Startup company 2C Comics, game producer and now retailer, has launched its online retail store, Funthropology.com, offering over 350 different shirt designs featuring images from hundreds of meticulously-restored vintage art pieces from the golden era of US comic books.
“I had no idea how big this was going to be when I first started this last year,” says Dan Hopkins, the founder of 2C Comics,who started the company to produce and publish their flagship game, a family card game called Capes & Chaos targeted for release in 2020.
“I started as a complete novice to comic book history,” he continues. “I was just your everyday, run-of-the-mill fan of the Marvel movies who grew up on rerun Spider-Man cartoons from the 1960s.
“While designing our upcoming card game, set in a new superhero universe, I came across an image online of an old comic book hero named Bulletman. He struck me as so gloriously ridiculous that I couldn’t get the humour of him out of my head. That image started me on a course that has opened up a treasure trove of forgotten art and a personal discovery of nostalgia for an era long past that I never knew I had. I am thrilled and excited to share what I have found.”
The designs are not simply old comic book covers slapped on to new shirts. Each piece has been repaired and individually carved out of its original background leaving behind newly crafted art that makes a surprisingly stunning, and even sometimes hilarious, design.
Shirts are only the beginning for Funthropology, as work is already underway to bring these restored designs to a wide range of different products. From throw pillows and fleece blankets to mobile phone cases and wall clocks, look for these products and a whole lot more in the coming months.
John Freeman
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Explorer (previously known as Star Trek Magazine) and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of "Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies" for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Merchandise, Other Worlds, US Comics
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