The Corner Box

John Barber is MIA, so David Hedgecock recruits Fun Time Go Editor-in-Chief Chase Marotz for a post-New York Comic Con debrief featuring Kevin Smith , bargain-bin treasures, and the increasingly difficult task of finding actual comic books at a comic convention. The conversation takes a look into Grant Morrison's James Bond , DC's Absolute Universe , creator-owned success stories, and Ch...

It’s a shiny new #1 for The Corner Box   as Season Four kicks off with a suspicious amount of metallic ink, and David and John reacquainting everyone with the comic-industry scars that got them here. After reacting to the announced end of Marvel Unlimited and its replacement by the WEBTOON-powered Marvel Comics service, they rewind to 1974 and the gloriously spite-fueled creation of Atlas/Seaboard...

Three seasons, zero missed weeks, and one comic book genie later, David and John close out Season 3 by making three wishes for the future of comics. They tackle disappearing comics history, the sanding-down of the medium’s rough edges, and the need for better journalism and conversation around the people actually making the books. Daniel Clowes, Peter Bagge, Chris Ware, Frank Miller, Jim Starlin,...

What happens if Marvel hands you the keys and says, "Fix everything"? David Hedgecock and John Barber tackle that challenge by debating the one creator and one project they'd use to reshape Marvel's future while unpacking the editorial decisions that transformed both Marvel and DC across multiple eras. Along the way they explore Daniel Warren Johnson, Brian Michael Bendis, Abso...

John and David cover a stack of new releases, from Doom Patrol , Legion of Super-Heroes , and Teen Titans to the surprising new Archie relaunch. Along the way, John tumbles into one of the most obsessive comic-book rabbit holes ever discussed on the show—a typewriter sound effect that nearly derails an otherwise fantastic first issue. They also debate modern comic lettering, discuss why small stor...

On part two of this episode, the blind bag madness continues as David opens the second half of his twenty Terminal #1 mystery packs in pursuit of the increasingly mythical Rob Liefeld variant. Between pulls, John introduces several overlooked Fantagraphics books that deserve another look, sparking a conversation about forgotten creators, publishing history, and why some excellent comics disappear...

In Part One of this two-part episode, David attempts the most brilliant thing ever done on a comic podcast or the dumbest… opening a stack of TWENTY Terminal #1 blind bags. His target is the elusive Rob Liefeld cover, but the bags have other plans—mostly involving enough copies of issue seven to supply the entire listening audience. Along the way, John remembers writing Optimus Prime dialogue for...

Two episodes in one day?! What's the special occasion? Well... David's Miss Mina and the Midnight Guardians Book Three campaign launches today and HE'S NOT PANICKING! YOU'RE PANICKING!!! Ahem... Sorry. We have guests. I shouldn't scream... Tyrant Fall creators Brennan Knight and Max Davenport return to the show and bring their own Kickstarter launch, a looming world war, a...

In part two of this exclusive two-part Corner Box conversation, special guest Steven Grant joins David and John for a brutally honest trip through comics, from the Punisher’s emotional shutdown to the birth of his ninja creation, Whisper . Steven recalls how Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus helped Capital City reach the point where it could finally pay an artist for his book. The conversation jum...

Special guest Steven Grant joins David and John to explain how measles, Flash of Two Worlds , and one very strange dime-operated comics rack rewired his childhood. His road into the business runs through Underground Comix, Michael Moorcock, Bob Layton, Roger Stern, John Byrne, and a surprise Marvel Two-in-One assignment that he never asked for. Along the way, Grant remembers learning from Gil Kane...

David unveils the new Top 10 Hottest Artists list , from Mark Spears and Brett Bean to Nick Dragotta, Ryan Ottley, and Hayden Sherman at the top. Daniel Warren Johnson’s upcoming Chain Kata causes a minor ashcan feeding frenzy, while Jamal Campbell makes the case that Zatanna can absolutely move books when the pages look that good. John then brings Image’s Royals to the table, praising Derek Kirk...

David and John compare San Diego Comic-Con scars, including a panel-opening challenge that landed like a wet fart. John unveils his work on a 3D comic adaptation of Santo and the Treasure of Dracula , built to read like an actual comic instead of a pile of movie stills. David breaks news on the upcoming Kull miniseries with John Arcudi, Mark Buckingham, and Dave Stewart—then explains why he missed...

