Superman/Spider-Man #1

This is my cover for SUPERMAN/SPIDER-MAN #1, (March 2026), a one-shot, oversized (72pg), crossover comic from DC Comics and Marvel Comics. It marks the 50th anniversary of the first DC/Marvel crossover, SUPERMAN VS. SPIDER-MAN, published in March, 1976.

For anyone interested in owning this one-of-a-kind piece of comic history, the original art is available for purchase. More details about the art are below. Please contact me through my main website page to inquire. Thank you!

Speaking of firsts, this is the first time I have ever drawn Spider-Man professionally. I briefly worked for Marvel very early in my career but I never really drew any of the classic characters, so it was great to finally take a swing at Spidey thanks to this unique event book.

It was a daunting cover assignment for several reasons. Of course, it's two of the most legendary superheroes of all time and they have to be presented as equally as possible. They also both happen to be primarily red and blue, which didn't really occur to me when sketching the figures in pencil or when I decided to place them in front of a brick wall. I was stressed for a while trying to make deep red bricks work as a background, thinking "brick=red", when I finally remembered that bricks do in fact come in many shades, including brown/tan, so that's what I leaned towards.

The red brick thing was almost certainly influenced by my subconscious inspiration for this piece (at least the Superman portion of it), the classic 1964 Superman model kit of Superman smashing through a brick wall, later reissued as a Super Powers model kit (same kit, same red bricks, new box) in the '80s. I completely forgot that I owned that kit as an '80s kid and Super Powers collector until my editor asked me if that was my inspiration. It was another one of those crazy Sixth-Sense self-realization moments I have on occasion where I am suddenly made aware of something so formative that I took it for granted to the point of obliviousness. It also revealed that I have exactly two Superman ideas, the other one being Superman holding something heavy up over his head. Oh, and Superman flying. So, three ideas.

I tried all manner of poses for Spider-Man, even attempting to pose myself for reference (those images have been destroyed, I assure you). I liked some of the other poses I came up with, too, but settled on this one mostly because it sold the action well enough while still letting us see Spidey's face and chest emblem. If this is the only time I draw Spider-Man, I'd rather it not be a profile. He's looking down towards Superman under the mask, by the way, even if he might seem to be looking forward. The whole thing really only came together when I decided to be brave and add the Spidey-Sense squiggles. That was the funnest part.

I wasn't sure how to go about painting this one, so I spent a lot of time working out the color on the computer first. All that red and blue was a challenge, but in the end, I decided to just play it straight; broad daylight, minimal theatrical lighting, and no big effects. Superman's punch lines and Spider-Man's Spidey-Sense are the big FX on this blockbuster.

Unusually, I rendered the final piece primarily with colored pencil on toned paper and a bit of artists' crayon. The paper is a beautiful cotton drawing paper, fairly lightweight which took the pencil well, but it does require a little more care when handling. I tried illustration board first, but wasn't getting the right pencil laydown so I switched surfaces. I still use illustration board, heavier 140lb watercolor paper, and other surfaces as well, it just depends on the job. Colored pencil is time-consuming and takes a certain mindset, but it was the only way I could see this piece getting done.

I also worked fairly large, with the image area measuring 13.25"x20" (the total size is 15.25"x22" including the 1" border). I thought about going even larger, but the scale is really dependent on the medium and any larger would have made the colored pencil work that much more laborious and the pencil texture would have been too fine. All of those bricks were enough work as it is!

There was still a fair amount of improvisation to make this cover come together despite my attempt to do more preparation than usual. I typically prefer to improvise quite a bit, as not knowing what the art is going to look like when it is finished keeps me interested as I whittle away at it and play off the myriad happy accidents. Sure, I sometimes paint myself into a corner, or the whole thing goes south and ends up in the trash, but I've learned that if I don't give up too soon, I can usually end up with something presentable. If you just keep driving, you'll arrive somewhere.

So, that's a bit of background for this once-in-a-lifetime sort of cover. I hope you all enjoy it.