A Batman comic book that weighs 4.4kg, comes with a detachable lens and is designed to resemble a camera is on display at the Sharjah Animation and Comics Conference (SACC), with a price tag of Dh60,000.
Only 47 copies of Batman: The Killing Joke Avant-Garde Edition are being produced worldwide. The handcrafted collector’s edition is being exhibited at the Argent Comics booth at the event, which runs until Sunday at Aljada.
The book is inspired by the camera featured on the famous cover of Batman: The Killing Joke, originally published in 1988. Its aluminium boards are lined with goatskin, while the edition also features a detachable lens and a viewfinder. It is kept in a carrying case covered in calf leather and lined with suede.
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Croatian publishing imprint Argent Comics developed the edition under the direction of its creative director Marko Matijašević.
According to the publisher, it is the world’s first giclée-printed comic book. The pages are printed on specially made Hahnemühle metallic paper using a patent-pending process.
Vibor Kreća, a Croatian exhibitor representing Argent Comics at SACC, said making the book involves painstaking manual work.
“You have to print on each side and then fuse them together by hand,” he said.
The 47-copy run is also deliberate. Kreća said the number reflects silver’s atomic number, linking it to the Argent brand, whose name is associated with the metal.
The edition contains two versions of the artwork from the acclaimed Batman story, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. Readers can see John Higgins’ original colouring as well as Bolland’s 2008 recolouring.
Kreća said Bolland had been unhappy with the earlier coloured version of the book and later revisited it.
“This is like a director’s cut,” he said.
The collector’s edition also includes a transparent film negative, Bolland’s signature, a new introduction by the artist and additional material.
At the booth, visitors can also see a black-and-white Noir edition of The Killing Joke. Inspired by the Joker’s prison cell, it features aluminium doors, a two-colour goatskin binding and letterpress-printed cotton paper.
“This is cotton paper, which is letterpress, so you can feel everything. It’s very tactile,” said Kreća.
Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority, the fourth edition of SACC features more than 150 activities and over 75 speakers from more than 30 countries. Its programme includes workshops, panel discussions, film screenings, live performances and exhibitions focused on animation and comics.