Todd’s Blog

This blog and my website will be online two years on July 3rd, in two days. I’ll be away for the next few days at a Klein family gathering, so I thought I’d write about it now.

To date: 645 posts by yours truly, 1515 comments by all of you. Traffic has continued to gradually increase over the year, from about 500 page views daily to about 1000 page views daily, on average. One-day viewing record was just recently, June 25th, with 2,988 page views. Very gratifying, thanks!

Posts with the most views over the past year continue to be the five-part Batman logo study, with a combined 35,449 views. My examination of the Microsoft font Comic Sans was the next most viewed, with 7,040. Then Neil Gaiman’s influence is felt, with Revisiting DEATH getting 4,525 views. Recently, my newest five-part logo study on Aquaman was and continues to be popular.

Where next? Probably more of the same. More logo studies, more signed prints, more reviews, more about all the things that interest me. Haven’t had a single comment about the revisions to my website, but that means no problems or complaints either, so I’m fine with that. Still enjoying putting my thoughts down here, and getting your reactions to them.

Back soon. Then: onward!

© Bill Willingham & DC Comics, Inc.

An unusual review from me for two reasons. First, this won’t be out for some time, but editor Shelly Bond at DC was kind enough to send me this advance copy, prepared for bookstore buyers, I think. Second, I don’t usually review things I work on, and I’ve worked on every FABLES project thus far, until this one…yet.  (I’ll explain that in a minute.) So, by my rules, I can review it.

Before I say any more, I should quote the back cover of this copy: “This is an uncorrected and abbreviated galley for sales and publicity purposes only…(it) should not be quoted or reviewed without comparison to the final book.” Okay, well, I’m not quoting and I’ll keep that in mind, but having finished it, it seems pretty well polished to me, and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Some who have written novels based on comics have made the mistake of trying to write prose that reads like a comic. Bill Willingham is much too smart for that. He’s written an excellent novel that just happens to contain some characters that also appear in the FABLES comic, though the featured ones have only appeared there very tangentially thus far. When writing a comic like FABLES, where there are lots of characters with something to say, the need for an authorial narrative voice is minimal. In a novel written in the third person, the author’s narrative voice is much more important. A writer can choose any number of such voices, depending on the tone and style of the piece. Bill’s voice in PETER & MAX is engaging, friendly, smart, funny and well-spoken, just like Bill himself. Before you’ve gotten to the second chapter, you’ll be drawn right into the world this novel depicts.

The artwork is perhaps not quite as equally important in an illustrated novel as it is in comics, but Steve Leialoha’s art for this book is also excellent. Readers of FABLES know him mainly as an inker, though he has also illustrated a few stories, but Steve’s art credits are lengthy and celebrated, and he’s in top form here, from full page pictures like the one above, to spot illustrations, to tiny decorative bits, all beautifully done.

The story? Well, I won’t say too much, but any fan of FABLES won’t want to miss this adventure, which will tell them much more about life in the Homelands (at least in one of them) in much more detail than we’ve yet seen in any of the comics. As always, Bill starts with characters we all think we know from legends, stories and nursery rhymes, and takes them places one would never expect, with fascinating results.

Oh yes, I mentioned that I didn’t work on this yet. There will be an eight-page comics story at the end of the final printed version of this book, and I have just recently lettered that. It makes a nice coda to the novel, and I’m happy I got to be a part of it.

Not out yet, but highly recommended when it is!

© Elizabeth Alder.

They say history is written by the winners, and it’s probably so. Perhaps the most famous year in British history is 1066 when, as every British schoolchild is taught, William the Conqueror of Normandy defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, ushering in the Norman conquest of England and the beginning of regularly recorded history there. I’d never read much about Harold, but what I recall made him sound an ineffective and perhaps bad ruler. This novel written for children brings a different and refreshing perspective.

It begins in 1063, when a teenage boy in what’s now Wales is forced from his home and flees east into the realm of Wessex, ruled by Earl Harold. There he is taken into the household of Lady Ealdgyth, consort of Harold, and shown much kindness. They even send him to a monastery where he is taught to read and write. Eventually he becomes a squire to Harold, who is struggling to keep England, managed by him and his brothers for the aging King Edward the Confessor, from splintering into separate factions. In this book, Harold is shown as a fine man, a courageous warrior, and a wise ruler, who happens to ascend to the throne at a time when events conspire against him.

