EXTRACTS: Brian Bolland (illustrators special issue) © 2019 Book Palace Books (144 PAGES in Full edition)

134 ABOVE: Brian at the 2006 ComicCon with one of many sketches he created for fans, photographed by friend and Bolland collector Chris Caira. RIGHT: Joker Head Sketch. Another mesmerising image from Chris Caira's collection. "This was a gift from Brian for assisting him in booth management at the 2008 Toronto Comic Con. He had picked up a ballpoint pen, and really liked the line it was putting down and decided that he'd work his sketches for the weekend with it. The results were spectacular. It reminded me that, in the hands of a master, even the simplest of tools can create gorgeous pieces of art." FACING PAGE: Judge Death sketch— eventually published as inside back cover of 'Judge Death: Death Lives', inside cover. As Chris Caira recalls, "This was a piece Brian created for me and, to me, it exemplifies one of Brian's true gifts as an artist. He can make ugly "beautiful". I guess I was not alone in my love of this piece as Rebellion Studios used this image as the inside front cover/introduction image for their "Death Lives" graphic novel. The craggy, wrinkled, grotesque flesh of Judge Death is so perfectly rendered in this piece that it is a great example of how Brian's range of drawing styles is as wide as his imagination." Joker © 1935-2019 DC Comics