Yes please!!

Finally decent art sets. These are awesome.

Amazing!

Also… is no one going to talk about LEGO day? It’s AppStore’s top page right now.

I might actually have to get one of the arts sets now. Definitely loving the combo builds.

Is there some explanation why some of these sets use plates and some use tiles for the mosaic?

Excellent job Lego! These look great!

So, you take a picture.
Calculate a x-times-y pixalated variant from it.
Put the resulting plates into a LEGO box.
I don't see the creativity in this.

Jim Lee!

These looks awesome!

I thought only designs based on the TV show could tempt me.

I was wrong. :-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Lee

Real cool that they were able to get original work from this guy.

And reduced to about £70 on Amazon on March 2.

These must be really easy money for Lego, even if they have to quickly reduce the price. No real design costs involved, a low part cost (despite the high part number) and a design to get people to buy multiple copies.

I really love the "Harley Quinn" version

ok now this is truly fantastic, I hope we see more comic-style portrait (like perhaps a spidey with the alternate "builds" being different outfits)

Studs look better then tiles in this case.

Great designs, blue does really help that comic look for batman.

Welp... 1x1 round plates new in medium lavender. I hope they won't be too pricey on BrickLink since there don't seem to be many of them in one of these. I want a thousand of them. Maybe I'll settle for two hundred.

@HOBBES said:
"Also nice and (extremely rare) to see all agreeing on something on Brickset!
"

I TOTALLY DISAGREE! (I'm a contrarian.)

OMG, this is excellent! I must have it!!!

These are great

More colors than I was expecting, so should be able to do lots of other comic figures, just not sure what all the cyan is for?

Assuming my eyesight is not failing me each grid is 48x48 = 2304 pieces, so will have 1863 left over from the 4167 which seems a lot if you only ever do one design? An alternative would be 3 different Batman art sets each on a 64x64 grid with 4096 pieces for about the same price, which you could then combine on a far larger grid?

While I would prefer Jim Lee X-Men to Jim Lee Batman, still ... it's Jim Lee! I agree with all the folks above who say that THIS might be the set that gets them into the Art series. Although ... I am looking forward to the day where a set depicts an entire comics panel or even page, a la Roy Lichtenstein. Guess I'll add that to my "some day" MOC list....

The others look good, but the Batman-Catwoman one is rough.

@AcademyofDrX said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Hmmmm. Jim Lee is an oddly specific choice here. It's not WRONG, but there's a plethora of other Batman artists I might have gone with before him. (The Bruce Timm styled Batman would probably stand out more to the public. Alternatively, they could have gone with Neal Adams, Frank Miller, Jim Aparo, or if they want to get super classic, Dick Sprang. YES, his name was Dick Sprang. Quiet, you.)"

Jim Lee isn't just a comic artist, he's also the most senior creative executive at DC"

Frank Miller would have been great too, but wow, I fell in love with Jim Lee's work on the Punisher and Wolverine back in the 80's. These look fantastic!

@yellowcastle said:
" @AcademyofDrX said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Hmmmm. Jim Lee is an oddly specific choice here. It's not WRONG, but there's a plethora of other Batman artists I might have gone with before him. (The Bruce Timm styled Batman would probably stand out more to the public. Alternatively, they could have gone with Neal Adams, Frank Miller, Jim Aparo, or if they want to get super classic, Dick Sprang. YES, his name was Dick Sprang. Quiet, you.)"

Jim Lee isn't just a comic artist, he's also the most senior creative executive at DC"

Frank Miller would have been great too, but wow, I fell in love with Jim Lee's work on the Punisher and Wolverine back in the 80's. These look fantastic!"

Yeah, Lee is fine, but as mentioned, he's more of an upper-level executive than a creator these days. He occasionally comes out to do a few pages of artwork, but the last major project I can remember him on is an issue of Bendis' Superman back in 2016. His last big Batman work, I think, was "Hush" in the early 2000s.

