Next time you see a bunch of comic books, grab a handful and throw them all in a blender on the highest setting. What do you get? A ton of shredded paper. You’ll probably piss off whoever owned the comic books too. Don’t do that. Why don’t we throw them in a metaphorical blender? That’s better. Now when we turn off the blender, instead of getting the stinkeye from a crushed comic book collector, we get Fistful Apparel.
Fistful’s artwork really leaps off the page. Sure, I’m talking about the shirts, but the website compliments the tees so well, it’s impressive. They’ve got an all-star line up of designers that clearly have their style figured out. Too often I see promising designers that, while talented, haven’t found their voice yet. These people get it, plain and simple. Bright colors and bold, oversize designs that aren’t always center-chest really grab your eye. If I saw one of these walking down the street I’d look twice. (that’s what SHE said)
Their designs walk a fine line between comics and cartoons, with some hints of classic movie posters thrown in. There’s a focus on character, which isn’t something I see on a whole lot of shirts. Sure, I’m used to seeing a person in a particular situation on a tee, but I’m not used to reading their backstory alongside the tee. It’s a pretty interesting approach.
Their blog uses lots of videos that really help you climb inside the illustrator’s head and see the kind of thinking that inspires the designs. They also post fan-submitted photos of their shirts, which is always a cool way of “completing the circle” and helping people feel connected with the brand. If you check out Calavera Comics you can see some more artwork in the same vein, available as prints. Metal on Metal is EPIC.
Fistful’s tees weigh in nicely between $15 and $20. If you decide to pick up a shirt or two from Fistful, you can use the coupon code fistfulfriend10 to get a 10% discount.
This shirt feels to me like a Scooby Doo cast reunion. In fact, I’d challenge anyone to pick out one of the sterotypical super-villians plastered on the front that wasn’t at the center of a Scooby Doo plot at some point. Designer Joshua Kemble was inspired elsewhere though: “I got the idea to do it by looking at a bunch of old cheezy comic books, by none other than Jack Kirby, then busted out the trusty pencil and inking pens, and made the characters.”
I was never a comic book kid, so I’m left to relate this to the boomerang cartoons I remember watching when I was little (which were likely based on comics anyways). I really like the colors and the way it captures a little piece of your youth. It’s available from Threadless for $15.
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