JD Hancock Photos

Batman

Batman is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (1939). The rich industrial, playboy, and philanthropist Bruce Wayne, having watched his parents murdered as a child, swore to protect Gotham City from criminals by honing his physical and mental skills to the peak of human perfection. The Dark Knight’s costume varies but typically includes a cowl with bat-like ears, a scalloped cape, a utility belt, and a stylized bat emblem on the chest. He is often depicted as part of the Justice League superhero team along with Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and others. The character was played by Adam West in the television series Batman (1966), voiced by Kevin Conroy in Batman: The Animated Series (1992), and played by Christian Bale in a series of films directed by Christopher Nolan starting with Batman Begins (2005).

Darth Vader

Darth Vader is the central character in the Star Wars universe. Created by George Lucas, the character was the primary villain in the original trilogy Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983), but he was one of the heroes in the prequel trilogy Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). His story is one of tragedy as the young Anakin Skywalker is lured away from his Jedi mentors to the Dark Side of the Force by Emperor Palpatine and eventually betrays everyone he ever cared for. In the original trilogy Darth Vader was played primarily by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones. Anakin Skywalker was played by Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen in the prequel trilogy. Darth Vader is a powerful character and perhaps the most iconic figure in the Star Wars saga.

Duel 365

Duel 365 was a year-long project I started in 2010. The goal was to post one photo each day depicting a duel, usually between two pop culture figures, and asking the question, "If they had to fight, who would win?" At the request of those who came to follow the project, I also provided text descriptions of each character. One of the rules was to avoid using the same figure in multiple photos. Another challenge was that I was not allowed to use Photoshop or other advanced photo editors to create the scenes; all editing was done either in-camera or with Apple’s iPhoto software. Over 700 figures were used for the project, which believe it or not represents only a small part of my toy collection.