#dc young animal

Gerard’s Instagram story (2 February 2021) [link]

In the back pages of Doom Patrol issue 4.

The dream is real! Brandon Bird is one of my favorite fine artists. He does everything from phenomenally blunt paintings of Sears stores, to Eric Roberts lunch boxes. He came to me with the idea of doing something with Bane, and I believe originally these were to be stories about Bane doing mundane things, as Bane means many different things to us. He saw Bane as this untapped resource, and I agreed, and we tried to figure out how to present these more abstract ideas about Bane. Brandon had done a coloring book for The Aquabats, and that got us thinking, and Bane’s Coloring Corner was born. And the visionary co-publishers of DC comics (Dan DiDio and Jim Lee) let us go for it! And here you have it.

I want to point out that these coloring pages are not printed on coloring page material. There was no way to do that with the kind of paper we normally use for Doom Patrol. But we figured the least we could do is provide you with images you could scan, or take pictures of, print out, and get to work on. And to be honest, we didn’t expect anyone to color inside their pristine copies of Doom Patrol 4 anyway. Could this lead to a collection in a real-life coloring book? You’ll have to stay tuned and see, and you the people will have to let us know that you want a Bane Coloring Book in your life. I know I do. Oh, and you’ll find all different kinds of Banes in the coloring corner, not just Bane from the Nolan films— just a lot of different Banes coming. Bane Bane Bane.

Use the hashtag #BanesColoringCorner and let’s see what you can do with some markers, crayons, colored pencils, fingerprint, or anything you like. Maybe we’ll even figure out a small giveaway for some of our favorite versions. Stay tuned. Thanks to Brandon for the amazing work. You can find him on the web here: www.brandonbird.com, and pick yourself up a Sears Fanclub kit while you’re at it. 

IN STORES NOW

We did it! You did it! We all did it! The newest issue of Doom Patrol is finally here. We want to thank each and every one of you readers for being so supportive and patient and understanding. You are our champions, and you keep the book alive. We are lucky to have you all, and we will keep delivering if you keep sticking around. Big things happening and bigger things coming. Oh— and the title isn’t just a meta-nod to the real life circumstances of the book, it also has to do with a certain character being unable to get somewhere in time.

So much to talk about in this issue. The team was really excited to introduce you all to Lucius Reynolds, Sam’s son, and things are really starting to come together and connect. I think you’ve hopefully been getting more answers to your questions. The pacing is starting to pick up and we’re all in a mad-dash to the finish line, including Casey.

Nick really outdid himself with this issue, (my favorite page in the issue involves Fugg’s reveal) and he has been such an amazing partner in all of this, as well as Tamra Bonvillain, our amazing colorist. Yesterday was Colorist Appreciation Day, and our book wouldn’t be what it is without her magical work. We all continue to surprise each other. Legendary Todd Klein handled the lettering brilliantly as usual. The whole package was edited by Jamie S. Rich, and he got the good stuff out of us in this one. And this issue was part of the amazing Paul Rentler variant cover month, and this variant was one of my favorites, though I loved all of them.

AND—

The backup feature. You really need to take a look at it. Sometimes we at DC’s Young Animal say things at conventions which may be perceived as off-the-cuff jokes, but it is rarely the case that we are joking. Bane’s Coloring Corner is a prime example of this, and I’ll be speaking about it, and the artist, in my next post.

Long Live Doom Patrol! Available at your local shop: www.comicshoplocator.com or digitally at Comixology.

Enjoy!
-G

Some Shade the Changing Girl fan art! Honestly one of my favorite things I’ve read recently, and I had a blast making this.