Todd Klein's Blog, page 51

And Then I Read: THE OBELISK GATE and THE STONE SKY by N. K. Jemisin

Recently I read and reviewed the first book in Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy, “The Fifth Season,” and loved it. I try to alternate books I read among different authors, but this series is so good, I couldn’t resist reading the second and third books of the trilogy in quick succession, and I liked them just as much. All three books won the Hugo Award, three years in a row, a first for a trilogy. They are great reads. I’m keeping my comments on these two general and broad, to avoid spoilers.

The narrative in the first book jumps around in time and focuses on several female characters and one male character with important roles to play in the story, and only gradually over the extent of the first book do we come to understand fully the relationships of these characters. The setting is a world continually rocked by earthquakes, volcanoes, and similar disruptions that wreak havoc on the people who live on its one giant continent. Those people see the world itself as an enemy. One small group of inhabitants is born with special powers over such events, and they often quell the effects, but can also cause them. That makes them distrusted and hated by those who don’t have that power. The orogenes, as they’re called, live in fear among regular people: if they are found out, their lives are in danger. One group of orogenes has been trained to serve the ruling government, but the immense eruption and cataclysm that begins the first book essentially destroys that government.

In the first book, at the time of The Rift, the event that broke the continent in two, Essun has been discovered as a hidden orogene living in a small community far from any city. It happened when her husband detected the orogene power of her young son and immediately killed the child. Then he ran away with their daughter Nassun, even though she too is an orogene. Essun is forced to flee her home as well, searching for Nassun, and is taken in by a community run by other orogenes, where she finds a new place for a while.

In the first book, we learn nothing of Nassun, but in the second and third her story is told, and becomes the second main narrative alongside that of her mother Essun. Nassun’s orogene power is massive, but mostly untrained. Her father takes her to a place he hopes can remove that power, but there Nassun is given more training and finds a new mission in life. Meanwhile, Essun’s new home is under attack from an overwhelming army. In the later two books we also learn much more about the strange people known as stone eaters, who can move within the earth at will, and their origin brings new meaning to all the horrible things happening on this planet. Will either Essun or Nassun find a way to stop the destruction? Several characters from the first book return in unexpected ways, acting as teachers and friends when we might have assumed they’d perished. Many other surprising revelations keep the story gripping, and it all builds to a satisfying conclusion.

Highly recommended!

The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate by N K Jemisin

The Stone Sky by N K Jemisin

The post And Then I Read: THE OBELISK GATE and THE STONE SKY by N. K. Jemisin appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in THOR Part 1

All images © Marvel. From THOR #208, Feb 1973

Thor began in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83, and became the main feature in that book. With issue #126 the title changed to simply THOR on the indicia (THE MIGHTY was only on the cover), and ran for 378 issues until 1996. Gaspar Saladino began lettering covers in 1973 and did many of them, as well as some page ones on stories, and one full story. I’m dividing this study into two parts by date, with totals listed at the end of Part 2. On Gaspar’s first cover, above, look for his angular balloon lettering and lots of display lettering with sharp corners. The other main cover letterer beginning around this time was staffer Danny Crespi, and their work can be similar, but Crespi’s is generally more rounded and softer looking.

From THOR #209, March 1973

On some of these covers, like the first two, the penciler was Gaspar’s friend Gil Kane, who may have asked for his lettering. Here the word DRUID is the most interesting thing, rough and textured with a serifs on just the top end.

From THOR #212, June 1973

Marvel often had Saladino letter just the first page of stories otherwise lettered by others, I think because they felt his energy and skill might sell comics to browsers. His title on this issue is strong enough to be a logo, though the top line is press-down type, and the sound effects are exciting.

From THOR #214, Aug 1973

Gaspar had many styles of open display lettering, but he liked the kind of wonky uneven look seen in this bottom caption, and it adds interest missing in straight block letters.

From THOR #217, Nov 1973

There’s so much dynamic display lettering on this cover I almost missed the press-down type on the first line of the top caption. Gaspar did this at times in the 1970s, even though his own lettering looked better.

