Todd Klein's Blog, page 176

And Then I Read: DOCTOR FATE #18

Image © DC Comics.

The final issue of this run of DOCTOR FATE is the second half of a two-part story that mostly stands apart from the previous issues, with psychedelic art by Brendan McCarthy and a pretty good story by Paul Levitz. This issue drops us into everything midstream with no recap or explanation. I suspect these issues were intended to be an Annual, but that’s just a guess.

The best thing in it is that Khalid finally gets to meet the god who powers his helmet and himself, Thoth. Taking a break from battling evil creatures, Thoth and Khalid have a wonderful conversation about wisdom and free will that’s worth the price of admission. The rest of the issue is fun visually but somewhat predictable. There’s not much sense of closure at the finish, another signal this was not written as a final issue, but in the DC Universe, Doctor Fate will go on to other iterations, so perhaps that’s okay. We can imagine Khalid’s future in our own ways.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: WONDER WOMAN #11

Image © DC Comics.

The first modern-day story arc by writer Greg Rucka and artist Liam Sharp concludes with an issue full of delicious, lush coloring by Laura Martin. Diana and Steve Trevor have arrived in Themyscira at last, but one that’s strangely different than either of them remember. Diana has a hard time recognizing this at first, and when she does, with Steve’s help, she is devastated. What has gone wrong? Meanwhile, Wonder Woman’s handlers and friends are facing a threat from within their own ranks that will tear that group apart. Fine writing, wonderful art, great issue.

Recommended.

Incoming: STARSTRUCK, OLD PROLDIERS NEVER DIE #1

Image © Elaine Lee & Michael Wm. Kaluta.

So, a package arrived from IDW today. Looked like comics. I was puzzled. Didn’t recall lettering anything for IDW. When I opened it, I remembered. I’d done the work directly for Elaine and Michael, as I’ve done since this project began around 1980, and forgot that IDW was publishing the serialized form.

STARSTRUCK runs like a live wire through my professional comics lettering life. It was the first big project I did outside of DC Comics, allowed because it wasn’t being published in direct competition. (HEAVY METAL was the first American publisher, not considered so by DC.) Later I worked on more for Marvel, with special permission from DC, as I was still on staff there then. Later still I worked on it directly for Elaine and Michael again when I was a full-time freelancer, and pages I lettered were published by several more companies.

The lettering credit for this series is complicated. I’m listed as the sole letterer, but it’s not so. There were times when I wasn’t able to work on the series, and other letterers were used. Many of the pages in this issue were not originally lettered by me. Some were lettered by Ken Bruzenak, some by Tim Harkins, at least that’s my judgment based on style. Willie Schubert might be in there too. Michael and Elaine aren’t sure either. There are pages in upcoming issues lettered by John Workman, and then there are new pages here and in future issues that ARE all me. My assignment on the previously lettered pages was to tie things together by redoing all the narrative captions, and add anything new or different Elaine had decided on for this current version, which is expanded and added to from what was originally done. STARSTRUCK is constantly evolving. This storyline is all different from the previous IDW series, though, that was earlier material. If you’re a fan, as I am, you’ll want to check it out.

And Then I Read: LOST AMONG THE STARS by Paul Di Filippo

While I grew up reading lots of science fiction and fantasy short stories in magazines and anthologies, I rarely read them now. Somehow I’m more drawn to novels, where you spend more time in one created space. This collection by my friend Paul Di Filippo was a nice change, and brought me back to the pleasures of short stories, which must work with economy to grab the reader and get him involved quickly. If anything, as Paul says, it’s harder to write short than long, and he does it well.

“City of Beauty, City of Scars” tells of a city where social status is architectural and human flaws are unforgivable. As the girl narrating rises in society and in the levels of the city, her beauty must remain perfect, leaving no room for emotion. Her ambition must leave everyone, even her family behind, and will the reward be worth the price?

“The Kings of Mount Golden” is a story of rivalry between two men, one an inventor, the other his rich patron, over the woman they both love, and then her son, Brannock, who is raised by the patron, but fascinated by his real father, the inventor. Brannock tracks down his father, only to find himself poorly used for a machine that can swap the shapes of two people, his father’s latest invention.

In “Adventures in Cognitive Homogamy,” a scientist is seduced and abducted, but finds his skills used in ways he never expected, and his outlook changing.

“Desperados of the Badlands” imagines a future where technological skins enhance the senses and abilities of those who can afford them, or have jobs that provide them, like Ruy Lambeth, sent to capture vandals in Alberta, Canada’s Dinosaur Provincial Park. These vandals have skills equal to his own, though, and a secret weapon that might bring dinosaurs to life.