So, not a bad choice, but like I said, not my first go-to choice for Batman art. I suppose this package might literally be more a sale of Lee's name than Batman?

I would love to see them use the Super Mario license to make some Mario-related art sets.

@Sab97m said:
"I would love to see them use the Super Mario license to make some Mario-related art sets."

I've seen some MOCs where people used 21226 to make some nice 8-bit Mario mosaics.

Oh that large Batman is just stunning. Hopefully it will stay around long enough for me to save up

These look phenomenal! They certainly do better with comics than movies. I also really love the variety of colors in this set. Now if they would only do an Ahsoka, Anakin, and Rex one based off of CW...

Love it. Especially the Batman+Cat woman

I feel bad for DC fans - you need 8 sets of these to get them all.

@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
" @Sab97m said:
"I would love to see them use the Super Mario license to make some Mario-related art sets."

I've seen some MOCs where people used 21226 to make some nice 8-bit Mario mosaics."

I've done that too! Haven't posted any pics, but it's the perfect set for that.

If you felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of bank account cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced, that was just me.

@ohrmazd:
Eight. Three single panels, plus a triple panel, plus a double panel. And then there’s whatever digital instructions they may release later on (Harry Potter has three so far). Just to build the eight current panels, you’re looking at $959.92, plus tax. If you live somewhere like Chicago, you’ll basically be buying a ninth copy for the government.

@WizardOfOss:
You don’t line up all the scars from the mold gates on the 1x1 round tiles so the little fan-shaped flow patterns on the tops all match? Lightweight...

@Th3_3m3rald_M1n3cart:
Batman and Catwoman have had an on-again/off-again romance going for at least three decades. I don’t know if it started with Batman Returns, but my comic book hobby followed the 1989 Batman, so they’ve been a thing for pretty much all that time. Talia al Ghul is another.

Alternately, buy one copy sealed, figure out exactly what you need to build the other seven panels, and just source the parts. Most of these will be dirt cheap on the secondary market, and for anything that’s not, there’s always B&P/PAB.

@PurpleDave said:
"
@Th3_3m3rald_M1n3cart:
Batman and Catwoman have had an on-again/off-again romance going for at least three decades. I don’t know if it started with Batman Returns, but my comic book hobby followed the 1989 Batman, so they’ve been a thing for pretty much all that time. Talia al Ghul is another."

Varying contiuities have had Batman and Catwoman married, including the original version of Batman from 1939. Their daughter became the Huntress. (The character from the Birds of Prey movie is an updated version of the character who isn't their daughter, but otherwise uses her motif.)

The current comics version of Batman and Catwoman sort of got married--the story got kind of messy and I think DC is actively ignoring it right now.

@PurpleDave said:
" @WizardOfOss:
You don’t line up all the scars from the mold gates on the 1x1 round tiles so the little fan-shaped flow patterns on the tops all match? Lightweight..."
Haha...I actually do make an effort to hide the mold marks out of sight whenever possible, but aligning the flow patterns is truly next level....

I thought it was all going to be black, or at least very, very dark grey…

Jokes aside, this is fantastic! The LEGO colour palette really does work in creating a comic like feel.

I like this version, but it would have been cool to have different artist's take on Batman....
like Alex Ross, Frank Miller.
Or different Batman actors, like Adam West, Michael Ketan...
I think that would take it to the next level.

@ShinyBidoof said:
"And reduced to about £70 on Amazon on March 2.

These must be really easy money for Lego, even if they have to quickly reduce the price. No real design costs involved, a low part cost (despite the high part number) and a design to get people to buy multiple copies."

I’d love it if someone could get these for me at a reduced price. Never really seem to get great sales in Canada.

LOVE all of these except for the small Batman. Something about the brightness of the white eyes and their jagged shape reminds me a little too much of Neil Gaiman’s Corinthian for me to be comfortable hanging it around the house (you go read The Doll’s House and not be traumatised by that epitome of voyeurism and American-Dream-conservatism).

