As I said before, onea my fav corner boxes was Conan by Barry Smith. The young charg'n barbarian of the first 11 issues was ah-ite, but the guy on the last 13 issues was che cool. Designed for the box, and then think'n outside the box, this mature Conan with an axe to grind really resonated
Loved Marvel's corner boxes. I read my early comics into tatters and that meant absorbing every square inch, especially those keen boxes which changed over subtly and not so subtly over time. In the spinner rack era such bold images were critical.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat! I was usually in a rush when I was spin'n the spinners, so I needed all the help I could get
DeleteAnd the box is gone. Always thought the banner across the top was too much clutter, though obvious it was a business decision that had nothing to do with art direction.
ReplyDeleteNot that having the character up in the corner wasn't for the same reason. I think comics edited by Joe Simon employed them a lot. Harvey's Green Hornet started with the head shot and then the full body in the 40's. Fighting American and Bull's Eye, the Simon-edited 60's Spirit and all those other weirdo heroes like Jigsaw and Spyman. I think I saw the little Kirby figure on the masthead of the Fly from Archie Comics well after Jack left. He was still using the device when he did Prez at DC in the 70's.
Wow, amaz'n history there! I think I misspoke when I said Marvel started corner boxes, and I wonder if Simon influenced my Kirby Fourth Worlds having corner illos on the first 10 issues
DeleteMy favourite Conan corner box was the one where he holds that ruddy big axe in both hands (around issue 40 upwards). Wasn't it Ditko at Marvel that started the corner box idea? I wasn't aware that other companies used these as far back as the 40s.
ReplyDeleteI, acourse, am clueless, so I hafta defer to Russ here (he and meamwayne have been my sources for comic knowledge over the years). I'm just the good-look'n ad man, much like the Biberty Mutual spokesman
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