Todd Klein's Blog, page 65

GASPAR SALADINO in STRANGE ADVENTURES

All images © DC Comics. From STRANGE ADVENTURES #51, Dec 1954

The first DC Comics science fiction anthology, running from 1950 to 1973, was the idea of editor Julius Schwartz, a long-time science fiction fan. Before entering comics, he had been a science fiction writer’s agent, and had plenty of friends in that arena. Some of them were tapped as writers for the book. Julie had hired Gaspar Saladino to letter stories for him in late 1949, and he did lots of them, but surprisingly his first story for this series was not until issue #5. Soon after he was lettering the majority of stories for the book, and that continued until Schwartz stopped editing it in 1964. The main cover letterer on all DC titles was Ira Schnapp, but Gaspar filled in for him on a few issues of this title, and after Schnapp left the company in 1968, he became the regular cover letterer. I’ll look at covers first, then stories.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #63, Dec 1955

Gaspar’s lettering style used wider and more angular letters than Schnapp, but here his story title blurb is trying to imitate Ira rather than using his own styles.

[image error]From STRANGE ADVENTURES #178, July 1965

The next fill-in by Saladino was ten years later, and by this time Gaspar was more comfortable lettering covers and using his own styles. I like the way the story title fits into the comet tail.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #190, July 1966

Trying to boost flagging sales, editor Jack Schiff introduced two new superheroes. Animal Man was the bigger success, though I don’t think calling him A-Man was helpful.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #208, Jan 1968

More successful was Deadman, sometimes with wonderful Neal Adams art as seen here. Gaspar’s dramatic burst caption adds to the tension.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #211, April 1968

This begins Saladino’s role as the regular cover letterer for the series, though the logos are still from Ira Schnapp. This clever Neal Adams cover is much improved by Gaspar’s burst balloon. He took a chance having the tail go behind the white figure, but it works okay.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #217, March-April 1969

With this issue the book returned to its roots and to Julius Schwartz, but now was nearly all reprints except for the covers. Saladino provided a new logo and lettering to reintroduce Adam Strange.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #222, Jan-Feb 1970

This issue was a rare exception, containing a new Adam Strange story, as promoted in Gaspar’s caption.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #225, July-Aug 1970

Gaspar’s top blurb here shows how skilled he had become at cover lettering. The treatment of WOODEN is one that only Ira Schnapp is likely to have done previously.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #226, Sept-Oct 1970

With this issue the book became a longer reprint anthology with lots for Gaspar to detail in his cover blurbs. He makes them all exciting and intriguing.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #235, March-April 1972

Lots more great lettering by Saladino on this cover, and look at the variety!

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #244, Oct-Nov 1973

The final few issues were back to regular size, and some had a combination of Ira Schnapp’s original lettering and new Saladino lettering, as on this last cover. The caption and oval balloon are by Gaspar. The story title is type.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #5, Feb 1951

Now to the large amount of story lettering by Gaspar. Compare this story title with what he was doing on covers in the 1970s, and you can see how much Saladino improved in the area of large display lettering. Nothing wrong with this title, and it has some Art Deco style on the first line and that “vanishing” effect on the second, but it’s stiff and not yet as appealing as his later title work. The caption has torn edges to add interest, and an open letter against a black shape at the beginning, typical of Gaspar’s early work.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #6, March 1951

More early Saladino lettering on a story that uses an idea later recycled for Adam Strange.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #7, April 1951

The first continuing character in this book, the feature logo is by Ira Schnapp, the rest is by Saladino. By this time, Gaspar was lettering most of the stories in this title.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #9, June 1951

Captain Comet was almost a superhero, and he was more successful than Chris KL-99 and lasted longer. Again the feature logo is by Schnapp, the rest is by Gaspar.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #22, July 1952

A year later you can see improvement in Gaspar’s story title, it’s bolder, larger, and more confident.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #28, Jan 1953

Many of these pages were full of text and very time consuming, like this one, where there were also newspapers to letter. This is why Gaspar told me that back then he felt nine pages was a good day’s work.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #33, June 1953

A handsome title on this story adds to the appeal.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #45, June 1954

Gorillas and other monkeys and apes were considered a good selling point, and they appeared often in stories and on covers at DC.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #71, Aug 1956

Another creative title effect.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #84, Sept 1957

Here’s what writers knew and thought about computers at the time.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #104, May 1959

In 1959 several of the DC anthologies were gaining new continuing features to help sales. In STRANGE ADVENTURES there were three that alternated, one per issue, beginning with the Space Museum stories with art by Carmine Infantino. Gaspar lettered many.

[image error]From STRANGE ADVENTURES #114, March 1960

Another was about future detective Star Hawkins, often saved by his robot assistant Ilda, with art by Mike Sekowsky.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #117, June 1960

My favorite of the new features was The Atomic Knights with art by Murphy Anderson. The feature logo is by Schnapp, the rest is by Saladino, though Murphy drew the notebook.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #125, Feb 1961

While The Atomic Knights had a full-size feature logo, the other two had only these small banners to let readers know they were continuing characters.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #159, Dec 1963

One other feature that appeared only twice in this book but more often in its sister title MYSTERY IN SPACE. Saladino makes good use of the angled layout.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #173, Feb 1965

When editorial duties moved from Julie Schwartz to Jack Schiff and others in 1964, Gaspar followed Julie to new assignments and rarely had time to letter stories in this book, though he did a few like this one, perhaps at the request of his friend, artist Gil Kane.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #211, April 1968

Much later he lettered one Deadman story, possibly at the request of artist Neal Adams. By this time, Gaspar was very busy doing covers, house ads, and logos, but he fit this story in.

To sum up, here are the covers with Saladino lettering: 51, 63, 178, 190, 194, 202, 208-209, 211-229, 234-244. That’s 38 in all. Below are the details of Saladino’s story lettering, features are abbreviated after the first appearance.

