Category Archives: Creating Comics

MY COMICS LIFE-LIST 1977-78

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HOUSE OF MYSTERY #258, May-June 1978. Image © DC Comics.

I’m a birdwatcher, or a birder as we like to say, and one of the things most birders do is keep a life-list. It’s a list of all the bird species you’ve seen in your life. Many birders keep other kinds of lists, but that’s the most common one. In a Facebook post recently, Paul Kupperberg was talking about all the comics artists he’d worked with in his career, many of them people whose work he’d grown up reading and admiring. That got me thinking. As a letterer for over 40 years now, I’ve had the opportunity and privilege of working with a vast number of writers, artists. colorists and editors. A letterer’s part of making comics generally takes the least amount of time, giving a letterer the chance to take on more projects simultaneously than writers and artists, for instance. So I had this idea…what if I made a life-list for comics? A list of the writers and artists I’ve worked with? It would be a pretty awesome list!

There had to be some ground rules. First, I worked on staff at DC from July 1977 to August 1987, and in that time worked with every staffer and many freelancers in some capacity, and did art and lettering corrections on a host of comics. I can’t count those just as, as a birder, I wouldn’t count birds I saw in a zoo. Some of the things I did in comics did not usually involve working directly with artists and writers: logo design, house ads, cover lettering and production work of various kinds. Another thing I wouldn’t count would be relettering foreign stories, as I did for HEAVY METAL early on. To be added to my comics life-list, I thought I should be part of the creative team making stories. That means I was the letterer (in most cases), occasionally the writer, and rarely the artist or colorist on story pages. It would leave out some creators I did interact with, but not many. I have a nearly complete record of all the comics work I’ve done on my website with only a few unidentified ones. If I used that as my primary resource, I thought it would still make a great comics life-list.

After each creator, I’m putting the first project I worked on with them, and tagging them as a writer (w), artist or penciller-inker (a), penciller (p), inker (i),  writer-artist (wa), colorist (c), letterer (L) or editor (e). I did not often interact with colorists in pre-digital days, as my work was finished before theirs began, but I’m including them as an important part of the creative team. Editors will only be listed where I did not work with them in any other capacity. There is one story here I wrote but did not letter, so I have added the letterer of that one. I plan to continue to build my life-list when I have time, a year at a time, and eventually will post the entire list. I will base the date of first work with someone on cover dates of the issues, then alphabetically for ones with the same date, though they may not have been, probably weren’t, lettered in that order. Okay, here goes!

Dave Manak (wa) SICK #118 Dec 1977

Sheldon Mayer (wa) ALL-NEW COLLECTOR’S EDITION C-53, Jan. 1978 (lettering and inking on puzzle pages)

Tom DeFalco (w) SUPERMAN FAMILY #187, Jan.-Feb. 1978

Win Mortimer (p) SUPERMAN FAMILY #187, Jan.-Feb. 1978

Joe Giella (i) SUPERMAN FAMILY #187, Jan.-Feb. 1978

Jerry Serpe (c) SUPERMAN FAMILY #187, Jan.-Feb. 1978

Larry Hama (e) DC SPECIAL SERIES #9, March 1978 (Paradise Island Map)

Gerry Conway (w) FIRESTORM #1, March 1978

Al Milgrom (p) FIRESTORM #1, March 1978

Klaus Janson (i) FIRESTORM #1, March 1978

Joe Rubinstein (i) FIRESTORM #1, March 1978

Adrienne Roy (c) FIRESTORM #1, March 1978

Don Newton (p) DC SPECIAL SERIES #10, April 1978

Frank Chiaramonte (i) DC SPECIAL SERIES #10, April 1978

Bob Toomey (w) DC SPECIAL SERIES #12, Spring 1978

Vicente Alcazar (a) DC SPECIAL SERIES #12, Spring 1978

E. Nelson Bridwell (w) SUPER FRIENDS #11, April-May 1978

Ramona Fradon (p) SUPER FRIENDS #11, April-May 1978

Bob Smith (i) SUPER FRIENDS #11, April-May 1978

Gene D’Angelo (c) SUPER FRIENDS #11, April-May 1978

Ken Landgraf (p) GHOSTS #64, May 1978

Danny Bulanadi (i) GHOSTS #64, May 1978

Bob LeRose (c) GHOSTS #64, May 1978

Michael Fleisher (w) JONAH HEX #12, May 1978

Jack C. Harris (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #258, May-June 1978