Those are a few of the fine stories in this anthology, which I enjoyed a great deal, and recommend.

THE DANNY CRESPI FILES Part 10

This and all images © Marvel.

Continuing my ongoing series about the cover lettering of Danny Crespi at Marvel Comics, mostly from 1974-1978. Photocopies of saved cover lettering from Danny’s files were compiled into a collection by letterer and friend Phil Felix during the 1980s when he worked with Danny on staff at Marvel, and Phil sent me copies. This time I’ll look at pages 37 (above) to 40. On page 37, one item is not like the others. It has a much narrower panel border, the open lettering outlines are also narrower, and the textures are more delicate and perhaps a bit more artful. If you spotted it as “INFERNO,” you’re correct. That’s the work of Gaspar Saladino, clinched by his particular style of open R where the break in the right edge is below the center of the middle stroke, as if it was a P with the right leg added. Here are the sources I’ve found.

“Seattle Under Siege!” from GODZILLA #2, Sept. 1977. Very effective work by Danny. In fact, the letters are so strong, the caption box could have been eliminated. Danny did most of his cover lettering from 1974 to 1979.

“Ghost Town!” from MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #14, March 1976. This cover has too much lettering for my taste, but it all looks fine.

Unlike most of the work in this series, “The Ominous Owl!” is from an interior page, not a cover, the final page of DAREDEVIL #115, Nov. 1974. It does look like the work of Danny Crespi, though possibly it’s by the person who lettered the rest of the page, Charlotte Jetter. If Danny did it, it’s because the subject of the next issue wasn’t known to Charlotte when she lettered the page.

“Thirteenth Floor” from DEAD OF NIGHT #7, Dec. 1974. This lettering works fine.

Samurai!” from BLACK PANTHER #6, Nov. 1977. The rectangular box around SAMURAI is a little awkward, I would have just let those open letters float over the background art, but otherwise this is fine. The shaky style of some letters in that circle becomes hard to notice at the smaller size and held in a blue-green color.

“When a City Dies!” from THE INCREDIBLE HULK #237, July 1979. This works fine, could have been larger, since it’s nearly the only lettering on the page.

“Don’t try to stop me” word balloon from NOVA #14, Oct. 1977. Danny’s word balloons have distinctly wide and very even letters. It’s surprising I was able to find this one, I couldn’t find the other small word balloon on page 37.

“Inferno!” from IRON MAN #137, Aug. 1980. In addition to the clues previously mentioned that indicate this is by Gaspar Saladino rather than Danny Crespi, the date is beyond when Danny was regularly lettering covers. Gaspar was the primary cover letterer for DC Comics starting in the late 1960s, and he began doing the same for Marvel in the early 1970s.

“Himalayan Nightmare” is from MAN-THING #2, Jan. 1980, but probably created in the fall of 1979. It works quite well.

Page 38 of the Crespi Files is mostly by Danny Crespi, though the first caption at upper left is by Gaspar Saladino. Here are the sources I found.

“Dormammu!” from THOR ANNUAL #9, 1981. Again, the date is a solid indication that Danny Crespi didn’t do this one, even if the style wasn’t equally solid.

“Catspaw!” from DAREDEVIL #149, Nov. 1977. Effective lettering by Danny in a nice banner, though unfortunately placed over the foot and sign.

“Crimson Dust of Death!” from SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #30, May 1979. Very effective work by Danny.

“Five Super-Villains” from DAREDEVIL #123, July 1975. Nice lettering on this cover by Danny, though probably too much of it.

“I Killed Kid Colt!” from KID COLT OUTLAW #221, Dec. 1977. The style of the top line is borrowed from veteran Marvel letterer Artie Simek. The bullet holes in the character’s name are a nice touch.

“Shadows of the Past!” from MASTER OF KUNG-FU #92, Sept. 1980. That date suggests this isn’t by Crespi, and is either by Gaspar Saladino or Jim Novak, Gaspar’s best imitator.

“Through the Eyes of the Fly!” from SPIDER-WOMAN #30, Sept. 1980. Again probably not by Danny, and I don’t know who lettered this one. I didn’t find the circular blurb “It’s Action all the way!” or the word balloon on page 38.

Page 39 of the Crespi Files, mostly by Danny. Here are the sources I found.