Interesting responses. Personally although I like Batman, I really only like the recent movies, not a fan of comics in general (too expensive for a 2 minute read). So this colour palette seems to suit those more into the Comics, and I would have preferred the grey and black. They do look good though, especially that large batman, but I think given the palette, I will probably hold out for a large stormtrooper instead, if that comes to pass.

@Brent007 said:
"Or different Batman actors, like Adam West, Michael Ketan... "
...or Val Kilmer or George Clooney. Though for those it should be all tiles except for two studs...

Sooo, if we want all the builds in our living room, we have to buy 9 of them? It's comes to a little over $1000. Nice... I guess I will be downloading hi-res picture of them and make a poster.

@TheRightP_art said:
"(you go read The Doll’s House and not be traumatised by that epitome of voyeurism and American-Dream-conservatism)."

Almost gave up on the series at that point...

@person_that_uses_brickset said:
"Where is robin??"

While I agree that Robin would have been a nice inclusion, I see the potential in having a separate set for Robin. Possibly one that has a three options for the main Robins(T.Drake, D.Grayson , J. Todd). For a combination of 2, showing both of Grayson’s superhero mantles(Robin and Nightwing). For a combination of 3, all 5 Robins together(potentially showing the costumes and the alias “Robin”.

Fortunately for my wallet, I’ve got particular looks for characters that I like - BTAS or Neal Adams Batman and I’d have been all in, but these don’t do anything for me. Based on these, I probably wouldn’t go for any DC ones since they skew heavily modern. Glad they seem well-received.

@WizardOfOss said:
"I do quite like these! At least both Batman and the Joker look great.

Still don't like the price though, even when the price-per-piece is amazing, it still feels way overpriced for what you get.

And while I do like the studs for the added texture, I would actually prefer tiles, as it would take me way too much time to get the text on all of them perfectly aligned horizontally. I can't be the only who does that, right?"

You’re not. I even align the gates. And if I make a subassembly with them all turned the wrong way, I take it apart and re-do it. It’s a curse.

@yellowcastle said:
" @AcademyofDrX said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Hmmmm. Jim Lee is an oddly specific choice here. It's not WRONG, but there's a plethora of other Batman artists I might have gone with before him. (The Bruce Timm styled Batman would probably stand out more to the public. Alternatively, they could have gone with Neal Adams, Frank Miller, Jim Aparo, or if they want to get super classic, Dick Sprang. YES, his name was Dick Sprang. Quiet, you.)"

Jim Lee isn't just a comic artist, he's also the most senior creative executive at DC"

Frank Miller would have been great too, but wow, I fell in love with Jim Lee's work on the Punisher and Wolverine back in the 80's. These look fantastic!"

These do look great, but not a big fan of Jim Lee. Many of the other mentioned artists are more iconic.

More to the point, you can buy a lot of comic books and even frame them, for the cost of these. As much a fan as I am of the Batman universe (been collecting the comics since the Knightfall storyline), this is a hard pass.

@ResIpsaLoquitur:
I’m not familiar with Aparo’s work, but even though I stopped collecting comics by the late 90’s, I’m well aware of Jim Lee’s run. One of the first two Batman minifigs used his logo design, though the color scheme didn’t match. Miller would be a cool, but unlikely choice. TDKR is very violent, and from what I understand, All-Star Batman can best be described as “unhinged”.

Now, I would absolutely love some B:TAS designs, but I don’t think they would work well as a set. Look closely at the designs we did get. Batman uses three shades of blue, sure, but Harley only adds bright red (her blonde hair comes from Batman’s face, and the blue tip from his costume). Joker adds a bit of green and a light purple, but his hair is shaded with dark-blue from Batman’s costume. The purple gets reused in the 2-panel design, and the red and green show up in the larger 3-panel design. Now, what would they have to do with the B:TAS characters? Being animated. They all have fairly saturated color schemes. Batman’s costume is black, light-bley, and yellow. His face would require colors that would not be used on Joker or Harley (being his two most popular villains, I don’t see them using any other characters). Joker would require lots of green and dark-purple. Harley, lots of red. Catwoman would need dark-bley. Casting a wider net, Ivy could reuse Batman’s face, but would need orange. Clayface and Scarecrow would need brown, and Freeze would need blue that you wouldn’t get from Batman.

