Todd Klein's Blog, page 196

And Then I Read: SURVIVORS’ CLUB #5

Cover illustration by Bill Sienkievicz.

This issue kicks things back to the larger story of a 1980s video game that has twisted the lives of a group of young people who played it back when, and is returning to mess with them again. Some have gone off the deep end, others are already strange enough in their own ways to apparently hold their own. The pair of sisters who are somehow more than human are creepy and fascinating as they interrogate one of the less lucky folks. Another escapes from a mental hospital to wreak havoc in a hospital. Meanwhile, two men in Portland who seem to have resurrected the hellish game are making their own plans, and somebody has a really nasty neck bite with something hidden in it. I don’t quite know what to make of this book, but it has me in its grip, even though I have no interest in video games. The characters, the writing and the art are all good reasons!

Recommended.

THE DANNY CRESPI FILES Part 5

Images © Marvel.

To recap, in 1984 letterer Phil Felix put together a large collection of photocopied cover lettering while working in the Marvel Bullpen alongside Danny Crespi, the Production Manager at the time, and a fine letterer himself. Most of the lettering is by Danny, as on this page, #17 in the collection, and it comes mainly from 1974-1978 when Danny was lettering most of Marvel’s covers. I’ve found many of the covers where it was used, and I’ll show them after each page. This article covers pages 17-20 of the Phil Felix collection. Note that the original lettering in black and white often looks better than on the printed covers where it sometimes gets lost in color and surrounding art.

“Doctor Octopus” from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #158, July 1976. Note that, as here, multiple word balloons were lettered separately. Photostat copies were made at the size needed, and connectors and tails were then added when it was pasted on the cover art.

“he Stays Dead!” from MARVEL TEAM-UP #29, Jan. 1975. The top line of lettering has been reversed by making a negative phototstat, and the arrow has been filled with black around the rest of the open lettering.

Two word balloons from KID COLT OUTLAW #197, Aug. 1975. The bold word UP on a single line is an unusual choice for Danny.

“Mr. Fish!” from POWER MAN #29, Feb. 1976. Danny had a distinctive burst balloon style, and this one looks great.

“Psycho-Man” from MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS #59, Oct. 1975. There’s a lot going on here, but the lettering still works.

Page 19. I really like the “MARVEL COMICS” at the bottom, but don’t know where it was used. I think these are all by Danny.

“Day of the Devastator!” from THE INCREDIBLE HULK #186, April 1975. Another handsome burst.

“Battle of the Brutes” from THE INCREDIBLE HULK #179, Sept. 1974.

“Revealed!” from FANTASTIC FOUR #194, May 1978.

“Arena” from CAPTAIN AMERICA #189, Sept. 1975. Thanks to Kurt Busiek for finding this and several others! “For a Fallen Hero!” is set in headline type, so it may have been a last-minute addition.

“Behind the Locked Door?” from CRYPT OF SHADOWS #12, Sept. 1974. Note the top line has been changed from what Danny originally lettered.

I believe Page 19 is again all by Danny Crespi. Note his style of running straight caption borders beyond the corners. The extra lines could then be trimmed off to form a sharp corner on the photostat when pasting it on the cover art.

“Panic in the City” from GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING #4, May 1975. This lettering is in a banner, something Danny didn’t do often.

“Blood Church!” from MARVEL TEAM-UP #35, July 1975. The drop shadow helps this display lettering stand out and read well.

“Jester!” from DAREDEVIL #136, Aug. 1976. I like the green fill on the word, tying to the character’s costume.

“Impossible!” from THE HUMAN TORCH #8, Nov. 1975.

“The Trap is Sprung!” from GIANT-SIZE MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #2, July 1975. And what an overly long title that is! Lots of lettering work for Danny on this cover montage, which I think is kind of a mess visually.

“Shoot on Sight!” from WESTERN GUNFIGHTERS #30, July 1975. The organic feel of the open lettering and the ragged paper caption work very well on this western cover.

Page 20 is again, I feel, all by Danny Crespi. I’m getting pretty good now at noticing quirks of his style, like his tendency to turn up the right leg of the letter R, his distinctive burst shapes, and his wide, classic regular lettering. “Showdown Day!” shows the influence of veteran Marvel cover letterer Artie Simek. Unfortunately, it wasn’t used. See below.

“Attack of the Midnight Monster!” from CONAN THE BARBARIAN ANNUAL #2, 1976. Another nice banner.

“Megaman!” from NOVA #9, May 1977.

“Trouble Times Two!”  and a word balloon from FANTASTIC FOUR #187, Oct. 1977. The dot shading on this caption works well against the white letters.

“Monster Spawned in Hell!” from KULL THE DESTROYER #18, Dec. 1976. The word “MONSTER” has been relettered to work better in reverse white against the green background, which I don’t care for.

“Fear in Funland!” from THE HUMAN FLY #6, Feb. 1978. I love this lettering, both in the original black and reversed and filled with orange on the cover. FEAR shows the influence of Gaspar Saladino, I think.

“Night of the Gorilla God!” from MARVEL PREMIERE #34, Feb. 1977. A simple thing like those little crack lines at the top and bottom of the open letters adds a great deal of character.

