CoverStory.Art goes interactive and multi-sensory!
Remember those Power Records "Book and Record" comics, from the '70s? They started in 1974 and through the early 80's, and then under the "Peter Pan" brand for some time. Dozens of heroes, horror monsters and classic tales were rendered in sequential art and supported in 45-rpm audio glory. Also, comics need to be read, and freed from their boxed- and glassed-in prisons... so CoverStory.Art went to the shop and figured out "Pull to READ" and "Push to HEAR" Frames!
The first "Pull to READ" Frame features Avengers #12, "Infinity Iron Man" - cover pencils by John Romita Jr., inks by Klaus Jansen and color by Dean White. CoverStory.Art custom mat and Padauk wood frame by Truman Esmond.
You can pull out the comic, release it from it's mylar safe space and read it! Over and over! Flip over the slipcover and read the custom Backstory about the issue and creators.
But wait, there's more - "Push to HEAR!"
For years, I spent countless hours on the shag carpet with my younger brothers, flipping through the battered comic and listening to the stories of Spider-Man and others, dutifully flipping over the record at the chime on our plastic Fisher-Price record player.
Those first multi-sensory introductions to superheroes burned personas and characters, stories and settings, heroes and villains into my young psyche. In addition to creating a customer of comics for life, they formed common sense among kids of the day, and formed the popular culture for generations. Realized today as the gazillion-dollar properties they already were in our young minds.
So the world is awoken to the wonder of our heroes, now rendered in IMAX and 3d, surround sound and super-hi-definition. The experience of these heroes in their natural setting - on pulp paper and ink - is a rare thing, as evidenced by lagging comic book sales. TV and movie fandom now knows the stories, and even the iconic imagery, however the original creators often go uncredited and unrecognized by billions of fans, even if they know the brands.
Power Records' PR-10 Amazing Spider-Man "Mark of the Man-Wolf" (1975) by John Romita and writer Gerry Conway
PR-27 Batman "Stacked Cards" (1975) by Neal Adams, Dick Giordano and Joey Lapidos
Both of these classic covers by legendary creators are showcased in custom hardwood frames and mat art by Truman Esmond. The videos below show the Pull to READ/Push to HEAR features in action...
CoverStory.Art hopes to put the comic medium and creators forward, putting the art and characters in our lives, and on our walls. Sometimes they showcase key comics and treasured artists, but personally, each cover "scene" project has meaning to me, perhaps simply visual design, but more often a beloved character, creator, or storied situation - or combination.
Selfishly and for all of us, I wish for kids to share some of those things we now call "common sense", that we learned from cartoons and comics, like:
"Knowledge is Power"
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
"Knowing is Half the Battle"
"Truth, Justice and the American Way"
"SNIKT", "THWIP", "...if it weren't for those meddling kids."
And so on. References for each are at the end of the post, if you want to test your/my knowledge of these anecdotes.
I further wish all kids can have the opportunity to look back on memories that established these paradigms as experiences enjoyed with their favorite characters, along siblings or friends, parents or sitters, or simply by themselves, following the colorful action on the pages and in their excited and still open minds as they gain comfort with the written word.
Today, and yep, even with my own kids, most of these kinds of things took place in front of a screen. Sure, books and stuff at first, but as soon as they could turn a page, they could swipe or manage a remote control. So it was more often screen time, with stories only for bedtime or "non-screen" time, and our heroes compete for attention, and maybe some of those experiences have been lost, and comics are no longer for reading.
Well, despair no more! Comics want to be read. They do. The creators that made them want them to be read. While the frames can work for "slabs", so you can make that plastic presentable, they are really designed for your favorite reading copy to be accessible and ready for another flip-through or to welcome a new fan to the world of comics.
Enjoy!
- Truman
Comic and Cartoon Quotes (as remembered by Truman):
"Knowledge is Power" - Schoolhouse Rock
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" - Spider-Man (Stan Lee)
"Knowing is Half the Battle" - G.I. Joe
"Truth, Justice and the American Way" - Superman (et al)
"SNIKT" - Wolverine's claws
"THWIP" - Spider-Man's webs
"...if it weren't for those meddling kids." - Villains caught by Scooby-Doo and friends
All characters and stuff copyright, trademark of their respective creators, mostly Marvel Comics or DC Comics.