Todd Klein's Blog, page 57

GASPAR SALADINO in OTHER MARVEL A TO E

All images © Marvel. From ADVENTURES ON THE PLANET OF THE APES #5, April 1976

This article is a catch-all for Gaspar Saladino lettering on titles where there wasn’t enough for a separate post. This title ran from 1975 to 1976 and reprinted work previously in Marvel’s PLANET OF THE APES black and white magazine. Only the covers were new. The bottom blurb is pure Saladino, the balloons are less obviously his work, but look for the letter S with a wide horizontal stroke in the center.

From ADVENTURES ON THE PLANET OF THE APES #6, June 1976

This one is a harder call, the lettering is similar to the work of Danny Crespi on covers, but I give Saladino a slight edge from the way the open letters are done and the shape of the burst balloon.

From ARRGH! #3, May 1975

This humor title ran five issues in 1974-75. The blurb at lower left is typical of Saladino’s work, and the balloons are too, though they look rushed.

From ARRGH! #3, May 1975

Inside the issue, Gaspar lettered just the first page of the lead story. His sound effects and title work are unmistakeable.

From THE A-TEAM #2, April 1984

This is an odd one, late for Saladino at Marvel, and he’s using his pen name of L.P. Gregory. No idea why, but he lettered the entire issue, the middle one of three.

From BEWARE! #2, May 1973

One of several Marvel titles reprinting old horror stories from earlier in their history, Gaspar lettered just this cover. FEATURING in the bottom blurb is the best clue to that.

From BLACK GOLIATH #1, Feb 1976

A short-lived series that ran five issues in 1976. Gaspar lettered just the first page of the story, as Marvel often asked him to do at the time, I think hoping to increase sales to browsers. His character logo is better than the one on the cover in my opinion.

From BLACK GOLIATH #3, June 1976

Another first page by Gaspar with a fine title and sound effects, and I like the script in the credits. Gaspar always put in the name of the person lettering the rest of the story when he knew it.

From BLACK PANTHER 7, Jan 1978

Jack Kirby returned to his Fantastic Four character for the first twelve issues of this 1977-1979 series. Saladino’s display lettering is featured in the bottom blurb.

From BLACK PANTHER #12, Nov 1978

Several styles of display lettering, including brushwork on BEWARE, add interest to this blurb.

From BLACK PANTHER #15, May 1979

After Kirby left the series didn’t last long, even with Saladino cover lettering on the final issue…

From BLACK PANTHER #15, May 1979

…and on the first page of the story inside. Again I think Gaspar’s take on the character’s name in this title would have made a better cover logo than what they used.

From THE CAT #3, April 1973

This series lasted only four issues in 1972-73, and Gaspar lettered just this cover. I love the creative A in KRAKEN.

From COMBAT KELLY #8, Aug 1973

This war title ran nine issues in 1972-73, Gaspar lettered just this story page for it. The title adds excitement.

From DOC SAVAGE #4, April 1973

This licensed series ran eight issues in 1972-74. Saladino lettered just this cover, though he also did the logo.

From THE ETERNALS #1, July 1976

A Jack Kirby series that ran 19 issues from 1976 to 1978. Gaspar lettered only the first issue, and his title is a study in effective title design. Too bad he didn’t letter more of them.

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

ADVENTURES ON THE PLANET OF THE APES 5-6

ARRGH! 3

BEWARE! 2

BLACK PANTHER 7, 12, 15

THE CAT 3

DOC SAVAGE 4

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

ARRGH! #3 May 1975: page 1 only

THE A-TEAM #2 April 1984: 22pp

BLACK GOLIATH #1 Feb 1976: page 1 only

BLACK GOLIATH #3 June 1976: page 1 only

BLACK PANTHER #15 May 1979: page 1 only

COMBAT KELLY #8 Aug 1973: page 1 only

THE ETERNALS #1 July 1976: 17pp

That’s 44 pages in all. 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 MARVEL A TO E appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in FEAR & FRANKENSTEIN

All images © Marvel. From FEAR #14, June 1973

This article pairs two horror titles that are unrelated but add up to the right size post. FEAR ran 31 issues from 1970 to 1975. From issue 10 on the cover title is ADVENTURES INTO FEAR, but the indicia never changed, so I’m going with that. It was initially the home of Man-Thing, Marvel’s swamp monster, who was never as successful as DC’s Swamp Thing, perhaps because he didn’t talk or think visibly. Both had logos designed by Gaspar Saladino, and he lettered two covers for the book, and three inside pages. The angular and oddly-shaped letters in the bottom blurb here are very much in his style. I’ll discuss FRANKENSTEIN later.