I began the book a bit put off by what happens to the boy, Evyn, early on, when his tongue is cut out by a villainous Welsh lordling, making him mute throughout the story. This makes for some awkward storytelling in places, as Evyn must constantly be placed with people who are talkers, willing to explain things to him even though he can’t reply. As the book went on, though, that became less important, especially when Evyn learns to read and write, and so can express himself a bit more.

The real center of the story is Harold, and what happens to him in the years 1063-1066 makes for engaging reading, made all the more poignant because I knew where it would end. This is a good read and a vauable addition to the stories I know about British history. Recommended.

It began early this year. We don’t often go for a day at the beach at all before July 4th weekend, but my friend Tim and his son Gabe came for an early visit yesterday, and the weather, for once, was good, so off to the beach we went. Tim, Gabe and I usually spend about two thirds of our time there doing some sort of sand sculpture. This year we began with a large mound of sand, and each of us worked on a separate part of it. Gabe is constructing towers of sand balls, one of his favorite subjects. Tim made a carved-out cliff and filled it with small monuments, and a very odd figure in front. I did a village of small houses at the top.

Here’s a better look at my village. A passerby asked if it was meant to be the Amalfi coast of Italy, and I agreed that sounded good!

Someone else thought Tim’s figure looked a bit like Michael Jackson. We didn’t quite see it, but Tim added some seaweed hair, and I contributed a crab claw for a white glove. Rest in peace, MJ.

On Sunday we had a little less time and a little less ambition, so we just did some large monuments. Tim’s was the best, three arches. A rising tide soon knocked down the two lower ones, though. Gabe did a large sand ball, and I made a tall obelisk or three-stage tower.

Later, when Gabe had successfully fended off the tide and it was receding again, Tim added a triangular base for the sand ball. Earlier, Gabe had built another tower of sand balls, perhaps a new record of seven high, but I didn’t get a picture before it crashed.

In 2006 DC was once again planning a revamp of their long-running Aquaman character and his then-current monthly series, this time giving it a new lead in the role, and a somewhat sword-and-sorcery approach, adding the tagline “Sword of Atlantis.” Designer Rian Hughes was asked to submit logo ideas, and he’s been kind enough to share those with me. Rian is another designer who likes to provide lots of choices, and from them I’ve picked some that I thought worth showing here.

All images © DC Comics, Inc.

These first two in black type each suggest a particular era to me, the top one the 1970s, the bottom the 1960s. The latter has small waves on each end, but despite that neither really say much to me about Aquaman or his new storyline.

This one also has a somewhat 1970s feel, though the flowing, organic letterforms and swirl in the Q are heading in the right direction.

These two open-letter versions each use more up-to-date fonts, and each have unique features pointing toward Aquaman: splashing water on the top one, bubbles on the bottom. I like the creativity of those elements, especially the way the bubbles form the swash of the Q at the bottom.

Next are some more developed treatments, using color. I really like this one. A nice combination of straight and curved shapes, with a slightly fantasy feel that works well for the new direction. If I were choosing, I think I’d have used this design, though I might have suggested connecting the swash to the Q for better reading.

Two versions of this idea, with the second using a distortion effect that suggests water to me. The letterforms are rounded, but with sharp corners, somewhat like the Alex Ross design, but a bit looser. The treatment of the tagline doesn’t seem to match well, but that could have been developed further if this direction was chosen. I like it. And the very wide, bold letters and strong outline make for a good superhero logo.

These two use very stylized, almost cartoony forms that Rian Hughes often shows. Of the two, I like the top one better. The lower one is a bit hard to read, and perhaps pushes the idea a bit too far. Very watery and organic and nice coloring!

This version is also a bit cartoony, and suggests the 1960s in style. Despite that, I like it a lot. I think I might have suggested modifying the swash on the Q, where the small extensions suggest fur to me rather than water, but overall it’s a fine design. Would have been perfect for an animated Aquaman series. I guess DC was looking for something more serious.

This is the design DC chose to go with. The letters are strong and forceful, very angular and easy to read. The large A and N provide balance, and the tagline is incorporated well. I see nothing in this design that ties to the character or the new series direction, though.

Rian has these versions up on his website showing how the logo might have been colored to work better with the character, and I like them more than the one used on the first cover. But this kind of color treatment wouldn’t work against a background of underwater art.

Here it is on AQUAMAN 40. I’m afraid I never really warmed to the logo, and fan interest in the character was not improved for long by the new direction. The series ran for 18 more issues, ending in 2007.

