Contents & Editorial © Copyright & ™ 2009 ACAB
Art & Text © Copyright & ™ 2009 Trevor Von Eeden

All characters © Copyright & ™ DC Comics
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BATMAN Annual #8, 1982, written by Mike W. Barr, colored by Lynn Varley. "The Messiah of the Crimson Sun" is remembered by many pros and fans as the first time Von Eeden really distinguished himself as a talent worth noting. Beginning with this striking cover of an unusually sinewy Batman with a garishly psychedelic backdrop, this comic was bent on standing out.  "This is what an annual was supposed to be," remarked comic book retailer Peter Spandrio , "totally different and jarring to the standard comic book.  I loved it then and I love it now.  I remember buying it from the newsagent, being stunned and thinking, 'This isn't Jim Aparo!'"


"About three years into my career, at about the age of 20, I started to feel that I'd only gotten the job because of my skin color--a notion which displeased me greatly," says Trevor now, "So I dedicated myself, wholeheartedly, to developing my Art to a point where it would be so good, that it wouldn't matter what color I was. I sat down and wrote a five-page "mission statement" (now lost)--writing out for myself in detail exactly what I wanted to create--the kind of style I thought would express myself most effectively, while also telling a story in the most dramatic way possible. I wrote everything down that I could think of--the details, form, and purpose of the style of art that I'd wanted to create.

"Out of these two long years of serious effort, I created the art style seen in THE BATMAN ANNUAL."

Frank Miller & Lynn Varley