From FEAR #18, Nov 1973

At this time, some covers were still being lettered by Artie Simek, some by Gaspar, and some by Danny Crespi, whose style is often similar to Saladino’s, but tends to be rounder. The display lettering here could be by either, but the wide, angular regular lettering in the first two balloons points to Gaspar.

From FEAR #27, April 1975

Gaspar was often assigned just the first page of the main story at Marvel in the 1970s, I’m guessing because the company thought his skill and energy would help sell the books. That’s the case here on a Morbius story, with the rest of the lettering by the credited Charlotte Jetter. Her work looks quite different. I love the cross-shaped T in the title.

From FEAR #29, Aug 1975

There’s no mistaking Saladino’s large, impressive work on this story title, with organic forms, thick borders and inner texture adding to the impact.

From FEAR #31, Dec 1975

The final issue also has Saladino lettering on the first story page, and a fine title.

From FRANKENSTEIN #1, Jan 1973

This book also has an interesting Saladino logo, and most of the cover lettering here is also by him, though much of the bottom caption is type, possibly done by Gaspar with press-down letters or a headline machine. Making the banner black ruins its shape, but Marvel did that a lot. While the cover title was THE MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN or THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER, the indicia always read just FRANKENSTEIN, so I’m going with that. The book ran 18 issues from 1973 to 1975. Gaspar did more work for this one.

From FRANKENSTEIN #2, March 1973

Even Gaspar’s more organic display lettering often had an angular feel, as in this bottom caption. BRIDE almost looks like he’s trying to imitate Sam Rosen, who had stopped lettering a few months earlier, and had been one of Marvel’s main cover letterers.

From FRANKENSTEIN #4, July 1973

This one is a tough call, but I’m leaning toward Saladino rather than Crespi. The wording is odd, shouldn’t it read IS THIS–THE instead of just IS THIS?

From FRANKENSTEIN #5, Sept 1973

His THE is back in this large blurb definitely by Saladino. I like the way he tucked in the exclamation point to save space.

From FRANKENSTEIN #5, Sept 1973

Here’s a classic example of Saladino page 1 lettering. Artie Simek, who did the rest of the story, never lettered anything like this story title or the script music quote in the black sky. Both add a lot to the visual impact of the page.

From FRANKENSTEIN #7, Nov 1973

This logo is also by Saladino, and the style of the blurb below it is very much his too.

From FRANKENSTEIN #7, Nov 1973

Another page 1 with a title that commands attention, though perhaps it shouldn’t have gone over the character’s head.

From FRANKENSTEIN #8, Jan 1974

Dracula was starring in his own Marvel series, TOMB OF DRACULA, so of course there was a crossover. I like Saladino’s double-bordered caption.

From FRANKENSTEIN #9, March 1974

The first caption had to be small to fit, the second one could grab more attention.

From FRANKENSTEIN #17, July 1975

I don’t think this logo is by Saladino, perhaps Crespi did it. The first caption is full of Gaspar’s creativity, and all of them look good.

From FRANKENSTEIN #18, Sept 1975

Here the bottom caption uses Saladino scary lettering, with DAMNED created with a brush.

From FRANKENSTEIN #18, Sept 1975

This final issue also has Gaspar’s lettering on the first page of the story. Nothing scary about the title, but it’s beautifully done.

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

FEAR: 14, 18

FRANKENSTEIN: 1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 17-18

That’s 11 in all. Below are the details of his story lettering.

FEAR #27 April 1975: page 1 only

FEAR #29 Aug 1975: page 1 only

FEAR #31 Dec 1975: page 1 only

FRANKENSTEIN #5 Sept 1973: page 1 only

FRANKENSTEIN #7 Nov 1973: page 1 only

FRANKENSTEIN #18 Sept 1975: page 1 only

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

The post GASPAR SALADINO in FEAR & FRANKENSTEIN appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in FANTASTIC FOUR Part 2

All images © Marvel. From FANTASTIC FOUR #196, July 1978

In Part 1 we looked at the covers and story lettering of Gaspar Saladino for this important Marvel series from 1973 to 1977. Part 2 covers his work from 1978 to 1982, late for him at this company, at least from what I’ve found so far. Gaspar’s main employer was always DC Comics, but he was good enough and fast enough to do a fair amount of work for others too. The cover above is a rare multiple panel one for this series, and Saladino’s balloon lettering is about what he would do on inside pages with the addition of some open display lettering.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #198, Sept 1978

The only story lettering for this issue is a single page, above. Gaspar was often asked to do that at Marvel I think because they thought his work would be a good selling point to buyers opening the book for a look inside, but that’s my guess. He always credited the letterer on the rest of the pages and not himself. His wide, angular lettering and strong title are good indications of his contribution.

From FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #13, 1978

Another first page only by Saladino for the Annual with a strong vertical title.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #200, Nov 1978

Here the blurbs below the logo are by Saladino, the ones above use type. For a company known for short runs in the 1940s and 1950s, reaching 200 issues was unusual and worth celebrating.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #203, Feb 1979

Many letterers did arrow captions, but few added perspective, as seen in the second one here.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #207, June 1979

I’m not absolutely sure all of this cover is lettered by Saladino, the style of MONOCLE is not typical for him, but the rest looks right.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #208, July 1979

The blue color makes these balloons stand out, but Saladino’s rough borders help.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #209, Aug 1979

I was not reading FF at this time, so I missed Herbie the Robot. Just as well.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #211, Oct 1979

A combination of loose and standard styles give these blurbs contrast.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #217, April 1980

Well, easy come, easy go for Herbie I guess. Gaspar’s rough, angular letters on DESTROY and BETRAYED work well.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #218, May 1980

As we enter the 1980s, Saladino’s lettering disappears from most Marvel titles, but continues on this one, or so I see it. Jim Novak was now lettering some of these stories, and he became the best Saladino imitator of all of us, but comparing his story lettering to the covers, I feel sure that Gaspar was still doing many of those. I might be wrong on a few, and there are also a few where I didn’t call it for Saladino because I thought it could be Novak.

From FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #15, 1980

I’m not positive about this one, but the lettering looks like that of Gaspar to me.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #223, Oct 1980

The rough, textured serif treatment of SALEM SEVEN here is pure Saladino.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #225, Dec 1980

The treatment of ENRAGED and the curved arrow point toward Gaspar.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #226, Jan 1981

Saladino added Asian style to the top arrow and GUEST STARS grabs attention.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #227, Feb 1981

The creativity of this bottom blurb is impressive.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #228, March 1981

EGO-SPAWN has a slight Art Deco feel, another creative touch.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #230, May 1981

Gaspar’s treatment of AVENGERS echoes his logo for them.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #231, June 1981

Great contrast in this bottom banner, and I like the way the N extends up and down.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #233, Aug 1981

These open display letters are strong but also organic thanks to the texture and subtle drop shadow.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #234, Sept 1981

Ask Gaspar for interesting large lettering to fill a large space, and he doesn’t disappoint.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #236, Nov 1981

Another celebration with fine Saladino lettering, though there’s barely room for it.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #238, Jan 1982

Gaspar’s final cover lettering for this book is also my favorite! Once again, given room, he went big and beautiful on the scary and display lettering in the sign, and the bottom caption is fine too.

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on these covers: 132, 135, 138, 140, 142, 145, 151, 156-157, 160, 165, 167-168, 170, 172-173, 175, 178-179, 185, 196, 200, 203, 207-209, 211, 217-218, 223, 225-228, 230-231, 233-234, 236, 238, Annual 10-11, 15. That’s 43 in all. Below are the details of his story lettering.

#183 June 1977: 17pp

#185 Aug 1977: 17pp

#198 Sept 1978: page 1 only

Annual #11 1976: page 1 only

Annual #13 1978: page 1 only

That’s 37 pages total. Other articles in this series and more you might like can be found on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in FANTASTIC FOUR Part 2 appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in FANTASTIC FOUR Part 1

All images © Marvel. From FANTASTIC FOUR #132, March 1973

In 1961 this title became the first of many successes for Marvel Comics as they headed in a new direction under writer Stan Lee with artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. It ran 416 issues to 1996, and there were more series later. The main letterers of this rebirth were Artie Simek and Sam Rosen, and they lettered most of the covers, but Rosen stopped lettering in 1972, making room for others like Gaspar Saladino, already the main cover letterer at DC Comics, to step in. Gaspar lettered lots of FF covers, enough that I need to divide them into two articles by publication date. He also lettered two full issues and the first page of a few more, which I’ll show as we come to them. On the first cover, above, OMEGA is full of Saladino’s creativity, and the script THE to the right of it is classic Gaspar.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #135, June 1973

This small circular blurb has several styles of Saladino display lettering, and should have been larger.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #138, Sept 1973

I think MADNESS was drawn with a double outline, and someone filled in the space between them with black, making the word less effective. The line above it is type, which Gaspar was sometimes using in this era, either from a headline machine or press-down letters.

From FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #10, Sept 1973

There are many small clues here to Saladino’s work like the shape of THE in the bottom blurbs.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #140, Nov 1973

This cover uses the same font in the first three balloons, and it doesn’t work well there. The rest is lettered by Gaspar. The multiple borders on the round burst are interesting and different.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #142, Jan 1974

The uneven blocky letters of the DARKOTH blurb here are very Gaspar.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #145, April 1974

There’s something unique about the way Gaspar drew the letter S in many cases, it’s subtle but distinctive. More angular than many other letterers.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #151, Oct 1974

The style used here for LIGHTNING was also used by Saladino on several DC Comics covers.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #156, March 1975

The other new cover letterer who began in 1973 was staffer Danny Crespi. Sometimes his work is similar to that of Gaspar, but generally it’s more rounded. This one would be a tough call between them except for the typical wide and angular small lettering in the balloons.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #157, April 1975

If you look closely at DOOMSMAN, you’ll see thinner outlines in the center openings of the D, O and A. Gaspar outlined all the letters with that thinner pen first, then added a second heavier outline around the outside.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #160, July 1975

The same technique was used on ARKON, and notice how pointy the corners are, something Crespi rarely did.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #165, Dec 1975

I like the emphasis on SPLAT here.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #167, Feb 1976

Saladino makes THING and HULK equal by putting THE inside the T of THING.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #168, March 1976

The wavy border around the last balloon is unusual for Gaspar, but it works fine.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #170, May 1976

The blocky shapes around ALICIA are unusual for Gaspar, but he was always trying new things. And curved arrow balloons are something he did well.

From FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #11, June 1976

I’m not positive this short blurb is by Saladino, but I think it is. The style of VS is right for him, as is the caption shape.

From FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #11, June 1976

I’m quite sure he lettered just the first page of this story inside, the sound effect is all I needed to see to be sure. The rest is by Joe Rosen, as seen in the credits.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #172, July 1976

The rough, blocky open letters of DESTROYER on this cover are typical of Saladino, and add energy.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #173, Aug 1976

The stylish curves of GALACTUS are something no one else would have thought of for this character, and add interest.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #175, Oct 1976

A more standard version of GALACTUS is used here where there’s less room.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #178, Jan 1977

The bottom caption is a good example of the way Marvel liked to fill black around Gaspar’s open lettering, you can see the outlines where FOUR extends below the box. This makes them less effective in my opinion, but they still read fine.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #179, Feb 1977

Lots of great Saladino display lettering here. His open letters work because he knew that the open inner shapes are the most important part. If they are made well, any thickness and style outside that will read fine.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #183, June 1977

The first of two complete FF stories lettered by Gaspar, therefore he got a credit, something that wasn’t happening yet at DC.

From FANTASTIC FOUR #185, Aug 1977

A rare occurrence at Marvel, Gaspar lettered the cover…

From FANTASTIC FOUR #185, Aug 1977

…as well as the entire inside story. I like the title here better than the small blurb on the cover. WITCHES looks like rough brush work.

More in Part 2, where I’ll give Saladino totals for the series. Other articles you might like are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in FANTASTIC FOUR Part 1 appeared first on Todd's Blog.

Rereading: GONE-AWAY LAKE and RETURN TO GONE-AWAY by Elizabeth Enright

Covers and interior illustrations by Beth and Joe Krush

Elizabeth Enright was one of my favorite authors as a child, and I still love her books. I continue to find them beautifully written, clever, funny, and full of surprises. One thing that impresses me more now than it did back then is her knowledge of nature: plants, animals, birds, insects, all are described from the viewpoint of careful observation and accurate detail. Her handling of people is just as good.

These two books take place mostly during summer vacations for Portia Blake and her little brother Foster. They travel by train about 100 miles from their home in New York City to stay with an aunt and uncle and cousin Julian in a rural small town. Julian is a collector of many things, and a nature lover, and Portia and he get along well. Foster fortunately has a friend his own age to play with.

