The Pokemon franchise has been a pop culture staple for almost three decades now, with its ever-growing popularity and steady flow of multimedia content ensuring that it’ll last another three easily. From video games to anime to the countless other avenues fans can enjoy catching ‘em all, Pokémon returns to the realm of comics with a new piece of art drawn by DC Comics’ Jim Lee that gives an original starter Pokémon a redesign that makes this particular pocket monster feel more real than ever.

Making its historic debut with 1996’s Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for the original Game Boy, Pokémon immediately became more than just a blockbuster video game franchise, as it quickly expanded into other mediums — specifically, the worlds of anime and trading cards — cementing its legacy as one of the best nerd properties of all time. Featuring over a thousand Pokémon and counting, the franchise’s original three pocket monsters, Charizard, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, are the standard that all other Pokémon aspire to, with DC’s Jim Lee (@jimlee) giving Bulbasaur’s third form, Venasaur, a realistic makeover that fans need to see.

DC Comics’ Jim Lee Draws a More Realistic Version of Venasaur in His Signature Comic Book Art Style

Fanart Design by Jim Lee (@jimlee)

Currently in the middle of illustrating the much-anticipated sequel to Batman: Hush, Jim Lee, a man of many hats, also juggles his duties as DC Comics’ President, Chief Creative Officer, and Publisher, with his makeover of Bulbasaur’s final evolution, Venasaur, being just another addition to Lee’s workload. Recently shared on Lee’s official Instagram , this Venasaur sketch s two other Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue illustrations Lee has previously posted — one of the fire-based dragon known as Charizard and the other of the water-wielding turtle known as Blastoise — officially completing Lee’s series of realistic redesigns featuring Pokémon’s original starter monsters.

Using the entire page to sketch a massive Venasaur trudging through the rain with its mouth wide open, Jim Lee’s instantly iconic art style lends itself well to this more realistic take on Venasaur, with Lee’s minute attention to detail doing Venasaur justice even better than the video game series it hails from. Adding in elements that make Venasaur feel like a real animal, it's Venasaur’s less flowery and more tree-esque back protrusion and the patch of mushrooms and plants sprouting around its base that sell this redesign, proving Pokémon can work in multiple different visual styles, Jim Lee’s especially.

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Finally, Lee inserts his “interpretation of ‘Gotta Catch Them All’” in the slide that follows, showing one of his early Venasaur sketches ripped into four signed pieces and turning his “Gotta Catch Them All” reference into reality. Though Lee doesn’t post fanart often, the fact that Lee's already drawn three Pokémon-themed pieces bodes well for at least a few more follow-ups, with Legendary Pokémon in Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, or Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver’s starters, Cyndaquil, Totodile, or Chikorita, being great options should Jim Lee (@jimlee) have some free time in between illustrating Batman: Hush 2 s, that is.

Source: @jimlee