#5 Feb 1951: The Man Who Could Vanish 10pp

#6 March 1951: Stars and Their Legends 1pp, The Vampire World 8pp

#7 April 1951: The World of Giant Ants 10pp, The Man With 100 Lives 8pp, Hollywood – 3000 A.D. 8pp, The Adventures of Chris KL-99 (hereafter CKL) 10pp

#8 May 1951: Evolution Plus 10pp, Time Capsule From Tomorrow 10pp, Professor Brainstorm 1pp, The Great Rocket Hoax 8pp

#9 June 1951: Captain Comet (hereafter CC) 10pp, Push-Button Paradise 8pp, The Mad World 10pp, CKL 10pp

#10 July 1951: CC 10pp, The Other Earths 10pp, The Experiment of Dr. Sylvan 8pp, The World That Drowned 10pp

#11 Aug 1951: CC 10pp, Prophecy of Doom 8pp, CKL 10pp

#12 Sept 1951: CC 10pp, The Brain-Masters of Polaris 10pp, Exiled From Earth 10pp

#13 Oct 1951: CC 8pp, Artist of Other Worlds 10pp, The Man Who Televised Time 4pp,

#14 Nov 1951: CC 10pp, The Price of Peace 8pp, The First Interplanetary War 2pp, The Secret of Rocket XX-99 6pp

#15 Dec 1951: CC 8pp, The 1000-Year-Old Man 4pp

#16 Jan 1952: CC 8pp, The Secret of Easter Island 8pp, Robbie the Robot 1pp, The Touch of Death 6pp

#17 Feb 1952: CC 8pp, The Last Days of Earth 8pp, The Brain of Dr. Royer 8pp

#18 March 1952: CC 8pp, Girl in the Golden Flower 6pp, One-Way Trip to Mars 4pp, The Man in the Mystery Mask 8pp

#19 April 1952: CC 8pp, The Canals of Earth 6pp, The Man Who Killed Himself 4pp, The Exile of Space 8pp

#20 May 1952: Smugglers of Space 8pp, The Man Who Mastered Time 6pp, CC 8pp

#21 June 1952: CC 8pp, The Genius Epidemic 6pp, The Monster That Fished For Men 4pp, The Boy Who Changed the Future 6pp

#22 July 1952: CC 8pp, The Hands From Nowhere 6pp, A Matter of Size 2pp, The Robot Who Made a Man 8pp

#23 Aug 1952: Meet Your Masters–The Ants 8pp, The Ghost Planet 4pp, CC 8pp

#24 Sept 1952: The Golden Egg From Saturn 6pp, The Martian Joke 4pp, The Mystery of Atlantis 2pp, The Magic Room 6pp, CC 8pp

#25 Oct 1952: CC 8pp, The Spaceship Moon 6pp

#26 Nov 1952: CC 8pp, Gateway to the Future 6pp, The Master of Mind Over Matter 4pp, Mars–On Channel 8 6pp

#27 Dec 1952: CC 8pp, The Case of the Twice-Told Tale 4pp, The Last Humans 6pp

#28 Jan 1953: CC 8pp

#29 Feb 1953: CC 8pp, The Secret of the Life-Ray 6pp, The Man With the Super-Spectacles 6pp, The Space-Ship from Nowhere 6pp

#30 March 1953: CC 8pp, A Letter From the Future 6pp, Great Ant Circus 4pp, The Cosmic Idiots 6pp

#31 April 1953: Human Time Capsules 8pp, The Magic Typewriter 6pp, The Four-Dimensional Forceps 6pp, CC 6pp

#32 May 1953: CC 6pp, The Atomic Invasion 6pp, Probability Zero 6pp

#33 June 1953: CC 6pp, The Phantom Teleview 6pp, The Snows of Mars 6pp, The Hunters From the Stars 6pp

#34 July 1953: CC 6pp, 30th Century Coin Collector 6pp, The Space Hermit 4pp, The Star Oscar 6pp

#35 Aug 1953: CC 6pp, The Time Killer 6pp, The Aquarium of Tomorrow 6pp, The Road to Nowhere 6pp

#36 Sept 1953: CC 6pp, Man Into Martian 6pp, Do Not Open Till Doomsday 6pp, Experiment in Destiny 6pp

#37 Oct 1953: CC 6pp, Amazing Ratios 1pp, The Man Who Saw the Future 6pp, The Wonder Toys 6pp, The Strangest Show on Earth 6pp

#38 Nov 1953: CC 6pp, The Space Twister 6pp, Detour Through Time 4pp

#39 Dec 1953: CC 6pp, The Negative Invasion 6pp, The Carbon-Copy Genius 6pp, Phantom Earth 6pp

#40 Jan 1954: CC 8pp, From Eternity to Here 6pp, Earth’s Unlucky Day 4pp, The Return of the Conqueror 6pp

#41 Feb 1954: CC 8pp, The Amazing Inventions of Hiram Thistle 6pp, Last Day On Earth 4pp, The Spy From Space 6pp

#42 March 1954: I Delivered Mail From Mars 6pp, The Eternal Prisoner 6pp, The Eye-Dropper World 6pp

#43 April 1954: CC 6pp, The Traffic Cop of Space 6pp, The Man Who Was Three Men 6pp, The Elephant Who Saved the Earth 6pp

#44 May 1954: CC 7pp, A Switch In Time 6pp, The City That Went Mad 6pp, The Man Who Couldn’t Die 7pp

#45 June 1954: The Gorilla World 8pp, No Eyes Can See Me 6pp, The Interplanetary Counterfeiters 6pp, Saturn–Beware 6pp

#46 July 1954: I Flew a Flying Saucer 6pp, The Body Pirate 6pp, Star Salesman 6pp, CC 6pp

#47 Aug 1954: The Man Who Sold the Earth 6pp, Hands Across the Universe 6pp, The Super-Perfect Servant 6pp, Worlds Within Worlds 6pp

#48 Sept 1954: The Human Phantom 6pp, The Three-Minute Genius 6pp, The 21st Century Film Library 6pp, The Radar Man 6pp

#49 Oct 1954: The Invasion From Indiana 6pp, The Brain Giants 6pp, Mars On Earth 6pp, CC 6pp

#50 Nov 1954: The World Wrecker 8pp, Earthman–Copyright 1954 4pp, The Man Who Stopped the Clock 6pp

#51 Dec 1954: The Man Who Stole the Air 6pp, Warning From Another World 6pp, The Amazing Secret of Jules Verne 6pp, The Metal That Mastered Men 6pp

#52 Jan 1955: Prisoner of the Parakeets 6pp, Twinkle, Twinkle, Deadly Star 6pp, The Flying Saucer Boomerang 6pp, Interplanetary Postcard 6pp

#53 Feb 1955: The Human Icicle 6pp, Martian Masquerade 6pp, Interplanetary Swap Shop 6pp, The Millionaire Robot 6pp

#54 March 1955: The World’s Mightiest Weakling 6pp, Interplanetary Camera 6pp, The Robot Dragnet 6pp

#55 April 1955: The Gorilla Who Challenged The World 6pp, Movie Men From Mars 6pp, The Day the Sun Exploded 6pp

#56 May 1955: The Fish-Men of Earth 6pp, Explorers of the Crystal Moon 6pp, The Sculptor Who Saved the World 6pp, The Jungle Emperor 6pp

#57 June 1955: The Spy From Saturn 6pp, The Moonman and the Meteor 6pp, The Riddle of Animal X 6pp

