On his blog, Francis Manapul pulls back the curtain on his process for the cover of Detective Comics #32, from initial concept sketches to finished piece.

"I had a lot of fun coloring this piece, specially since I got to play around with the logo," he wrote. "Its placement was integral to the composition and selling the idea of Batman getting pulled under water."

In a similar post for April's Issue 30, the beginning of his tenure on the series with Flash collaborator Brian Buccelato, Manapul explained more about his approach: "The inking process is still traditional, using pens, brushes, and watercolor for the artwork. After scanning the art, and doing a few tweaks, I color the artwork in Photoshop."

Detective Comics #32, which finds Batman in the clutches of the crime boss known as "The Squid," goes on sale June 4.