So, what makes a good Aquaman logo? I think one has to incorporate some kind of reference to water or the ocean. Comics is a visual medium, and that kind of visual tie-in is always helpful in a comics logo. The “Aqua” in Aquaman provides the perfect reason to do so. Even the use of organic, curved forms over very rigid ones is helpful, as long as they don’t go too far toward “cartoony”…unless that’s the direction the book is taking.

No doubt another new era for Aquaman is in the works somewhere at DC, but that’s all the ones we’ve seen so far. Hope you’ve enjoyed this logo study. I’ll be back with more in the future.

All images © DC Comics, Inc.

In late 1993 a new Aquaman series was previewed in this mini-series. The logo was designed on staff at DC by Curtis King. Curtis remembers it was one of his earliest digital logo designs, created completely on his desktop computer, but doesn’t have any of the development process documents now. I like it. Strong block letters with a wavy effect, as if seen through water, keeping the shapes from being too rigid. The swash on the Q is also a wave, going the other way. The first A is larger, and Curtis has used the angles of the other two A’s to join together the last four letters, adding to the wave effect. An open drop shadow allows for a second color and helps pop the logo off the cover art.

When the monthly revamp began a few months later in 1994, the same logo was used, and it stayed on the book for the entire 75 issue run, making it the most used cover logo in Aquaman’s history to this day. The series ended in 2001.

In 2003 a new Aquaman series was being planned, and Curtis asked designer Josh Beatman to submit logo ideas. Josh is best known in comics today as the designer of the current DC Comics logo. Curtis has passed on to me, with Josh’s approval, a large number of logo sketches and process designs. Josh is apparently a designer who likes to provide lots of choices! I’ve gone through them and pulled out the ones that I liked best.

This first group all have one theme in common: the emphasis is on the middle A, something that hadn’t been tried before. It has the advantage of making the design nearly symmetrical, and is a clever and fresh approach. The first two also have a weathered look that suggests a character who’s been around, and perhaps under water a long time, another nice touch. I have to say my favorite of these is the last one, though. I love the A’s without crossbars, and the frame is appealing.

These two have a very different approach, a typographical mash-up. Interesting, but hard to read.

These two return to the weathered look, but the the initial A given the emphasis. I like the waves on the top one. The bottom one returns also to the oddly mystical shape around the first A, with heavy borders and horizontal bars, suggesting a wrought-iron gate ornament to me.

DC liked that direction best, though the final design has further changes: the horizontal bars are gone, and the first A and the Q are more clearly defined, with the circular symbol behind them. Color outlines enhance the three-dimensional feel of the letters, and a heavy outline serves to separate it from the cover art. Curtis tells me this is his favorite of the logos he was involved in for Aquaman. I like it pretty well, though it has a softness that seems at odds with the angry new take on the character.

Perhaps some at DC felt that way too, because about a year later they asked Alex Ross to come up with a new logo design for the book. I worked with Alex’s pencilled design sketch, the third one shown above, tracing it in Adobe Illustrator, and manipulating the letters in various ways to show DC a variety of design treatments. Alex was kind enough to supply these sketches to me. I only recall seeing the third one, I don’t think DC ever sent me the other two.  Too bad, I like the trident, and would have enjoyed working on that design. The second one is interesting, but I feel a bit hard to read.

The first version above is essentially a tight digital tracing of Alex’s design. The second has a thickened outline. Notice that there are very few straight lines, the predominant shape is the circle, and points created by the intersection of two circles. I particularly like the way Alex returned to Ira Schnapp’s round openings but allowed them to break out at the bottom. The fine points give the design a delicacy and also a dangerously pointy feel, an interesting contrast. The slight arc to the design and larger initial A also harks back to the Schnapp logo from 1962.

These two add a gray drop shadow and a thin outer outline, both helping to tie the letters together.

DC wasn’t sure they liked the points and the open A’s, and asked me to show them these variations. I did them knowing they would probably not be chosen, and they weren’t. Alex’s design worked well, messing with it was a mistake. But at least it was easy enough to do on the computer.

One final version I tried gave the logo more of an arc, but unfortunately it just looked like it was falling apart, so no one liked that version.

The final went back to the original tracing, but with a different gray drop shadow that encompassed the letters.

Here’s how it looked on the cover of issue 15, the first appearance. The logo has been angled a bit, and I think looks quite good. In fact, this is my favorite Aquaman logo since the one by Schnapp, once again proving the fine design skills of Alex Ross.