#58 July 1955: I Hunted the Radium Man 8pp, Dream-Journey Through Space 6pp, The Invisible Masters of Earth 6pp

#59 Aug 1955: The Ark From Planet X 6pp, The Super-Athletes From Outer Space 6pp, Legacy From the Future 6pp, The World That Vanished 7pp

#60 Sept 1955: Across the Ages 6pp, Orphan of the Stars 6pp, World at the Edge of the Universe 6pp

#61 Oct 1955: The Mirages From Space 6pp, The Thermometer Man 6pp, The Amazing Two-TIme Inventions 6pp

#62 Nov 1955: Invasion From Inner Space 6pp, The Watchdogs of the Universe 6pp

#63 Dec 1955: I Was the Man in the Moon 6pp, Strange Journey to Earth 6pp, Catastrophe County, USA 6pp

#64 Jan 1956: The Man Who Discovered the West Pole 6pp

#65 Feb 1956: The Prisoner From Pluto 6pp

#66 March 1956: The Human Battery 6pp, The Strange Secret of the Time Capsule 6pp

#67 April 1956: The Martian Masquerader 7pp, The Talking Flower 6pp

#68 May 1956: The Man Who Couldn’t Drown 6pp

#69 June 1956: The Gorilla Conquest of Earth 6pp

#70 July 1956: Earth’s Secret Weapon 6pp, The Mechanical Mastermind 6pp

#71 Aug 1956: Zero Hour for Earth 6pp, The Living Meteor 6pp

#72 Sept 1956: The Skyscraper That Came To Life 6pp, The Time-Wise Thief 4pp, The Man Who Lived Nine Lifetimes 6pp

#73 Oct 1956: The Amazing Rain of Gems 6pp

#74 Nov 1956: The Invisible Invader from Dimension X 6pp, Earth’s Secret Visitors 6pp, Build-It-Yourself Spaceship 6pp

#75 Dec 1956: Secret of the Man-Ape 6pp, Mystery of the Box from Space 6pp

#76 Jan 1957: The Tallest Man on Earth 6pp, The Robot From Atlantis 6pp

#77 Feb 1957: The World That Slipped Out of Space 7pp, The Mental Star-Rover 6pp

#78 March 1957: The Secret of the Tom Thumb Spacemen 6pp

#79 April 1957: A Switch In Time 6pp

#80 May 1957: Mind Robbers of Venus 6pp, The Anti-Invasion Machine 6pp, The Man Who Cheated Time 6pp

#81 June 1957: Secret of the Shrinking Twins 6pp

#82 July 1957: Secret of the Silent Spacemen 6pp

#83 Aug 1957: Assignment in Eternity 6pp

#84 Sept 1957: The Toy That Saved the World 6pp

#86 Nov 1957: The One-Hour Invasion of Earth 6pp

#87 Dec 1957: The Interplanetary Problem-Solver 6pp

#88 Jan 1958: The Gorilla War Against Earth 7pp

#89 Feb 1958: Prisoner of the Rainbow 6pp, Detour in Time 6pp, Mystery of the Unknown Invention 6pp

#90 March 1958: Amazing Gift From Space 6pp

#91 April 1958: The Midget Earthman of Jupiter 8pp, The Amazing Tree of Knowledge 6pp

#94 July 1958: The Fishermen of Space 8pp, The Boy in the Moon 6pp, Elevator to the Future 6pp

#95 Aug 1958: The Boy Who Saved the Solar System 6pp

#96 Sept 1958: The Menace of Saturn’s Rings 7pp, The Man Who Aged Backwards 6pp

#100 Jan 1959: The Amazing Trial of John (Gorilla) Doe 9pp

#101 Feb 1959: The Giant From Beyond 9pp, Prize Fish of Venus 8pp

#104 May 1959: World of Doomed Spacemen (1st Space Museum, SM henceforth) 9pp

#105 June 1959: Space Scoop–2159 A.D. 8pp

#106 July 1959: Genie in the Flying Saucer 9pp

#107 Aug 1959: The Strange Case of the Earth-Spy 8pp, Peril of the Planet-Eater 8pp

#108 Sept 1959: The Human Pet of Gorilla Land 9pp, The Martian Earth-Trap 8pp

#109 Oct 1959: The Warning from One Million B.C. 8pp

#110 Nov 1959: Mystery of the Space-Robots 8pp

#112 Jan 1960: Menace of the Size-Changing Spaceman 9pp, Tomorrow’s Hero 8pp

#113 Feb 1960: Deluge From Space 8pp, Menace of the Shrinking Bomb 8pp

#114 March 1960: Secret of the Flying Buzz Saw 9pp, The Case of the Martian Witness (1st Star Hawkins, SH hereafter) 8pp

#115 April 1960: The Great Space-Tiger Hunt 9pp, SM 8pp

#116 May 1960: Invasion of the Water Warriors 9pp, SH 8pp

#117 June 1960: Challenge of the Gorilla Genius 9pp, The Rise of the Atomic Knights (1st of series, AK hereafter) 16pp

#118 July 1960: The Turtle-Men of Space 8pp, SM 8pp

#119 Aug 1960: Raiders of the Giant World 9pp, SH 8pp

#120 Sept 1960: The Attack of the Oil Demons 9pp, The Strangest Day on Earth 8pp, AK 8pp

121 Oct 1960: Invasion of the Flying Reptiles 9pp, SM 8pp

#122 Nov 1960: David and the Space-Goliath 9pp, SH 8pp

#123 Dec 1960: Secret of the Rocket-Destroyer 8pp

#124 Jan 1961: The Face-Hunter From Saturn 9pp, Earth’s One-Man Space Fleet 8pp, SM 8pp

#125 Feb 1961: The Flying Gorilla Menace 9pp, The Super Athlete from Earth 8pp, SH 8pp

#126 March 1961: Return of the Neanderthal Man 8pp, The Interplanetary Tourists 8pp, AK 9pp

#127 April 1961: Menace From the Earth-Globe 8pp, SM 8pp

#128 May 1961: The Man With the Electronic Brain 9pp, Come Home From Earth 8pp, SH 8pp

#129 June 1961: The Most Dangerous Man on Earth 8pp, AK 9pp

#130 July 1961: The Invisible Space-Dog 8pp

#131 Aug 1961: Emperor of the Earth 8pp, The 60 Million-Mile Long Weapon 9pp, SH 8pp

#132 Sept 1961: Toyride to the Stars 8pp, AK 9pp

#133 Oct 1961: The Invisible Dinosaur 9pp, SM 8pp

#135 Dec 1961: Fishing Hole in the Sky 8pp, The Jigsaw Weapon World 8pp, AK 9pp

#136 Jan 1962: The Robot Who Lost its Head 9pp

#137 Feb 1962: Parade of the Space-Toys 9pp, Meteor-Rider of the Universe 8pp, SH 8pp