One day while out hiking in the woods, Julian and Portia discover an amazing forgotten place that was once a summer resort beside a lake, but then the lake drained away leaving a marsh, and soon all the vacation homes were abandoned and left empty. This happened about 50 years before the story takes place, around 1900. Two children who spent their summers at this idyllic lake resort quietly returned there in old age to live, having no better place to go. They’ve renovated two of the old Victorian houses that are in the best condition, and enjoy life as neighbors and companions, raising and harvesting some food themselves, gardening and keeping up parts of the old resort. They’re Minnehaha Cheever and her brother Pindar, who have slipped back to the days of their childhood, wearing the antique clothes stored in the houses, and with an equally antique automobile that allows Pindar to get to the nearest town for supplies they need. When Portia and Julian meet them, a fast friendship is begun, and the children learn many interesting things about Gone-Away Lake, as it’s now called, including dangers like the quicksand trap called The Gulper. The elders tell them many stories about their childhood, and the children explore the abandoned houses. Foster eventually finds his way to the place the older children have kept secret, and gets into trouble, paving the way for adults in the family to learn about and become friends with the Cheevers too.

In the second book, Portia and Foster’s parents have bought one of the abandoned houses from the state, the only one that was never broken into by scavengers, and everyone works on exploring it, cleaning it, and gradually restoring it to a new life as a summer home for the Blakes. Many more adventures are had, many more stories are told, and a treasure is eventually found.

Highly recommended, along with Enright’s other books like those about The Melendy Family.

Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright

The post Rereading: GONE-AWAY LAKE and RETURN TO GONE-AWAY by Elizabeth Enright appeared first on Todd's Blog.

Incoming: ECHOLANDS HC, Amazing Fantasy 1000

ECHOLANDS BOOK ONE Hardcover © 2022 J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman

The six issues of this unusual series that I lettered over the past few years is now out in a handsome hardcover edition from Image. Done entirely in landscape format with each pair of pages forming a single layout (except the first and last pages of each issue), it was fun and challenging with lots of special lettering styles for me to figure out. I thought the story was great, an epic adventurous romp through a variety of settings and genres. If you’ve been waiting for a collection, here it is, retail price $34.99. Needless to say the art is fabulous!

AMAZING FANTASY #1000 #1, Oct 2022 © Marvel

Also received is this square-bound comic full of interesting short Spider-Man stories including one written by Neil Gaiman with art by Steve McNiven that I lettered. If you’ve ever seen Jonathan Ross’s film about Steve Ditko, some of this will be familiar, but from Neil’s point of view. It was decades apart, but we’ve both met Steve Ditko, and the story explains how meaningful that was to Neil. Retail price on this is $7.99.

The post Incoming: ECHOLANDS HC, Amazing Fantasy 1000 appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in DRACULA LIVES!

All images © Marvel. From DRACULA LIVES! #1, May 1973

This was one of Marvel’s black and white magazine-size titles that were tried for a while in the early 1970s, matching the size and look of Warren’s VAMPIRELLA. If you were to open the first issue and page through to the first comics story, this amazing title by Gaspar Saladino would have hit your eyes, and I suspect clinched the sale. Gaspar lettered several stories for this title, two in the first issue. He also designed the logo, but all the cover text was type. None of the stories have lettering credits, but there’s no mistaking Saladino’s talent here.

From DRACULA LIVES! #1, May 1973

Here’s the second story lettered by Gaspar in the first issue. The title is not as impressive, but well done. Saladino was not doing many full stories for Marvel at the time, and he might not have wanted his main employer, DC Comics, to know about these, so he was probably fine with there being no lettering credits.

From DRACULA LIVES! #5, March 1974

Saladino also lettered two stories in issue #5. This one is the beginning of a multi-part adaptation of the original Bram Stoker novel by Roy Thomas that ran through several issues. Gaspar lettered the first two chapters, though the Grand Comics Database has the entire thing credited to Joe Rosen, who did the other parts. The diary entry on this page is particularly obviously by Saladino.

From DRACULA LIVES! #5, March 1974

This is the other story from that issue lettered by Gaspar. Note his characteristic block letter R’s in the story title, with the notch in the right side below the center of the middle bar.

