesy of Andy Diggle’s script for Batman Confidential #1 (which is, itself, courtesy of Andy’s website).
NOTE: You don’t have to include the text at all. You don’t have to ink the pages and you don’t have to color the pages. You can do any and all of that if you’d like, but all that is required is to do pencils for the page (that said, do make sure to make room for the text).
First, here’s the set-up for this page.
Batman has entered an apartment after a woman has been murdered. Her baby is unharmed. However, Batman then realizes that the killer is still there. The killer bursts out of a closet and shoots at Batman with a pair of uzis. The killer wears
black gloves, “urban camo” combat pants, a bomber jacket, and a fearsome hockey mask sprayed with gray zebra stripes.
That leads us into the following page:
PAGE 6
1) The Killer FIRES right at us with the other Uzi; a deep perspective, in-yer-face image –KILLER
EAT IT!2) Batman DIVES through a narrow serving hatch which leads from the back of the living room into the kitchen; the trail of bullet impacts tracks him relentlessly –
3) Over the shoulder shot. The Killer aims into the darkened, open doorway of the kitchen. Blackness within.
KILLER
THAT’S RIGHT, FREAK! YOU BETTER HIDE!4) Same angle. The Killer swings the weapon to the right, now aiming through the open bedroom doorway – straight at the BABY GIRL, who stands in her cot, watching quietly, oblivious as to what’s about to happen…
BABY
(jagged)
WAAAAAH!KILLER
NOW THEN. WHERE AS I… ?5) The Killer FIRES – just as Batman SWINGS IN from the kitchen door-frame, KICKING the Uzi aside! It fires wild, up and away –
KILLER
(off-panel right)
.OH YEAH …6) Batman delivers a powerful and precise STRAIGHT-LEG KICK, his body tilted back to line up perfectly along the line of force, delivering every foot-pound of pressure straight into the Killer’s abdomen. The Killer flies back as if his butt was tied to a speeding car, the machine pistol spinning from his hand –
7) The Killer CRASHES back into a coffee table –
There you have it, folks! You have two weeks to e-mail me your pages! That’s a goodly amount of time to draw a single page, right?
Remember, e-mail your pages to me (as JPEGs) at bcronin@comicbookresources.com.
65 Comments
Captain Fur
February 19, 2011 at 9:10 am
This is… Ok, I’m in.
nia
February 19, 2011 at 9:40 am
since it’a a contest, what’s the prize?
sgt pepper
February 19, 2011 at 9:48 am
Cool idea.
tillfelix
February 19, 2011 at 10:04 am
Gosh!
Brian Cronin
February 19, 2011 at 10:38 am
Bragging rights.
Maybe I’ll think of something else, but bragging rights is enough, I’d say.
johnny
February 19, 2011 at 11:20 am
PLEASE forgive me for sounding dumb, but I just cannot figure out what this means :
“4) Same angle. The Killer swings the weapon to the right, now aiming through the open bedroom doorway – straight at the BABY GIRL, who stands in her cot, watching quietly, oblivious as to what’s about to happen…
BABY
(jagged)
WAAAAAH!”
Could someone please dumb this down and explain it to me? Thank you in advance for your time–JW
Patrick Macias
February 19, 2011 at 11:24 am
With text and color, or just the B/W page?
Brian Cronin
February 19, 2011 at 11:46 am
Good question, Patrick. I meant to include that. My bad. I have added the requirements to the piece now (no text or color needed. Heck, you don’t even need to ink it). Although, do make sure to draw it so that if someone WERE to add text, that there would be room for the text (you know, add in caption boxes and space for word balloons).
Brian Cronin
February 19, 2011 at 11:48 am
After shooting at Batman (and making Batman run for cover), the killer turns to the right, which faces the open bedroom of the little baby. He points his gun into the room, where we see the baby, standing in her cot, crying due to the noise.
johnny
February 19, 2011 at 11:49 am
Thank You Brian! I couldn’t figure out what it meant by “jagged’ but this helps immensely.
Rob III
February 19, 2011 at 11:59 am
This is a great Idea. I hope to have something to send to you
Jazzbo
February 19, 2011 at 1:08 pm
I can’t wait to see the results of this. Should be cool.
iola
February 19, 2011 at 1:38 pm
@johnny: “Jagged” is describing the style of the lettering (or font) to be used on her dialogue.
I’m all for contests, but bragging rights is not really that exciting for me either. A page of pencils can take a whole day of work. It sounds like fun, so I hope it works out, I just thought I’d mention why it seems like not enough to me.
johnny
February 19, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Thanks Iola! This will be my first attempt at drawing a page from a script so that kind of threw me. I appreciate the input.
Brian Cronin
February 19, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Duly noted.