#138 March 1962: The Man Who Climbed Into Space 8pp, AK 8pp

#139 April 1962: SM 8pp

#140 May 1962: SH 9pp

#141 June 1962: Battle Between the Two Earths 9pp

#142 July 1962: The Return of the Faceless Creature 9pp

#143 Aug 1962: The Two-Way Time-Traveler 8pp, SH 8pp

#144 Sept 1962: The Imaginary Dooms 9pp

#146 Nov 1962: Perilous Pet of Space 9pp, SH 8pp

#147 Dec 1962: The Dawn-World Menace 9pp, AK 16pp

#148 Jan 1963: Earth Hero Number One 8pp

#149 Feb 1963: SH 8pp

#151 April 1963: Invasion Via Radio-Telescope 8pp, The Marriage that Menaced Earth 8pp

#152 May 1963: The Martian Emperor of Earth 8pp

#153 June 1963: Threat of the Faceless Creature 10pp

#154 July 1963: Earth’s Friendly Invaders 9pp, The Beast The Broke the Time Barrier 8pp

#155 Aug 1963: SH 8pp

#156 Sept 1963: The Man With the Head of Saturn 9pp

#157 Oct 1963: The Immortality Seekers 9pp

#158 Nov 1963: The Mind Masters of Space 9pp, Earth’s Forbidden Inventions 8pp, SH 8pp

#159 Dec 1963: Yes, Virginia–There Is a Martian 6pp, Star Rovers 11pp

#160 Jan 1964: Captives of the Eclipse 10pp

#161 Feb 1964: Earth’s Frozen Heat Wave 8pp, No Yesterday–No Tomorrow–No Nothing 9pp, SM 8pp

#162 March 1964: Mystery of the 12 O’Clock Man 9pp, The 13-Day Wonder 8pp, SH 8pp

#163 April 1964: The Creature in the Black Light 12pp

#173 Feb 1965: SH 8pp

#174 March 1965: The Ten Ton Man 9pp

#182 Nov 1965: SH 8pp

#211 April 1968: Deadman 17pp

That’s a total of 2,584 pages if my math is right, a substantial amount. More articles in this series you might enjoy are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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

GASPAR SALADINO in STAR TREK

All images © DC Comics and Paramount, from STAR TREK #1, Feb 1984

Several companies have been licensed to publish Star Trek Comics, DC had the license from 1984 to 1996 and used it well. Gaspar Saladino lettered many of the covers for their Star Trek comics, but none of the stories inside. On the first issue, above, he did the top blurb which uses open letters with some shapes that echo the logo.

From STAR TREK #3, April 1984

Another top blurb by Saladino, and he also lettered the creator credits under the logo, which were too thin to print well and should have been bolder or larger.

From STAR TREK #6, July 1984

Two word balloons and a caption tell the story. The color in WAR makes it a bit hard to read, but that was not Gaspar’s choice.

From STAR TREK #10, Jan 1985

On this busy cover there wasn’t much room for lettering, but Gaspar did what he could.

From STAR TREK #14, May 1985

More room here, and the Saladino balloons add drama.

From STAR TREK #20, Nov 1985

This caption gets a lot of small open letters into play and adds emphasis by making the first and last words larger.

From STAR TREK #24, March 1986

The alien enemy on this cover has a special balloon style by Gaspar, made more effective by the color choices.

From STAR TREK #34, Jan 1987

This blurb works well because of contrasts in size and style. Note how DOOMSDAY gets smaller on the right to help emphasize BUG.

From STAR TREK #38, May 1987

The two classic themes of literature are handled well in this Saladino banner caption, abetted by contrast from the ampersand.

From STAR TREK #53, Aug 1988

My favorite blurb from this series, it has so much personality and style, and I can hear Bones saying it. DC’s first Star Trek series ended with issue #56.

From STAR TREK ANNUAL #1, Oct 1985

There were several Annuals, Gaspar did only this one banner.

From STAR TREK #2, Nov 1989

DC began a new series in 1989, but Gaspar lettered only two covers for it that I’m sure about, one is above. There are a few more he might have done that I’m not sure about, so won’t count them. I wouldn’t be sure about this one except for the shape of THE.

From STAR TREK #20, June 1991

There’s no mistaking Saladino’s style on the word MAD on this cover.

From STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION #14, Dec 1990

DC also did a series for this spinoff TV show, and Saladino lettered just two of the covers. On this blurb I like the way the A’s echo the logo in the first line.

From STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION #15, Jan 1991

The style of this blurb is again unmistakeably Saladino, and I like the creative letter joining in FERENGI, nicely contrasted by the first line.

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

STAR TREK (1984): 1-4, 6, 9-14, 16-18, 20, 22-26, 29-36, 38, 40-41, 45, 48, 53-54 and ANNUAL #1

STAR TREK (1989): 2, 20, ANNUAL #2

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: 14-15

That’s 41 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 STAR TREK appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES

All images © DC Comics. From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #110, Aug-Sept 1963

In 1952, with interest in superheroes waning, National (DC) Comics decided to launch several war titles, and for one they converted STAR SPANGLED COMICS to STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES, a name that worked well for the subject. Though editor Robert Kanigher was already assigned to two of the new war titles, ALL-AMERICAN MEN OF WAR (converted from ALL-AMERICAN WESTERN, itself repurposed from ALL-AMERICAN COMICS) and OUR FIGHTING FORCES, this one was initially edited by others, including Murray Boltinoff. At first the numbering was continued from ALL STAR COMICS, but just for three issues, #131-133, then new numbering began, but with #3, which makes no sense, but there you go. Gaspar Saladino lettered four stories for early issues 3-5, but with issue #13 he began lettering most of the stories. I think that’s a clear indication of when Kanigher was given the editorial reins, though the Grand Comics Database doesn’t list him as editor until a few issues later. Gaspar was lettering most of the stories edited by Kanigher and his office mate Julius Schwartz, and only doing work for other editors occasionally. I think Saladino liked war stories, his work on them always seems fitting and appropriate, and he continued to letter most of the stories for this series until 1963, when his story lettering began to slack off, and it mostly ended in 1965, probably due to other work like Batman stories for Schwartz. Unlike many other titles, Saladino only filled in for regular cover letterer Ira Schnapp once, on the cover above, where his square display lettering stands in contrast to Ira’s more rounded look. With issue #139 in 1968, Gaspar became the regular cover letterer through the end of the series, which actually continued with another name change. I’ll look at covers first, then stories.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #139, June-July 1968

Saladino’s first cover as regular letterer retains part of Ira Schnapp’s previous series logo over Gaspar’s Enemy Ace logo. The bottom blurb looks like it was done with a brush rather than a pen.

