Lee Bermejo — American Artist

Lee Bermejo is an American comic book artist whose published work includes interior illustrations and cover art... (wikipedia)

'Joker' was a violent, dark, and brutal book, so I wanted to do something a little less heavy. I played around with the idea of a children's book, and that eventually became 'Noel.' And I just kept finding these parallels between things I could do with Batman and Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol.'
I think you have to be crazy not to want to work on the Joker! I can't think of many characters, heroes or villains, that are as malleable as him. He really can be interpreted in so many different ways, and generally, people don't really want to scratch the surface because you can get into some really dark territory real fast.
Since I'm so slow, I have to be fairly choosy about the projects I take on, and it can't be something that I'm only 'sort of' into. I knew that 'The Stand' would be an amazing challenge every month that would be a blast to illustrate.
I just like a dirty, crumbling city. The Gotham I imagine is enticing and horrifying at the same time.
Color is definitely an important factor for me during all phases of producing a cover. I always start out with a loose idea of what I want to see when I'm doing my initial sketches. This choice can be informed by anything, but I usually tend to lean toward more simple color schemes... something with a very obvious push between warms and cools.