Superhero of the Month: Joker Little's Nolanized Penguin

Congratulations Joker Little on an amazing, decisive win! With said win, Joker Little's entered into our Superhero of the Year contest, and has the option of joining us next month as a guest judge.

This month's contest was judged by Alex and Taylor of the Superhero of the Month staff, Andrew Asberry, comic reviewer for Batman-News.com, Craig Payne, winner of our Avengers Contest, and Ross Radke, winner of our Doctor Octopus contest, with commentary provided by Alex, Andrew, Craig and Ross.

Joker Little's Nolanized Penguin - 42/50

Alex: One of my favorite pieces that was submitted. After seeing Penguin as a pretty ruthless gang leader in Arkham City, I could buy this grisly version of the character, albeit sans the tattoos -- those just aren't doing it for me. I love the glassy, blind eye, though. This was one of three that I scored a 9/10 this go-round, and in spite of the things that didn't work for me, I'd have scored it a 10 if I could see the whole character.

Andrew: Perfect really. It's a Penguin that's fresh and interesting and one that would fit within Nolan's more grounded interpretation of the Dark Knight legend. I like the white hair so much that I now think it should become a staple of the character. I hope that Mr. Little has this framed on a wall somewhere, it's really beautiful. 

Craig: This was one of my favorite redesigns in the contest. Joker Little's artwork was fantastic on this piece. He has managed to capture the Penguin's exaggerated features while at the same time making it believable. The use of the simple leather jacket and white t-shirt works well and is a great visual nod to his traditional tuxedo, and the disfigured eye is a great substitute for the out of date monocle. The prison tattoos are a great addition and fits in really well with the character. A well deserved win.

Ross: First, this is an amazing piece of artwork. Since my familiarity with Penguin is mostly the creepy Burton version, I see where you tried to take this in the Nolan universe. The nose, hair and eye work. What doesn't work for me is the leather jacket, which reminds me more of a decrepit old Arthur Fonzarelli than an mobster or whatever Penguin is supposed to be. The tattoos seem sort of arbitrarily slapped on.

Check out the round0up of the Top 5 after the jump!

Eric Kenney's Burtonized Riddler - 38.5/40

Andrew: Mr. Kenney's gambit to give Riddler a top hat paid off. It's original, the striped scarf and pale complexion gives it that Burton look, too. It's a good design that, while not totally Burton, I could totally see in a 1800s English interpretation of Batman. I dig the lining of the coat as well. That's a nice little detail. To make it a bit more Burton-esque, Riddler's posture needs to be poorer and his hair needs to be longer and more wiry, though. 


Ross: I don't know. Riddler needs a bowler cap, not a top hat. It's Burtony but not terribly interesting to me.


Craig: I could definitely see this redesign fitting into Tim Burton's Batman universe. Eric's design kind of reminds me little of the Mad Hatter (probably because of the top hat)! I'd love to see Robert Downey, Jr. play the part.

Alex: I definitely like what I see, but I agree with Ross on the bowler instead of the top hat. It gives too much of a Mad Hatter vibe, whereas the rest of it is pure Burton.

Christian Burns' Burtonized Scarecrow - 37/50

Craig: I liked both of Christian's redesigns; his Scarecrow and Riddler, but his Scarecrow screams "Tim Burton". The costume falls somewhere between Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas. The addition of the scythe hand works great for the character.

Ross: This is one of my favorites of the bunch. The striped socks are a nice touch but I'm not sure they are needed on the arms. The round hat is a bit odd. The face reminds me of the Boogie Man from Nightmare Before Christmas. I think this one is the most successful at fitting into the particular director's style while still being a unique design that would work in a comic. I'd prefer he carry the sickle in his hand - the more I look at it the more weird some of the details are (like the wooden planks) but overall the piece works.

Andrew: I'm not totally sold on the hook, but everything else about Mr. Burns' drawing looked like a decent Tim Burton design. This was all about the striped socks and the exaggerated and distorted eyes and mouth for me. Those were the elements that made this Burton-esque.


Alex: This works really well, but like Ross and Andrew, I'm not 100% sold on the scythe-hook hand. I think it would work better as something he holds onto, rather than a literal hook for a hand. That just makes him a monster. Otherwise, I'm sold.

Joshua Daniel's Burtonized Scarecrow - 35/50

Ross: If Burns' Scarecrow is my idealized Burton Scarecrow, Daniel's is probably more close to the disappointing truth of what we'd get. It's not a terrible idea getting rid of the mask and the overall getup works. Johnny Depp would have made a great Scarecrow and that's clearly the inspiration here, but I am so sick of Burton casting Depp to play pale weirdos in all of his films. That's coloring my opinion of the design quite a bit.


Andrew: Mr. Daniel got the look of Burton's designs down very well here. The sickly, pale face with its sullen expression and dark eyes, scraggly hair, and distorted figure. This was a well-done interpretation and well colored, too.

Craig: Although I could see this design in a Burton movie I didn't score this one as high as some of the other redesigns as I found the costume a little bland compared to some of the other Scarecrow redesigns.

Alex: I agree with Ross that this is pretty much what we'd probably get should Burton have ever cast Johnny Depp as the Scarecrow, but I'm really okay with this. His being garishly pale as scarecrow could work as a "disguise" in comparison to an otherwise normal looking Jonathan Crane. This take fits right in with Burton's Batman world, right on the money.

Dan Barrett's Schumacherized Penguin - 34/50

Alex: I was really disappointed we didn't get more ridiculous Joel Schumacher submissions, because this one was fantastic. It's so ridiculous and doesn't take itself seriously at all, which is just fine.This was another I scored 9/10 because it wasn't afraid to dive into Batman & Robin levels of absurdity -- rather it embraced it and ran with the ridiculously hilarious concept. 

Andrew: Mr. Barrett's interpretation of a Schumacher Penguin cracked me up. I'm surprised there were not more Schumacher submissions, as I saw a lot of potential for fun and hilarious drawings. Alas, Mr. Barrett was the only one bold enough to really go full-flamboyant with his design and it looked great. I could totally see the Schumacher films doing something like this, and the flipper feet were a stroke of genius.

Ross: You clearly had fun with this piece. I can't take it seriously at all, but there are some elements that I think would actually have worked, like the orange hair. I know Schumacher's Batman films were garish, but this is way too cartoony compared to, for example, Tommy Lee Jones' Two Face.


Craig: I really liked Dan's artwork and design. The design is totally over the top, which I love, but Dan lost a few points due to the fact that I think his redesigned Penguin would look out of place in a Joel Schumacher Batman movie. For me, it has more of a Tim Burton feel. The character looks as if he would be right at home in Burton's Alice In Wonderland.

And there we go! Thanks again to everyone who participated, and to everyone who came on board to judge this thing with us! Ross and Craig are great artists worthy of their wins, as is Joker Little, who we'll be honored to have with us next month as we judge the Daredevil winners. Also, an extra huge thanks goes out to Andrew for joining us this month. Be sure to check out Andrew's weekly Batman comic reviews over at Batman-News.com, the best place for all your Batman news on the web.

Stick around, more redesigned goodness is yet to come!