From THOR #219, Jan 1974

This is the one issue with full story lettering by Saladino, using his pen name L.P. Gregory. Anyone who knew his work would know it immediately from the impressive flaming letters in the title.

From THOR #220, Feb 1974

Gaspar liked to connect open letters, and it usually worked well, but on small ones not always, as with the third line of the bottom blurb here.

From THOR #230, Dec 1974

An important aspect of cover lettering is knowing what and how to emphasize things. Gaspar does that well in both these captions.

From THOR #240, Oct 1975

Here WRATH gets extra emphasis while OF next to it is lower case to recede in importance. Also true of WAR in the bottom banner.

From THOR #243, Jan 1976

When Saladino lettered just the first story page, he always credited the letterer of the rest, but their style was often quite different, as here with Joe Rosen, whose lettering was smaller and narrower. The Art Deco flavor of TIME-STREAM is appealing and intriguing.

From THOR #244, Feb 1976

Gaspar used any balloon shape that fit the space available, but bursts were always popular to add drama. He even did a partial one on the bottom left caption.

From THOR #245, March 1976

Two circular blurbs in a row on these covers, and Gaspar usually gave them at least a double outline, sometimes triple.

From THOR #245, March 1976

In this title, the first THE is tucked into the T of TEMPLE to allow that word to be larger, while TIME looks like it’s trying to escape the page and being held by the caption.

From THOR #246, April 1976

More fine flaming letters with texture in this bottom caption.

From THOR #247, May 1976

I love the banner in this first caption! More flaming letters in the title banner.

From THOR #249, July 1976

Look at the energy and creative styles of this title, it jumps off the page.

From THOR #251, Sept 1976

The angular style of this title is a nice change of pace, and Saladino’s credits always seem to add importance, which I’m sure the creators liked.

From THOR #252, Oct 1976

Another great title with dry-brush work on DRAGON. It’s odd that letterer Joe Rosen’s name is at the bottom, perhaps Gaspar left it out of the credits by mistake, and added it later when it was pointed out to him.

From THOR #253, Nov 1976

In the blurb under the logo, the thin, elegant style of the first part contrasts well with the thick block letters of ULIK.

From THOR #253, Nov 1976

These credits get the royal treatment, and notice how the rough styles at each end of the title balance each other.

That’s half of Saladino’s work on this book, more in Part 2, where I will list everything. Other articles in this series are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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GASPAR SALADINO in SPIDER-MAN

All images © Marvel. From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #2, Jan 1977

I’ve already written about THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, this article covers several other Spider-Man titles beginning with this one, a second major title for the character that had a long and successful run of 263 issues from 1976 to 1998. Gaspar Saladino lettered the first page only of some stories, but just one of the covers. Marvel often hired him for these first page assignments I think because they felt his talent and energy might sell comics to browsers. The dynamic title on this first example shows he delivered on that promise. Gaspar always put in the name of the letterer of the remaining pages if he knew it, and their work was generally quite different. In this case there were two letterers, suggesting this was a rush job, not a good sign on the second issue of a series.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #3, Feb 1977

I wasn’t sure about this page one because the title seems a bit off of Saladino’s usual skill and size, but the rest is certainly by him, so call it an off day, or perhaps the treatment of LIGHTMASTER was an experiment that didn’t work well.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #4, March 1977

This title gets back on track with exciting and scary letters for VULTURE.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #5, April 1977

Another eye-grabbing title, and here Gaspar adds Art Deco style to the credits, as he sometimes liked to do.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #8, July 1977

This title uses lower case for variety and rough shapes and heavier outlines on SURVIVE for emphasis.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #14, Jan 1978

This divided story title uses four styles that all work together for a dramatic effect, while echoing a popular song title.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #24, Nov 1978

Here the title is a parody of a popular movie logo, or at least it suggests one, Gaspar didn’t go too close to the original.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #25, Dec 1978

Here Gaspar lettered the title spread, two pages, and the title this time is a pun based on another song title. Writer Bill Mantlo was obviously having fun with them. The treatment of CARRION is effective brush lettering.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #26, Jan 1979

Another line from a song in this title, which artfully follows the shape of the character’s cape.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #29, April 1979

The image I found is not good, but you can see how cleverly Saladino created the title out of dust piles.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #35, Oct 1979

The dynamic title on this page is eclipsed by an even more eye-catching Saladino sound effect.

From THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2, 1980

Gaspar’s final work on the title was lettering for this cover, which includes a great character logo.

From SPIDER-MAN, STORM AND POWER MAN, no number, 1982

Next we have several one-shot giveaways. This one was done for the American Cancer Society about the dangers of smoking. Saladino lettered the evocative bottom blurb.

From SPIDER-MAN FIRESTAR AND ICEMAN AT THE DALLAS BALLET NUTCRACKER, no number, 1983

I think the title sums things up for this one. No lettering by Saladino on the cover, but he did letter the main story inside.

From SPIDER-MAN FIRESTAR AND ICEMAN AT THE DALLAS BALLET NUTCRACKER, no number, 1983

Here’s a page of the original art with Gaspar’s lettering, though there’s one balloon by someone else in the second panel, see if you can spot it.

From SPIDER-MAN POWER PACK #1, 1984

This story appeared in a giveaway comic in support of the prevention of child abuse. Gaspar used his favorite pen name, L.P. Gregory (from the names of his own children) for his credit. Great title.

From SPIDER-MAN HI-C MINI-COMICS #1, 1987

For another giveaway minicomic, Saladino lettered just the first page of the main story. I haven’t found an image of it.

From SPIDER-MAN #27, Oct 1992

An adjectiveless Spider-Man title began in 1990 and ran for 100 issues. Gaspar lettered two stories for it, this is the first…

From SPIDER-MAN #28, Nov 1992

…with the second half in the next issue. Looks like an interesting story with fine creators, and Gaspar’s lettering enhances the package.

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on these two covers: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2 and SPIDERMAN STORM AND POWER MAN. Below are the details of his story lettering.

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN page 1 only on these issues: 2-5, 8, 14, 24, 26, 29, 35, pages 2-3 on issue 25.

SPIDER-MAN FIRESTAR AND ICEMAN AT THE DALLAS BALLET NUTCRACKER: 16pp

SPIDER-MAN POWER PACK #1: 8pp

SPIDER-MAN HI-C MINI-COMIC #1: page 1 only

SPIDER-MAN #27: 24pp

SPIDER-MAN #28: 24pp

That’s 85 pages in all. More articles in this series are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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GASPAR SALADINO in OTHER S TITLES

All images © Marvel. From SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL #5, Aug 1973

Here’s a collection of Marvel titles with only one or two examples of Gaspar Saladino lettering in each. I’ll go through them in alphabetical order, letting the photo captions fill you in on titles and dates. On this cover, Gaspar’s typically wide, angular balloon lettering is enhanced by the special balloon style at upper left. Saladino also lettered NEKRA, but ENTER is type.

From SHOGUN WARRIORS #9, Oct 1979

The creative design of this title is impressive, with great use of lower case letters.

From SOLO AVENGERS #19, July 1989

A fairly late example from Saladino at Marvel, this story has great upper and lower case captions.

From SON OF SATAN #8, Feb 1977

Saladino lettered just the first page of this story, and played up DEVIL in the title effectively.

From SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #15, Dec 1973

This title became the starting point for a popular series with issue #15. Saladino lettered the captions.

From SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #15, Dec 1973

I think he also lettered the first page of the story. The style of the first caption is hard to identify, some of it may be lettered by another person, but the credits are definitely by Saladino.

From SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #16, Feb 1974

These captions are full of Gaspar’s creative styles. After this the book took on the name of the feature and had a long run as MASTER OF KUNG FU, which I’ve already covered.

From SPOOF #5, May 1973

Here’s the first page of a story lettered by Gaspar for this short-lived humor series. He decided not to add his own name to the credits. The title style is similar to early Mad Magazine work by Ben Oda.

From SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS #12, April 1975

In addition to designing the feature logo on this cover, Gaspar lettered the caption.

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on these covers:

SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL 5

SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION 15-16

SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS 12

That’s four in all. Below are the details of his story lettering.

SHOGUN WARRIORS #9: page 1 only

SOLO AVENGERS #19: 11pp

SON OF SATAN #8: page 1 only

SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #15: page 1 only

SPOOF #5: 8pp

That’s a total of 22 pages. More articles in this series and others you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in OTHER S TITLES appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS

All images © Marvel. From SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS #7, May 1986

This prestige twelve-issue series from Marvel’s Epic line combined swords and sorcery with science fiction. Gaspar Saladino lettered the stories in issues 7-12. I’ll show one page from each issue. His first, above, has well-made captions. I’m not sure if the decorative initial caps are lettered by him or press-down type.

From SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS #8, July 1986

Gaspar could always be counted on to add drama where needed, as he did here with a burst, display lettering, and rough balloon shapes.

From SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS #9, Sept 1986

The large T in this second caption definitely looks hand-lettered. Notice those little zig-zags in the upper caption border to add interest? Saladino had been using that style choice occasionally since his very first comics lettering in 1949.

From SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS #10, Nov 1986

Here the T in the caption matches the Asian style of the title.

From SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS #11, Jan 1987

This is a more typical Saladino story title. The large rough balloon full of energetic display lettering again adds to the drama.

From SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS #12, March 1987

Clearly this was a dramatic, or melodramatic series, and Gaspar knew just where to emphasize that with larger display lettering and rough balloon shapes.

To sum up, here are the details of Saladino’s story lettering.

#7 May 1986: 30pp

#8 July 1986: 31pp

#9 Sept 1986: 30pp

#10 Nov 1986: 31pp

#11 Jan 1987: 31pp

#12 March 1987: 32pp

That’s 185 pages in all. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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GASPAR SALADINO in SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP

All images © Marvel. From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #16, May 1979

It was rare for Marvel to try to compete with DC Comics’ domination of the word SUPER, but they did it on this title which ran 17 issues from 1975 to 1980. Gaspar Saladino lettered the last two covers and quite a few story pages. I’ll look at the covers first. The treatment of SKULL ISLAND on the bottom blurb here is pure Gaspar.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #17, June 1980

If the bottom blurb were missing from this cover, I’d be unable to decide who lettered it, but his rough, textured style there again clinches it.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #1, Aug 1975

Now the page one lettering, which Marvel had Gaspar do on many books in the 1970s, I think to help sell comics to browsers, and it also gave the line a more cohesive look. The style of CHAPTER ONE and the rough lettering of SLAYERS are diagnostic.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #3, Dec 1975

More rough, strong brush-style lettering on this title. Gaspar always credited the letterer of the remaining pages, whose style was often quite different.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #7, Aug 1976

Interesting to see Henry Kissinger showing up on this page, and not a bad likeness. Gaspar knocks it out of the park with the style of SHROUD.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #8, Oct 1976

Even with such a dark color behind it, Saladino’s title jumps out.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #10, Feb 1977

Here SKULL dominates the page, made larger by tucking the second L into the first.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #12, June 1977

Two words in the title, great contrast between them. DEATH is one of the most common title words in comics, and Gaspar always played it up with scary styles.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #13, Aug 1977

One way to add gravitas and dignity to captions is with a scroll border, as Saladino did here on two of them.

From SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #14, Oct 1977

Three styles in this title all working well together, and WINNING! has so much energy it runs off the title border in two directions!

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on two covers: 16 and 17. He also lettered the first story page on these issues: 1, 3, 7-8, 10, 12-14, eight in all. Other articles in this series and more you might like are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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GASPAR SALADINO in SUB-MARINER

All images © Marvel. From SUB-MARINER #59, March 1973

This title ran 72 issues from 1968 to 1974. Gaspar Saladino lettered covers and first story pages during the last two years of the run. His first cover, above, has his wide, angular balloon lettering, and somewhat atypical open lettering in the caption, but again very angular with pointed corners. The other main cover letterer at the time, Danny Crespi, did open lettering that was usually more rounded.

