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After the departure of Ira Schnapp from DC in the late 1960s, a DC freelancer was tapped to become the new primary cover letterer. GASPAR SALADINO Gaspar had been a mainstay at DC since the early 1950s, lettering many of their comics stories, and is considered by many letterers and other comics creators, including myself, to be the finest cover letterer ever. His work exemplifies energy and creativity. Examples below are a small excerpt from a cover lettering style guide I put together from his work while on staff at DC in the 1980s.
©DC Comics, Inc. I ENTER THE FRAY Being on staff at DC from 1977-1987 gave me opportunities to step in and letter covers that needed to be finished in a hurry, where there wasn't time to get them to Gaspar. He was a very tough act to follow, but I did my best. Gradually over the years more and more cover lettering came my way. Here are some samples.
©DC Comics, Inc. In 1995 I started creating cover lettering on my Mac computer, and as this was a timesaver for DC, the cover lettering workload gradually shifted almost entirely to me. From about 1999 to 2004 I did most of DC's cover lettering (and a fair amount for Marvel, Malibu and other companies). The trend was shifting toward more type-based cover design, though, and less of the "hand-lettered" look I was known for. At the end of 2004 DC brought all cover lettering in-house. For some examples of my computer cover lettering, see the COMPUTER LETTERING sidebar topic. All text and images ©Todd Klein, except as noted. All rights reserved. |
OTHER TOPICS Jump to one of these topics in Lettering: Use the tabs at the top of the page to move to other areas, such as HOW TO for tips and information on how to do your own lettering. |
COVER LETTERING continued 
