There are many DC Comics titles beginning with the letter S that Gaspar Saladino did just a small amount of work for, here are several. The cover above is the only one lettered by him for this book with a long history that would soon end when the title was changed to STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES. At the time it was the home of Robin solo adventures but otherwise scrambling to find an audience. Gaspar’s wide, angular balloon lettering is in contrast to regular letterer Ira Schnapp’s more rounded work, and he also did the blurb to the right of the logo.
Saladino was not a regular story letterer on this title, but he did do two Robin stories, the first is above. Again note his wide, angular style.
The other Robin story lettered by Saladino, both are typically full of text and overwritten, as was the commont the time.
In 1968, DC’s funny animal comics were on their last legs, and they tried this odd feature in THE FOX AND THE CROW. It did well enough that the title of the book was renamed for the feature, but only lasted four more issues. Saladino’s scary lettering styles are evident in the balloons and the sign.
The next issue has lots of Saladino balloons and appealing art, but readers weren’t buying it.
I loved this sword and sorcery title written by Paul Levitz with amazing art by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood, but it only lasted four issues. Gaspar’s exciting caption enhances this one, the top blurb is by someone else.
Another fine caption on this issue with a variety of styles that work well together. Too bad the book didn’t last longer.
In early 1978, DC was trying out new heroes like this one. It ran only five issues before becoming a victim of the “DC Implosion.” Saladino’s top and bottom blurbs add to the excitement.
Gaspar’s only other work on the book was lettering this cover with effective balloons and a stylish caption.
Much later a new superhero character with the Steel name had a successful run in the 1990s. Gaspar lettered this one issue, where his bold sound effects and creative balloon styles work well.
To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on these covers:
STAR SPANGLED COMICS #128
STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER #110-112
STALKER #3-4
STEEL THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN #1, 4
That’s eight in all. Below are the details of the story lettering shown above.
STAR SPANGLED COMICS #116 May 1951: Robin 10pp
STAR SPANGLED COMICS #124 Jan 1952: Robin 6pp
STEEL #24 Feb 1996: 24pp
That’s 40 pages in all. More articles in this series and others you might like are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.