[image error]From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #140, Aug-Sept 1968

Balloon lettering for this and other war titles was often filled with large display lettering to up the drama. Frequent cover artist Joe Kubert usually left room for that, and may have pencilled in what he wanted. The bottom caption has great bounce, adding interest.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #142, Dec 1968-Jan 1969

With this issue, a new and I think better logo for Enemy Ace is in place. Gaspar has relettered WAR STORIES and added the blurb to the right of that as well as the large balloon. The left margin of a cover was usually the one place where lettering could come close to the edge, as it was not trimmed off, but sometimes part of the front cover was rolled around to the back cover during folding and trimming, or this could just be a poorly-trimmed scan, I use what I can find.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #144, April-May 1969

Note the bottom caption on this cover touting work by Neal Adams and Joe Kubert. For decades, DC had not acknowledged creators other than sometimes allowing artists sign their name, but things were changing, comics fans were becoming more important to sales, and editor Kanigher knew that, though he wasn’t able to do cover credits again on this book.

[image error]From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #149, Feb-March 1970

The Viking Prince story was a reprint, but Saladino’s large blurb and Kubert’s art sell it well. Most readers would not have seen those 1950s stories anyway.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #151, June-July 1970

The logos on some issues took odd turns, I think choices made by new editor Joe Kubert. He may have pencilled WAR and had Gaspar ink it, Saladino did the new STAR SPANGLED banner and the rest of the lettering. The Unknown Soldier, which begins here, became the lead feature, and later took over this book.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #156, April-May 1971

This WAR is all Saladino, as is the rest of the lettering except for type in a few places.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #162, April-May 1972

Gaspar shows his skill with inscribed letters on the tomb, always tricky, as well as brushed-on graffiti.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #168, March 1973

The logo on this cover looks to me like Gaspar had nothing to do with it. The top line might be type, perhaps Kubert did this version of WAR himself, but that’s a guess. The large, dramatic balloons are by Saladino.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #178, Feb 1974

More exciting balloons from Saladino as the trade dress (all the stuff at the top) continues to drift from one look to another.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #194, Dec 1975

On this cover, Unknown Soldier gets his own Saladino logo (probably, not sure about it), and I think he’s also relettered the main logo and provided the blurb in the top banner as well as the balloon.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #204, Feb-March 1977

The final issue shows where things were headed as the book continued with the same numbering as THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER after this. Saladino had to reletter the actual book title one more time here.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #3, Nov 1952

Gaspar’s story lettering for the early issues looks just like what he was doing for editor Kanigher on the other war titles, which suggests these might have been edited by Kanigher and given to Boltinoff, or whoever edited the early issues, but that’s a guess. The lettering is large, wide, and angular, professional and appealing, adding a lot to the stories.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #4, Dec 1952

On this page, notice how Saladino angles and lines up the bubble tails of the thought balloons. Somehow that adds depth.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #13, Sept 1953

Here’s where I think Kanigher took over as editor, since Gaspar lettered all four stories in the issue.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #15, Nov 1953

The artists often gave Saladino room for large story titles, and he took advantage of that. His titles for war stories were more confident and bold sooner than on other genres generally.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #18, Feb 1954

Sound effects were an important part of many war stories, and Gaspar’s were dynamic and exciting. The treatment of TRIGGER in the title is unusual for him and effective.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #23, July 1954

More strong sound effects. The shapes and heavy outlines on some remind me of what Harvey Kurtzman and Ben Oda were doing on the EC war titles, perhaps they influenced Saladino.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #26, Oct 1954

Some Saladino style points: the open letter over a black shape to begin the first caption, the wavy edges of the lower captions, and the radio balloon with large triangular points.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #32, April 1955

When a special style suggested itself, as with the riveted letters in this title, Gaspar did a fine job with it. BATTLE, made with a brush, makes a good contrast.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #40, Dec 1955

Another example is the icy letters on this title, nicely contrasted by the rough broken outlines of WAR.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #51, Nov 1956

As you can imagine, every possible story idea the writers could think of was used to fill the issues, I like the title of this one.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #66, Feb 1958

A different kind of pigeon, a human one, is featured in this story.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #79, March 1959

Occasionally lettering became the focus of a story too, as in this example.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #84, Aug 1959

After years of no continuing characters, Mademoiselle Marie, a French resistance fighter, was introduced in this issue with what would be considered a sexist story title today. And of course she wore Paris fashions and was always wearing makeup and very clean…at least in the beginning of the story. It may have been a bit of a shock for the main audience of young boys, and she did not last very long, but continued in other titles.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #90, April-May 1960

The book was cut to bimonthly in 1960, usually a sign of falling sales, and Kanigher and his writers came up with a new gimmick they thought would be popular, combining World War Two soldiers and dinosaurs on the previously unknown Dinosaur Island. It was a hit, and continued for years.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #101, Feb-March 1962

If dinosaurs worked, why not a robot too? As with many DC titles, anything that sold was okay.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #125, Feb-March 1966

There was plenty of action, and artist Joe Kubert could draw anything, including his own sound effects, as here. Readers approved. This was the final interior story lettered by Saladino, as his workload continued to increase.

To sum up, I found Saladino cover lettering on these issues: 110, 139-144, 146-171, 173-174, 177-182, 184-186, 188-189, 194, 200-202, 204. That’s 51 in all. Below are the details of his story lettering. Recurring features are abbreviated after the first appearance.

#3 Nov 1952: General for a Day 6pp, Booby Trap 6pp

#4 Dec 1952: The Hot Rod Tank 6pp

#5 Jan 1953: Jet Pilot 6pp

#13 Sept 1953: No Escape 6pp One-Ton Terror 6pp, Battle Detective 6pp, Command Performance 6pp

#14 Oct 1953: I Faced a Firing Squad 6pp, Secret Invasion 6pp

#15 Nov 1953: The Big Fish 6pp, Tin Helmet 6pp, War Record 6pp, Jinx Commander 6pp

#16 Dec 1953: The Yellow Ribbon 6pp, Combat Cameraman 6pp

#17 Jan 1954: All Quiet 6pp, Turnabout 6pp

#18 Feb 1954: The Gladiator 6pp, Human Trigger 6pp, Ninety-Day Wonder 6pp, Warrior Shepherd 6pp

#19 March 1954: The Big Lift 8pp, The Last Weapon 6pp, War Under the Sphinx 6pp

#20 April 1954: The Battle of the Frogmen 6pp, Medal for a Saddle 6pp, Floating Fort 6pp, Suicide Squad 6pp

