Artist Alex Ross has the rare gift to take superheroes—the gods of the modern day—and make them appear godlike.  His artwork is absolute stunning and sells in the thousands of dollars.  If you walk around the exhibitors' floor at Comic-Con, his booth is as noticeable as the booths for Marvel and DC Comics.  At the WonderCon panel for Pacific Rim, writer-director Guillermo del Toro announced that Ross would be doing the cover art for the film's prequel comic.

Speaking with Steve at WonderCon, del Toro talked about his involvement in the creation of the Pacific Rim prequel comic, and how he geeked out when he spoke with Ross to the point of being unable to give the beloved artist a note about the cover.  Hit the jump for the more, and click on the respective links for what del Toro had to say about Justice League Dark and his other upcoming projects like Pacific Rim 2.

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While some prequel comics are cheap tie-ins that do nothing more than call attention to the upcoming feature film, the Pacific Rim prequel comic will come straight from the bible del Toro created with co-writer Travis Beacham.  Del Toro explained the level of his involvement when creating the comic:

"[Co-writer Travis Beacham] and I created a bible when we were writing the screenplay for everyone to have, to have a coherence.  So Travis then wrote the script for the comic.  What I basically was, executive editor, guest editor, whatever you want to call it.  Every single step of the comic, like the screen, went through me, meaning they would not ink if I didn't approve the penciling; they would not color if I did not approve the inks; they would not letter if I did not approve the type of letterings.  So I really was, on every little step of the comic, involved.

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Image via DC Comics

While del Toro was exacting on every aspect of the comic's creation, there came a rare instance where he was willing to back off.  Del Toro spoke about his reverence for Alex Ross, and how that affected his approach to giving a note on the cover:

It doesn't happen to me often, but Alex Ross sent the cover, and I called him up to give him one note.  I just wanted to give him one note.  And I swear to God, I'm 48, I'm this and that, I'm pretty good, and I got tongue-tied.  And he says, "Well, the way I was looking at it was this…" and I go, "Oh!  It's perfect then!" [laughs]  Completely wimped out, completely backed down, so it's probably the only time it's happened in, I don't know, twenty years?  Fifteen years?  Whatever you say, Mr. Ross! [laughs]

So will he get Ross' original artwork for the cover?

I actually offered to buy it, and [Legendary Pictures Founder and CEO] Thomas Tull had bought it.  So, my hope is, Thomas looked at me the other day and said, "I have a gift for you," so I'm hoping…Thomas, if you're watching this: have a heart, man! [laughs]

Your move, Mr. Tull.  Here's the video.  Look for more with del Toro tomorrow.

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