BossLogic Reveals Some Of His All-Time Favorite Collaborations - Exclusive

Fan art is truly a labor of love — both in terms of the love the artist in question has for the material to which they're paying tribute, and in that it's usually just about expressing that affection for the sheer fun of it. Once in a long while, however, a fan artist transcends that definition and finds themselves walking and working with giants. Such has been the experience of Kode Abdo, better known by his nom de internet, BossLogic. He started out as another Photoshop wiz posting his work to social media, but his popularity eventually exploded, making him one of the premiere purveyors of fan art online.

With that great power came great possibility, drawing attention from several pretty big names. Some simply became fans, but others decided that they wanted to be in the BossLogic business — leading the Australian artist into rarified territory that found him working with some of the most well-known dignitaries in both Hollywood and comics. Let's put it this way: When a name as big as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson comes calling, you know you're doing something right.

Looper recently spoke with BossLogic in an exclusive interview, during which he revealed some of his all-time favorite collaborations.

It turns out that the wrestler-turned-multimedia-superstar Dwayne Johnson was a fan and follower of BossLogic, and, after checking out the artist's work with two characters in particular, he decided he wanted in on the action. 

"Basically, with The Rock situation, I created some fan art of Black Adam and I created some fan art of Superman," BossLogic explains. "One day, he liked my status and he tweeted it, but then he actually followed me, and then sent me a message via DM saying that he would like to work with me on a certain project. So, then, I gave him my email, and then ... he sent his agent to me to he brief of what it was, and he wanted a picture of basically Superman beating the crap out of Black Adam."

Despite seemingly having already conquered the action movie world, Johnson had long been vocal about wanting to play a superhero, and fan casting had frequently tagged him for the character of Black Adam, a DC super-villain who's the arch-enemy of Shazam. Johnson announced way back in 2014 that he was lined up to play Black Adam on the big screen, but it wasn't until 2017 that Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment were confirmed to be creating a movie all about the big bad. The actor has been training hard to get even more ripped for the role, though fans won't get to see the fruits of his labor until Black Adam arrives in theaters on December 22, 2021. Thankfully, they have BossLogic's artwork to tide them over until then. 

It sounds like a win all around, but there's one thing BossLogic doesn't quite understand about this particular collaboration. "It turned out good," he says, "but I still don't get why he wants to be beat up."

Fortunately, BossLogic would get another stab at the character-actor combo, and it would bring him into the orbit of a comic book art legend.

When Johnson went to officially declare his casting as Black Adam in November 2019, he needed a stunning image to accompany the announcement on social media. For that, he turned back to BossLogic, but also brought in one of the biggest guns in the game: award-winning artist and comics industry legend Jim Lee. The collaboration was pretty special for the fan artist. "That was one of the highlights of my career, because I grew up with the Jim Lee comics and the cards and stuff, especially when it was back in the X-Men days," BossLogic tells Looper. "I received the phone call from him, and he's like, 'Hey, this is Jim Lee. Basically we're doing a project.' I got to recreate one of Jim Lee's official original Black Adam outlines. That was crazy."

If the first piece BossLogic created for The Rock was inexplicable in its placement of Black Adam in a defeated posture, the second was a completely different animal. It depicts Johnson as the black-and-gold-clad character, eyes aglow and hovering over rubble that, judging from the arcs of lighting emanating off him, he most likely had a hand in creating. Fan reaction was immense, with over five million viewers clicking "like" on Johnson's Instagram post.

With some famous collaborators having already lined up to work with BossLogic, and with him having famously been name-dropped on The Tonight Show by Spider-Man: Far From Home actor Jake Gyllenhaal, the artist is bound to find himself even more in demand in the near future. Marvel, for one, wants more — although BossLogic can't reveal any details, saying, "It's all NDA for now. They're exciting projects through. You guys would dig them."

If the artist had his way, though, he'd get another chance to dip back into comic book royalty with one of the most famous names in superhero art. Asked about his dream collaboration, he replied, "Probably Alex Ross. I love his stuff. I grew up with his stuff as well. They kind of feel real to you, even though they're not real."

The way things have been going for BossLogic to date, it would be no surprise to see his fan art team-up dream come true.