#21 May 1954: Dead Man’s Bridge 8pp, The 60-Minute General 6pp, Texans Are Terrific 6pp, Tank Trap 6pp

#22 June 1954: Death Hurdle 8pp, The Trench 6pp, Desert Sailor 6pp

#23 July 1954: The Silent Frogmen 6pp, Full Field Pack 6pp, One-Man Road Block 6pp, Jackpot Flight 6pp

#24 Aug 1954: Death Slide 6pp, The Top Hat G.I. 6pp, Booby Traps, B.C. 6pp, The Human Periscope 6pp

#25 Sept 1954: S.S. Liferaft 8pp, Battle Playground 6pp, Cold War 6pp, Kid Brother 6pp

#26 Oct 1954: Bazooka Man 6pp, The Sea Trigger 6pp, Paratroop Pirates 6pp, The Flag on the Hill 6pp

#27 Nov 1954: Taps for a Tail Gunner 6pp, The Old Man 6pp, Condemned Tank 6pp, Private War 6pp

#28 Dec 1954: Tank Duel 6pp, The Man Who Owned No-Man’s Land 6pp, The Glass Hero 6pp, General Mud 6pp

#29 Jan 1955: A Gun Called Slugger 8pp, Supply Truck Commando 6pp, 3 Texas Troopers 6pp, Torpedo Punch 6pp

#30 Feb 1955: Thunderbolt Tank 8pp, Battle Nursery 6pp, Delayed Action 6pp, Winged Destroyer 6pp

#31 March 1955: Tank Block 6pp, The C.O. Was A Kid 6pp, Foxhole Paratrooper 6pp

#32 April 1955: Bridge to Battle 8pp, The War Hawk 6pp, Fighting Engineer 6pp, Dusty Victory 6pp

#33 May 1955: Pocket War 8pp, Wanted–Hero’s Helmet 6pp, Souvenir Soldier 6pp, The Mothball Champ 6pp

#34 June 1955: Fighting Snowbirds 8pp, The Tank with a Memory 6pp, High Wire Soldier 6pp, Boomerang Booby Trap 6pp

#35 July 1955: Zero Hour 8pp, Duel in the Deep 6pp, The Silent Machine Gunner 6pp, Desert Admiral 6pp

#36 Aug 1955: A G.I. Passed Here 8pp, Four-Legged Tank 6pp, The Stone Hero 6pp, Close Shave 5pp

#37 Sept 1955: A Handful of T.N.T. 8pp, Champion Dud 6pp, Battle Winds 6pp, One-Man Company 6pp

#38 Oct 1955: One-Man Navy 8pp, Battlefied Collector 6pp, Front Line Pin-Up 6pp, Stars in my Tin Hat 6pp

#39 Nov 1955: Flying Cowboy 8pp, Glass Gun 6pp, Combat Comedian 6pp, Balloon Fighter 6pp

#40 Dec 1955: Desert Duel 8pp, Iceberg War 6pp, T.N.T. Trail 6pp, Private Battle 6pp

#41 Jan 1956: A Gunner’s Hands 8pp, Combat Cabbie 6pp, The Tank That Wasn’t There 6pp, Parachute – Do Not Open 6pp

#42 Feb 1956: Sniper Alley 8pp, No Medal for Marty 6pp, High Battleground 6pp, The Backstage Battle 6pp

#43 March 1956: Top Kick Brother 8pp, Trench Battle 6pp

#44 April 1956: The Walking Fort 6pp, Hard Luck Hero 6pp

#45 May 1956: Flying Heels 8pp, Bull’s Eye Correspondent 6pp, Jive Tank 6pp, Battle Cake 6pp

#46 June 1956: Gunner’s Seat 8pp, Talking Guns 6pp, War On Wheels 6pp, The Battle Downstairs 6pp

#47 July 1956: Sidekick 8pp, The Ghost Raider 6pp, Bull’s-Eye Letter 6pp, Battle Parade 6pp

#48 Aug 1956: Battle Hills 8pp, The Real War 6pp, Bazooka Battle Roll 6pp, Underground Soldier 6pp

#49 Sept 1956: X Marks the War 6pp, Battle Beat 6pp, One Medal On Loan 6pp

#50 Oct 1956: Combat Dust 6pp, Convoy Watchman 6pp, Cliff-Hanger 4pp, Sub Hunter 6pp

#51 Nov 1956: Battle Pigeon 6pp, Time Bomb Foxhole 6pp, Soldier On Ice 4pp, Frogman Stand-In 6pp

#52 Dec 1956: Cannon-Man 6pp, Dusty Sailor 6pp, TNT Kid 6pp, Rendezvous Raft 6pp

#53 Jan 1957: Combat Close-Ups 6pp, Battle Anchor 6pp, The Rock Sergeant 8pp

#54 Feb 1957: Flying Exit 6pp, The Attacking Wind 6pp, Ride a Shooting Star 6pp, Bronze Star Ridge 6pp

#55 March 1957: The Burning Desert 6pp, The Walking Snowbird 6pp, Back Street Battle 6pp, Diary of a Tin Pot 6pp

#56 April 1957: The Walking Sub 6pp, Waiting Mine 6pp, The Fighting Link 6pp, Postcard War 6pp

#57 May 1957: Call For a Frogman 8pp, Combat Umbrella 6pp, Attack Time 6pp, Periscope Rescue 6pp

#58 June 1957: Waist Punch 8pp, Tank In Town 6pp, The G.I. and the Turtle 6pp, Easy Island 6pp

#59 July 1957: Kick In the Door 8pp, The Soldier on Four Wheels 6pp, The Track of the Treads 6pp, Frogman Battleground 6pp

#60 Aug 1957: Hotbox 6pp, Torpedo Alley 6pp, Combat Steeplechase 6pp, Three Pieces of War 6pp

#61 Sept 1957: Tow Pilot 6pp, Make Your Move 6pp, Special Delivery Dud 6pp, Bullet Clock 6pp

#63 Nov 1957: Flying Range Rider 8pp, Set Up a Line 6pp, It Can’t Get Rougher 6pp, The Monkey Wrench 6pp

#64 Dec 1957: Frogman Ambush 6pp, So Long to Easy Company 6pp, One Man Platoon 6pp, Halfway Escort 6pp

#65 Jan 1958: Frogman Block 6pp, Foxhole Fever 6pp, G.I. Weather Bird 6pp, Postage Stamp Pilot 6pp

#66 Feb 1958: Flattop Pigeon 12pp, No Man’s Mountain 6pp, Thunderbolt Rider 6pp

#67 March 1958: Ashcan Alley 8pp, The Easy Way 6pp, Autograph Hill 6pp, Low-Priority Target 6pp

