The World Wrestling Entertainment website carries a brief item announcing that wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler will “draw Superman for an upcoming project” set to appear on the DC Comics site.
Lawler, who’s described as “an accomplished artist” and “a lifelong Superman enthusiast,” has a gallery of his work (NSFW) on his own site. He has illustrated a children’s book, Mick Foley’s Christmas Chaos, by fellow wrestler Mick Foley.
All of that probably would mean more to me if I followed professional wrestling. I know Lawler’s name from his history with Andy Kaufman, but I had no idea he was still around. More interesting, I think, is the suggestion that DC may be pursuing original online content.
WWE.com promises more information from Lawler sometime this week.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:31 am
I’d like to announce I’ll be reading an upcoming DC project (I can’t think which one, though), but not the one drawn by Lawler.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Is that…? Oh my God, it’s Lex Luthor’s music!
January 29th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Whoa! Uh, blurry NSFW!
January 29th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Oops. I’ve added a little “NSFW” note. Sorry about that.
And, yeah, they are blurry.
January 29th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Jerry Lawler is best known as the guy who beat up Andy Kaufman on David Letterman about 20 years ago.
January 29th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Is this the news that could allow us to get Dan DiDio put away in an asylum, and free DC from his insane influence?!?!
January 29th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
i dont understand all the hate. lawler is in fact an artist in every respect. Just because he’s a pro wrestler doesnt mean he cant draw/write comic books
January 29th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
As others have stated, Lawler is quite an accomplished artist. Dan Didio is actually brilliant for setting this up, because this potentially taps millions of fans who watch WWE programming to at least visit the DC site. Similarly, do you think that Vince & Co. wouldn’t promote this on the shows? It’s an extremely sharp move.
January 29th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
cool news. I respect the man. I’ll look forward to this project.
January 29th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
I think this is pretty cool news. Lawler is a good artist (some of those pencil-and-ink portraits on his site are dead one) and a classy guy. If nothing else, this could open up some doors for DC and WWE since much of their respective fanbases cross over anyway.
January 29th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I, too, think this is a brilliant move on Didio’s part. As the picture’s on Lawler’s site prove, he’s got the chops to handle a comic and make it look good.
And just because someone’s a wrestler that doesn’t mean they can’t be talented at something else. Look at Mick Foley; his books hit best seller lists.
Also, there are quite a few wrestlers that are comic book fans. Gregory/Shane Helms (formerly The Hurricane, the WWE’s ’superhero’) has a GL tattoo on his arm and Rob Van Dam owns a comic shop.
January 29th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
OK, I’m a Marvel Zombie but I am curious to see Lawler draw. What I would actually pay to see is “The King” give a couple of DDTs to Quesdada and free Marvel from the influence of Quesada, Milar, etc. Oh, and Lawler is a legend in the south-eastern states and is remembered for his matches against Terry Funk, Ric Flair, Moondogs, and Abdullah the Butcher. Actually, how much do I need to pay for Abby tand his fork to meet Joe Q?
January 29th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Nice! Hail to the King!
January 29th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
The interesting thing about the link to Lawler’s work, IMO, is it seems to be a perfect example of the criticism I’ve seen given to young artists trying to find work in comics: Piece after piece of single images that don’t demonstrate whether the artist has any ability to illustrate a sequential story.
Still, that doesn’t mean Lawler *can’t* do it, just that we don’t see it here.
Maybe he’ll be doing spot illos…?
January 29th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Every piece he shows looks like it was lightboxed from another original piece. The pieces that aren’t nearly as polished look more likely to be his originals. I’m not very impressed. If he really could draw I don’t have any problem with the fact that he wrestles. Haven’t watched it since I was 12. Maybe a pin-up would be fine, but from what I’ve seen I don’t think he could do anything original. I’ll be very interested in seeing what he does and who he draws his “inspiration” from.
February 5th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Little late to the party here, and I can’t remember where I read this. But I do believe Lawler actually does have a art degree.