“May the Farce be With You!” from HOWARD THE DUCK #22, March 1978. Fine lettering by Danny, and it’s interesting to see how the typical Marvel over-the-top cover blurb writing takes a comedic turn on this title. Perhaps it was written by series writer Steve Gerber.

“Savage is the Skull Crusher!” from MASTER OF KUNG FU #61, Feb. 1978. This is my favorite Crespi lettering in this post, very effective layout and lettering, and used at a good size, even though over a character.

Here’s an odd thing on IRON MAN #109, April 1978. The burst balloon at upper left has the same text as the one lettered by Danny Crespi on page 39, but is relettered by someone else, and not as well, in my opinion. The only reason I can think of is that Danny’s balloon was deemed too wide.

“Holocaust” from POWER MAN #47, Oct. 1977. I like the shape and texture behind that word in this work by Danny.

“Cap Smashes Thru!” from CAPTAIN AMERICA #249, Sept. 1980. Too late for Crespi, and this looks more like the work of Gaspar Saladino to me. Very stylish, and I like the use of “thru” instead of through because it fits better.

“A Death in the Family” from THE DEFENDERS #89, Nov. 1980. Again, too late for Crespi and very much in the style of Gaspar Saladino. The texture seems to have been removed from the letters in the printed version, probably just as well with the dark color they used.

“Into Death’s Dimension” from KULL THE DESTROYER #26, April 1978. Danny’s work here looks fine.

“Here I stand” from STAR WARS #4, Oct. 1977. I don’t care for the Crespi caption on this cover, but the word balloons look fine.

“Time to Kill” from GIANT-SIZE FANTASTIC FOUR #2, Aug. 1974. I’m not sure this is by Danny, but it probably is, a pretty early example of his cover lettering, if so.

Page 40 of the Crespi Files, all by Danny except the circular blurb at the left side, which is by Gaspar Saladino. I’ve been unable to find “Wilderness Fury” on a Marvel cover, nor the two solo names in the center. Here are the other sources.

“The Search for Steve Rogers” from CAPTAIN AMERICA #219, March 1978.

That circular blurb, from THE AVENGERS #203, Jan. 1981, and again the late date probably rules out Crespi. Gaspar’s “Crawlers” is wonderfully creepy!

“Surrounded by the Sandman” from SPIDEY SUPER STORIES #26, Sept. 1977. Effective lettering by Danny.

“Shoot-out in Scragg’s Saloon” from THE MIGHTY MARVEL WESTERN #39, June 1975. Fine lettering and caption border by Danny on this cover with too much copy.

“War in Pellucidar” from TARZAN #22, March 1979. The words WAR and IN are very close together, but don’t read together because of the very different styles. Space has been removed between IN and PELLUCIDAR, making that a bit hard to see as two words.

“Museum of the Mad” from THE INCREDIBLE HULK #198, April 1976. I love this lettering by Danny, and it works fine against the black caption fill, though the banner is then hard to see.

That’s it for this installment, more of the Crespi Files when I have time to research them.

And Then I Read: HER MAJESTY, GRACE JONES by Jane Langton

Cover illustration by Emily Arnold McCully.

This is not about the singer, it’s a delightful novel for children written in 1961, but taking place in America in the 1930s. Grace and her family have moved from Boston to Ohio because Grace’s father was promised a factory job there, but when they arrive, that position has been put on hold. Grace, Will and their parents have a new home on a hill overlooking their new town, but almost no money. Everyone is angry with the factory owner, who keeps promising he will be in touch as soon as he can reopen that position, but meanwhile they must gradually sell off their belongings to get by.

Grace is full of imagination, and has decided that she’s secretly a child of the current King of England, and glories in her private royalty. She even writes the King a letter to see if he might help her family out in their hard times. Meanwhile, she and Will and their friends get into all kinds of trouble and adventures, always trying to think of ways to get a little extra money for the family.

When Petunia, the family car, has to be sold, Grace rebels by hiding out in the rumble seat and confronting the new owners angrily when they get the car home. This works out in the end, as the new owners are understanding, and agree to help out the family by taking them on errands in their former car. Other friends are found along the way, as everyone in the country is in much the same situation, waiting for better times to arrive. Grace haunts the mailbox waiting for the King’s reply. Will it ever come?

Recommended. (Previously titled “The Majesty of Grace.”)

And Then I Read: SHADE THE CHANGING GIRL 3

Image © DC Comics.