@Lyichir:
I’ve known or met a few people who specialize in mosaics (Arthur Gugick, Roy Cook, Chris Doyle, Jeremy Moody, someone whose name I cant recall but did a multi-layered transparent mosaic of the Logan “sunset” movie poster, and a member of my own LUG). Most of the work a lot of these mosaics involve is designing the program that will generate the design. Yes, there’s a lot of cleanup work involved, but for most hardcore mosaic artists, the real challenge is developing new techniques that allow increasingly greater definition. After that, they may build a few mosaics in that style, and start itching to develop a new technique. The member of my LUG who does mosaics stands apart. She builds them entirely freehand. No computer. No pixelated design. She’s using the full range of parts to build a picture that’s more akin to a traditional painting. It’ll involve wedge plates, minifig accessories, or whatever just happens to work. And if it doesn’t, she has to tear that section back down to the baseplate and redo it.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur:
I’m not familiar with Aparo’s work, but even though I stopped collecting comics by the late 90’s, I’m well aware of Jim Lee’s run. One of the first two Batman minifigs used his logo design, though the color scheme didn’t match. Miller would be a cool, but unlikely choice. TDKR is very violent, and from what I understand, All-Star Batman can best be described as “unhinged”."

Well, Jim Lee was the artist on Frank Miller's All-Star Batman, soooo.....

Miller's TDKR had some specifically iconic images, probably the most famous of which was Batman silhouetted against a lightning bolt. Miller also wrote Batman: Year One, although he wasn't the artist on that. (It was very influential on the first Christopher Nolan Batman film.)

Jim Aparo did tons of DC comics from the 70s through 90s, including about 100 issues of the main Batman title from the 400s to the 500s. He particularly drew the story where Robin died, and where Bruce Wayne was replaced by Azrael. His art was probably as "standard" a Batman imaginable in the late 80s and early 90s. (Neal Adams might be a stronger example, but Aparo heavily followed suit.)

@PurpleDave said:
" @Lyichir:
I’ve known or met a few people who specialize in mosaics (Arthur Gugick, Roy Cook, Chris Doyle, Jeremy Moody, someone whose name I cant recall but did a multi-layered transparent mosaic of the Logan “sunset” movie poster, and a member of my own LUG). Most of the work a lot of these mosaics involve is designing the program that will generate the design. Yes, there’s a lot of cleanup work involved, but for most hardcore mosaic artists, the real challenge is developing new techniques that allow increasingly greater definition. After that, they may build a few mosaics in that style, and start itching to develop a new technique. The member of my LUG who does mosaics stands apart. She builds them entirely freehand. No computer. No pixelated design. She’s using the full range of parts to build a picture that’s more akin to a traditional painting. It’ll involve wedge plates, minifig accessories, or whatever just happens to work. And if it doesn’t, she has to tear that section back down to the baseplate and redo it."

The Logan movie poster was done by Doug Kenney, if it is the same one I was thinking of. He's also done a lot of large character builds. Creative guy. He comes out to a lot of our local conventions here in Nebraska.

@ResIpsaLoquitur:
Apparently I am familiar with Aparo’s work, just not the name. I started collecting with trade paperbacks of A Death in the Family (Robin II’s death), A Lonely Place of Dying (the followup story), TDKR, Year One, and The Killing Joke, then jumped into the Detective/Batman runs around the time they were prepping Tim Drake to be the new Robin, and collecting pretty much every Batman-related anything until partway through the Long Halloween run. So I have the entire Knightfall arc, from the introduction of the venom drug and the first appearances of both Bane and Azrael, to when Bruce took back the cowl.