Just one more Aquaman logo to go, but this post is quite long already, so I’ll save that for the conclusion next time.

All images © DC Comics, Inc.

After lacking a solo book for eight years, a revamped AQUAMAN miniseries appeared in 1986, courtesy of writer Neal Pozner and and penciller Craig Hamilton. Neal was a DC staff designer at the time, working on cover design, and he created this new logo for his book. I was also on staff at the time, and doing a lot of logos, but Neal understandably wanted to do this one himself, and labored long and hard on it, using DC production staffer Al Aiola as his “hands” to make many small variations and changes until he had what he wanted. I like it a great deal. The slightly serif letterforms are similar to the ancient ones created in Roman times and called Trajan because the best examples appear on Trajan’s Column in Rome, but with modified curved cross strokes on the A’s that add an appropriately wave-like element. All the letters are the same height except the Q, which has wider strokes in the circle, and a magnificent long swash below ending in a realistic wave that also serves as the cross-stroke for the final A. The entire logo except for the end of the wave has a heavy outline that helps give it weight and impact. A fine job, both classic and modern, and a good complement to the new look for Aquaman himself.

A tiny version of that new Aquaman was created to fit into the space above the Q swash, but didn’t appear on the covers of the mini-series, only on some inside splash pages, and I think some house ads for the book. I imagine it was drawn by Craig Hamilton.

While I liked the new look, I think it met with resistance by long-time fans. The mini-series does not seem to have been successful enough to encourage DC to relaunch a solo Aquaman title, either. In 1988 the new logo appeared one final time on this Special, where Aquaman seems to be returning to his original costume.

In 1989 DC tried another AQUAMAN SPECIAL with another new logo. This one was designed by DC Production Department staffer Steven Bove, who writes:

“As you may remember I was an Aquaman nut and even was allowed to do the Aquaman piece (in the blue wave suit!) for an issue of Who’s Who. A few years later I got the opportunity to design a logo. I was pushing at that point for larger logos that had presence and strong graphics. My complaint at the time was that logos were not very bold on the DC covers. The problem with Aquaman as a logo was that the only organic letter in the bunch was the Q. That issue was handled well in the 60s version. I eventually decided to push the regal and majestic angle of Aquaman as The King of the Seven Seas, a concept that often seemed to be forgotten at times. Design-wise, strong peaks and a little flourish on the Q. I do remember that I was unhappy with it in the end only because it didn’t mesh with the new interpretation of the character.  I remember Keith Wilson and Mark Waid were involved in the logo design as well. We all liked it on the ‘Legend of Aquaman’ cover but on the mini-series it was not so great. My logo did end up on a postage stamp though.”

I agree this logo looks great on the cover above. It puts the emphasis back on the initial A. The double curve, top and bottom, also makes the final N larger for balance. The form of the Q is a legitimate alternate one used in some older fonts, and its two wave-like components add that watery tie-in to the character well. The serif letterforms are a good touch, with the larger serif on the first A having almost a trident-point look. In all, very effective.

Steve’s logo was also used on a new AQUAMAN mini-series in 1989. It still looks good, but without the topline “THE LEGEND OF”, there’s a large void above the logo that seems to need something in it. The overall shape of the logo also made it hard to fit into the standard DC cover format of the time, too, without cropping off the extended points of the A and N. Despite that, I think it’s a successful logo, dynamic, readable and effective.

In 1991 a new monthly Aquaman series was being planned, and DC staff designer Curtis King asked me to submit some logo ideas. The final result turned out to be more of a collaboration between the two of us than usual.

Here are the three initial hand-drawn sketches I turned in. All three used curved, wave-like shapes, with the first one closest to what had gone before, but with very thick open letters. each stroke ending in a wave-point, and no cross-strokes on the A’s. The second used thinner letterforms and emphasized wavy cross-strokes on the A’s and Q. The third used thicker, more rectangular letterforms in a double curve.

Curtis liked the first one best, but thought it needed further work. He drew up this modified version and showed it to the editor…who didn’t like it, and suggested something closer to the original Ira Schnapp logo from the first AQUAMAN solo series:

Curtis then combined his previous idea with that logo for this version:

And sent both back to me as suggestions for another try. Here’s what I came up with:

The bottoms of the letters are quite close to the Schnapp logo, except for the Q. I avoided the circular openings, though, and at the tops of the letters used the kind of wave forms Curtis had suggested. An open drop shadow helped pull it together, gave room for a second color, and improved the pop off the cover.