Orlando Baez
February 19, 2011 at 3:53 pm
You know it would be a nice way of getting noticed of getting hired with big publishers with this cool idea. I think this is awesome
for Brian setting this pencilled page contest !
Patrick Macias
February 19, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Thanks Brian!
Alex J. Rogers
February 19, 2011 at 5:00 pm
7 panel pages. Love those. If I drew it I’d probably bring it down a little. According to Todd McFarlane and others your job as an artist is to make the writer write for you.
Daniel
February 19, 2011 at 5:08 pm
wow, honestly i’d want a stab at this! lets see how my week looks.
Nick Pitarra
February 19, 2011 at 5:13 pm
AWESOME! The exposure alone is worth it. So many people will be clicking and viewing and voting….it could lead to cool things…at the very least get people motivated to practice sequentials. And IOLA….if it’s monthly….thats a page a month…not too tight of a deadline
Steve Broome
February 19, 2011 at 5:28 pm
Sounds like fun.
Wes
February 19, 2011 at 8:43 pm
I’M SO IN! IT WOULD BE BETTER IF THERE WAS A PRIZE, BUT THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!
'Rob Liefeld'
February 20, 2011 at 12:26 am
Do I have to draw feet?
Sounds like there is plenty of room for grimacing and speed lines!
Alex J. Rogers
February 20, 2011 at 3:53 am
Speed lines are great, btw.
No foolin.
Joementum
February 20, 2011 at 8:30 am
Pencil only? ok.
Will the remaining contests be pencils only as well?
Mike W.
February 20, 2011 at 8:55 am
I am in for this.
Great Idea with these interactive contests.
Gary
February 20, 2011 at 9:09 am
I took “jagged” to mean the shape of the baby’s caption (sometimes called a burst) to indicate she’s crying loudly.
Gary
February 20, 2011 at 9:10 am
In any case, I’m anxious to see everyone’s entries. Good luck guys!
Gary
February 20, 2011 at 9:13 am
Let me correct myself….I meant the baby’s speech balloon.
Brian Cronin
February 20, 2011 at 10:23 am
Yeah, that’s what it means.
b3shmoonwalk
February 20, 2011 at 10:54 am
Just have two questions
1) Is there a specific batman costume we are drawing e.g. Batman Inc. costume
2) Can we change the panel specifications slightly
Brian Cronin
February 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm
It is set in the early years of Batman’s career, but I don’t think that’s a major problem. Whichever costume you’d like.
Use your discretion. Imagine if you were given that page to draw – what would you do? Would you follow it precisely or not? Do note that the artist who ultimately did draw the page DID alter the panel specifications slightly (I don’t want to influence people by posting the finished page).
Joey
February 20, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Love CBR and i LOVE this contest!!! Now if only my talent was to draw…..
YearZero
February 21, 2011 at 1:37 am
Hey Brian,
I saw the final page of Batman Confidential #1 and I noticed that the artist did not draw panel 7 (the one with the cofee table)
Can we do that?
thanks!
Steve Broome
February 21, 2011 at 10:09 pm
About halfway done, I’m having a lot of fun with this.
Guys, stop thinking so much. It’s art, not a tax return.
Chris
February 22, 2011 at 1:03 am
Can we include shots of Batman entering the room or are we only allowed to stick to the script
Clementine Pumpernickel
February 22, 2011 at 1:36 am
Brian, do I have to draw Batman or can I actually have the terrorist square off against the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers? What about if the baby starts throwing radioactive poop? Can I do that? Huh?
On a slightly more serious note, I can’t enter this contest due to work commitments, but I was thinking that, by putting the vote to the public, you risk people spamming. I’m forever getting messages on DeviantArt about some feckin’ Stan Lee contest. It was just a thought, but maybe there should be a wildcard or ‘staff favorite’ that allows you guys [and girls] to provide an ‘honorable mention’ in case of a skewed vote.
Brian Cronin
February 22, 2011 at 1:40 am
It definitely won’t come down to strictly a public vote.
Brian Cronin
February 22, 2011 at 1:42 am
The bad guy has already begun firing on Batman when the page begins, so I’m going to go with a “no” there.
Clementine Pumpernickel
February 22, 2011 at 7:22 am
Cheers Brian, thanks for the clarification. I admire your zen-like patience in fielding all these questions from internet philistines like myself
MNX
February 22, 2011 at 9:53 am
How big should the file be?
Brian Cronin
February 22, 2011 at 10:20 am
At least 600 pixels. Once you get up to 2000, it’s probably too big.
Anon
February 23, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Entering a contest with no prize sounds like a fool’s bargain. I was all for this until I realized that there’s literally no payoff. If you want someone to go through the colossal effort of drawing something for you, and that’s essentiall what you’re asking, at least repay that effort by offering something in return. Bragging rights isn’t enough for someone who could do this on their own if they wanted to.
buttler
February 23, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Which reminds me, I still need to send CSBG an invoice for all those thoughtful blog comments I’ve been writing.
slimwhitt
February 23, 2011 at 11:58 pm
Damn that second panel is tricky.
