(Credit: Jempix)
Inspired by mugshots taken in Australia in the 1920s, artist Jason Mark has answered the question, "What would the Joker look like in the Prohibition era?"
You've probably seen this great collection of mugshots from 1920s Australia floating around the internet. A couple of years ago, they were exhibited at the Sydney Justice & Police Museum, and they caused quite a stir thanks to the rather stylish look of the arrestees.
They caught the attention of Canadian CG artist Jason Mark, aka Jempix. Although Gotham is generally a little more '40s noir than 1920s Prohibition, Mark has done a fantastic job of blending the villains of Gotham with the slyly amused and sullen villains of those photographs.
The series, called "The Usual Suspects", was drawn using ZBrush, then tidied up in Photoshop, and features four of our favourite villains: "John Doe" (the Joker, who was never named in the Batman universe), Oswald Cobblepot (the Penguin), Harvey Dent (Two-Face) and Victor Fries (Mr Freeze). Our favourite, of course, is probably be the Joker — but Mark has managed to capture the essence of each character perfectly.
Now someone needs to show him the equivalent mugshots of women — we'd love to see what he makes of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Talia al Ghul and Harley Quinn. Although we have to admit, the 1920s were a lot sartorially kinder to men than they were to women.
You can see more art by Jason Mark (and the Usual Suspects in full size) on his blog.
