The late Daniel Johnston’s illustrations will appear on the cover of DC’s upcoming Batman comic issues. Johnston’s drawings of Batman, Superman, and Orion will be featured in Batman #121.

Johnston was a singer who primarily worked in the alternative music industry in the 1980s and 1990s. He died in 2019 of a heart attack. After Robin K Williams, the person who created the current Johnston art exhibition at Contemporary Austin, discovered a letter from Johnston addressed to Marie Javins, editor at DC Comics, hoping for help with getting published in DC.

“I thought the letter was strange and touching,” Williams said. “because he was already an internationally successful musician when he wrote it. When I asked Marie about it, she said, ‘Daniel had two loves, music and art, and always wanted to be a comic book artist.'”

 

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“I’ve been an avid collector of Daniel’s artwork since I met him in 1986 – but not always on purpose,” Javins said. “He’d draw pictures on letters he’d send to me over the years, and we even collaborated on some art when I was a professional comic book colorist. I’m thrilled to see his Batman, Superman, and Orion art come to life on these ABC retailer variants.”