Steve Ditko (a) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #258, May-June 1978

Juan Ortiz (p) STEEL, THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN #3, June 1978

Bruce Patterson (i) STEEL, THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN #3, June 1978

Wyatt Gwyon (w) WEIRD WAR TALES #64, June 1978

Carl Gafford (c) WEIRD WAR TALES #64, June 1978

Bob Rozakis (w) BATMAN FAMILY #18, June-july 1978

Dave Hunt (i) BATMAN FAMILY #18, June-july 1978

Mario Sen (c) BATMAN FAMILY #18, June-july 1978

Bob Layton (i) BATMAN FAMILY #18, June-July 1978

Paul Levitz (w) BATMAN FAMILY #18, June-July 1978

Joe Staton (p) BATMAN FAMILY #18, June-July 1978

David Michelinie (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #259, July-Aug. 1978

Michael Golden (a) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #259, July-Aug. 1978

Steve Clement (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #259, July-Aug. 1978

Don Glut (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #259, July-Aug. 1978

Cory Adams (c) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #259, July-Aug. 1978

Paul Kupperberg (w) SUPERMAN FAMILY #190, July-Aug. 1978

Romeo Tanghal (i) SUPERMAN FAMILY #190, July-Aug. 1978

David Vern (w) BATMAN #302, Aug. 1978

John Calnan (p) BATMAN #302, Aug. 1978

Dick Giordano (i) BATMAN #302, Aug. 1978

Julius Schwartz (e) BATMAN #302, Aug. 1978

Jack Oleck (w) UNKNOWN SOLDIER #218, Aug. 1978

Maurice Whitman (a) UNKNOWN SOLDIER #218, Aug. 1978

Mike Grell (wa) WARLORD #14, Aug.-Sept. 1978

George Tuska (p) WORLD’S FINEST #252, Aug.-Sept. 1978

Vince Colletta (i) WORLD’S FINEST #252, Aug.-Sept. 1978

George Kashdan (w) GHOSTS #68, Sept. 1978

Cary Burkett (w) GREEN LANTERN #108, Sept. 1978

Mike Vosburg (p) GREEN LANTERN #108, Sept. 1978

T. Casey Brennan (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #260, Sept. 1978

Jerry Grandenetti (a) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #260, Sept. 1978

Roger McKenzie (w) WEIRD WESTERN TALES #48, Sept.-Oct. 1978

Jack Abel (p) WEIRD WESTERN TALES #48, Sept.-Oct. 1978

Greg Potter (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #261, Oct. 1978

Steve Skeates (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #261, Oct. 1978

Arthur Suydam (a) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #261, Oct. 1978

Frank Miller (p) WEIRD WAR TALES #68, Oct. 1978

Carl Wessler (w) WITCHING HOUR #85, Oct. 1978

Bill Kelley (w) ARMY AT WAR #1, Oct.-Nov. 1978

Scott Edelman (w) HOUSE OF SECRETS #154, Oct.-Nov. 1978

José Luis Garcia-Lopéz (a) HOUSE OF SECRETS #154, Oct.-Nov. 1978

Cary Bates (w) THE FLASH #267, Nov. 1978

Irv Novick (p) THE FLASH #267, Nov. 1978

Frank McLaughlin (i) THE FLASH #267, Nov. 1978

Tenny Henson (a) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #262, Nov. 1978

Esphidy Mahilum (L) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #262, Nov. 1978

Cary Bates (w) SUPERMAN #329, Nov. 1978

Kurt Schaffenberger (p) SUPERMAN #329, Nov. 1978

Frank Giacoia (i) SUPERMAN #329, Nov. 1978

Alex Saviuk (p) GREEN LANTERN #111, Dec. 1978

Len Wein (w) SUPERBOY & THE LSH #246, Dec. 1978

Murphy Anderson (i) SUPERBOY & THE LSH #246, Dec. 1978

Glynis Wein (c) SUPERBOY & THE LSH #246, Dec. 1978

There you have it to the best of my knowledge. More of these when I have time (and it took a lot more time than I expected!)

By the way, I’d be delighted to see the idea of Comics Life-Lists spread. If you’re a fan, not a creator, you could make one of creators you’ve met in person, corresponded with or bought something from. The possibilities are wide open!

