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Geoff Weber Rediscovers a Lost Art-Form to Make The Scientists Comic Pop!

Published Sat, 11 May 2019 11:00:01 -0500

Geoff Weber writes: I read my first 3D comic in the early 90s when I discovered a copy of Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters (an unofficial spoof of the ninja turtles) in the back issue bins. The sense of depth that was created by those red/blue cardboard glasses was magical to me. I had no idea how it was done, but I was hungry to find out more. I learned that the 3D conversion was created by a man named Ray Zone, who was the most prolific practitioner in the past century, of this now relatively lost art-form.

3D comics go back quite a long time. "Three Dimension Comics," by Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer, featuring Mighty Mouse, came out in 1953. It sold over a million copies, leading to the release of over 50 3D comics through 1954. They were primarily created by using three or four acetate overlays over a background board, and shifting the layers to create the left and right eye views.

Before computers and photoshop became widespread, Ray Zone advanced the art by cutting and shifting photostats of the line art using exacto blades. It was a labor-intensive process, but it meant that he was no longer limited to only 4 or 5 planes of depth. He could create as many planes as the art could bear, as many 20 or 30 levels. He also started to use techniques that would stretch and twist the image.

When I was brainstorming what to do for my comic, The Scientists, converting it into 3D was one of my early ideas, but I had no experience or understanding of how to actually do it. I ultimately had to teach myself how to do it and discovered a process in photoshop, which is challenging, but nowhere near the level of difficulty of cutting it up with exacto blades.

I started out by first creating a 3d variant cover of my first issue. Given how well received that was by the fans, I knew I had to start converting the interior art too. I am now kickstarting issues 1-3 (through May 31) and for the first time, I am offering a physical copy of the fully 3d conversion of the first issue as one of the rewards.

Check it out here.

It's really cool to see people's reactions at conventions when they look at the 3d comic with the glasses on. Most of them have never seen a 3d comic before! They get that same sense of magic and wonder that I got when I saw my first 3d comic all those years ago.

I would like to offer a FREE digital copy of this 3d comic to Bleeding Cool readers. Just leave a comment on the Scientists Kickstarter page saying "Bleeding Cool sent me" and I will send you a copy.

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