248. "Shooter" 7" x 10.5"

Size: 7 × 10.5 inches art print (not a comic book)
Availability: Pre-order ends Sunday, July 5th  at 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET
Shipping: Expected to ship approximately 40–60 days after the purchase window closes. Estimated timeframe. Not guaranteed.

From the Artist: 

Pop Fly #248: "Shooter."

There are certain baseball players that seem almost too perfect to turn into comic book characters. I've done a lot of them so far be cause let's face it, i'm drawn to that WWE character energy.  Thats why relievers are my favorite player position. 

Rod Beck was one of those characters I've always wanted to tackle. Off the bat...just look at the guy. The mustache. The mullet. The presence. The nickname even. If you walked into a comic shop in '89 and saw him on the cover of a western comic, or next to Jonah Hex, you probably wouldn't think twice.

But that's actually not why I went this direction. The more I thought about the nickname "Shooter," the more it occurred to me that closers and old western gunslingers kind of occupied the same place in our imagination. They both show up when everything is on the line and they don't stay long. They have one job to do then they move on to the next town.

And Rod Beck did just that.

He'd ride into town, finish the job, and before long he'd be riding to the next one. He pitched for 4 different organizations over a 13-year career, (but if there was one place that seemed to capture his heart, it was Chicago...and even on this cover I gave him a Cubs belt buckle as a little nod to that) 

So instead of making Shooter a cowboy because it looked cool, I tried to imagine what would happen if baseball itself became an old western. A showdown.

The batter steps into town. The street gets quiet. And standing at the other end is Shooter. I don't know if Rod Beck ever thought of himself that way...

But maybe comic books would've.