This Cover Made Me Buy This Comic Book

Thor #275 (September 1978)(cover by John Buscema, Tom Palmer, and Gaspar Saladino)

Doug: Action in the Mighty Marvel Manner, indeed! You know John Buscema had a blast drawing this cover, replete with those ugly trolls and a quite serious battle axe being wielded by Loki. This cover just exudes energy. Gaspar Saladino's letters don't hurt, either. I have to wonder, though, if the call-out to the television cameraman wasn't in some way a form of base trickery toward readers of the day -- after all, one could find similar call-outs on Spider-Man and Hulk comments at around the same time advertising their own TV shows.

In Appreciation of: Letterers

Doug: Karen's away, so Doug will play! Actually, Karen posted this subject in the queue, but then vacation planning got the better of her. So, she said have at it, or come up with something altogether different. So putting my nose to the blogging grindstone, I came up with today's love-fest. How about we toss a little affection toward Artie Simek, Joe Rosen, Gaspar Saldino, and the many unsung heroes who've toiled before and after them -- all the way down to today's computer studios, a la Richard Starkings and Comicraft.

Doug: I don't know about you, but for years I never really gave it much thought as to the look of the text of a comic, nor really to the sound effects. I just took those elements for granted. But stop and think: In the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages, long before computers, PhotoShop, etc., the look of a particular comic was all from the creative hands of the artists. From the book's cover logo to all of the word balloons and effects, it was the letterer who brought us the consistency of the look month after month -- no wonder we took those guys for granted. Talk about steady! You know what else now impresses me? They never had a bad day printing! Now that comic book lettering is a font in its own right, available for download to our favorite word processing program, it truly is an afterthought. But think of how much concentration it must take to handwrite comics in a consistent style, no matter the deadline or length of script -- or any other variable.

Doug: So what's your opinion? Do you actually have a favorite letterer? Is there an artist who caught your eye long ago that you've appreciated through the years? Give a shout out to these guys (and maybe gals -- shoot, I don't know...) who've really contributed so much to our four-color enjoyment over the years.