'As much as we're celebrating 50 statues, we like that idea of 'What's next?' What's the next thing coming? And Sean really gets people's appetite whet for that.' To these guys, their Batman doesn't stand still.'Īlso, the new statue shows the forward thinking of Murphy's work, as well, Kiniry adds. 'This is very much an artists' study of what their version looks like but every once in a while one of the artists comes with such energy that you get this dynamic pose. Murphy's new statue represents 'a really cool modern approach to Batman,' Kiniry says, and the artist created a design just for the piece. The list of artists with pieces in the line includes everyone from Jim Lee, Paul Pope and Mike Mignola to Frank Miller, Alex Ross and Batman creator Bob Kane. 'But just like the comics for Batman keep going, we have new artists all the time that are exploring their version of Batman, and what a shame if we don't continue this line to be able to celebrate the new people as well as the people who are associated with Batman from the past.' 'It's now become almost a tradition and an honor to have all these artists represented in this format. 'It would be the saddest thing in the world if we stopped,' adds Kevin Kiniry, DC Collectibles vice president of creative services. 'And it's Batman so he'll always be selling OK because people really like the character,' he says.

What has kept the statues popular for eight years and counting is they've always represented works of art by illustrators from all eras of Bat-history, according to Jim Fletcher, design director for DC Collectibles' creative services division. 4, DC Comics debuts a new six-issue Batman: Black and White miniseries with art from Murphy, Chris Samnee, Marc Silvestri, Neal Adams and more. The 'Black and White' collectible series celebrates its 50th statue (priced at $79.95) in stores today, a piece by Punk Rock Jesus artist Sean Murphy. The two-toned line - and the longest-running for DC Collectibles - started in 2005 with illustrator Eduardo Risso's take on the Caped Crusader and was inspired by the Batman: Black and White book launched in 1996. Until then, collectors have quite a few other Dark Knights to choose from, and even more on the way. Perhaps Ben Affleck will get his own Batman 'Black and White' statue one day.

Batman black and white mignola