From SUB-MARINER #60, April 1973

Two word balloons and an open letter blurb by Saladino on this cover, he didn’t do the logo or the subtitle next to it.

From SUB-MARINER #62, June 1973

Gaspar was often asked to letter just the first page of stories otherwise lettered by others, in this case Shelly Leferman, and the elegant script in the credits is a good clue to Saladino’s involvement.

From SUB-MARINER #64, Aug 1973

More balloon lettering by Gaspar, and the styles in the caption are a clear indication of his work.

From SUB-MARINER #65, Sept 1973

The bottom caption here is full of Gaspar’s creative talent, I love the arrow in DEVIL, suggesting a devil’s tail. I think the words FOR and AM are press-down type.

From SUB-MARINER #66, Oct 1973

A fine title, and another style of script in the credits.

From SUB-MARINER #67, Nov 1973

Saladino occasionally used nearly rectangular balloons, as in the top one here, and the rough heavy border on the second balloon is a way he added drama.

From SUB-MARINER #67, Nov 1973

I like the large S in this title, and I like how the passing of Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett is noted in the lettering too.

From SUB-MARINER #69, March 1974

The letter shapes in the caption here are a strong indication of Saladino’s work.

From SUB-MARINER #69, March 1974

Three lettering styles in the title for contrast and emphasis, and I love the burst with the pointing arrow on the right.

From SUB-MARINER #70, May 1974

Gaspar lettered all of this except the second line of the first caption, where he use a style of type also seen on other covers by him, probably press-down type.

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on these covers: 59-60, 64-65, 67, 69-70, that’s seven in all. He also did page one lettering on these issues: 62, 66-67, 69, four in all.

Other articles in this series are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in SUB-MARINER appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in STRANGE TALES

All images © Marvel. From STRANGE TALES #169, Sept 1973

The original long-running STRANGE TALES from Marvel ended in 1968, and had no Gaspar Saladino involvement. In 1973 they brought it back for 20 more issues, and for that run, Gaspar lettered this one cover and several stories as well as the first pages of a few stories otherwise lettered by others. Here the logos and both blurbs are by Saladino using some of his scary styles.

From STRANGE TALES #170, Oct 1973

Gaspar was often asked to letter just the first page of a story, I think because Marvel felt his skill and energy might convince a few browsers to buy the issue. This title with flaming letters works well.

From STRANGE TALES #171, Dec 1973

Gaspar also lettered a few full stories under his pen name L.P. Gregory (from the names of his kids). He was not yet getting printed credit for lettering at DC Comics, his main employer, and probably felt it better not to do that at Marvel, though anyone who knew his style could figure it out.

From STRANGE TALES #172, Feb 1974

I love the title on this story, which benefits from his dry-brush lettering on Fog.

From STRANGE TALES #173, April 1974

Three full issues in a row is about the closest Saladino came to a regular story lettering gig at Marvel in the 1970s. It’s interesting to note that everyone else in the credits had careers at DC Comics too, either before this, after, or both.

From STRANGE TALES #174, June 1974

Back to just the first page for this issue. GOLEM could be a cover logo.

From STRANGE TALES #11, Feb 1988

Marvel brought the title back again in 1987 as home to two features, Cloak & Dagger and Dr. Strange. Gaspar lettered just this one story for it, still using his pen name, though he’d often used his own name at Marvel in the intervening years.

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on the cover of STRANGE TALES #169, and on these stories:

#170: page 1 only

#171: 19pp

#172: 15pp

#173: 15pp

#174: page 1 only

#11 (1988): 11pp

That’s 62 pages in all. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in STRANGE TALES appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in SPIDER-WOMAN and SPIDEY SUPER STORIES

All images © Marvel. From SPIDER-WOMAN #12, March 1979

This spin-off title ran 50 issues from 1978 to 1983. Gaspar Saladino lettered a few covers and first story pages for it. The one above has his typical scary letters with texture on BROTHERS GRIMM, and notice the triple outline on the round blurb, I don’t think anyone else was doing that.

