Batman sports a rippling six-pack and fits into a tight superhero suit, but all that might end if he chowed down on junk food all the time. Thanks to the talents of Chicago-based graphic designer and illustrator Alex Solis, we can see what size the Dark Knight might balloon to if he slurped soda and munched on fries.
The Caped Crusader isn’t the only pop culture figure Solis has transformed. As part of his Famous Chunkies series, Solis has drawn 112 iconic characters that have packed on the pounds because of unhealthy food choices.
Solis, 31, came up the idea while watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with his daughter. He noticed how much energy the turtles have even though all they eat is pizza. So he decided to show his little girl what characters from cartoons, comic books, video games, and movies might look like on that kind of diet. “I love food as much as I love drawing,” he says, which made the project a fun, satirical way for him to raise awareness about why food choices matter.
He began sharing the drawings on his Instagram account, and last fall he ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of a Famous Chunkies book. Given that one in five children ages 5 to 17 in the developed world is overweight or obese, let’s hope these illustrations inspire kids to eat more fruits and veggies. Click through to see a few of our favorite illustrations in the series.