What separates a technically solid comic from one that grabs three Marvel editors by the throat at the same time? That question leads John through Jason Aaron’s early career, the difference between having technical chops and possessing a distinct creative voice, and why no stack of screenwriting books can manufacture the magic. David then puts Dynamite’s Thundarr the Barbarian revival to the test,...

David opens the show at his breaking point after a recent issue of Captain America delivers artwork he believes never should have made it to print. John brings the former-editor perspective, breaking down how brutal deadlines, crossover schedules, shifting status quos, disappearing inventory stories, and the loss of veteran inkers can turn a promising monthly book into a full-blown disaster. From...

This week gets fun when R.C. Samo of FanboyNation.com joins David and John to talk Marvel’s Burbank move, Steve Wacker’s new editorial role, and what gets lost when the House of Ideas leaves Manhattan. They kick around the real human cost of a cross-country move, the danger of comics becoming movie leftovers, and why Daniel Warren Johnson’s Transformers worked because somebody let an artist swing...

The fellas get into how summer events stopped feeling like summer events and became a never-ending conveyor belt of crossover noise. John pulls from the Marvel trenches with House of M , Civil War , Secret Invasion , Tony Stark taking the heat, and Ralph Macchio’s very correct complaint that Spider-Man should not just walk into a press conference like some regular dope. Then Absolute Batman takes...

The guys sit down with David Pepose as The O.Z. heads toward its third and final Kickstarter chapter, turning the Wizard of Oz into a war-torn fantasy battlefield with Dorothy Gale’s granddaughter at the center of the wreckage. Pepose breaks down the long wait between issues, why keeping Ruben Rojas on the book mattered, and how trauma, reinvention, and redemption became the spine of his work from...

Part 2 of the Bart Sears interview continues as Bart walks David and John through the high-pressure years where every career move looked massive and every deadline came with teeth. Bart talks Eclipso , DC exclusives, the frustration of not getting one of the big characters, and the Valiant jump that put him on X-O Manowar and Turok right as the 90s boom was cooking itself alive. Then things get ev...

Bart Sears joins David and John to unpack the early grind behind one of comics’ most muscular, instantly recognizable art styles. Bart talks about learning from Neal Adams, Ross Andru, Frank Frazetta, John Buscema, and How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way before landing work through Larry Hama and eventually walking into Hasbro with full superhero energy. From designing the heroic proportions of C.O....

The guys get into Frank Miller’s 300 , from its brutal Spartan swagger to the underappreciated magic Lynn Varley brought to every inch of the page. John is out today, but David is joined by special guest and fill-in co-host Chase Marotz to talk about Miller’s later art style, the historical homework behind Thermopylae, and why this book still feels like a giant opera made of sweat, shields, and te...

The guys get into the real mechanics of launching a comics Kickstarter without just throwing a link into the void and praying to the algorithm gods. David breaks down why the campaign is won before launch day, how email lists and “notify me” clicks create the first-day fire, and why stretch goals work best when they feel like party favors instead of cheap bait. John digs into the questions creator...

David & John talk about the brutal math of making comics after the pages are done and the hard truth of the hard work behind every Kickstarter project. The guys talk about Marvel's changing of the guard, Dan Buckley’s legacy, DC’s momentum under Marie Javins, and whether comics are being pulled closer to media-brand machinery than comic-book instinct. John then drags Clive Barker’s Razorl...

John and David welcome Eisner-nominated comics journalist and podcaster David Harper for an Eisner Awards heat check. Absolute Batman , Absolute Wonder Woman , Assorted Crisis Events , Ghost Pepper , Jerome , Land , and Hirayasumi all get thrown into the ring. David Hedgecock argues for Denis Camp, Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, and books that actually make you feel something, even if that feelin...

David & John get into Ken Landgraf, Ghoul Butcher , New York City Outlaws , and the strange thrill of “Outsider Comics” that feel half-feral but wonderfully alive. David maps out his outsider-comics reading list, including Revenger , C.R.O.W.Bar 9 , The 7 Guys of Justice , and Amerikarate . John counters with Bobby Benson’s B-Bar-B Riders , a 1950s ranch comic reprint that somehow includes Bob...

Kirt Burdick returns to talk Death of Power , the upcoming finale of his gloriously unhinged bootleg-superhero epic, and the creator realities of trying to turn Kickstarter momentum into something resembling an actual career. Along the way, the conversation veers hard into outsider comics like New York City Outlaws , Hayden Sherman’s Batman work, Scott Snyder’s hit-or-miss post- Batman output, Fra...