Continuing my exploration of Phil Felix’s photocopied pages of (mostly) cover lettering by Danny Crespi, with a few things by others, this time covering pages 29-32. Page 29, above is all lettered by Crespi. The bottom piece is a rare title from an interior text page (rare in this collection, at least). Sources follow.
“Executioner” from MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #7 dated Jan. 1975. I don’t like the layout of this caption, too much dead space. I think the top three lines could have fit on two: FEATURING: THE PULSE-POUNDING / POWER OF THE is how I would have done it.
“Jeremiah” from MARVEL TEAM-UP #35 dated July 1975. Finding word balloons is tough, I had some help from Ray Bottorf Jr. on some of these.
“Both of us” from CRYPT OF SHADOWS #18 dated July 1975. Small, but effectively creepy!
“A Day at the Circus of Crime” from SPIDEY SUPER STORIES #3 dated Dec. 1974. An unusual style for Crespi, but certainly circusy.
From GIANT-SIZE CONAN #1 dated Sept. 1974, pages 38 and 39. I might not have identified the letterer of this map as Danny Crespi if this title weren’t included in the collection. The serif letters are unusual for Danny, but ACHERON certainly looks like his work, and I’m sure it all is. Very nice scroll caption, too.
Page 30, all by Crespi, sources below.
“Claws of the Cat” from MASTER OF KUNG-FU #38 dated March 1976. (British cover price version shown here.) CLAWS is reversed out of the red caption fill and colored yellow. I think this reads better than the red type on yellow in the burst caption above.
The Man Who Wasn’t There” from TOMB OF DARKNESS #15 dated July 1975. Another layout I think has too much dead space. I would have made it: THE MAN WHO / WASN’T THERE! on two lines.Nice lettering otherwise, and the purple caption fill makes it work better.
“Supernatural Mystery” from UNCANNY TALES FROM THE GRAVE #11 dated Aug. 1975. AS YOU LIKE IT is typeset. The caption is red and yellow to pop and attract the eye, but I feel there’s entirely too much red on this cover for a horror/mystery book.
Page 31, all by Danny Crespi. Sources below.
“Silver Surfer” from MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #59 dated Oct. 1975. If you look closely at the first two lines, “Guest starring the sensational,” Danny has squared off the ends of most strokes. This takes more time, it has to be done with a separate smaller pen point, but it definitely looks different, and I think better, than leaving them rounded. More emphatic somehow.
“Squadron Sinister” from THE AVENGERS #141 dated Nov. 1975. I really like this one. The contrast between the two words is effective, as is the coloring. VERSUS THE is type.
“Unchained” from THE INCREDIBLE HULK #188 dated June 1975. Simple block letters on a slant to match that of the logo. Suddenly, much more interesting when tilted.
“Attack of the Missing Link” from WHERE MONSTERS DWELL” #36 dated July 1975. I feel this is a weak effort on Danny’s part. Again too much dead space in the caption box, and the style of MISSING LINK is not right for a horror cover, in my opinion. He was turning out a ton of these, and they can’t all be great.
Page 32, the top three are by Crespi, the bottom one is by Gaspar Saladino. The most obvious clue is the shape of the S. Gaspar’s starts with a small almost vertical semi-serif.
“The Avengers” from GIANT-SIZE MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #2 dated July 1975. The design of this cover is a cluttered mess that the lettering doesn’t do much to help, but if you wanted to read these stories, you had enough information.
“Thirteenth Floor” from DEAD OF NIGHT #7 dated Dec. 1974. I like this lettering a lot, effectively spooky and stylish.
“Carnival” from DEAD OF NIGHT #10 dated June 1975. More well-done spookiness from Danny.
“Power Man” from THE DEFENDERS #17 dated Nov. 1974, lettering by Gaspar Saladino. The caption is cut off on the photocopy. Notice how thin the outlines are on POWER MAN, and they still read fine in color, something Gaspar was very good at judging.
There are plenty more pages, and I will show more once I have time to research them. Other parts of this article series and more you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.