For the second issue of Edge of Fantasy, I was asked to do the front and back covers. Since the inside of the comic is black and white, I was excited to be able to do something with as much color as I wanted.
I had never done anything like this before so I mocked up dozens of ideas and looked at hundreds of comic book covers before I finally figured out what I wanted to do. While researching comic art, several covers really caught my eye. Specifically, The Ice Cream Man, but I ended up being most inspired by a DC comic from the 70s called, "Plop!." Issue 13 was the one that really caught my eye.
It was drawn by Wally Wood, no relation that I'm aware of, but what a great name! The framing was something that I wanted to include in my own cover art and that's where I started. It reminded me of my favorite part of Mad Magazine: Sergio Aragonés.
I initially drew out a rectangle of my monster creature things and planned on having a larger creature in the foreground, much like the Plop! cover. For some reason I decided to draw another, smaller rectangle of my creature monster things and just kept on going towards the center in a similar fashion.
About the time I finally finished up the entire front cover, I got a request to also do the back. I was very excited and quickly agreed to do it. I immediately knew I could make those weird intestine looking
things connect from the back cover to the front. I worked for about twenty hours on the back cover but was unhappy with it. I actually deleted the entire thing and started over. The original artwork showed someone's lips being pulled open and nailed to the background, a worm forcing its way into the person's mouth, and his brains unravelling into the front cover. It was a bit more gross or morbid than I was comfortable with putting my name on. After playing around with a lot of doodles, I finally added some prison bars and a creepy photo of yours truly. I think the whole thing flows together pretty well. If you'd like to own a copy, let me know.
-Derrick G. Wood
Well, I believe that I am as familiar as anyone with your work, and so it is easy for me to say that these covers are among the best (if not the best) pieces of cartooning that you have done. -And you have done a lot.
Wally Wood would have liked your covers. I have a number of comics with his work in them and a conplete set of the reptrint booklets of Mars Attacks. The guy could write and draw
Excellent work, Derrick!