 

Preparing Comics Scripts for Lettering

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Image found online, © DC Comics.

Yesterday I was asked by Paul Kupperberg for recommendations and suggestions on this topic for a book he’s working on. I covered it in my book, but things have changed since then. Now that most comics lettering is done digitally, a whole new regimen of script preparation issues have emerged that often create problems for letterers. I posed the question to a group of other letterers, and together we came up with these recommendations.

1. Prepare your script in a word processing program that the letterer can access easily. Microsoft Word is the usual standard but RTF format from any word processor works well too. PDF format from Adobe Acrobat should NEVER be used. It prevents the letterer from copying and pasting from the script, the most common method of getting words onto the comics page.

2. Captions, dialogue and anything that needs to be lettered should be in sentence case, like this document, not all caps. Do not use a double space after a period. Do not use tabs. Each section to be lettered should be separated from the rest of the script so it’s easy to copy and paste. Such as:

1) BRAINIAC (SPECIAL STYLE):
I am the only solution to Earth’s problems.

2) SUPERMAN:
That’s what you think!

3) SOUND EFFECT:
WHAM!

3. The writer should decide which words to emphasize and indicate that consistently in the script. Bold italic is the best method, do not use all caps. Do not try to simulate special styles with different fonts in the script! Make suggestions for fonts if you like.

4. Internal dialogue captions (what used to be thought balloons) do not need quotes. Use quotes only when someone is off-panel and doing narration in captions, or when actually quoting what someone else said. Such spoken narration needs a beginning quote in each caption, but an end quote only on the last one in a series of continuous narration captions. Double/single quote rules apply to comics as well.

5. If someone is in the room but off-panel, let the letterer know which direction the balloon tail should go. Whenever possible, the character on the left should speak FIRST, the next one to the right should speak SECOND, and so on. Train your artists to do this and everyone will be happier!

6. Foreign phrases, movie titles, book titles, ship names and any other item needing special attention should be italic. Translated foreign languages should be inside lesser and greater symbols such as <this> with an asterisked footnote such as: *Translated from French.

7.Make sure any notes for the letterer are pulled out and separate from panel descriptions so they aren’t missed.

8. If you are working plot-first, look carefully at the art when you are writing dialogue to make sure all the characters you asked for are present. Try to write to fit the space available for lettering. Large panels with open spaces are best for large or many balloons, small panels with little space should have little lettering.

9. Lettering placements are welcomed by some letterers (like me) as a time saver, are not wanted by others. Check with your letterer. The letterer should be given the freedom to make actual placement choices that differ from provided placements if they see a better way to do it. Placements can be done with markers on a printout of the art that is then scanned, or digitally. If you are providing placements, it’s recommended that you number each item to be lettered in your script, as above, and use the corresponding numbers in your placements.

10. Remember that the letterer is part of your team, don’t keep secrets from him. That mysterious character who turns out to be a returning villain? Let the letterer know when he first appears. It may be a secret surprise for the reader, but the letterer needs to know when you do in case it affects the lettering style. If your story has narration captions by a character who won’t appear until the last page, the letterer still needs to know who is narrating. Every narration caption should be labeled by speaker just as word balloons are. Or if it’s omniscient author narration, say that.

11. Perhaps most important of all, MAKE SURE THE SCRIPT IS A CLOSE TO FINAL AS POSSIBLE BEFORE SENDING TO THE LETTERER. It has become a common practice among newer writers to treat the lettering draft as a first draft, and then do major rewrites after the first round of lettering, or sometimes several rounds of rewrites. This is unfair to the letterer, taking up time they need for other jobs, and usually they are not paid for that extra work. Script and art editing and proofreading should be done BEFORE lettering, not after.

Thanks to Nikki Foxrobot, Ian Sharman, Hde Ponsonby-Jones, Bill Williams, Nic Wilkinson, Lucas Gattoni, Zen Hcmp, Annie Parkhouse, Lois Buhalis and Michael Stock for advice and suggestions!

Carla Speed McNeil’s Lettering Process

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At this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con, I was surprised by a visit from writer/artist Carla Speed McNeil and delighted with what she had decided to give me, a page of her original art as well as her layout and lettering guide. Carla’s process is unusual, and I found it fascinating. I told her I’d write about it on my blog, and here it is. Continue reading →

Pulled From My Files #93: ACTION COMICS #484 Cover Proof

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This and all images © DC Comics.

