Commentary Track — Brandon Bird Prints

Artist Brandon Bird has an unusual take on superheroes and other pop culture icons in his paintings, where Batman joins the cast of Law and Order, J. Jonah Jameson starts a pillow fight with Spider-Man, Natalie Portman completely loses it in front of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Bea Arthur takes down a velociraptor like whoa.

Bird, who recently launched a new store for his works at Topatoco, says he chooses superheroes as subjects "because they represent ourselves at our best, working tirelessly towards noble ideals. And colorful unitards are funner to paint than suits and ties." He was also kind enough to provide commentary for this slideshow of our favorites:

Commentary Track: Brandon Bird Prints

    Bam Thwop!
    "An unused idea for the Stan Lee show that I ended up doing anyway. My nephew (who loves Spider-Man) saw the early drawing and cried, 'because (he) didn't draw it.' I should clarify that he was five."

    What Nat Saw:
    "Eight hours later, I realized painting a solid color instead of a background does not in fact save time."

    Sir Ian:
    "This painting was done for a gallery show celebrating Stan Lee. I got to meet him and he was delightful."

    Pax Cybertronia:
    "I love Law & Order and Transformers and I don't think there are enough things that combine Law & Order and Transformers."

    No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford:
    "This was for a video game art show I participated in. I realized that everyone would be doing Nintendo characters, but I never had a Nintendo; I wanted to do something Sega Master System-related but knew it would have to involve the system itself, since no one would recognize, say, Opa Opa."

    King of the Cage:
    "I once watched a film called 'X-Men.'"

    Killing Machine:
    "I have also seen the picture 'Jurassic Park III.'"

    The Death of Jennifer Sisko:
    "Part of an in-progress series on the life of Captain Sisko. I had the notion that most paintings preserved in museums are, in a way, just really well-done Bible fan art."

    Crimefighters T-Shirt

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