He's kept a pretty low profile since parting ways with Marvel earlier this year, but long-time Marvel Comics executive and former editor-in-chief Joe Quesada is back and will begin his post-House of Ideas career designing covers for DC in 2023.
That announcement was made by DC publisher Jim Lee at Friday's Jim Lee & Friends panel at New York Comic Con.
Quesada joined the DC executive and comic book artist at the panel to make the announcement. The pair have a lot in common with one another. Both emerged in the 1990s sales boom as part of a new wave of artists who became commercial superstars.
Quesada, like Lee at DC, and Todd McFarlane at Image Comics and his own Todd McFarlane Productions, parlayed their vast popularity into long-time creative-editorials positions at comic books' biggest publishers.
Quesada's first new DC covers will be for Batman #131 in January and Batman #132 in February.
Marvel and Quesada (who at the time held the title of executive vice president and creative director of Marvel Entertainment) parted ways in June after a career spanning more than 30 years in which Quesada rose from freelance artist to one of the longest-tenured executives in the publisher's history.
In the announcement of Quesada's exit, he stated at the time that he'll continue to occasionally contribute to Marvel, including in an upcoming unannounced project that he's teased several times in the past. Additionally, Quesada promised further creative projects, including a short film he is writing and directing.
But it appears DC covers will be his first post-Marvel project.
While Quesada has been associated with Marvel for decades, the Batman covers won't be his first DC project by any means. His comic book career actually began at DC in 1990 when he was hired by the publisher on the strength of a 12-page portfolio of three three-page stories along with covers including a Superman story.
He'd go on to co-create an updated version of the Golden Age character The Ray with writer Jack C. Harris and most famously co-create the vigilante anti-hero Azrael with the legendary writer/editor Denny O'Neil for the 1992 Batman: Sword of Azrael limited series. Quesada would also draw the cover to 1993's Batman #500 as Batman during the Knightfall storyline when Azrael famously took over as Batman.
Quesada's next Batman cover will be published 30 years after his last.
Joe Quesada had his hand in some of the best Marvel Comics stories of all time.