#68 April 1958: The Long Step 8pp, The Big Cushion 6pp, Battle Alphabet 6pp

#69 May 1958: Sub On My Doorstep 6pp, Sixty Second Day 6pp, Dress-Parade Soldiers 6pp

#70 June 1958: No Medal For a Frogman 8pp, Tight Spot 6pp, Same Old War 6pp, The Waiting Gun 6pp

#71 July 1958: Shooting Star 13pp, Fire Fight 6pp, The End of the Sea Wolf 6pp

#72 Aug 1958: Silent Fish 12pp, The Big Hurdle 6pp, War Wears White Gloves 6pp

#73 Sept 1958: The Mouse and the Tiger 12pp, Tin Pot Lottery 8pp, Silent Walkie-Talkie 6pp

#74 Oct 1958: Frogman Bait 13pp, A Tree Stands on Tarawa 6pp, Bush-League Battle 6pp

#75 Nov 1958: Paratroop Musketeers 13pp, Shotgun Frogman 6pp, No Man’s Helmet 6pp

#76 Dec 1958: Odd Man 13pp, The Tall Order 6pp, Flying Pinch Hitter 6pp

#77 Jan 1959: Room To Fight 13pp, Flight Deck Ace 6pp, Commando Sword 6pp

#78 Feb 1959: Fighting Wingman 6pp, Hop, Skip, and Jump War 6pp, No Combat Report Today 6pp, Medal for a Marine 8pp

#79 March 1959: Zero Box 13pp, Why Go Back? 6pp, The Khaki Wall 6pp

#80 April 1959: Top Gunner 13pp, Why Are We Waiting? 6pp, A Guy Called Sarge 6pp

#81 May 1959: Khaki Mosquito 13pp, Ace on a Wall 6pp, Boot Hill for Baker 6pp

#82 June 1959: Ground Flier 13pp, The Next Man 6pp, Trench Trap 6pp

#83 July 1959: Jet On My Shoulder 13pp, A Stripe For St. Lo 6pp, War Doesn’t Sleep 6pp

#84 Aug 1959: Mademoiselle Marie (hereafter MM) 12pp, Blind Bomber 6pp, No Flag for a Sand Fly 6pp

#85 Sept 1959: MM Raid 13pp, Flattop Mosquito 6pp, Who’s Left? 6pp

#86 Oct 1959: MM 13pp, U-Boat to Nowhere 6pp, Combat Kayo List 6pp

#87 Nov 1959: MM 13pp, School for a Frogman 6pp, Get One For Smitty 6pp

#88 Dec 1959: MM 14pp, The Glass Hill 6pp, The Sergeant is a Monkey 6pp

#89 Feb-March 1960: MM 13pp (page 1 title only), We Made Ace 6pp, Sink That Sub 6pp

#90 April-May 1960: The War That Time Forgot (hereafter TWTTF) 11pp, No Ammo for A Company 6pp, MM 8pp

#91 June-July 1960: MM 13pp, Cry “Wolf” Mission 6pp, Iron Cross Vs. Bronze Star 6pp

#92 Aug-Sept 1960: TWTTF 13pp, Buddy for a Mustang 6pp, You’ll Never Make It 6pp

#93 Oct-Nov 1960: Goliath of the Western Front 13pp, The Bridge that Couldn’t Be Bombed 6pp, Desert Mosquito 6pp

#94 Dec 1960-Jan 1961: TWTTF 17pp, Ghost Ace 8pp

#95 Feb-March 1961: TWTTF 13pp, The Human Torpedo 6pp, Gunner From the Past 6pp

#96 April-May 1961: TWTTF 13pp, Bodyguard for a Flattop 6pp, The Nothing Ace 6pp

#97 June-July 1961: TWTTF 17pp, The End of Lady Luck 8pp

#98 Aug-Sept 1961: TWTTF 13pp, No Room to Fight 6pp, Last Shot of the Triggerfish 6pp

#99 Oct-Nov 1961: TWTTF 13pp, Blind Tank 6pp, Double Jinx Fort 6pp

#100 Dec 1961-Jan 1962: TWTTF 13pp, The Flippers of Doom 6pp, Stragglers Never Come Back 6pp

#101 Feb-March 1962: TWTTF 13pp, The Unsinkable Wreck 6pp

#102 April-May 1962: TWTTF 13pp, The Town That Wouldn’t Die 6pp, Sergeants Are Made Not Born 6pp

#103 June-July 1962: TWTTF 15pp, Stars and Stripes Against Swastikas 10pp

#104 Aug-Sept 1962: TWTTF 13pp, The Silent Tin Can 4pp

#105 Oct-Nov 1962: TWTTF 15pp, Flower for a Fighter 6pp, The Last Charge 4pp

#106 Dec 1962-Jan 1963: TWTTF 13pp, The Flying Island 6pp, Battle Odds 6pp

#107 Feb-March 1963: TWTTF 13pp

#108 April-May 1963: TWTTF 17pp, Jump Into Two Wars 8pp

#109 June-July 1963: TWTTF 13pp, The Castaway Torpedoman 6pp

#110 Aug-Sept 1963: TWTTF 15pp

#111 Oct-Nov 1963: TWTTF 15pp

#112 Dec 1963-Jan 1964: TWTTF 15pp, No Escape from Stalag 7 10pp

#113 Feb-March 1964: TWTTF 15pp, General Sarge 10pp

#114 April-May 1964: TWTTF 15pp

#115 June-July 1964: TWTTF 15pp

#116 Aug-Sept 1964: Baker’s Dozen 10pp

#117 Oct-Nov 1964: TWTTF 15pp

#118 Dec 1964-Jan 1965: TWTTF 15pp

#119 Feb-March 1965: Desert Rat 10pp

#121 June-July 1965: TWTTF 15pp, Wanted: 4 Tiger Tanks 10pp

#125 Feb-March 1966: TWTTF 15pp

That’s a total of 2,448 pages on this book, lots of lettering!. Other articles in this series and more you might like are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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And Then I Read: LOCKWOOD & CO. – THE WHISPERING SKULL

Cover art by Michael Heath

This is the second book in the Lockwood series by Stroud, I reviewed the first one HERE. In this story, Anthony Lockwood and his employees and teammates Lucy Carlyle and George Cubbins once again try to solve a haunting problem in an alternate version of London where ghosts are everywhere, and their touch is deadly. Only a small number of children have the psychic ability to see and hear them, and such children are employed by the government to help remove dangerously haunted objects to protect the public. Lockwood’s small firm has had some success, but they have a hard time competing with much larger firms like their main rival The Fittes Agency. When an excavation company uncovers a grave in a London cemetery containing an extremely powerful supernatural object—a mirror framed by bones of the angry dead that may look into their haunted world—both the Lockwood and Fittes agencies are put on the case. It’s a sort of deadly competition, and the lives of the young agents are at risk in more ways than one. The story is full of frightening, suspenseful escapades as both teams begin to close in on the real story behind the mirror, and Lockwood has a secret weapon: an old skull that seems to know a lot about the case, and who whispers about it to Lucy. But how much the skull’s words can be trusted is the question, as it seems to delight in getting the team into trouble.

