Here we have the cover for an early small press comic The Big Sneeze by Trevs Phoenix (now Woodrow Phoenix), published under his Catopants imprint. This “Sumo Conceptual Comic” comprised drawings of sumo wrestlers and starred Henry Sumo Sumo as the main character. The cover is brown A4 card folded lengthways, like a greetings card; this was quite a bold packaging strategy and I’m surprised no-one else opted to use it. The cover was put through a photocopier twice, to print black and blue colours. On the scan we see here, I redacted the home address printed on the back.
We also have a sketch in blue pencil and felt-tip pen, which I recall Phoenix handed to me in time to have it printed on the Fast Fiction Info Sheet. He supplied information about the comic, including the price, on the back. To my mind, the sketch was much better than the finished item; I like the sideways font positioned to the left, and the low camera-angle view of the wrestler.
I remember A4 folded “the other way” being an occasional experiment that never stuck, presumably because it didn’t fit in standard envelopes, but I have fond memories of it. Pete Pavement did a pre-Slab anthology (iirc) as A3 folded lengthways, which was quite something to behold.
Radical folding strategies would be a good name for a zine, or a band.
Thanks for your comment Pete! I hadn’t considered that very practical aspect of “fitting it in an envelope”. Maybe this is why the CD longbox didn’t catch on.
I never saw that Peter Pavement item of which you speak. He had sound ideas about printing and formats, and quite often the format of the book would be the first thing he would consider. Somewhere I’ve got one or two examples of his uniaue mini-comics which could also be used as postcards…will add them here one day.