- Batman and Robin drawn in the Dick Sprang vintage costumes (ala the Batman/Captain America One-shot); please have Batman serious/determined; your choice for Robin's expression.

 - please draw Batman's and Robin's costumes intact (not battle damaged) 

- landscape orientation 

- lots of destruction and action, as many Martians as you can fit it, but NO GORE!  

- please include at least one Martian vehicle similar to the one in card # 32: 

 LINK1 

If there is room, please include one or more of the following elements: 

In the sky, a ship similar to that on card # 20

LINK2  

- Giant insects along the lines of cards # 35 and 40: 

LINK3

LINK4

Funny to think that a year ago I had not drawn the MARS ATTACKS characters anywhere, any time, and now I have done them several times!

••

Coincidentally, I had picked up a book of the MARS ATTACKS cards just a few weeks before Jim Warden sent along this commission. I'd missed the cards when they were in first release -- too old? too young? can't remember -- and my only real exposure to the characters and concepts was the Tim Burton movie. Seeing the actual cards, I realized just how much Burton had missed, in his need to give us yet ANOTHER lancing of middle class America.

In this piece I relied entirely on the cards, and my hope was to capture some of their manic energy. NO GORE was a bit restrictive, but we do what we do!!

(I was chatting with Paul Kupperberg as I was working on this, yesterday, and quipped "Maybe I could throw in a few flaming skeletons? That's not really GORE, is it?")

Absolutely love this.

Congrats to the commissioner.