The Corner Box

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, the Love Zub, Jim Zub, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock! In Part 1 of this conversation we talk about when Jim became a comics fan, his extensive Marvel collection, the massive creative influence of DnD, Jim’s journey into a creative career, and Scott McCloud’s pure kindness. Also, Jim learns to cook, John gets a Pro Badge, and David’s...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about their formative years at comic conventions, the unimaginable growth of Comic Con, attending conventions as professionals, what they look for in portfolio reviews, when quality art gets lost in the process, and John wears a fantastic shirt, and the show gets a new running joke.   Timestamp Segments ·...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about their successfully funded Kickstarter campaigns, the ephemerality of comics, possible solutions to the lack of discourse, and the low quality of conversations on social media, David starts a new project, and John makes a bold promise.   Timestamp Segments ·       [00:56] Successful Kickstarter campa...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock return to talk about their now-completed Kickstarters, their current favorite artists (excluding Eisner Award Winning Dave Baker), their all-time faves, how to get into Moebius, and John makes a best friend over the phone.   Timestamp Segments ·       [00:52] Kickstarter success. ·       [02:29] Caveats for th...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Joel Elad joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about how Magma Comix is revolutionizing the industry, their three exciting launch titles, making it easier to get an incentive cover, the changing world of collecting comics, the power of foil, and how Whatnot is affecting the market, and listeners get to be jealous of David’s view.  ...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Eisner-nominated Dave Baker joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about the fall of WonderCon, why IDW’s turnover was so low, the push for creator-owned comics, David and John’s Kickstarter launches, David went diving with turtles, John visited a big shell, and Dave educates us on the weird sex life of Salvador Dali.   Timestamp Segm...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about John’s exciting 3D job, the origins of Buck Rogers, how John got lured deeper into the world of Buck Rogers, the holes in the narrative, how the book treats women and technology, why everyone should read the book, and David reveals Dave Baker’s true age.   Timestamp Segments ·       [01:07] John nee...

Episode Summary On today’s episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about another comic universe launch, how Kurt Russell saved the Godzilla: Monarch series, remembering TV Guide, when comics let go of the weight of continuity, DC’s confusing shared universe(s), and the new and exciting voices in the industry, and John and David’s Kickstarter campaigns head towards the...

Episode Summary In today’s episode of The Corner Box, Kirt Burdick joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about Kirt’s journey into Death of Power, telling a story without using text, why the industry should be giving inkers more credit, hand lettering vs digital lettering, and David tries to describe Death of Power, and Kirt reveals the true secret to having a successful comic book....

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about the books they’re currently reading, the right way to use technology in creating art, the difficulty of finding Moebius in print, the changing nature of comics criticism, the greatness that is Moebius art, David reads something other than Captain Carrot, and John makes David proud.   Timestamp Segme...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about John’s mild midlife crisis, giving David Aja the appreciation he deserves, what it means to be in comics, what happens after achieving a goal, how much David really loves comics after 20 years, and the importance of celebrating the journey.   Timestamp Segments ·       [01:26] Reflecting on the Kyle...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Eisner Award Nominee, Dave Baker, and Three-Time Eisner Award Nominee, Tony Stark’s nephew, Kyle Starks, join hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock for part two of this conversation about what it’s like to collaborate with other artists, the failing distribution system, when comics market to the wrong audience, how other media influence accessibil...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Eisner Award Nominee, Dave Baker, and Three-Time Eisner Award Nominee, Kyle Starks, join hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock for this two-part conversation about Kyle’s rise through the industry, when he knew he wanted to get into comics, the truth about being lucky, dealing with imposter syndrome, and drawing niche comics, and David’s new actio...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Eisner Award Nominated, Dave Baker, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock for part two of this conversation about Marvel’s New Universe, their strange choice of characters, New Universal, and when series run out of runway, and Dave shares his views on Mort Weisinger, David renames Blowout, and John causes a cover typo.   Timestamp Segments ·...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Eisner Award Nominated creator of the magnum opus that is Mary Tyler Moorehawk, Dave Baker, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about Marvel’s New Universe, David’s wild conspiracy theory, the lack of big names behind the New Universe, why the premise would’ve failed, D.P. 7, why Archie Goodwin deserves more credit for Vampirella,...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Andrew Lee Griffith, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about John and Andrew’s important day 12 years ago, how Andrew became a Transformers cover artist, the origins of Signa, the truth about luck in the industry, what it was like to work with John, David shakes his old man fist, and Andrew teases some of his other projects.   Ti...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, regular guest, Dave Baker, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about Dave’s new book, Mary Tyler Moorehawk, the inspiration behind the story, coming up with the characters, what it was like to finally unbox the book, working digitally vs traditionally, and how Dave managed to successfully publish this unconventional idea.   Timesta...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Eisner Awards namesake, Dave Baker, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about the Eisner Awards’ decision to drop categories, the history of the awards, how social media has changed the consumption of news, and Dave’s ventures through a Star Trek fanfic - all while wearing clothes.   Timestamp Segments ·       [01:05] Eisner’s drop...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, Murphey Luedke joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about David’s Spider Boy collecting mission, what it means to be a collector, how to do Kickstarter, David’s secret Gargoyles Kickstarter campaign, the audiences on Kickstarter, and how Manga has become the main competitor to Western comics.   Timestamp Segments ·       [00:59] Dav...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, comic book legend, Paul Kupperberg, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about worthless original art, how Paul got into DC offices at the age of 16, his books Direct Comments, Direct Conversations, and Direct Creativity, his encounters with Neal Adams, how the industry has evolved during Paul’s 50-year career, why Vigilante ended t...

Episode Summary It's our 25th issue! And that means a special, over-sized edition! On this episode of The Corner Box, Eisner-nominated Dave Baker, returns to join hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock to talk about their Top 5 comics from 2023, featuring In Summer, Roaming, Deadpool Badder Blood, Every Love Story is a Ghost Story, Monica, Spider-Boy, Dwellings, Death of Power, Acting Class, H...

Episode Summary On this episode of The Corner Box, former VP of Global Publishing at Hasbro, Michael Kelly, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about how Michael helped Hasbro get deep into original comic book content creation, the great success of My Little Pony, the truth about working with licensors, why GI Joe and Transformers were moved to Skybound, and the heartwarming story of...

Episode Summary On today’s episode of The Corner Box, hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock talk about the difficulty of comic book collecting today, The War, John’s new book: Signa, David’s new book: Super Kaiju Rock-N-Roller Derby Fun Time Go!, building new mythologies versus building on existing mythologies, and how people can get their hands on these comic books.   Timestamp Segments ·       [...

Episode Summary On today’s episode of The Corner Box, Chris Eliopoulos, joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock for part two this two-part conversation to talk about the decline of the comic book industry, how manga and anima have dominated the markets, why continuity has made comic books too complex, the struggle of getting more mainstream readers, how the TikTok era changed entertainment con...

Episode Summary On today’s episode of The Corner Box, Chris Eliopoulos joins hosts John Barber and David Hedgecock in this two-part conversation to talk about Chris’s internship at Marvel, how he made more money than most as a letterer, how lettering can make or break a comic book, writing the ‘Ordinary People’ series of books, and how ‘A Little Emotional’ came about. Part 2 of this conversation o...