The Corner Box

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...

This episode, things get spicy fast as Kickstarter loyalty gets tested. David lays out a frustration that hits a nerve: paying more, waiting longer, and watching cheaper versions hit shelves first. From there, the guys pivot into creator mode—John’s secretly drawing comics again, Chase is juggling screenplays, and everyone’s got projects they can’t quite talk about (yet). Frank Miller creeps back...

Things gets weird when David decides he’s one of the cool kids now and starts reading the hot books everyone’s chasing. Join David and John as they get into D’orc, Tigress Island, White Sky, and Florida Hippopotamus Cocaine Massacre , weighing which books have real legs and which ones are riding the heat wave. There’s a sharp little debate about speculation, blind bags, first printings, and whethe...

David admits that his comic collecting is a full-blown lifestyle problem, complete with eBay piles, office deliveries, and one gloriously baffling Rob Liefeld ashcan. John and David then bounce from a weirdly amazing 1972 fanzine packed with future legends to Marvel Knights: The World to Come , a book that asks for patience before it finally starts paying off. From there, it’s straight into Groo t...

David survives a once-in-a-century storm in Hawaii, and it’s back to business as John and David break down the creative DNA of comics — including the return of the “ Top 10 Hottest Artists ” list! From a Silver Age deep dive into Don Heck and the surprisingly bold Avengers #32 , to the wild discovery of a pre- Fantastic Four appearance of Ben Grimm as a WWII flying ace, it’s equal parts nostalgia,...

A new segment hits The Corner Box this week as John and David roll out “Here’s What We Read This Week!” John dives into Alien: Salvation , arguing that Mike Mignola and Kevin Nowlan teaming up is just plain unfair, while David revisits Dark Knight Returns and DK2 , wondering if Frank Miller’s chaos is actually the point — and loving it either way. Along the way: DSTLRY’s return, Ditko Artist’s Edi...

Guest Dave Baker stops by the show as David and John dig into the industry shake-up following Mike Richardson’s exit from Dark Horse and ask: is the “one guy” publisher era over? The conversation hits the rise of indie collectives and webtoons, then Dave’s new OGN, Punk’n Heads , and wraps with a deep-cut dive into Stephen R. Bissette’s Tyrant. Also, the zen of marathon tattoo sessions. Captions &...

John breaks down the final chapter of a decades-long war that makes the Avengers Civil War look like a playground spat. That’s right! We are back in the archives to wrap up the "Anything Goes" saga, tracking the fallout of the most infamous punch in science fiction history and a legal feud that just wouldn't die. The  Recap John digs deeper into the rabbit hole to close the book on...

David and John break down the fallout of a massive industry earthquake and step back in time to the most surreal courtroom drama in comic book history. It’s the kind of "inside comics" that reminds you why the business is just as wild as the pages we print. The  Recap The era of the "comic book guy" CEO is officially on life support as Mike Richardson exits Dark Horse, leaving...

In this episode, Anything Goes! John rises from the dead (again) to team up with David, for a deep dive into the wildest comics scandal of the 1980s: the Harlan Ellison interview that sparked a $2 million libel lawsuit and divided the comic book industry. Stay tuned for Part 2: Everything Went! Timestamp Segments [01:11] Warner gets bought… again. [06:33] Anything Goes! [08:04] Byron Preiss: The T...

David and John dive into the state of comics, using insights only decades in the industry can provide, and yet another Corner Box prediction comes true. At this point, should we be worried? David reads and reviews all three Breed miniseries (yes, all of them), there’s renewed excitement around the epic Superman VS Spider-Man crossover, M.A.S.K. gets a facelift, and more importantly, Captain Underp...

David is joined by Editor-in-Chief of Fun Time Go, Inc., Chase Marotz, for a free-dive into the wild world of comics, from their weekend adventures with snare drums, cold beers, and tall stacks of comics, to the wild world of comic book publishing rights and the decades-long saga of Miracleman, one of the industry’s most infamous legal nightmares. Then, Chase steps into the ring to do the unthinka...

David and John "Transformers Hall-of-Famer" Barber are joined by regular guest, Chase Marotz, for a deep dive into the wild and wonderful frontier of public domain. This is where expired copyrights mean anything goes (kind of)! They wade through the murky rules of public domain reuse, highlight some exciting new and upcoming properties, and uncover David’s master plan to rejuvenate centu...

John and David put on their reading glasses and get into Jack Kirby’s Galactic Bounty Hunters, Steve Ditko’s Art, The Conan Revolution, The Return of Bill Schanes, and the Uncertain Future of the Will Eisner Library. Timestamp Segments [00:33] John can see clearly now. [02:21] It IS possible to collect all of G.I. Joe. [05:01] Jack Kirby: Galactic Bounty Hunters. [13:29] How to get through Invinci...

Our Best of 2025 continues! We find out which comics and artists made it on to the comics industry’s most prestigious (and accurate!) awards list: The Corner Box Best of 2025! This week's awards include Best Original Graphic Novel, Best Collection and Archival Collection, Best New Series, Favorite Comeback, Favorite Artist and Cover Artist, and Best Continuing Series. Timestamp Segments [00:5...

John and David bring us their BEST OF 2025! They take a look at the comics that took the world by storm, the stories that shaped the industry, the artists that made it all possible, and a few honorable mentions (some maybe not from 2025... the fellas got a little excited).  Timestamp Segments [00:38] The true 2025 review. [04:00] John’s Favorites: New Material. [08:10] The story of Prometheus. [09...

Heroic Signatures Editor, Chris Butera, joins David and John to talk about all things Conan the Barbarian! They get into Jim Zub’s mastery of Conan lore, the expansion of the Howard-verse, the importance of a good writer-artist pairing, and fitting stories into a modern context, and David learns about comics without pictures. Timestamp Segments [01:14] This is the Barbarian. [02:51] How Chris fell...