Dreaming of The Dark Knight’s Return

ok, that title won’t fly, but whoa, this freshly fan-made poster for The Dark Knight sequel is a soaring superheroic knockout. So good that early reports thought it might be the real deal, until somebody reported the source, with and without the title: chrisp85, of Sheffield, UK, who modestly characterizes himself as a “Newbie First Class.”

First Class, indeed. From the meticulous recreation of The Gotham Times (click to the larger version and you’ll see Vicki Vale wrote the Harvey Dent article), to the obsessively maniacal cryptogram puzzles reminiscent of Zodiac, this sinister effort is a gloriously grisly beauty. Suitable for framing in a professional Batman triptych, the style and mood beautifully mirror the grim perversity of my second favorite among many terrific TDK posters. (Hard to beat my #1 favorite)

The really extraordinary thing about a gorgeous fan-ufactured production like this is the amount of creative energy expended, and the degree of devoted respect shown to the source material. (Warner Bros, hire this guy!) Christopher Nolan has given us a universe than inspires other artists. To paraphrase As Good As It Gets, Mr. Nolan: You make me a better fan.