Great story to a great comic. Just love that comic. I'm not saying it's the greatest comic every made, it's just my favourite, the art, the ending, the writing. So glad this happened!
I was smiling as I got to the end of this story, because I start every page with my lettering now - building the layout and art around it and editing as I go.
I also know how horrible it is when you have to go back to a writer and tell them you really like the page they’ve written - but that it’s actually three pages!
Letterers deserve more respect. The transition from Smith quitting to ‘the invisible language of visual storytelling’ illustrated the ‘balloon placement is blocking’ concept. Shout out to Dave Sim.
P.S. Maybe put a trigger warning in your piece, for Canadians of a certain age: Orzechowski -> Byrne -> Vindicator -> Captain Canuck -> Young Richard Comely -> tightness in my chest… I enjoyed this. Good stuff.
Great post! Lettering truly is the secret weapon of comics. You're absolutely right - when it's done right, you shouldn't notice it. Tom Orzechowski was the first letterer I took note of, as a kid reading X-Men. I still love his style! Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is a letterer who is currently doing really interesting stuff, in opinion. I'm one of those guys who DOES pay attention to the lettering, and in my own comic it's one of the things I'm very particular about. I'm often tweaking the kerning to get the space between two letters just right to make it look more organic, or rewriting dialogue with fewer characters so the balloon looks better as a graphic design element on the page.
This is an amazing story. I heard it once before but never in this much detail. Bookmarked.
Great story to a great comic. Just love that comic. I'm not saying it's the greatest comic every made, it's just my favourite, the art, the ending, the writing. So glad this happened!
Great story loved reading it
That's awesome. I'm a fan of both you and K.S., so this was fun to read!
Thanks for the peek behind the curtain.
Thanks for sharing! Incredible.
I was smiling as I got to the end of this story, because I start every page with my lettering now - building the layout and art around it and editing as I go.
I also know how horrible it is when you have to go back to a writer and tell them you really like the page they’ve written - but that it’s actually three pages!
Great story.
Any story from the Guardian Devil days is a great story. Cheers Joe!
Man, I love comics. This is insight is amazing.
Makes me wanna go back and re-read my favorites and pay particular attention to the lettering.
Great write up. Thanks Joe!
Good on Jimmy for going back to Kevin. I would’ve let it go. Great story. Thanks.
the more things change the more they stay the same.
Great story..so important to hold the boundary
Letterers deserve more respect. The transition from Smith quitting to ‘the invisible language of visual storytelling’ illustrated the ‘balloon placement is blocking’ concept. Shout out to Dave Sim.
P.S. Maybe put a trigger warning in your piece, for Canadians of a certain age: Orzechowski -> Byrne -> Vindicator -> Captain Canuck -> Young Richard Comely -> tightness in my chest… I enjoyed this. Good stuff.
As soon as you said something about naming letterers, the first name I had was Tom Orzechowski. Why?
Because of the gorgeous lettering he did on the Claremont/Byrne StarLord magazine. Especially his chapter titles.
Brilliant work.
Great post! Lettering truly is the secret weapon of comics. You're absolutely right - when it's done right, you shouldn't notice it. Tom Orzechowski was the first letterer I took note of, as a kid reading X-Men. I still love his style! Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is a letterer who is currently doing really interesting stuff, in opinion. I'm one of those guys who DOES pay attention to the lettering, and in my own comic it's one of the things I'm very particular about. I'm often tweaking the kerning to get the space between two letters just right to make it look more organic, or rewriting dialogue with fewer characters so the balloon looks better as a graphic design element on the page.
Thank you, Jimmy!
Every section of this post is valuable for a comic creator as well as an engaged reader. Great stuff.