SUNDAY FUNNIES WITH KERRY CALLEN!
It’s not just Dick Grayson who has a thing for redheads — it’s the whole comics universe, it seems.
Pick up a copy of Red & Ready and you’ll see what I mean:
“The person who requested this commission was very specific on what he wanted in each panel, words included,” Kerry sez. “The finished piece was a tribute to his redheaded wife! (The title was an inside joke.)
“Each panel was based on an existing image. Such as, the Barbara Gordon image is based on a Nancy Drew book cover.”
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Want more SUNDAY FUNNIES WITH KERRY CALLEN? Come back next week!
Want a commission? Send an email to KerryCallenArt@gmail.com. You can also find other work at linktr.ee/kerrycallen.
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MORE
— Another JACK KIRBY SPIDER-MAN Pin-Up We All Wanted. Click here.
— BEN GRIMM Has a THING For the Dad Jokes. Click here.
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KERRY CALLEN spent much of his career as an artist and art director, developing product for Hallmark, but has also dabbled in comics for many years. As a freelancer, he creates work for a range of needs, spanning from Mad Magazine to children illustrations. He has two graphic novels available on Amazon worldwide, Halo and Sprocket: The Definitive Collection, as well as Dirtnap: Mystic Spit.
May 11, 2025
Well. I will say that Barbara Gordon / Batgirl was always one of my all-time superheroine favorites–esp. in her 1970s glory as rendered by the likes of Neal Adams or Irv Novick. Two other absolute standouts, or better, total “knock-outs,” is Pablo Marcus’s rendition of her in Batman Family # 4 (Apr. 1976) and Curt Swan’s rendition of her in Batman Family # 5 (June 1976).
(I just love that Swan made the right choice by omitting the high heels on her boots–which I always found faintly ridiculous esp. for active superheroine-ing–and, damn!, if Batgirl didn’t look all the sexier with both her feet as capable of being on the ground (when she was on the ground and not bat-roping around, etc. Swan made high-heel-less Batgirl look so damn good!).
Bob Brown’s rendition of her in Batman Family # 10 (Apr. 1977) was a “Wow” moment, too—even if the high heels had returned (this surprises even me as I’ve never been a major Bob Brown person. His art was okay, but it never stood out to me, except for BF # 10. Same even applies to Swan, excepting BF # 5).
May 11, 2025
Now my life is incomplete without this being an actual monthy comic. My goodness, how this reminds me how lucky I am with my beloved redhead wife of 51 years.
May 11, 2025
Love it! I would have requested Linda Turner/the Black Cat be added, and every heroine looking like Ann-Margret, my childhood crush.
May 11, 2025
RE: every heroine looking like Ann Margret . . .
Certainly no complaints there.
May 11, 2025
I liked Curt Swan’s art in the Batgirl-Robin team-up in Batman Family 7 as well as well as the guest appearance by Martian Manhunter in World’s Finest 245. I think his work on the Superman comics may have become so routine (or at least routine to comics readers’ eyes) by the late 70s and 80s that many of us underestimated what a great artist he was.