From DRACULA LIVES! #6, May 1974

Issue #6 also had two stories lettered by Saladino, this is the first. Notice the wide, angular balloon lettering and the nearly rectangular balloon near the bottom.

From DRACULA LIVES! #6, May 1974

The second chapter of the novel adaptation, note Gaspar’s drippy captions, something he also did in DC’s SWAMP THING.

From DRACULA LIVES! #11, March 1975

The final Saladino lettering on this title is a single first page, the rest lettered by someone else. If you look closely you’ll find Gaspar’s name, even though there’s no official lettering credit. The rest of the story is lettered by Charlotte Jetter according the the Grand Comics Database.

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

#1 May 1973: Dracula 13pp, 12pp

#5 March 1974: Dracula 12pp, 10pp

#6 May 1974: Dracula 10pp, 10pp

#11 March 1975: Lilith page 1 only

That’s 68 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 DRACULA LIVES! appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in DR. STRANGE & DEAD OF NIGHT

[image error]All images © Marvel. From DEAD OF NIGHT #1, Dec 1973

These two titles are simply paired here to get an article of the right length. DEAD OF NIGHT was a horror reprint title that ran 11 issues from 1973 to 1975. Gaspar Saladino lettered four of the covers, the first is above. These are all familiar Saladino styles, but the first and last words in the circle are type. DOCTOR STRANGE follows.

From DEAD OF NIGHT #3, April 1974.

THEY is classic Saladino horror lettering used on everything from logos to house ads to story titles as well as covers. The heavy rough outlines and texture add interest, and the thin outer line holds a second color.

From DEAD OF NIGHT #4, June 1974

I like the caption on this cover, and Gaspar has done two open display lettering versions of the word WEREWOLF.

From DEAD OF NIGHT #5, Aug 1974

More familiar horror styles here, but the wavy round caption shape at the bottom is unusual for Saladino. Many of the other covers were lettered by Danny Crespi.

From DOCTOR STRANGE #2, Aug 1974

The creation of Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange gained new followers in this popular series initially written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Frank Brunner. The best clue to Gaspar’s lettering here is the style of THE DYNAMIC, which has his wide, angular balloon lettering.

From DOCTOR STRANGE #9, Aug 1975

Saladino had a way of designing scary open letters that was both casual and spooky at the same time, as here.

From DOCTOR STRANGE #9, Aug 1975

As in many other 1970s Marvel books, Gaspar was sometimes asked to letter just the first page of a story to give it his energy and creativity. The large title here jumps off the page.

From DOCTOR STRANGE #18, Sept 1976

This title also commands attention, and the contrast in styles adds interest.

From DOCTOR STRANGE #23, June 1977

The art on this first story page owes a lot to the work of Steve Ditko, and Saladino’s weird title lettering matches it well.

From DOCTOR STRANGE #34, April 1979

This blurb echoing the name of a Shakespeare play captures that whimsy in the first word, with the second an effective and scary contrast. Look closely for the crescent moon over the I in NIGHTMARE.

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

DEAD OF NIGHT: 1, 3-5

DOCTOR STRANGE: 2, 9, 34

That’s seven in all below are the details of his story lettering for DOCTOR STRANGE.

#9 Aug 1975: page 1 only

#18 Sept 1976: page 1 only

#23 June 1977: page 1 only

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

The post GASPAR SALADINO in DR. STRANGE & DEAD OF NIGHT appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in THE DEFENDERS

All images © Marvel. From THE DEFENDERS #7, Aug 1973

This Marvel team title ran 152 issues from 1972 to 1986. Gaspar Saladino lettered some of the covers in the 1970s, as well as many story first pages, and one complete story. I’ll look at covers first. The one above has his wide, angular balloon lettering, energetic burst with open display lettering, a curved arrow caption, and well-drawn open letters at the bottom. Most cover lettering at Marvel from previous years was by Artie Simek or Sam Rosen, but Rosen stopped lettering in 1972, making room for others to get those assignments. In addition to Gaspar, the other main cover letterer in the 1970s (especially after Simek died in 1975) was staffer Danny Crespi, but others did some as well. Saladino’s lettering was generally more angular and had more sharp corners than Crespi’s.

From THE DEFENDERS #9, Oct 1973

The reversed and/or inked around open letters in the caption make it harder to identify, but the balloon lettering here is all pure Saladino, so I’m sure the caption is too.