That one met with everyone’s approval, and I inked up the final version.

Here it is on the first cover. It’s not one of my best efforts, and the curved shape again didn’t always work well with the rest of the cover lettering, as here, but it looked okay, I think. This relaunch of a monthly Aquaman title only lasted about a year, though.

Next time we’ll continue with a new monthly Aquaman series.

All images © DC Comics, Inc.

The Aquaman logo that appeared on all his stories from More Fun #100 (November 1944) until he got his own solo series in 1962 is shown above. In part 1 of this study I attributed it to regular Aquaman artist at the time Louis Cazanueve, based on similarities to what that artist was drawing on the splash pages beforehand. I still think that’s the best guess, but it’s only a guess. Another possibility is that the DC production staff or the editor commissioned someone else to create a regular logo. The obvious choice for that would be Ira Schnapp, who I believe had created some of the company’s most famous logos like the final version of SUPERMAN (based on Joe Shuster’s versions) and titles like ACTION COMICS. There are no records as far as I know for who actually did any of those early logos, so my theories and guesses are just that, based on style and company insider knowledge. It’s possible Schnapp could have been asked to do the logo above. The style is not completely alien to his work, though what he did was rarely this bouncy and rounded. At some point in the late 1940s Schnapp made a transition from freelancer for DC to staffer. On SUPERMAN comics, for instance, his cover lettering, certainly done on staff, first begins appearing regularly in 1949, though there are isolated examples that might be by him as early as 1947. Some other freelancer or staffer might have created the logo, too. Just wanted to throw that out there.

In early 1960 Aqualad joined Aquaman in his stories, and with ADVENTURE COMICS 277 (Oct. 1960) his logo was added as well. It might have been designed by Ramona Fradon, regular Aquaman artist through most of the 1950s and early 60s, or by then-staffer Ira Schnapp, or by whoever lettered the story. Of those three possibilities, Schnapp seems the most likely, and the style is not inconsistent with his work.

1960 also saw the first appearance of The Justice League of America in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 28, and Aquaman was chosen to be part of that team of DC’s premiere heroes. DC must have felt it was time to try him in a solo book, and they gave him a tryout in their other test-case book, SHOWCASE. The first of two such appearances from 1961 is above, and as you can see, the logos from the inside stories were used on the covers.

The test must have been considered a success, because in 1962 DC launched AQUAMAN in a long-running solo series, with art by Nick Cardy for the most part. This new logo is clearly the work of Ira Schnapp, who took the letterforms from the previous logo, made them taller, squared off the bottom ends (and the tops of the U), and recalling earlier versions of the logo, put them in a nice arc with a larger initial A. Schnapp’s work is solidly constructed, classy, a bit staid at times, and always very readable. A fine logo, which retains the best elements of the previous ones: the bubble-like openings and rounded organic forms, and makes it even better. (And it might be only me, but I always thought the Q in this version looked a bit like a fish.) The fact that all the cover lettering is also by Schnapp gives the entire design a unified feel that carried through most of the DC covers of the time. Even DC’s annoying habit of covering parts of the logo with the price box and other trade dress elements does not significantly harm the appeal.

In 1969 the Schnapp logo was altered by making the letter outlines much thicker. The thickness was added to the outside of the previous lines, connecting the letters, and the result made the logo bolder and more readable against background art, which was beginning to go right to the top of the covers more often. The angle of the logo on this one also adds some interest.

The initial run of the AQUAMAN title ended with issue 56 in 1971. In 1977 it came back for another try, continuing the numbering and extending the title to 63 issues. For these, the previous logo gained a double-bordered box, as seen above. The idea, I’m sure, was to make the title pop off the cover, and allow for more colors in the logo, but I don’t think it works well. It takes up too much space, draws too much attention to itself. An open drop shadow would have been a much better solution. Even with fine art by Jim Aparo, the title didn’t last long, and ended again in 1978.

A bit short, this post, but not a lot happened with Aquaman’s logo from 1962 to the end of the 1970s. Next time we’ll look at Aquaman in the 1980s and beyond.

All images © DC Comics, Inc.