When I began working in the DC Production Department in 1977, this is what cover proofs from the separators in Connecticut looked like. Proofs of each of the four color plates (Black, Cyan or Blue, Magenta and Yellow) were printed on clear acetate, and lined up correctly over a sheet of white paper, then stapled either at the top or bottom. These proofs came in the regular deliveries from Chemical Color to the DC offices in Manhattan where they were checked for errors by Anthony Tollin, the Cover Coordinator, and shown for approval to the editor of the book. Tony would call Chemical and ask for any changes wanted. Printing was approved, and the separations would go to the printing plant in Sparta, Illinois. DC would receive one final proof, uncut make-readies from the press before the book was stapled, trimmed, and shipped to distributors, but by that time it was too late to change anything, and the only option in the case of a major problem was to scrap the print run and start over. I never saw that happen when I was there. Once the book was printed, these acetate proofs were generally thrown away. I saved sixteen of them from covers dated 1978-79 because I liked the art and I thought they were cool. This one has gorgeous art by José Luis Garcia-López and Dick Giordano, which is why I saved it. They sat in a drawer under my desk at DC, and when I went freelance full time, they came home with me and sat in a drawer in my storage room. I pulled them out this week to bring to the Baltimore Comic-Con to sell. Continue reading →

Pulled From My Files #92: DC COMICS PRESENTS ANNUAL #1 COVER COLORS

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Images © DC Entertainment.

Here’s a rarity from my files, the only one of its kind, and the story behind it. While on staff at DC from 1977 to 1987 I also did freelance work, but that was mainly lettering and logo design. In the early years, though, I did whatever work was offered, including coloring, and I had my own Dr. Martin dyes coloring set, as seen in THIS blog article. By early 1982 I wasn’t doing much coloring (I never did that much anyway) when this cover art pencilled by Rich Buckler and inked by Dick Giordano came into the production department. It must have been very late, there wasn’t even time to have a color guide made and send it to Chemical Color in Connecticut for the usual color separation process. They wanted someone to do painted color, and probably overnight. I volunteered, and they must have been desperate because they gave me the assignment, despite the fact that I had never colored a cover for DC, nor had I ever done painted color for the company. I had done some on my own, but not for comics. A large photostat was made of the art, 11 by 16 inches with extra space at the top in case the proportions weren’t right and they needed extra room for the trade dress. This photostat was dry-mounted on a piece of illustration board, and I took it home to work on.

I already knew from experience that getting smooth colors on photostat paper was quite difficult with some of the Dr. Martin dyes, but fortunately the sky-blue one did go on smoothly, so I was able to use that at the top and bottom. On the large Luthor heads, I at first struggled to get smoothly blended tones, then hit on the idea of using thin brush strokes, which worked much better. The costumes of the two Supermen were small enough that the uneven color variations didn’t show very much.

The background was the biggest challenge. There were no stars on the original art to paint around, and even if there had been, going around little white areas with dyes was too time consuming. I filled the space with purposely mottled purples, several shades, to give it depth and used the uneven color application as a feature. I then tried to paint the stars over the color with Pro-White paint, but the colors were hard to cover, and the stars were lavender rather than white. The only choice left was to cut them out, and that’s what I did. With an exacto knife, I cut the top layer of photostat paper on each pointed star and the larger round ones, and then peeled it off with the knife. I was an expert with an exacto knife at the time, since I used it every day for art and lettering corrections in my day job.

I brought in the result, editor Julie Schwartz approved it, it was photographed for reproduction (not sure where, either at DC or at the separator) and here it is in print:

The ANNUAL trade dress frame was something I designed for all of that year’s annuals, and overall I think it worked pretty well. The colors came out different than I expected, particularly in the Luthor heads, the blue costumes and the stars, and some copies printed darker than this one, so it was far from a huge success, but as Sol Harrison used to say, it was “good enough for comics.” I wonder now if those blues in the costumes were lightened at the separator, I can’t imagine how else they’d print that light. No one was much impressed with my work, but they thanked me for getting it done quickly so it would print on time, and I was paid well. I wasn’t ever asked to do it again, though!