Just Us Boxes: The Justice League of ATL

The Box Heroes were born of the Dragon(*Con) back in September 2009. Since then, we take every hot Atlanta summer to build a special little army for our anniversary. In 2010 it was the Box Avengers, ten brand new box costumes all making one startling debut. At the time that seemed like as a ambitious number as we could imagine, given how much work these things take. But then in 2011 it seemed that ten was just a start, so we pushed hard into the Marvel universe and by Dragon*Con there were 28 Marvel characters represented in the corps, 24 of whom showed up to march that Labor Day weekend.  And as if that weren't enough, Jared Cain and I built and wore Box Hellboy and Abe Sapien from Darkhorse Comics.  This year we continue the tradition with a brand new universe of heroes:  DC Comics.

Our focus this year is on the Justice League, including all seven original members plus many more (see above), as well as the villains of Gotham City. As we grow in number we also grow as artists and as a community of members and fans. For all of this I would like to thank the publishers (in this case DC Comics), and more importantly the artists who brought these characters to life: artists like George Perez, Neal Adams, Frank Miller, and of course Jack Kirby to name a few favorites.
Box Heroes homepage
Box Heroes on Facebook

Dragon*Con 2011 Marvel Madness

Here are a few photos from the Marvel Box Heroes' adventures at Dragon*Con 2011.  A very special thanks to our fluffers, Melanie and Cathy.  Mel made special cardboard belts, cuffs, and even "BH" buckles!  Photos by Cathy Wise.

Giant Man and the Thing pose by Cap's hover car

Melanie Hot Pants:  standard bearer, nurse, taper, fluffer.  My hero!

photos by Cathy Wise

The incorrigible Clint Barton decides we're done here

Elektra, sizing up the Thing

Cap's personal favorite of the day

For all the world like they leaped from the page into downtown ATL

ALONE  ...in a crowd!

see more of our favorite photos from Cathy Wise!

Hellboy and Abe Sapien

Not only was Dragon*Con 2011 the single greatest assemblage of cubed Marvel characters (more on that soon, once the photos are in), but also the setting for the fist evolution of the Box Heroes:  Hellboy and Abe Sapien.  When Jared Cain asked about building a Hellboy suit I didn't know a whole lot about Mike Mignola's comic masterpiece, but had seen images of his amazing art and knew it would be the perfect chance to try to build a "skinny suit" for the character of Abe Sapien.  Abe is slender grace as Hellboy is weighty chunk.   In palette as well as temperment  Hellboy is hot, while Abe is cool.  The contrast is great.
Jared's Hellboy paint job really raised the tube on Box Hero art, and with his help I think Abe came out great as well.  You judge.  These are the results.

Dragon*Con is here!

Atlanta is abuzz as the dragon descends!
Last night the Box Heroes wrapped up production at the west side HQ.  Big thanks to all of our new, alternate, and returning members for making the Wednesday deadline.  Also thanks to Laura for getting us into such a great space 
Now is the time for all of us to put on the suits and walk around to troubleshoot the little discomforts that cardboard inflicts.  Locate your suspenders and Breeze Pass, buy the right color shoelaces, pad the head against shifting, trim our extra air holes for comfort, build a little place in your fist for cash and maybe a cell phone, and lay aside your tight black moisture-wicking underwear for Saturday.  We meet at 8 am sharp!  Don't forget to eat something.
This year, the Box Heroes are LEGION.  Who's showing up, you ask?  Of the Fantastic Four ethos, we'll see the Thing, the Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic, and the Silver Surfer!  Mutants?  Yes we have mutants too:  Beast, Mystique, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and the Scarlet Witch.  The Asgardian delegation this year includes the Enchantress as well as the mighty Thor.  Classic villains abound as well, such as the Red Skull, Venom, the Green Goblin, and Thanos, the mad titan!  We have a rogue hero as well, the ninja-trained Elektra, and finally a hefty handful of Avengers:  Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Tigra, and Giant Man!!

If I've counted right that's 24 Box Heroes, kids.  That's ten more than have ever assembled anywhere.  With that in mind take a few minutes to identify your buddy.  We all need to help each other if this is going to work because this is BIG.

The Enchantress, Human Torch, and the Absorbing Man

Not "the Absorber", not "Absorbent Man" or "Mr. Fresh Step".  No.  The Absorbing Man!
We would like to welcome these three terrific characters to the roster.  Not only does their addition contribute to better parity of our goods guy vs. bad guy ratio (now at 14:7), but all three appeared in the original "Secret Wars" series.  Wheee! 
The three (animated by Anke Larkworthy, Robert Witherspoon, and John Moredock, respectively) debuted at the Inman Park Festival parade in late April.  This event marked a new level of sophistication for us evident from the Marta Breeze Passes velcroed into the inside of our fist cubes to the fancy way the Beast stacked and carried his whole suit using his suspenders as a handle.  (Pretty impressive, my furry friend.)  This was also the first time we marched with a team of super assistants.  Moral support by Melanie Brown, logistical support by Susan Mittleman, photography by Cathy Wise, and costumed sign-bearing by Lisa Larkworthy (appearing as the Black Widow with cardboard accoutrements).  Lisa also provided an essential pair of socks out of her bra for the Enchantress, who was suffering from severe board burn on her ankles.   So yes, you can add "socklessness" to our list of weaknesses (the others being fire, water, falling, heat, and hill people).

See more of our favorites from Cathy Wise's photos.

Its hip to be square

Cardboard Comrades (as the Box Heroes are now known in Germany) appeared this month in Plot Magazine's seventh issue, dedicated to creative spaces built from paper.  Plot is printed quarterly (also online:  www.plotmag.com) devoted to the art of scenography, exhibition design, and brand design.  

Photo by Gregory Miller.

Facebook

The Children's Christmas Parade was a blast. We love seeing the faces on all those kids!
Follow us on Facebook and check out all the new pictures from today's Parade...
http://www.facebook.com/The-Box-Hero-Corps