By Jarrod Jones. Undercover is our opportunity to lovingly gaze upon gorgeous works from magnificent artists. This week, we take a moment to enjoy all the incredible covers for ‘Dark Knight III: The Master Race’ #2, out in stores next Wednesday.
Oh, and do you like free stuff? Well, keep reading! Details below.
Dark Knight III: The Master Race #2, by Greg Capullo.
There’s no disputing that Greg Capullo will go into the annals of Bat-history as one of the defining artists to ever further the legend of the Dark Knight. That’s why it’s so fitting to see him render yet another iconic image featuring our stalwart defender, one that hearkens back to the legends of old. Capullo’s mud-encrusted ode to Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Triumphant is every bit as spectacular as you’d imagine. Behold.
Dark Knight III: The Master Race #2, by Sean Murphy.
If I had to pick one of my absolute favorite short stories from the New 52, it would have to be the “Batman Year 200” short from Detective Comics #27. Scott Snyder’s grim peek into the future set in motion by his run with Greg Capullo, the story was easily one of the most intriguing, poignant, and downright memorable Batman stories since the 1996 run of Batman: Black and White. One of the major reasons for that is because of Sean Murphy, whose scuzzy, slick, and dauntingly thorough artwork remains some of the industry’s best (you need to be reading Tokyo Ghost, people). Murphy sets Miller’s Dark Knight inside his roaring Bat-tank, just seconds away from firing upon his former ally. This one image makes me want a Murphy-penciled Batman series, toot-sweet.
Dark Knight III: The Master Race #2, by Frank Miller.
Okay. I know there’s been a lot of digital ink spilled over Miller’s artistic output of late. I too have had more than a few things to say about his latest rendering of Superman, but after absorbing DK III #1 in its entirety, I can honestly say the artist is still the master. And when I look at his Batman at the end of 2015, just as weathered, beaten, old, and angry as I remember him, I realize that it’s time to let Dark Knight Strikes Back and All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder go. A new age is upon us.
Dark Knight III: The Master Race #2, by Cliff Chiang.
I’m not even kidding around; Cliff Chiang is the master of understatement. Every single image he renders and places before our scrutiny contains an entire world within it, a story that simply must be told. This variant to DK III #2 tells a story of which we are already perfectly aware, and yet the placement of Carrie Kelly’s eyes — fixed towards the dusty display of a fallen Robin’s garb — tells another angle of that story I simply must read. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then an image realized by Cliff Chiang is worth an entire award-winning series.
Dark Knight III: The Master Race #2, by Andy Kubert.
*scans the room* Everyone’s caught up on DK III #1, right? Because holy cow, was that ending nuts. Now here we are, watching the hero Gotham really needs right now strut away in shackles, because Frank Miller’s vision of Gotham City is anything but a just society. But as captivating as the story this cover tells us undoubtedly is, it’s Andy Kubert’s continued mastery of all things iconic that makes it impossible to look away. As I said in my review of issue #1, Kubert’s homage to Frank Miller is an astounding thing indeed — he’s not pandering to the Miller faithful with his interpretation, he’s giving us the best work of his career to date.
Of all the ‘Dark Knight’ covers out there — and boy, are there a lot of them — which cover puts bats in your belfry? We want to know! Tell us about them in the comments below, and the best response gets a DoomRocket sticker/button combo sent to their door. Get to it!
