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Marvel/DC Comics artist helps capture (alleged) criminal
Chris Weston, longtime artist for Marvel (Fantastic Four: First Family), DC (JSA: The Justice Society Returns), Wildstorm (The Authority), 2000 AD (Judge Dredd) and other comic-book companies was in the wrong place at the right time yesterday—his local bank during a robbery.
As he shared in his blog today, while visiting his bank to pay a credit-card bill, "this extremely charismatic fellow in the queue ahead of me ... proceeded to say something to the girl behind the counter that persuaded her to hand over loads of money."
Unfortunately for the alleged perpetrator, he'd chosen to undertake his villainy in the presence of something far more dangerous to him than a superhero—he was caught by the watchful eyes of a professional comics artist!
"I'd studied this guy quite intensely and could remember every detail of his likeness and clothes," wrote Weston. So after first rushing home to get what he'd seen down on paper, he returned to the scene of the crime and showed the officers what he'd sketched.
"I held up my drawings, and the policeman's eyes widened with astonishment! 'That's him!' he spluttered," wrote Weston. "Seems they'd already picked up a suspect who matched my drawings exactly. I then spent the afternoon giving a statement ... but I can't really expand on the situation any further than that for obvious reasons."
We won't be seeing Weston's images for a while, as they're part of an ongoing criminal case. But I think we can safely assume that when we do finally get to see them, the miscreant won't look like this guy—
By darkstrad at 9:52 PM ON 09/02/09
if they caught the guy before seeing the drawings, what exactly did mr. weston do that any other person couldn't have at a line-up?
By wookiee at 10:20 PM ON 09/02/09
that's kinda rude, he provided on scene identification for the police. not like he knew the guy was caught before he got there. if he hadn't been caught that drawing could have been crucial.
By Ego at 12:02 AM ON 09/03/09
Yeah, really, try having a little appreciation for a job well done by Mr. Weston!
By Raistlin244 at 12:44 AM ON 09/03/09
he gave them more evidence to support their case. Others could have looked and just arbitrarily pointed him out right or wrong, their memories would have been skewed. If his was skewed, his drawing would not have looked just like one of their suspects (well, there's a miniscule chance of that, but that's hardly relevant).
By no pen at the bank? at 1:19 AM ON 09/03/09
He couldn't get a pen and paper at the scene? He wasted a lot of time.
By Raistlin244 at 1:56 AM ON 09/03/09
keep in mind the bank had just been robbed and was more than likely a little hectic what with all that and then the cops showing up. I'd imagine he'd prefer a quieter place to draw.
By Paul at 5:13 AM ON 09/03/09
Remember kids: CRIME DOES NOT PAY!
By Omen at 7:29 AM ON 09/03/09
Now if he could just get the perp to autograph it.
By Drwhofan at 9:40 AM ON 09/03/09
So if he and the perp both sign it, how much will it go for on eBay?
But seriously, great job Mr. Weston. And if you read this, I enjoyed your work on The Twelve immensely.
By Bob the Monkey at 12:40 PM ON 09/03/09
Good job Mr. Weston. Despite what some bums on here say, you were helpful. While they had arrested the man already, your drawing is further evidence against the bank robber and will help put him away. Again, good work.
By Capt Hal Jordan at 3:01 PM ON 09/03/09
in regards to the people here saying Mr. Weston did nothing or wasted his time on drawing the perp, i have two things to say...
1. your input reminds me of something i heard on a movie "Everyone loves to see a hero fall"
2. "All evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing"
Sure the guy was captured before he sketch was given to the police, but had they not caught him and had He not done the sketch, in all the excitement how many people do you think would have actually given as good a description as Mr. Weston did...I'm not sure i could have, could you?
He actually did something when most people don't, especially in today's world. Something for all of us to think about.
By MCP-001 at 3:47 PM ON 09/03/09
I don't understand why people are kvetching and moaning about what happened?
You have a sketch, from a witness no less, to corroborate the other witnesses of the (alleged) bank robber.
The bad guy was caught.
Kudos, well done!
By Al at 7:20 PM ON 09/03/09
An illustrator and artist uses specific tools for shading and getting the right look he sees in his mind.
I understand why he went home and, yes, it does come in handy to have such an exact likeness drawn firsthand by a witness since during stress most of us only pick up vague facial qualities, while an artist looks at every wrinkle of skin, shape of nose and eye spacing which can differentiate between on tall thin man with short black hair from another wearing similar clothes.
A definite win for the good guys!
By nolo contendre at 1:43 PM ON 09/04/09
Yeah, nice job, but I guess a simple witness statement would not have been quite so geeky, would it? And I'd like everyone to remember- the guy was already caught, and there were plenty of witnesses. Kudos to the artist, but calm down here.
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nolo contendre:
Yeah, nice job, but I guess a simple witness statement would not have been quite so geeky, would it? And I'd like e...More »