I’ve had a small amount readers contact me about this, so I’m thinking about offering the Betty White/Flaming Chainsaw/ John Ritter Centaur piece as a print, if there is enough interest. Unlike the Batman Vs Shark, there are no trademarked characters involved! I don’t think DC Comics owns Betty White yet, so I can actually offer merchandise with this image.

If you would be interested in a print, or something smaller like a postcard, let me know through the comments. I will post news here if and when they are available along with ordering information.

Thank you everyone for your interest!

Hello Portland and the rest of the world! This week’s Portland Mercury features my illustration of which the subject matter was chosen by the readers in their online poll! For one reason or another, the winning idea was Betty White holding a flaming chainsaw riding John Ritter. So this is how I chose to interpret that. If you are in the Portland, OR area this week, make sure to pick one up! If not, enjoy this digitized version!

Thank you to all at the Portland Mercury and the readers that submitted ideas and voted on the subject!

Please click HERE to see the image-only version.

Meet Asher. The Batman Vs. Shark painting was done for Asher when he was three years old as a gift, as it combined his favorite three things – Batman, Sharks, and Lightsabers. Now, five years later, Asher speaks about the now internet-famous painting! Below is a word for word transcribed interview with Asher about the illustration. Special thanks to his mother, Christina Zeek-Meszaros for help with the interview.

Q: What is your favorite part of the Batman fighting the Shark painting?

Asher: Uhh Batman with the light saber attacking the shark! Because it’s sorta scary. I like how Batman looks, he looks pretty skinned up. He has scratches. 

Q: Why do you think Batman is fighting the shark?

Asher: I dont know. Because the shark is attacking Batman and so he starts fighting it. He was under the water fighting the Joker and the shark just came and bit his leg. So they start fighting.

Q: Who do you think would win the fight and why?

Asher: Uhhh, Batman! Because he has the light saber and he would cut off the sharks head. Then the shark would turn into a zombie and would kill Batman.

Q: What do you think Batman is thinking while he’s fighting the shark?

Asher: He is thinking that he is wishing the shark would be dead. Batman is also thinking about his dead parents while he is fighting the shark. He would think about his parents because….uhhh let me think in my head, just give me time….uhhhh. He is thinking about killing the criminal that killed his parents.

Q: How would you make this painting better?

Asher: You could put Joker right on top of the sharks nose with a sword and his mom and dads heads in Jokers hands. 

Q: There’s been a lot of debate on whether or not the lightsaber would work underwater. What do you think, would it work?

Asher: It would work under water. Because the water won’t even go inside the light saber or electrocute Batman. It would work because its not, like, a normal sword. Maybe it would go out in like 10 seconds then Batman could use his boomarangs.

Q: What do you think Batman will do after he’s done fighting the shark?

Asher: Uhhh, he will kill the Joker. 

Q: What else do you think would make a good painting?

Asher: Uhm, Batman and Robin with, like, giant axes and fighting a giant zombie. That would be an awesome poster!

So there you have it, folks! The inspiration behind Batman Vs. Shark in his own words. I think he has some pretty good ideas about how to make it better. Maybe I’ll have to do a sequel! Here are some more hilarious and awesome pictures of this kid.

I have been contacted by The Portland Mercury to illustrate a cover!

(From www.portlandmercury.com):

The Mercury Is…
Like Portland, the Mercury is decidedly independent. Our pages offer an insider’s point of view that the city trusts. Bright, sometimes bruising, and undeniably funny, we detail local music, arts, and news with passion and authority. The Mercury is all over Portland; from restaurants to coffee houses, bars to clubs, theaters to retailers, laptops to desktops, and on every campus and street corner–we’ve got the city covered.

You can go here to get involved in the voting process! The cover should be out in the next week or two, available all over Portland, OR. You will also be able to see it here on zubko.com, for those of you in other parts of the world.

This should be a very interesting, fun piece.

Andrew

I figured I’d take some attention away from the Batman/Shark piece for this post to shed some light on another piece that was featured in the io9.com gallery. This piece was done for the debut CD cover for a band I used to play guitar for in Philadelphia, Camp Dracula. Unfortunately, I moved to Portland, OR before I was able to officially record anything with them, so I am not on the CD. But I did help shape most of the songs on it. If you are interested in giving a listen, it is on . Click the link to check out the samples. If you want to download a track, I recommend one of my favorites, Stumpin’.

Andrew

www.io9.com, one of the largest sources of this viral explosion of the Batman vs. Shark image has posted a follow-up here!

Huge amounts of thanks to Annalee and Cyriaque from io9.com for going above and beyond a simple credit line and weblink.

It has been brought to my attention that within the last 24 hours, one of my images – we’ll call it Batman vs. Shark with Lightsaber, has achieved something few ever do – internet fame! In that short period of time, Batman vs. Shark with Lightsaber has been posted on such high profile blogs as slashfilm.com, maddowblog.msnbc.com (official blog of Rachel Maddow), digg.com, ign.com, gizmodo.com (at least in australia!), etc. How this happened, I do not know. I DO know, however, that NO ONE realizes I am the artist of this piece. So I am on a mission to contact the posters of my work to let them know that I deserve at least a credit line in the postings. This is what happens when you post artwork on public sites without watermarks, kids. You’d think I would have learned from the teachings of Liz Lomax.

If you happen to come across my image of Batman vs. Shark with Lightsaber on any of the aforementioned sites or others, please leave a comment telling the poster where they can see the original, unadulterated, un-cropped, un-unawesomefied artwork!

I do not blame the people posting the work, as there is no evidence of anyone taking credit for my work. They simply do not know where it came from. So if we tell them, maybe I can get for-real famous and take you all out for lunch! Or dinner. Your choice.

Thank you!

az