“Showdown Day!” is the title of CAPTAIN AMERICA #210, and I think Danny lettered it in the style of Artie Simek to match the Jack Kirby art, but the cover copy was later changed. Too bad, I like what Danny did better! The revised lettering is also probably by Danny.

More when I have time to research them. Other parts of this study and more articles you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

 

Incoming: KINGDOM COME 20th Anniversary Hardcover

Image © DC Comics.

Another new version of something I lettered that I wasn’t expecting. I’m no longer getting “Diamond Previews,” so I don’t see what’s coming anymore. KINGDOM COME was a great project to be involved in, I loved the art and the story. It was lettered by hand about 20 years ago, even though I was just starting to letter on the computer in 1996. Mostly it was lettered on vellum placed over photocopies of the art, so I didn’t see much of the art in color until the book came out. I loved it even more then. I think this wraparound cover by Alex Ross is new, at least I hope so. Least they could do for the anniversary. It’s nice to see the font I created for and with Alex being used on the title, but the lettering/type nerd in me sees several kerning errors: too much space between the first O and M, too little between the D and O and C and O. I’m sure most of you would never have noticed that, sorry…

More about working with Alex on this project and others is HERE.

And Then I Read: THE LAST COMPANION Chapter One

Image © William Neal McPheeters.

Two friends and partners have traveled from the far future to a time that’s still well in the future for us, a time of war between robots and men. They’re on a mission to retrieve an item containing important knowledge. The setting is in the canyons of the American southwest. Ted, the man in the green shirt above, and Robear, the gun-toting intelligent bear, soon find themselves involved with a group of Native Americans who are the target of both robots and other humans. A red raven leads Ted and Robear to the woman named Raven and her friends, and the pair from the future agree to help them to a safe haven. Along the way, Ted and Raven become more than friends, and all face many dangers in the perilous war-torn canyon country.

My friend Neal McPheeters gave me an advance copy of his 64-page graphic novel to read, and I enjoyed it a great deal. I think you will, too. It combines elements of science fiction, western, action/adventure and other genres, but the characters and dialogue are what make it fun to read. It’s not yet published. In fact, it’s being Kickstarted. You can get in on the adventure HERE. Neal and I have known each other and occasionally worked together since the 1980s, and his latest project is one close to his heart, and well worth your support. And, hey, there’s a smart-ass talking bear with a gun!

And Then I Read: TUNNELS by Gordon & Williams

Cover illustration © David Wyatt.

The Burrows family (get it?) has a father and son who share a similar obsession: digging holes and tunnels. Dr. Burrows is the curator of a small museum, and always looking for artifacts and lost bits of history, while his fourteen-year-old son Will simply enjoys the process of digging into the earth. Will’s mother seems to be addicted to watching television and does little else, and his sister Rebecca, the most practical member of the family, is stuck with the cooking, cleaning and scheduling, which she’s not happy about. Will and his father make a dig into some remarkable ruins, but their progress seems to be constantly thwarted by someone or some group that keeps filling up their tunnels. Meanwhile, Dr. Burrows is on the trail of mysterious characters lurking in their neighborhood who might be connected to their findings.

One morning the family awakes to find that Dr. Burrows has disappeared from his own basement study. Will and his friend Chester begin to investigate, and Will is determined to find out what happened. They discover a hidden tunnel entrance in the room, but it’s again filled in. Undaunted, Will and Chester re-dig the tunnel until it opens out into an underground world they can barely believe. That’s only the beginning of their troubles. Soon, they’re caught and imprisoned in a secret underground city that has been cut off from the surface world for many decades. Most curious of all, some of the citizens there declare that Will is their long-lost relative!

I enjoyed this book in general, but there were two areas that I had problems with. First, the scope of the underground world beneath modern London is so vast and complex it strained belief. Fortunately the characters and story line otherwise were engaging enough to overcome that for me. It’s a long thrill ride through inventive creations and underground perils of all kinds, and in that way, a good read. The other problem is there’s no satisfying resolution at the end of the 472 pages, just unresolved problems that are “to be continued” in the next book. That’s okay for a 22 page comic, but I expect more from a novel, especially one this long. Because of that, I can only mildly recommend the book, but if it sounds appealing to you, and you’re willing to sign on for the entire series, go for it.

Incoming: MISS FINCH REPRINTED

Image © Michael Zulli and Dark Horse Books.

Here’s something I wasn’t expecting, a reprint of “Miss Finch,” the graphic adaptation of the Neil Gaiman story with art by Michael Zulli. I’m credited as “script adaptation and lettering.” How did that come about? This project was in the works for a few years. About once a year editor Diana Schutz would call me and talk about it, making sure I still wanted to letter it. Michael is a wonderful artist, but meticulous and pretty slow. Once he was done, a friend of Neil’s, Olga Nunes, did a lettering script, but Diana was not happy with it. Eventually she called me to say, “I don’t know what to do about this script.” I offered to take a look and see if I could come up with something she liked better. I rewrote the lettering script based on what Olga had done, but avoiding problems like describing what the art showed, things like that. Olga had the right idea, just not the experience of working in graphic storytelling. Diana was happy, so was Neil, and I was able to letter the book so it could be finished up and published. In the first printing, there’s a credit that reads, “with special thanks to Olga Nunes.” I’m sorry it’s not in the new version, she deserves mention. Some of her work definitely made it onto the pages, though I’m no longer sure how much. Both of us drew from the Gaiman story as much as possible.