From THE DEFENDERS #15, Sept 1974

Notice the way some parts of MAGNETO extend up to the panel border in the first caption, a typical Gaspar idea.

From THE DEFENDERS #17, Nov 1974

Another cover with typical Saladino balloon lettering.

From THE DEFENDERS #18, Dec 1974

It’s hard to say how I know this lettering is by Saladino, even though it’s not so typical for him. There are subtle clues that come from looking at so much of his work that are hard to explain.

From THE DEFENDERS #48, June 1977

The first line of this blurb is type, the open letters in perspective are by Gaspar.

From THE DEFENDERS #74, Aug 1979

On this final cover lettering by Gaspar, NIGHTHAWK RESIGNS uses a display lettering style he liked, where the letter shapes were done with a thick round pen point, then the sharp corners were added with a much smaller point. It’s a style I imitated myself.

From THE DEFENDERS #8, Sept 1973

In the 1970s, Marvel often hired Gaspar to letter just one page, usually the first page, of their stories, I surmise because they thought his dynamic style and superior design skills might convince newsstand browsers to buy the book. This was done most often on stories lettered by those with less skill or less dynamic styles, but that wasn’t always the case. Here Saladino’s large, exciting title adds drama, and the rest of the lettering by Charlotte Jetter is quite different. Though Gaspar was never credited on these, the style difference makes most of them easy to spot.

From THE DEFENDERS #10, Nov 1973

I think Gaspar was paid extra for this work, probably double his page rate, so it was a win for him. I’m not sure how the letterers of the remaining pages felt about it, like Tom Orzechowski here, but they probably would have preferred to do the entire story themselves.

From THE DEFENDERS #11, Dec 1973

This story title benefits from Gaspar’s brushed lettering outlined with a small pen point.

From THE DEFENDERS #12, Feb 1974

The joined T’s on TITAN here are clever. The giant arrow pointer on the final caption is rather odd.

From THE DEFENDERS #16, Oct 1974

A busy cover with lots of lettering, but Gaspar found room for a beautifully designed ALPHA.

From THE DEFENDERS #17, Nov 1974

More sedate title lettering here to fit the space, but I love the final burst balloon.

From THE DEFENDERS #22, April 1975

In my opinion, no one did flaming letters as well as Saladino.

From THE DEFENDERS #23, May 1975

Snaky letters with texture were also right up Gaspar’s alley.

From THE DEFENDERS #26, Aug 1975

The heavy outlines around the title are not typical of Saladino, possibly he did a double outline that was filled in by someone else.

From THE DEFENDERS #30, Dec 1975

There are some Art Deco style elements in this lettering perhaps inspired by Dr. Strange, and Ditko’s Art Deco approach to him, but that’s a guess.

From THE DEFENDERS #39, Sept 1976

The new typeset intro at the top takes room away from the title, but Gaspar still makes it exciting and creative.

From THE DEFENDERS #41, Nov 1976

On this title, the contrast of the small script words makes it more interesting.

From THE DEFENDERS #45, March 1977

A large burst balloon that includes the story title.

From THE DEFENDERS #47, May 1977

The shorter the title, the larger it could be lettered. John Costanza, the letterer of the rest of the pages, usually did his own splash page lettering, but perhaps he didn’t receive this story before Gaspar was given the first page.

From THE DEFENDERS #50, Aug 1977

This combined burst balloon and story title is by Saladino, the credits are by someone else, neither him nor Costanza I think.

From THE DEFENDERS #51, Sept 1977

Poor printing makes the reversed lettering here hard to read, not Gaspar’s fault. His title works well.

From THE DEFENDERS #52, Oct 1977

I’m not sure if this banner is by Gaspar or the artists, but it’s a beauty!

From THE DEFENDERS #53, Nov 1977

Lots of P’s in this story title.

From THE DEFENDERS #54, Dec 1977

For a change, a very organic story title to match the art.

From THE DEFENDERS #55, Jan 1978

Here’s the first page of the only complete story by Saladino, and therefore, the only credit for him in the series. Penciller Carmine Infantino was an old friend and might have asked for him.

From THE DEFENDERS #57, March 1978

Another example of contrasting styles in the title to add interest.

From THE DEFENDERS #60, June 1978

The curved story title here may have been pencilled in by Ed Hannigan.

From THE DEFENDERS #65, Nov 1978

Gaspar could make even a silly title seem dramatic.

From THE DEFENDERS #66, Dec 1978

Contrast in the title for variety, a round caption and a curved credits banner, all well done by Saladino.

