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Brightest Day Easter Eggs from Series Inker Dave Beaty

In honor of the upcoming Easter holiday, we present some Brightest Day “Easter Eggs” sent to us by series inker Dave Beaty!  Just in case you hadn’t heard, all the Firestorm-centric scenes in Brightest Day have been penciled by Scott Clark and inked by Dave Beaty.  If you add up all their pages from the series, it totals nearly 90 pages of Brightest Day content drawn by this fantastic art team.  Dave happens to be a long-time Firestorm fan and was been kind enough to share with us some behind-the-scenes details from Brightest Day!  Thanks Dave!

EASTER EGGS

Remember in Brightest Day #10 when Professor Stein explained to Ronnie and Jason the danger of their powers?  In that scene, the Professor held up a sheet of calculations to demonstrate the science behind his concerns.  To create that sheet of notes, Dave Beaty researched several sources on the web regarding nuclear fission and atomic explosions.  Using this research, Dave created Stein’s notes on an actual full-size notepad and composited it into the panel.  This gave the notes a more authentic look.  Below you’ll find the final panel and a scan of the original notes page.

Professor Martin Stein from Brightest Day #10 by Scott Clark and Dave Beaty

Professor Stein's notes from Brightest Day #10 by Dave Beaty

In Brightest Day #7 we catch a brief glimpse of Professor Stein’s college diploma hanging in his office.  While you really can’t read the diploma as it appeared in the comic, it was fully-realized by Dave Beaty as a CGI model for the 3D environment of Stein’s office.  Dave based the diploma on information revealed about Martin Stein in Secret Origins #4 (July 1986), a story primary focused on Stein.  Such amazing attention to detail by Dave!

In the panel below featuring Firestorm as the White Lantern, look over Firestorm’s right shoulder and you can just make out the Professor’s diploma on the wall.  You can see it even clearer in the original inked artwork prior to coloring.  Then scroll further down and you’ll find scans of two diploma’s created by Dave Beaty for Stein’s office – a Masters and a Doctorate from Stanford University.  Click the diplomas to enlarge the images.

Brightest Day #7 featuring Firestorm as a White Lantern by Scott Clark and Dave Beaty

Brightest Day #7 page 13 original pencil and ink featuring White Lantern Firestorm

Professor Martin Stein's Masters of Physics from Brightest Day by Dave Beaty

Professor Martin Stein's Doctorate of Physics from Brightest Day by Dave Beaty

My thanks to Dave Beaty for sharing those Brightest Day “Easter Eggs” with us!  I absolutely love when artists take the time to do research and include details such as these!  So cool!

FIRESTORM SKETCHES BY DAVE BEATY

Below you’ll find some gorgeous sketches Dave did for Firestorm fans, some from the 2010 Phoenix Con.  Love the shirt, Dave!

Dave Beaty sketching Firestorm

Dave Beaty's Firestorm Sketch from Phoenix Con

Dave Beaty sketching Firestorm

Firestorm colored sketch by Dave Beaty

Dave Beaty colored sketch of Firestorm

Below is a pen sketch of Jason that Dave drew after reading the Brightest Day #10 script that featured Jason and Ronnie switching control of the Firestorm body.

Dave Beaty's sketch of Jason Rusch as Firestorm

DAVE BEATY’S RECENT PODCAST APPEARANCE

Dave Beaty recently appeared on the PKD Black Box podcast.  During the podcast they discussed Brightest Day and the 1980’s Super Powers collection.  I was personally excited to hear them mention my other blog ONCE UPON A GEEK and the Super Powers 25th Anniversary blog crossover we did back in 2009!  Thanks for the plug guys!  The podcast is an enjoyable listen and it shows that Dave is totally one of us!  He’s a true Firestorm fan!  Be sure to check out the PKD Black Box podcast #51: Justice Jogger for Sale.

WHO THE HECK IS THIS DAVE BEATY GUY ANYWAY?

