Being something of an amateur comics creator in my dim-and-distant past (I haven't picked-up a pencil to do any SERIOUS drawing in at least 15 years!---that would qualify as pretty 'dim-and-distant', right?), as well as something of a (VERY) amateur letterer and sign-painter (I have picked up a few nickels and dimes here and there for creating signs, posters and such!)-- I have ALWAYS had a fairly keen interest in the somewhat (I think anyway!) over-looked and underappreciated craft of comic book lettering and logo design.
Also though, as is USUALLY the case with the 'Ol Loydster--- I'm a little slow to really start delving into the history and background of stuff! Sometimes, it's even stuff I REALLY dig and groove on! It's only been in the last few years (PERFECT example!), that I've really started doing any REAL research and digging around, into this aspect of comic book creation and craftsmanship!
God bless nifty magazines like 'Alter Ego', 'Back Issue', 'Comic Book Creator'--- as well as other mags that are no longer around, such as 'Comics Buyer's Guide', and 'Comic Book Artist'--- for really lighting up my interest in comics-creators and comics history! Also, all the historians and 'uber-geeks', that've kept that history alive in not only magazines, but web resources as well. Folks like Mark Evanier, Michael Uslan and many others. More about that---down near the bottom, before I wrap-up this post!
Like just about EVERYTHING that I post in this here blog-a-wog-a-wang-dang-doodle, comic logos and lettering relates to something that I'm DEEPLY (and with NO shame whatsoever, by the way!) geeked-out about! Not to mention it ALSO relates to countless childhood memories, that just make me smile!
That would be checking out the old 'spinner-racks' of comics! They used to be a common fixture, at just about every grocery store, convenience store, drug store, candy and gift shop, back in the ancient times (also known as the 70s and 80s!) of my 'growing-up' years. If you're 'of a certain age' (meaning you've got gray in the 'ol whiskers, like ME!) you'll recognize & remember these!----
On those racks, the MOST visible thing--- as you would turn them (they were usually BADLY in need of lubrication! They nearly ALL creaked and squeaked as you'd turn them!)-- were the logos on the covers of the various comics. Oh how MANY very cool logos there were in those days too! I just want to take a look at some of the craftsmen that were responsible for creating so much of those eye-catching logos! As well as SO much of the lettering (not-to-mention a lot of the ads!) that was inside those comics, that fueled the 'little Loydster's imagination.
For starters, how about a couple of the most influential and prolific 'logos-and-lettering' pros of ALL-TIME! Ira Schnapp and Gaspar Saladino.----
Mr. Ira Schnapp (the guy on the left up there, in a pic taken probably in the early 60s!) was pretty much there at the very start of the comics industry. Before landing in comics, he was already a graphic artist supreme! Doing movie posters and title designs for theaters back in the silent era. He even had a hand in coming up with the lay-out of the 'ancient-roman-styled' lettering that adorned a number of historical buildings around New York city!
Perhaps his earliest achievement in comics though, was the redesign of the 'Superman' logo, around 1940. A design that was SO good--- it's STILL pretty much the logo that we see even today. He was the main logo & cover-lettering guy at DC Comics, up until the mid-60s. He also handled all of their 'house ads' (the ads in comics, promoting OTHER comics!) Check out just a FEW samples of his handiwork, mostly from the 'Silver Age' (late 50s-mid-60s) of comics.-----
You've GOT to admit--- the logos above would DEFINITELY grab your eye at the 'ol spinner-rack, back in the day! The DC company logo is the ONLY element on them that's constant! Each of the logos are TRULY unique, truly one-of-a-kind! Mr. Schnapp passed away in 1969.
The next 'logo-lettering-legend' I want to turn the spot-light on, is Mr. Gaspar Saladino (the gentleman in the right-hand pic above!). Known to many comic-art fans simply as 'Gaspar'. I didn't even realize the guy had a last name! Actually, I figured it was---forgive the SORRY pun--a 'pen name' he used! It wasn't 'til just a handful of years ago, that I found out that was simply how he was identified in the credits of most of the comics he worked on. Guess it fit better into the credit-boxes!
