Ace American artist Trevor von Eeden has kindly shared two of his fantastic artworks with us, homaging the art of M.C. Escher’s in illustrations featuring Batman and Green Arrow; one a promotion for “The Messiah Of The Crimson Sun“, a story first published in Batman Annual #8, published by DC Comics in 1982.
Trevor Von Eeden should need no introduction to downthetubes regulars. The co-creator of DC Comics Black Lightning, his innovative, cinematic style redefined visual storytelling in titles like Batman: Thrillkiller, The Legend of the Dark Knight: Venom, and World’s Finest Comics featuring Green Arrow.
Maurits Cornelis Escher (17th June 1898 – 27th March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints, many of which were inspired by mathematics. Despite wide popular interest, for most of his life Escher was neglected in the art world, even in his native Netherlands. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition was held. In the late twentieth century, he became more widely appreciated, and in the twenty-first century he has been celebrated in exhibitions around the world.
It’s not the first time Trevor has referenced this unique artist. Specifically, you’ll actually find more of this brilliant artist’s nods to famous artists in an eight page story he drew for House of Mystery #305 called “Art Attack” – still one of his all-time favourite commissions – in which an artist finds himself trapped in a world populated by characters from famous art works.
“I got to pay homage to one of my favourite painters, Rene Magritte, and one of my all-time artistic idols, M.C. Escher. The story was written by Joey Cavalieri, well-inked by Pablo Marcos, and I totally enjoyed referencing Magritte and Escher’s work! I only wish that I’d gotten more scripts from DC where I was able to do interesting things like that.”
Talking about his new artworks, Trevor says it was an absolute blast figuring out how to reproduce El Maestro’s mind-boggling visuals using only a regular human brain and two normal hands – and then adding the extra bits of business! “The lettering was a bit nerve-wracking, but everything else was fun!” he says.
There’s a “running gag” in the Green Arrow Escher piece: the hero misses every arrow shot at the villain, Vertigo, on the right side of the pic, but finally catches him in the lower left by going hands-on, punching him through a window–and straight into a jail cell.
“Escher’s cell-like bars on the original print gave me the idea for that,” Trevor reveals.
“The sideways scene in the upper left is another angle of Vertigo running into the premises with a brick wall to his right, and GA in hot pursuit, which starts the chase in the middle right portion of the pic… (and was the first thing that I drew.)
“The three circular signs above the brick wall denote which trains are running on that particular track – in this case, the “M”, “C” and “E” trains… Subtle as a brick, ain’t I? The other thing about the piece is that it works from every angle but Vertigo’s – since he’s a villain… which is also true in Escher’s print, but I didn’t realise that until I did my version… Small woild, no?”
Trevor describes his work on the memorable Batman Annual he drew, scripted by Mike W. Barr, as “stylistically extreme”, but for me, reading the story back then, it was simply incredible.
Until 1982, the Batman Annual, first published in 1961, showcased reprints of fan favourite tales of the Dark Knight.“The Messiah of the Crimson Sun”, was an all-new story pitting Batman and Robin against Ra’s Al Gaul who plans to wipe out earth’s population to begin anew, written by Mike W. Barr, drawn by Trevor von Eeden, and features Lynn Varley’s first colouring work in a comic book, lettered by John Costanza.
Fans of Trevor von Eeden will be able to catch up with him at GalaxyCon St. Louis over the weekend of 23rd – 25th October 2026, taking place at America’s Center Convention Complex – a three-day Festival of Fandom. Use code GALAXY20 for 20% OFF all memberships
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comic Art, Comic Creator Spotlight, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features
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