My friend and I decided to create an un-official Batman web-comic as we loved the stories and characters from the Dark Knight's universe.

This case study showcases the character designs created for the cast of our Gotham City.

This is a not for profit fan made blog and all copyrights are owned by DC comics.

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Alfred Pennyworth

For my Alfred design I wanted him to look tough, weathered, stern and very British. I have awarded him a 2nd World War medal, that I can only imagine he won for bravery. He is slightly based on Michael Caine, a little on The Animated Series version and a little on the Earth One Alfred by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.

Damian Wayne: Robin

This is the youngest character I have drawn and wanted him to look 10 years old, so I gave him a rounder less angular face. I also am not a fan of when all the Robin’s end up looking the same, so I wanted Damian to look very different to my other designs for Dick Grayson/Nightwing and Tim Drake/Robin. I have taken inspiration from Frank Quitely’s work as well as Patrick Gleason for this design.

The Riddler: Edward Nigma

This Riddler design was heavily influenced by Alex from A Clockwork Orange. It is also inspired by the 1966 Riddler, and Greg Capullo’s recent adaptation of the Riddler from Zero Year. I decided to leave off the question marks on his clothing as I thought that a question mark on his cane was enough. 

Barbara Gordon: Batgirl

This design for Batgirl was influenced by Young Justice, Bruce Timm’s, and Yvonne Craig from the 1960’s Batman TV show. 

Dick Grayson: Nightwing

I wanted Nightwing’s armour to have similar elements to Batman’s, including his belt which is the same design as when Frank Quitely drew Batman & Robin and Dick was Batman. 

I feel that allot of artists draw the males in the Bat Family all looking very similar. I wanted Dick to look very different to Tim, Bruce, Damian and Jason. 

I decided to give Dick longer hair as I think of him as the ‘Rockstar’ of the Robin’s the acrobatic showman.

Jim Gordon

My design for the commissioner was based on Walter White in the final season of Breaking Bad and also inspired by Greg Capullo’s Zero Year. 

Mr. Freeze

My interpretation of Mr. Freeze was heavily inspired by Bruce Timm’s Mr. Freeze from Batman the animated series. This design was also inspired by Woody Harrelson in Natural Born Killers as Mickey Knox. 

Harvey Dent: Two-Face

This character design was inspired by Don Draper from Mad-Men, Aaron Eckhart from The Dark Knight and Greg Capullo’s artwork. 

The Joker

Our version of The Joker is ageless, possibly due to excessive plastic surgery. This character design is based on David Bowie’s alter ego Ziggy Stardust. Our Joker is an androgynous murdering psychopath. 

Bruce Wayne: Batman

The Bruce in our story is in his early sixties and a veteran general.  He is battle scarred and hardened from years of service. The character design for Bruce was loosely based on Jeff Bridges and inspired by Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.

Tim Drake: Robin

In our story Tim Drake is the lead character so it made sense to illustrate him first. Our Tim is in his late twenties and is a more serious version of the Boy Wonder. Of all the Robin’s we felt that Tim was the technical detective closest in many ways to Bruce, I wanted to try and capture this in his look. This interpretation of Robin was partly inspired by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake in The Dark Knight Rises, and party inspired by Robin in the animated TV show Young Justice. 

Young Bruce Wayne: The Batman

I wanted to experiment with a younger Batman in a more classic suit. I based this design heavily on Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns which is one of my favorite Batman designs. I also wanted to incorporate some shades of blue into the cowl, gloves and cape to add more colour to the character design.