When Mort Weisinger was hired by the company now called DC Comics in 1941, he was asked to create some new super-heroes for the company’s popular and expanding line of comics. Two of them appeared in MORE FUN 73, Nov. 1941: Green Arrow and Aquaman. Both have been in print most of the time since. The first artist on Aquaman was Paul Norris, as seen above. Aquaman was the second undersea hero, following Timely’s Sub-Mariner, but the two were always quite different. Aquaman seemed comfortable and at home as king of the sea, and all its creatures, breathing water or air equally well.

The logo, drawn by Norris, is fairly typical of super-hero logos of the time: attractive, but not conveying anything about the character. The initial A is largest, the letters form a nice arc. The stroke weights are inconsistent, with the angles on the M very wide, the horizontals on the A’s very thin, and the rest somewhere between. It works fine, and could have been worse.

Story logos in the 1940s were often redrawn for each story, and that’s what happened with the Aquaman logo throughout much of that decade. In issue 74, his second appearance, the logo is similar, but not exactly the same, redrawn. Interesting to see how it reads fine even with so much of it covered by the caption box.

The story in MORE FUN 76 took a slightly different approach, with the arc gone, and the tops of the A’s trimmed off to align with the rest of the letters. Here the logo was drawn as a solid black and held in a color, a somewhat unusual treatment for an inside story page. Again, it’s certainly very readable and well-formed, but doesn’t say anything about the character.

In MORE FUN 81 the logo gained a tagline, “Sovereign of the Sea” for a brief time. It didn’t last long. This version of the logo has the Q and U looking somewhat squished by the widened A’s, giving the entire word an uneven feel. Issue 81 (Aug. 1942) was to be the last for artist Paul Norris, who went on to fame drawing the newspaper strip “Brick Bradford.” Replacing him for about eight years was artist Louis Cazanueve.

Like Norris, Cazanueve continued to redraw the Aquaman logo on each story’s title page for quite some time, and under his pen it underwent a gradual evolution. Here, in MORE FUN 85, we see it still very uniform, in open block letters, but those letters are more equal in size and well-designed than what Norris usually did, with the initial A now the same size as the rest. Plus, rounded forms are beginning to emerge, with the Q now an oval rather than a round-cornered rectangle, and the U also rounded at the bottom. The cross stroke on the Q has added interest, too, now a triangle pointing inward.

In issue 86 he tried it slanted to the right, giving the letters a little more energy.

Issue 87 was back to straight-up letters, with a drop shadow added. One has to wonder what went through the artist’s mind when I was doing these: did he pull out an old issue for reference and just wing it?

Issue 88 went back to the letterforms of Norris, with pointed diagonals, but still using the drop shadow, and to keep it more compact, the letters overlap a little. I guess most of these ended up colored red because it was the obvious contrast to Aquaman’s undersea environs.

With MORE FUN issue 89, the logo began to look more rounded and cartoony, an approach that seems, somehow, appropriate for the character, though I’m not sure why. Perhaps it fits in well with his organic world. The letterforms can now have much thicker strokes, too, since the points are less acute, or in some cases, trimmed off.

In issue 90, Cazanueve enhanced the rounded, cartoony feel by adding circular center holes in the A’s. They’re uneven, here, but suggest bubbles. Finally, an aquatic theme!

Issue 97 brought back the drop shadow. This logo is not very consistent, not drawn as carefully as in some of Cazanueve’s earlier stories, but it is taking on a personality that seems appropriate for the character, though perhaps leaning a bit too far toward the cartoony.

Finally, in MORE FUN 100, after 27 different hand-drawn logos, this one appears, and will remain on the stories for some time. I think it’s also drawn by Louis Cazanueve, but more carefully than he’d been doing it on the story splash pages. Stylistically it’s very close to what had come before, but with more consistent strokes and shapes. Still cartoony and rounded, but a little more formal. Someone at the company had decided to put a recurring logo on the stories so it wouldn’t have to be redrawn each time, which I’m sure Cazanueve was happy about: less work for him!

Here’s a better look at it from MORE FUN 101. And, as you can see, exactly the same as 100. When the series moved from MORE FUN to ADVENTURE COMICS in 1946, this logo followed, and remained for the rest of that long run.

Aquaman also made occasional appearances elsewhere, and in this issue of WORLD’S FINEST COMICS 6, the logo style of Paul Norris takes on an interesting watery waver, previewing approaches that would be tried much later. Too bad this idea wasn’t carried back to Aquaman’s regular series.

Next time we’ll continue with Aquaman in the 1950s and beyond, including the beginning of his first solo series.

© DC Comics, Inc.