But these weren’t just regular Batman stories at the time. They were Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, and Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. Together they restored a Batman who had been considered something of an Aquaman-level joke for 20 years, to a world-class detective who stands on the edge of darkness, is driven to make sure no other child experiences Crime Alley, and could believably hold his own against someone as powerful as Superman. And together with Alan Moore’s Watchmen, they established comic books as literature that wasn’t just for young kids anymore.

At the same time, Death/Dying was associated more with the events depicted than the creative team, O’Neal/Adams were the pair who were most associated with their work on the regular titles, and Knightfall would end up being very divisive at the time it was first published.

DC and Marvel were, and still are, very content-driven. It’s the characters who drew in casual readers. Yes, hardcore collectors were often familiar with the creative names behind them, and some could look at a single page and tell you who did the pencils and inks, but their names weren’t paraded around any more than those of screenwriters are in Hollywood. And Jim Lee was making a name for himself at Image, where the creator’s name was included in the logo. He was probably the most famous artist to rise during the decade I was collecting comics. I mean, Liefeld and McFarlane were also famous, but Liefeld got ridiculed for his practically criminal lack of understanding about human anatomy and his inability to meet deadlines, and McFarlane was famous for his weird cape fetish and the terrible quality of his very expensive action figures.

So, Lee was a big deal before they even announced he’d been hired by DC, and he probably brought in a lot of new readers to the Bat-titles. I knew about him, and I don’t think I’ve read a single thing he worked on. His batsuit logo has been adopted for the Arkham video games, and might be the most commonly used logo on Batman minifigs, even above the Silver Age oval.

As for TDKR, the lightning bolt is so famous because they kept it as the cover for the trade paperback. Probably the second most famous is Batman and Carrie Kelly Robin jumping across the page, which I think was one of the later covers during the original run. I’ve got a shirt with Darkwing and Gosling (in the CK Robin costume with a G logo), and another with Darkwing giving the mud fight speech. I’m still keeping an eye out for one with the lightning bolt.

@Sethro3:
I don’t remember a name, but I think he won an award for it at Brickworld. He starts with a layer of opaque plates, with I think two layers of transparent plates, and a final layer of transparent tiles, which allows him to achieve thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of different colors. The only drawback is that everything has to be studs-out. With pixels the size of a 1x1 plate, the colors may be amazing, but the level of definition feels very 8-bit. I only met the creator because he ran a session on the color-layering technique and how he prepares his color palettes before getting started. My impression was that it was useful for in some applications, but might need to be paired with other techniques to achieve greatest effect. In particular, Logan’s silhouette looked like it was designed by someone different, and I think he could have achieved a cleaner result if he’d built just that part using SNOT, and imposing it over the sunset, rather than using basic tiles to build it into the sunset. Logan was solid black, so this technique didn’t contribute anything to the silhouette beyond the bits that peeled through the grille tile to simulate his claws. Pulling just that bit forward would have allowed the use of cheese wedges, brackets, curved slopes, and would have reduced the pixel size about 60%.

Great art set. I just bought the Beatles art set. Was not into this type of Lego sets, but I have been pulled in. Looking forward to Elvis.

would have preferred a Hush-era Harley Quinn rather than the Suicide Squad inspired one, but hey-ho *shrugs*
Probably will pick these up at some point, but certainly not a full-price.

I think if you buy 3 sets you can make either the Catwoman/Batman Kissy Face scene OR the big Batman as the big display “pay-off”.

I think.

@blogzilly:
If you zoom in on the group shot, all of the 1x1 round plates look the same size. I don’t think they actually are, because the math doesn’t work out, but they probably only fudged the size a tiny bit to make everything line up. Down the right side, there’s 96 studs of mosaic, with two studs of border. Down the left side it’s the same, but with six studs of border and two studs of gap, for six extra studs. Across the top it’s the same as the left side, but the bottom only has four studs of border and one stud of gap. So each side is 98, 101, or 104 studs long, but they still make it look square, by zooming in or out just a tiny amount.

Anyways, one set each for the square portrait panels, two for Catwoman, and three for the half-body shot of Batman.