The Illustrated Man, Part 8: Knightquest

After getting the Joker done, I figured I needed to get the other half of the equation: Batman. I'm a big Batman fan, and it just seemed natural to have both the mortal enemies tattooed on me in some fashion. However, I didn't want to do the traditional emblem, as that's what everyone does. Instead, I chose the logo for the Azrael version of Batman. This took place during the Knightquest story arc, and since the role of Batman was being played by another person, another logo was made to go along with the story. One difference between the logo and this tattoo (on my left pec), was the original was pale yellow and black. To make it pop a little more, Dave at Tiki Tattoo (Lacey, WA)-the artist for this piece-used a brighter yellow and added orange to the border (Funny side story-this tattoo was paid for with a $100.00 bill I found on the floor in the electronics department at Wal-Mart, where I worked at the time). After nearly ten years, the black in the tattoo had faded quite a bit, and part of the orange had almost faded completely, so I had it touched up 2 days ago at my current shop. Touch-up work courtesy of Chase Martines at Brave New World Tattoo, Denver, CO.

The Illustrated Man, Part 7: The Joker

The Joker is perhaps my favorite villain in all of comic books, and Mark Hamill's interpretation of the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series/The Adventures of Batman & Robin is phenomenal. So phenomenal that no one is associated more closely with the character than Hamill. I decided it was this was the version of the Joker I wanted to use for my seventh tattoo. I happened to have a deck of playing cards themed after the television series, so I took the deck with me to Tiki Tattoo (Lacey, WA) and used on of the Joker cards in the deck for the inspiration, including making it look like a playing card. An artist named Jim (who was helping out at the shop that day, but owned his own in Seattle; I wish I knew the name of it) drew something up for me. He changed the lettering of the word "Joker" to something more custom, and added some detail to the Joker's eyes to make him look more menacing and psychotic. Although this was one of the most painful tattoos I've ever received (on my right calf), I was incredibly happy with how it turned out. I've even had people tell me it's the coolest Joker tattoo they've ever seen.