From SPIDER-WOMAN #13, April 1979

Both these blurbs have Gaspar styles in them, with PLUS in a banner a typical one on the lower blurb.

From SPIDER-WOMAN #14, May 1979

More Saladino letter shapes on this blurb, and there are similar S shapes here and on the previous cover.

From SPIDER-WOMAN #14, May 1979

The creative shapes in CULTS are Saladino having fun, and there’s lots of other great lettering by him. Marvel used him on these first pages to sell comics to browsers, I think.

From SPIDER-WOMAN #21, Dec 1979

By this time, Jim Novak was also doing some page one lettering, but this story title is definitely by Gaspar.

From SPIDEY SUPER STORIES #2, Nov 1974

This series, which ran 57 issues from 1974 to 1982, was a smart attempt to engage younger readers and pull them into reading Marvel comics. The word balloon is definitely by Gaspar, I’m less sure about the caption, but Saladino was flexible and happy to change styles to match any idea, so it could well be by him.

From SPIDEY SUPER STORIES #10, July 1975

The covers were usually full of type and dominated by the large trade dress area at the top. Many had typeset story titles like this one. The bottom blurb sure looks like the work of Saladino, though it might be someone else imitating him. I’ll call it for Gaspar.

From SPIDER SUPER STORIES #14, Dec 1975

The thin outlines on the open letters of this bottom blurb suggest Gaspar to me. I don’t think he did the sound effects.

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on these covers:

SPIDER-WOMAN: 12-14

SPIDEY SUPER STORIES: 2, 10, 14

That’s six in all. Below are the details of his story lettering.

SPIDER-WOMAN page 1 only: 14, 21, two in all.

Other articles in this series are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in SPIDER-WOMAN and SPIDEY SUPER STORIES appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in SIX FROM SIRIUS

All images © Marvel, Doug Moench & Paul Gulacy. From SIX FROM SIRIUS #1, July 1984

This series was part of Marvel’s Epic line of creator-owned properties. Gaspar Saladino lettered all four issues, perhaps at the request of the creators, or at editor Archie Goodwin’s suggestion. He did a fine job working over the painted art, as usual, and I’ll show two pages from each issue to give a feel for the entire project. The first page, above, is the only one with a title, suggesting it was originally planned as a single graphic novel.

From SIX FROM SIRIUS #1, July 1984

It’s hard to say how the lettering was done, but certainly not on the art. The usual way with painted projects was for the lettering to be done on vellum overlays. Sometimes those were combined photographically with the art, sometimes the balloons had white paint applied to the backs and then those were pasted onto the art. My guess is the former way was used here.

From SIX FROM SIRIUS #2, Aug 1984

Nice display lettering scream at bottom left here.

From SIX FROM SIRIUS #2, Aug 1984

Saladino used several special styles, this page has the one I like best with upper and lower case and rounded rectangle borders that have jagged sections indicating telepathy or some other kind of non-standard communication.

From SIX FROM SIRIUS #3, Sept 1984

In some places, Gaspar made his lettering narrower than usual to get everything in, an indication of too much to letter! It works, though.

From SIX FROM SIRIUS #3, Sept 1984

The whole series is classy and beautiful to look at, and Gaspar’s lettering adds to that.

From SIX FROM SIRIUS #4, Oct 1984

Thought balloons were already falling into disuse in comics in general, there are a few on this page.

From SIX FROM SIRIUS #4, Oct 1984

It was a fine science fiction series, and there was a second one the next year. That was lettered by Jim Novak.

To sum up, here are the details of Saladino’s story lettering.

#1 July 1984: 32pp

#2 Aug 1984: 29pp

#3 Sept 1984: 31pp

#4 Oct 1984: 28pp

That’s 120 pages in all. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in SIX FROM SIRIUS appeared first on Todd's Blog.