A somewhat younger contemporary of Mr. Schanpp, Mr. Saladino took over as the DC Comics logo / lettering / house ads guy around the mid-to-late 60s. He also was a regular lettering WORK-HORSE, lettering thousands of comics pages throughout his LONG career! He REALLY took a number of the cover logos to the next-level of COOLNESS! Starting in the late 60s, and on through a good chunk of the 70s-- he also freelanced for Marvel Comics, bringing that same 'coolness-factor', to a number of their cover-logos! As with the samples of Mr. Schnapps work, this is a just small sampling of Gaspar's output!---
Amazingly, Gaspar was a steady comics fixture, for nearly 4 decades! He retired in the early 2000s, passing away at the age of 88, in 2016. Like his predecessor, he left a comics-legacy that's STILL visible! The 'Avengers' logo used in the 'Marvel movies' of recent years, is pretty much based on his design from nearly 50 years ago!
While my focus has been 'zoomed-in' on mostly Mr. Schnapp and Mr. Saladino, I can't really finish-off this post, without an 'honorable mentions' section! Here's some other outstanding craftsmen of the logo-and-lettering trade.
Forgive the poor quality of most of the pics of these gentlemen! Being truly 'behind the scenes'-type pros (not to mention humble, everyday-working-for-a-living type of guys!), They just didn't 'pose on the red-carpet' for pics! What little amount of photos DO exist of them, are informal snap-shots, and grainy images from old magazines! There just isn't very many decent photos of a number of them around!----
One of two brothers, who worked primarily at Marvel Comics---for MANY years! From the late 40s-- all the way up until the 80s! He also was an artist, working on mainly romance comics, over at DC Comics--in the 60s and 70s. He passed away in 2009.
Like his brother Joe, Sam Rosen worked primarily at Marvel Comics. Working there from at least the early 50s, up through the early 70s. He was in on the 'ground floor' of the 'Marvel Age'--- lettering many of the earliest 'building blocks' of the Marvel Universe. ('Thor', 'Captain America', 'Fantastic Four', 'Spider-man', etc....) He left comics in the early 70s, passing away in 1992.
Another 'Marvel work-horse'! Mr. Simek was a lettering wizard at the 'House of Ideas' for close to 4 decades! He passed away in 1975.
Not ONLY was Mr. Oda a comic book work-horse, he also worked for MANY years as a comic-strip letterer too! Starting his career during World War two, he was responsible for lettering such strips as 'Flash Gordon', 'The Phantom' and 'Prince Valiant'. He lettered thousands of pages for DC Comics over the decades, right up 'til his passing at the age of 68, in 1984.
Coming into comics in the mid-60s, John Costanza was a Marvel Comics letterer for a good chunk of the 70s. Working on many of their flagship titles. He was also an accomplished artist, drawing a number of 'Funny animal' books (including titles featuring the 'Looney Tunes' characters) for other publishers. In the 90s, he also drew books featuring characters from 'The Simpsons'! Truly a 'comics renaissance man'! I don't know WHY I continue to refer to him in the 'past tense', being that he's STILL with us!
Mr. Workman entered the comics field in the early 70s, and became yet another Marvel Comics mainstay-lettering-and-logo guy. He was a long time 'go-to' letterer in a number of comics drawn by writer / artist Walt Simonson--- most notably on 'Thor'. He too, is still with us!
Not ONLY is Mr. Klein an accomplished / technically-gifted letterer (he was one of the first to utilize digital lettering, in the early 90s!), first entering the field in the mid-70s---- he's also something of an historian of the craft of comics-lettering itself! His ten-part series (posted-up at his blog) on the above-mentioned Ira Schnapp, is MUST-reading!
To wrap-up this here post, I'd like to give a hearty-shout out, once again--- to all of the history-of-the-comics-medium EXPERTS! Thanks and SERIOUS props to each and every one of you fine folks! You're doing your best to keep the spot-light on ALL of those fine craftsmen--- who for WAY too many years, slogged-away at their jobs being TOTALLY anonymous! OR-- at the very least, overlooked and just not appreciated enough!
Special thanks (again!) To Mr. Mark Evanier, and Mr. Todd Klein. I shamelessly raided their respective corners of the web, for a good chunk of the info in this post! It's folks that are TRULY fans of ALL things comics (meaning the creators, as well as the characters / comic books!) that keep HUGE chunks of the medium's history from being lost forever! Thanks, and MUCH appreciation, gentlemen!
See you around the end of the month, gang! 'SAME Bat-time, SAME Bat-channel'!!!