From THE DEFENDERS #67, Jan 1979

More great Gaspar lettering, and some rare whisper balloons with dashed borders.

From THE DEFENDERS #68, Feb 1979

Gaspar’s final page 1 for the series, and a nice perspective title.

To sum up, these covers have Saladino lettering: 7, 9, 15, 17-18, 48, and 74, seven in all. Details on his story lettering is below.

#8 Sept 1973: page 1 only

#10 Nov 1973: page 1 only

#11 Dec 1973: page 1 only

#12 Feb 1974: page 1 only

#16 Oct 1974: page 1 only

#17 Nov 1974: page 1 only

#22 April 1975: page 1 only

#23 May 1975: page 3 only

#26 Aug 1975: page 1 only

#30 Dec 1975: page 1 only

#39 Sept 1976: page 1 only

#41 Nov 1976: page 1 only

#45 March 1977: page 1 only

#47 May 1977: page 1 only

#50 Aug 1977: page 1 only

#51 Sept 1977: page 1 only

#52 Oct 1977: page 1 only

#53 Nov 1977: page 1 only

#54 Dec 1977: page 1 only

#55 Jan 1978: 17pp

#57 March 1978: page 1 only

#60 June 1978: page 1 only

#65 Nov 1978: page 1 only

#66 Dec 1978: page 1 only

#67 Jan 1979: page 1 only

#68 Feb 1979: page 1 only

Thats a total of 42 pages. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in THE DEFENDERS appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU

[image error]All images © Marvel. From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #2, June 1974

In the early 1970s, Marvel Comics expanded their line by adding larger-sized black and white titles in the style of Warren’s CREEPY and VAMPIRELLA, and this was one of them. The book ran 33 issues from 1974 to 1977. Gaspar Saladino lettered some single pages, or double-page spreads on stories otherwise lettered by others. This move by Marvel made less sense here than when he did the first page of many Marvel color comics, at least to me. There his work might entice a potential buyer picking up the comic at a newsstand, helping make a sale. Here, Gaspar’s work was buried inside the issues, sometimes well at the back. The stories themselves certainly benefitted from his fine title work and lettering, but I’m not sure the extra money I believe he was paid for this kind of thing led to increased sales. By the time a reader got to it, he’d probably already bought the book. In the first example above, Saladino’s talent is obvious in the lettering of FU MANCHU and the creator credits. Letterers were not credited.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #10, March 1975

These books were sometimes a training ground for upcoming artists, like George Pérez here. Gaspar’s story title is full of scary drama, and his nearly rectangular balloons are a strange choice not matched in the rest of the story lettered by someone else.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #11, April 1975

This story title, once you see it, is impressive, perhaps penciled in by Pérez, and I think the SONS OF THE TIGER logo is also by Gaspar.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #13, June 1975

As he liked to do, Saladino has lettered DEATH with a dry brush, then outlined it with a small pen point. Two of the signs are type.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #14, July 1975

A poor scan on this image, but the lettering is pretty clear. I like the wobbly balloon borders in the first few panels. This is the second story page.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #17, Oct 1975

Here’s the left side of a spread, pages 1-2 of the story. The whole image would be too hard to read. Another dramatic version of DEATH, one of the most common title words in comics.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #18, Nov 1975

Another left half of a spread, pages 2-3 of the story. This time DARKNESS gets the scary treatment. I also like the banners on the left.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #19, Dec 1975

The most interesting style choice here is to drop the balloon border at lower left. I would never have thought of that, and it wouldn’t work in a color comic, but looks fine here.

From DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #30, Nov 1976

On this final example I like the texture in HATE, and the burst at the right. Below are the details of Saladino’s lettering in this series.

#2 June 1974: Shang-Chi page 1 only

#10 March 1975: Sons of the Tiger page 1 only

#11 April 1975: Sons of the Tiger page 1 only

#13 June 1975: Sons of the Tiger page 1 only

#14 July 1975: Sons of the Tiger page 2 only

#17 Oct 1975: Sons of the Tiger pages 1-2 only

#18 Nov 1975: Sons of the Tiger pages 2-3 only

#19 Dec 1975: Sons of the Tiger page 3 only

#30 Nov 1976: Sons of the Tiger page 1 only

That’s 11 pages in all. More articles in this series and others you might like are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU appeared first on Todd's Blog.