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Topic: Question for JB re cover vs interior art - which came first? Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Mike Davis
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Joined: 23 September 2021
Posts: 6
Posted: 30 November 2024 at 4:14pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply
Good morning JB, hope all is well.

A quick question for you if you have a moment...when you were writing and drawing FF and Man of Steel in the mid 80's - doing both the interior AND the cover art - would you typically draw (and possibly ink) the complete interiors and then draw (and possibly ink) the cover to that particular issue afterwards? I have always been curious as to what would come first. I have suspected that the cover art may come afterwards as the completed interior art may influence what would be appropriate for the cover art? Thanks in advance.
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 30 November 2024 at 4:17pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply
It varied. Usually the interiors came first, but during my later years on FF, for instance, I often turned in the cover as my "plot", promising the editor the scene would be in the book!
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Mike Davis
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Joined: 23 September 2021
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Posted: 30 November 2024 at 4:22pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply
Many thanks for the quick reply. Given that Man of Steel was after your FF run, do you have any recollection of doing that for those 6 issues or do you think the interiors came first for that work? Thanks again.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 30 November 2024 at 5:02pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply
No recollection!
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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
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Posted: 30 November 2024 at 11:36pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply
I've always found it fascinating that DC used to do the covers first and then the editor would assign the writer to write a story around the cover!  I remember some stories would have very little to do with the cover image and sometimes it would be squeezed into the story awkwardly.  (I'm thinking about a few examples from THE FLASH.)

People like Cary Bates (who was still a kid) got his start simply by selling cover ideas!

On the other hand, over at Marvel, it seems that Stan Lee would switch out finished covers at the last minute for not being exciting enough.  I wonder if the interior art influenced those decisions.

It's neat that JB got to do it both ways!
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