The story behind this commission starts at DeviantArt.com–as do many of these tales–but this one has a bit of a longer tale. I was scanning for Darkhawk images and came across a design that was the most different design for Darkhawk that I’d ever seen. It was slick, it was fresh, it was dynamic… I fell in love on sight. This design came from artist Joel Carroll (gallery on DeviantArt.com) who did it initially for a friend and then submitted it to Project Rooftop where it became a featured design for review by the fine folks there (great website btw, please check it out!).

There were some criticisms on this Darkhawk design on Project Rooftop that talk about the helmet being too large “for a human neck to hold”. The helmet is exactly why I love this design so much. To be clear, the Darkhawk suit isn’t a human, it’s an android, so the weight of the helmet wouldn’t be an issue at all–that’s me geeking out–and the silhouette this design casts ties the suit more to the hawk motif that is his namesake. It looks like the open beak of a bird of prey and that’s just a kick ass concept to explore.

I figured I’d commission a new piece based on Joel Carroll’s original concept design for my collectio,n and here it is now, to be marveled at in all his triumphant glory! Ya, dramatic, I know… I love me a great Darkhawk though! You can see more Joel Carroll art on his website as well!