Welcome to "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." Comic Creation Update #1! I've decided to follow in the footsteps of Steemit's own Likable Lovecraftian Horror, @drwatson and begin more regularly espousing on the creation of my current comic project of interest; and number the columns accordingly. Currently @drwatson is up to edition #102 of his updates detailing the process of bringing to life his historical horror comic Ithaqa. It's a joy to read, I hope you follow Ithaqa's creation. As a comic fan there is something incredibly satisfying about those sequential numbers bringing order and reputation to a long running series... so I'll be shamelessly copying @drwatson and hoping that my updates someday span past #100 on the way to completing some comic issues of my own.
I've introduced my own project, "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." in prior posts. However those posts lacked the gloriously official numbering system of this splendid first edition... so I'm sure I'll begin rehashing them as I go. However todays focus is my work on crafting... the cornerbox!
I've been playing around with the new Clip Studio Paint app for iOS, on my iPad Pro, enjoying pulling in some of the disparate resources, sketches and designs I've created and organizing for some full issue production. One of those items I just imported and polished up a bit is my beloved cornerbox.
I fell in love with comics in the late 80's, primarily enjoying stories from Marvel Comics in particular. At that time the cornerbox was ubiquitous and fairly standardized. It often contained stock floating heads of the characters featured in that issue, single character focuses that rotated from issue to issue, or a custom illustration designed to highlight a gag or important feature of that months particular story.
Cornerboxes have fallen out of favor, although you still sometimes see them. The focus now is on providing the maximum amount of space for the cover art itself. In designing "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." I'm intent on implementing a lot of retro fun of varying eras from corner boxes and cover blurbs, to vintage advertisements and letter columns. Styling a cornerbox to the comics I recall most fondly from my youth captures a lot of the fun and excitement those issues had... and just makes me sentimentally happy!
So here you have it, a glance at my current cornerbox mockup, utilizing the logo of my own little Spotty Production Studio... complete with a super special sneak peek at it placed on a cover illustration work in progress.
If you're an old comic fan like me I hope it inspires a bit of nostalgia, and for everyone I hope this quick glance piques enough interest that you'll follow along for "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." Comic Creation Update #2 and beyond!