I find this is a title that goes in and out of focus for me. In focus, I like the story of an avian creature, Loma Shade, inhabiting the body of a human girl on Earth, Megan Boyer, who was formerly in a coma. Loma is reckless and now a criminal back on her homeworld, Meta, having stolen a madness vest, the means of her mental transformation, though her body remains there. On Earth, Loma is having lots of problems adjusting to human life, particularly because Megan turns out to be a cruel person who bullied and tortured many of those who knew her. It seems likely her coma was not accidental. Megan/Loma has made a few friends who try to help her, but mostly she’s hated.

Back on Meta, we follow the life of Loma’s friend Lepuck Ledo, and the search for the missing madness vest, and there things get hazy for me. Not sure where that’s going or why it’s important. Then there’s another hazy area, a threatening female form approaching Earth. Finally, there’s a Dial H for Hero backup that I can’t get interested in, but it’s just three pages.

I find parts of this book interesting, and want to read more, but I can only mildly recommend it.

Incoming: JACK OF FABLES DELUXE HC Book 1

Image © DC Comics and Bill Willingham.

Just arrived, in the same format as the FABLES Deluxe Editions, which means slightly larger than originally printed, and on much better paper, so it looks great. Available soon, I expect.

Listening To: THE END OF ETERNITY by Isaac Asimov

Amazon Prime recently added some “free” Audible content, and this is the second classic science fiction novel I’ve listened to from there, the first being Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.” It’s read by Paul Boehmer, an unabridged version, 8 hours and 11 minutes long. I listened to it periodically over the last month.

The first thing that I noticed was the contrast in writing style and approach to characters with the Heinlein. Asimov’s world, at least in this book (and others, from what I remember) is filled with scientists and other logical thinkers, and his characters seem cold, emotionless and generally less appealing than Heinlein’s. That does change some later in the book, and is even explained at the end, but while both writers are focused on big ideas, Heinlein doesn’t lose sight of human nature and his characters are more flawed but more appealing. His authorial voice is warmer, at times even funny. None of that in Asimov.

Andrew Harlan is an Eternal, part of a vast network of scientists, engineers and their support staff that exist in a place outside time. Time travel using time machines is discovered in our future and the Eternals set out to control events by making small changes to reality they believe will improve life in general and help mankind as a whole. The vast majority of people have no idea this is happening, and they can’t see the changes, only the Eternals can. Changes are carefully examined and debated, and some have only minor effects on the path of future history, while others are large: avoiding nuclear war, for instance. The downside is, some lives are greatly changed or removed from reality completely.

Harlan is a proficient Eternal agent, but a new assignment partners him with a beautiful and charming non-Eternal woman, Noys, who he falls in love with. Breaking Eternal rules, Harlan discovers the change he is assigned to make in her time will remove Noys from history completely. Unable to let that happen, Harlan secretly brings Noys to a far-future time and hides her there.

Back at his Eternal job, Harlan finds himself training a man who will later make possible the entire Eternal program, so that he can be sent back in time before the first time machine, to set the process in motion. But Harlan suspects his secret has been discovered and he’s being tested. Will he risk removing the entire Eternal project to save Noys, and will he even be allowed to try?

A good story, well-conceived time travel ideas, but not many appealing characters, and a generally claustrophobic cold-war atmosphere. I probably didn’t notice that when I first read this as a young man. Still, well worth reading or listening to.

 

Pulled From My Files #48: JIMMY OLSEN LOGO

Images © DC Comics.

In 1996 I was asked by Janice Walker of DC’s Licensing Department to design a logo for Jimmy Olsen that would be only used on licensed products. I began with three hand-drawn sketches in pencil, inked with markers, as was my usual method. This first one was meant to suggest Jimmy’s handwriting, and is not very successful.

The second sketch is some where between that and a more traditional logo approach, still informal and with no straight lines, but having some traditional type characteristics and an open drop shadow to give it depth.

The third sketch followed the same basic idea of lower case with initial caps and some informal bounce, but all the verticals were ruled straight. Janice liked this the best, and asked for more variations of it.

I scanned the sketch and traced it in Adobe Illustrator to create a vector logo, then added an old-fashioned box camera and flash for this version, playing on Jimmy’s photographer role in some of the comics and the first Superman movie.

Here the camera is just an idea symbolized by the small flash on the I and the receding shadow. Janice liked this a lot, but asked to have the shadow separated by a hairline of white so it could be more easily color-separated.

Here’s that version, which I think is the one sent in as final. I’ve never seen it in use anywhere, but the idea was for the hairlines to be filled in by the same color used for the shadow. Version 5 is a better idea of what that should look like. I’m happy with the way it turned out.