Really like the new cover design by Rick DeLucco. Great type design, and it shows off the cover art beautifully.

And Then I Read: JACKED #5

Image © DC Comics.

Josh, the middle-aged man who tried to solve his problems with the wonder-pill called “Jacked” keeps getting in deeper with every issue. Now he’s hallucinating about being a super-hero. It’s true he does have drug-enhanced strength and resilience, but he hardly knows who he’s really up against, can’t tell the real attackers from the fantasy ones. Only his “sidekick,” the dangerous girl-next-door, knows what’s really going on, and who they have to kill to survive. Meanwhile, Josh is longing for his family, who are with his wife’s sister. Too bad he’s not the only person who knows that…

I enjoyed this issue more than the last one. The fantasy element makes it more entertaining and less depressing, though it’s hard to see how Josh’s life can turn around from the hole he’s dug himself.

Recommended.

The World Series of Birding 2016, an earnest request for your help

Three weeks from yesterday, Saturday May 14th, is the annual outdoor escapade and fundraiser known as The World Series of Birding. I’ve signed up with the Cape May Bird Observatory Century Run team as I have many times in the past. It’s the only fundraiser I participate in. Along with lots of other teams we will attempt to spot as many bird species as possible on that day. The top teams will go from midnight to midnight, and cover the entire state of New Jersey. Our Century Run team’s goals are a little more relaxed: we go from 5 AM to about 9 PM and stay within Cape May County. It’s still an exhausting marathon to test one’s determination and stamina, but usually a lot of fun, too. Each participant pledges a minimum of $1 per species seen, which one can supplement with pledges from friends and family. And that, gentle readers, is where you can participate!

As in the past, I’m encouraging you to make a pledge for my WSB big day, to help me raise funds for the Cape May Bird Observatory, part of New Jersey Audubon, and their valuable mission of conservation, education and research. You can pledge any amount, but the usual method is to pledge per species seen. Last year our total was 119 species, not our best effort due to foggy weather. A more typical total is 130 species. If we tally 130 species, a pledge of 50 cents per would result in a monetary gift of $65. A pledge of $1 per species would mean a gift of $130. As a bonus, I’m offering any of my Signed Prints as incentives: for a pledge of 50 cents per species, the print of your choice, for $1 per species, any two! Higher pledges are welcome and will garner more prints in the same ratio. Pledges lower than 50 cents will get you a signed comic or two that I lettered, my choice, if you would like that. Pledges of any amount down to 10 cents per species are welcome, or if you’d rather make a flat rate donation, that’s fine, too. All pledges will support education about and preservation of New Jersey wildlife and natural resources, as well as garner my enduring gratitude!

Here’s a LINK to my blog about last year’s WSB Century Run, if you’d care to read it. And if you’d like to pledge, click the CONTACT ME link here or in the right column of this page and let me know by email. I’ll be collecting pledges until May 13th. Our team will be out there tallying on the 14th, rain or shine, hoping for good weather and lots of migrating birds. Who knows, maybe this year we’ll hit the ever elusive goal of 150 species. That would be fabulous!

Snake and Turtle

While out for a walk this morning I came upon a 4-foot Black Rat Snake stretched out on the trail. It was very rippled, as if flexing muscles, but did not move when I got close for the first picture. Was it dead? Asleep?

I nudged its tail, and it quickly coiled into defensive position. Not dead. Should have left it alone! I’ve never seen a snake do that rippled look before.

Later, searching online, I found this explanation: one unusual characteristic of the Black Rat Snake is that when it senses danger, it freezes and takes on a rippled posture. The first photo clearly shows that posture, it must have thought I was some sort of threat to it. Like most big and scary animals, they’re usually more afraid of you than you are of it!

I also saw my first Eastern Box Turtle of the year. One creature that has no fear of snakes. If threatened, it closes up, of course.

And Then I Read: UNFOLLOW #6

This issue of UNFOLLOW focuses on one character, the man who calls himself Deacon of the Lord. He’s currently wounded and in a hospital bed on the island of Ferrell, the billionaire whose fortune he and 137 others are due to inherit…or however many of them survive. There were 140 to start with.

Deacon is remembering earlier times when the Lord first spoke to him, and told him to take vengeance on some bikers who were mistreating a couple of teenagers they’d kidnapped. That didn’t go so well for him. Here on the island, he’s accosted by the masked man who has already shown he’s very violent, too. Deacon is in no position to protect himself. The doctor who helped Deacon is still here, though most of the 138 have left. Now he decides to flee by plane with Deacon. The masked man may have other ideas.

This storyline has turned more violent more quickly than I expected, but is still gripping and well written by Rob Williams and well illustrated by R. M. Guéra. The insight into Deacon is unexpected but fascinating.

Recommended.