Mike J.C.
February 24, 2011 at 11:13 am
I just finished my page…There was some contradictory stuff in that page…
I.e. In panel 4… How can a baby watch quitely AND be crying WAAAAHHH
And in panel 5, he kicks the Uzi away, but in panel 6 he also kicks the Uzi away? 0.o
I just left alot to my own imagination, in real life, you could just call an editor or the writer to have them clear it up for you.
But I did have some fun doing it
Peinreich
February 24, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Yeah Brian, that cat Anon makes a lot of sense. What are you, a commie? Do you have something against showering us with gold, glory, and girls for the blood, sweat and tears we put into doodling on our Blueline amateur artboard? Never work for nothing, that’s what I say- so I just won’t work, because I know that it’s better to be convinced of my own potential than it is to enter a contest that is no different from various contests on DeviantArt or on blogs across our fine country. If you can’t promise me an exclusive contract with one of the big two, then I’m going back to my foodstamps, dignity intact, and my wife can always fawn over my Cable pin-ups, in between making sure her mullet is fluffed up nice and bouncy via 34 000 cans of hairspray.
Gary
February 24, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Can the first panel have batman in it?
Brian Cronin
February 24, 2011 at 4:53 pm
I think you could probably get away with Batman in the foreground of the first panel, yeah.
Anonymous
February 25, 2011 at 1:20 am
@Mike JC, I noticed that too about the baby. I’m using my artist discretion there!
@ Slimwhitt, that second panel is what’s slowing me down!
Slimwhitt
February 26, 2011 at 10:27 am
Well, I’ve turned my page in. Now, of course, I hate everything about it and want to redo it. Maybe I’ll ink the next one. Can’t wait to see what the next page will be. Great Contest!
dave_clarke
February 26, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Unfortunately I cant participate this month due to my day job getting busier but I’m eager to give it a shot next month
Great idea for a contest
tillfelix
February 28, 2011 at 2:43 am
Turned my page in, too, and I’m very curious about the other results.
Steve Broome
February 28, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Turning my page in now, this was a fun distraction. Anon, sometimes it’s just fun to draw stuff and have something in your portfolio that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Your argument would only make sense if CBR was somehow making tons of money off of this, which isn’t really the point. After drawing only my own characters for the last year it was cool to do an established figure even though he only appears in one panel.
Noor
March 1, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Wow, this was originally drawn by Whilce Portacio!! I didn’t know that when I started drawing, but after buying some old Portacio X-factor + Uncanny X-men issues and looking him up, it was a nice surprise to find out he was the artist on this particular Batman book. For those of you who are curious, or just want to compare your piece to Portacio’s published version, definitely take a look at Batman Confidential 1.
Coal Minds » Archives » Batman Page – Comic Book Resources contest
March 1, 2011 at 5:54 pm
[...] Link [...]
cool-d
March 5, 2011 at 9:17 am
this is great unfortunately i found out about this too late will wait for the next one
Domo!
March 5, 2011 at 8:48 pm
My submission’s in. Started last night, finished this morning….. ish!
Check out my work here:
http://www.drummerboydomo.deviantart.com
http://www.nike05.blogspot.com
Caldwellink
March 5, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Sent mine in about an hour ago just made the deadline. Almost forgot about it… glad today was a Saturday left me time to get it done. I don’t like it much wish i could redo it.
Domo!
March 5, 2011 at 9:37 pm
Got my submission in! Started last night, finished this morning. Can’t wait to see the other submissions!
Domo!
March 5, 2011 at 9:38 pm
BTW check out my work here:
http://www.drummerboydomo.deviantart.com
or
http://www.nike05.blogspot.com
CBRs „Die Seite der Versuchung“ #1 « Till Felix' Allerlei
March 6, 2011 at 4:38 am
[...] Bei comicbookresources.com wurde vor knapp 2 Wochen vom dortigen Blogger Brian Cronin dazu aufgerufen, nach einem original Script von einem original amerikanischen Comic-Autoren eine Comicseite zu zeichnen, diese einzuschicken und dann darauf zu warten, was dabei rauskommt. Ganz genau: zu gewinnen gibt’s nichts. Das mag manchen davon abhalten, mir ist es egal. (Spielregeln und Scrpit stehen hier –> Link). [...]
Trans
May 17, 2011 at 1:26 am
Great contest !
Bakeca Milano
November 10, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Very interesting idea with the contest…great job!
Albert Nyawo
November 16, 2011 at 3:49 am
I just saw this contest, is it still on? I’d love participate I’m from Zimbabwe.