Since 1992 Dave Beaty has produced numerous award-winning illustrations and designs for the publishing, entertainment, advertising, and music industries.  He got his start in the comic book industry in 1994 as a “ghost” artist working on backgrounds for Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #4 for Marvel Comics. Since that time he’s been published as a writer, penciler, inker, cartoonist, and colorist.  He has done “credited” work for BOOM Studios, Antarctic Press, Aspen Entertainment, Dabel Brothers, Marvel Comics, and DC Comics. He is also the co-creator of Bushi Tales (with Lin Workman), Stargodz (with Scott Clark & Dean Zachary), and for five years wrote and drew the award winning comic strip Captain Value. He has had numerous articles published on art production and technique in addition to short fiction stories.  In addition to writing articles on art production, he’s also taught workshops and seminars at comic book conventions all across the United States, including a special speaking engagement & workshop at the Art Institute of Phoenix, and also a Specialty Graphics production seminar for the Arizona Newspapers Association. Recent comics work includes Brightest Day (DC), Titans (DC), Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC), Doom Patrol (DC) and cover art inks for Adventure Comics (DC), Fathom (Aspen), Stan Lee’s: The Traveler (BOOM), and Irredeemable (BOOM). Dave lives in Prescott Valley, Arizona with his lovely wife Micah and their two cats Sato & Nermal.

Be sure to check out Dave’s website by clicking here.  For an index of Dave’s published comic book work, click here for his Comic Book Database entry.

I can’t thank Dave enough for sending these scans our way.  He’s a super-nice guy and a huge Firestorm fan!  Be sure to seek out Dave’s other work and support his projects!

Support Firestorm (and Dave Beaty)! Fan the flame!

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11 Comments

  1. Ed says:

    Those are some amazing sketches. Love his art.

  2. liquidcross says:

    Wow, Professor Stein got his master’s degree AND his doctorate in the same year?! Smart guy. 😉

  3. liquidcross says:

    Make that the same DAY. Stein truly is a genius!

  4. Chocotaco says:

    I love the detail that Dave put into his work.

    It sort of messes with me that I would have gotten my Bachelor’s Degree before Professor Stein received his, assuming that he went after his Master’s directly after getting his Bachelor’s. Just sayin’. 😉

  5. Spinks says:

    @ Shag–Freakin’ awesome posting man.

    @liquidcross — nice catch, and I bet if anyone can do that, it would be Stein.

    BTW–in the Easter Egg theme

    Isaac Stein’s name matches the Stanford board of trustees(http://news.stanford.edu/pr/94/940712Arc4185.html)

    I’m unsure if the signature is a spot on match… but I bet the other names are real Standford folks too… (I just can’t make out the signatures)… Again, props to Dave for doing some detail work here.

  6. Frank says:

    So much for the “tracer” theory. Them’s some mighty fine and well researched enhancements. Good show!

  7. Dave Beaty says:

    liquidcross & Chocotaco- Sorry about the date. I figured these’d be so small and no one would see them in this kind of detail. Didn’t think about the possible confusion when I sent them to Shag. I just thought fellow Firestorm fans would enjoy seeing them.

    Don’t miss the last issue of Brightest Day, there’s one more little Easter Egg to be found.

    Thanks for posting these Shag and the kind words. Scott Clark and I worked very hard to make the Firestorm pages the best we could with the time we had. It’s really cool to have contributed to the the Nuclear Man’s adventures.

    Dave B

  8. Caz says:

    That’s awesome! I wish they would start a Firestorm ongoing series after Brightest Day is over…

  9. Jon says:

    Awesome to see, great attention to detail. Also, yay for a b&w pic of that Firestorm white lantern page. I love that page.

  10. 2003? Why that year? Even allowing for DC’s sliding timetable, surely they think Stein was older than that?

  11. Robert Gross says:

    I’m glad they remembered that Stein went to Stanford. Nice continuity.

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