A MORRISON MONDAYS birthday salute! By BILL MORRISON Remember the episode of the 1966 Batman TV series where Krusty the Clown was a guest villain? If not, it’s probably because it only happened in The Simpsons universe. In the 14th season episode titled “Large Marge” — the one where Marge Simpson gets breast implants — there’s a scene where Bart Simpson is having a sleepover with his best friend Milhouse and, while watching TV and channel surfing, they come across an episode of Batman featuring Krusty as the “Painted Pagliacci of Perfidy,” ClownFace (not to be confused with the Batman villain that was created several years later, known as Clownface.) Burt Ward and Adam West guest-star as the Caped Crusaders, who are caught in one of ClownFace’s nefarious but goofy death traps. Though Adam West had previously appeared as himself in animated form on The Simpsons in the Season 4 episode, “Mr. Plow,” “Large Marge” marked the only time Burt Ward did a guest voice on the series. However, he did sort of appear visually in the Season 11 episode titled “Beyond Blunderdome.” In a scene at the Hollywood Auto Museum, Bart approaches the George Barris Batmobile in which the TV versions of Batman and Robin are seated. Bart mistakenly thinks that the Dynamic Duo are dummies, but they actually turn out to be Adam West and Burt Ward who have been hired by the museum to sit in the Batmobile as part of the display. In this episode, Burt/Robin is voiced by Karl Wiedergott, and Hank Azaria provides a near-perfect impersonation of Adam’s Batman voice. An original production cel from this scene holds a hallowed spot in my collection of animation art. But enough of Adam and Karl and Hank. Today is Burt Ward’s 81st birthday, and I’m here to honor him! (He was born July 6, 1945.) In fact, in tribute to Burt on his special day, I created this drawing of him as he appeared on The Simpsons, incorrect boots and all, in battle with the Harlequined Hoodlum himself, ClownFace. The color file… … and the original line art: — Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below! — MORE — Filling MARGE SIMPSON’s Head With Her Dream Men — Including Joaquin Phoenix’s JOKER?! Click here. — What a Paper Doll! SUPERGIRL’s...
MORRISON MONDAYS! By BILL MORRISON A few weeks ago, I completed my most recent poster for The Simpsons, which advertised an episode titled “Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition.” The series installment features three vignettes with a wraparound story that reveal Marge Simpson’s Aperol-fueled fantasies of different versions of her man, Homer. In the spirit of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes, the vignettes parody Joker and its sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux; Top Gun: Maverick, and loosely, the TV series, Mad Men. For the poster’s design, the producers wanted to parody the movie poster for the 2006 anime feature, Paprika, which shows multiple scenes from the film within the face of the titular character. Naturally, Marge replaced Paprika in our version. I was given access to the episode to view on my laptop, and I combed it for great shots that I could redraw and use for my design. Once I had several useable images, I assembled them into the composition, sizing them up and down, and moving them around until they looked good to my eye. After the final drawing was approved, the pencils went to Mike Rote for digital inks, then on to Serban Cristescu for color and typography. I worked closely with Mike and Serban for several years at Bongo Entertainment, and we’ve been doing some fun post-comics projects together lately for The Simpsons. The two-part episode “Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition.” is streaming exclusively on Disney+ and is a must-watch for all Simpsons fans. For our 13th Dimension audience, it’s essential viewing, at least to see Homer as the Joaquin Phoenix version of the Joker, with Marge as Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn. — Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below! — MORE — What a Paper Doll! SUPERGIRL’s Swingin’ ’70s Fashion Show. Click here. — WHO DREW ROGER RABBIT: Me, I’m Happy to Say. Click here. — Eisner winner BILL MORRISON has been working in comics and publishing since 1993 when he co-founded Bongo Entertainment with Matt Groening, Cindy Vance and Steve Vance. At Bongo, and later as Executive Editor of Mad Magazine, he parodied the comics images he loved as a kid every chance he got. Not much has changed. Bill is on Instagram (@atomicbattery) and Facebook (Bill Morrison/Atomic Battery Studios), and regularly takes commissions and sells published art through 4C...
MORRISON MONDAYS meets TOYHEM — one more time!
MORRISON MONDAYS and the greatest of them all…
MORRISON MONDAYS meets TOYHEM!