I liked the first book of this series a lot, it’s version of London and Londoners in constant danger from ghosts most of them couldn’t even see was a clever idea. Now it seems all too close to Covid, though, and not nearly as much fun. The characters and plot of this one are appealing and the book is a page turner, but I had questions about how this world works, and how Lockwood and Company work, that weren’t being answered in the first book, and they still aren’t in this one. If you like scary stories, these may appeal to you, but I’m not sure I will read any more of the series. Still, recommended.

Lockwood and Co The Whispering Skull

The post And Then I Read: LOCKWOOD & CO. – THE WHISPERING SKULL appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in STAR SPANGLED, STANLEY, STALKER & STEEL

All images © DC Comics. From STAR SPANGLED COMICS #128, May 1952

There are many DC Comics titles beginning with the letter S that Gaspar Saladino did just a small amount of work for, here are several. The cover above is the only one lettered by him for this book with a long history that would soon end when the title was changed to STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES. At the time it was the home of Robin solo adventures but otherwise scrambling to find an audience. Gaspar’s wide, angular balloon lettering is in contrast to regular letterer Ira Schnapp’s more rounded work, and he also did the blurb to the right of the logo.

From STAR SPANGLED COMICS #116, May 1951

Saladino was not a regular story letterer on this title, but he did do two Robin stories, the first is above. Again note his wide, angular style.

From STAR SPANGLED COMICS #124, Jan 1952

The other Robin story lettered by Saladino, both are typically full of text and overwritten, as was the commont the time.

From STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER #110, June-July 1968

In 1968, DC’s funny animal comics were on their last legs, and they tried this odd feature in THE FOX AND THE CROW. It did well enough that the title of the book was renamed for the feature, but only lasted four more issues. Saladino’s scary lettering styles are evident in the balloons and the sign.

From STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER #111, Aug-Sept 1968

The next issue has lots of Saladino balloons and appealing art, but readers weren’t buying it.

From STALKER #3, Oct-Nov 1975

I loved this sword and sorcery title written by Paul Levitz with amazing art by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood, but it only lasted four issues. Gaspar’s exciting caption enhances this one, the top blurb is by someone else.

From STALKER #4, Dec 1975-Jan 1976

Another fine caption on this issue with a variety of styles that work well together. Too bad the book didn’t last longer.

From STEEL THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN #1, March 1978

In early 1978, DC was trying out new heroes like this one. It ran only five issues before becoming a victim of the “DC Implosion.” Saladino’s top and bottom blurbs add to the excitement.

From STEEL THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN #4, Aug-Sept 1978

Gaspar’s only other work on the book was lettering this cover with effective balloons and a stylish caption.

From STEEL #24, Feb 1996

Much later a new superhero character with the Steel name had a successful run in the 1990s. Gaspar lettered this one issue, where his bold sound effects and creative balloon styles work well.

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

STAR SPANGLED COMICS #128

STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER #110-112

STALKER #3-4

STEEL THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN #4

That’s seven in all. Below are the details of the story lettering shown above.

STAR SPANGLED COMICS #116 May 1951: Robin 10pp

STAR SPANGLED COMICS #124 Jan 1952: Robin 6pp

STEEL #24 Feb 1996: 24pp

That’s 40 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 STAR SPANGLED, STANLEY, STALKER & STEEL appeared first on Todd's Blog.

GASPAR SALADINO in THE SPECTRE

All images © DC Comics. From THE SPECTRE #4, May-June 1968

The Spectre was created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Bailey and began appearing in 1940. He had many later revivals, the most important one was from Editor Julius Schwartz in 1966 when he appeared in three tryout issues of SHOWCASE, and then in ten issues of his own series. This Spectre was immensely powerful and scary, and issues 2 to 5 featured stories and art by DC newcomer Neal Adams. Gaspar was just taking over from the previous regular cover letterer Ira Schnapp on the one above with effective open lettering that adds to the drama.

From THE SPECTRE #5, July-Aug 1968

Both logos on these issues are by Schnapp, but Gaspar’s cover blurbs are large and effective.

From THE SPECTRE #7, Nov-Dec 1968

When artist Jerry Grandenetti took over as cover and interior artist on issue #6, he and Saladino worked together on different logos for each issue, as seen here, along with Gaspar’s fine blurb at the bottom.

From THE SPECTRE #9, March-April 1969

Some of the logos were spectacular, like this one, but the focus in this article is on cover lettering, and Saladino did the top blurb as well as the book title here.

From THE SPECTRE #1, Nov-Dec 1967

Saladino also lettered several full issues of the book, beginning with the first one. The feature logo may have been pencilled by artist Murphy Anderson and inked by Gaspar. The story title is fine Saladino work.

From THE SPECTRE #2, Jan-Feb 1968

Working with Neal Adams seemed to bring out the best lettering from Gaspar, and these sound effects are full of energy.

From THE SPECTRE #4, May-June 1968

Here Adams left lots of room for the story title, and Gaspar filled it well, using dry brush for the word WRECKS.

From THE SPECTRE #6, Sept-Oct 1968

Saladino’s final story lettering was with Grandenetti, and there was also lots of room for his creative styles in this issue.

[image error]From THE SPECTRE #1, April 1987

The character had many later revivals. The first issue of this one featured a fine Saladino scroll caption at the bottom, his only work on the series.

From WRATH OF THE SPECTRE #4, Aug 1988

A later four-issue series reprinted stories from ADVENTURE COMICS, and Gaspar’s only involvement was cover lettering for this issue. I’ve found no other work by him in later Spectre series.

To sum up, I found Saladino cover lettering on these issues:

THE SPECTRE (1967): 4-10

THE SPECTRE (1987): 1

WRATH OF THE SPECTRE: 4

That’s nine in all. Below are the details for his story lettering on the 1967 series.

#1 Nov-Dec 1967: 23pp

#2 Jan-Feb 1968: 23pp

#4 May-June 1968: 24pp

#6 Sept-Oct 1968: 23pp

That’s 93 pages in all. More articles in this series and others you might like are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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GASPAR SALADINO in SILVERBLADE and SKIN GRAFT

[image error]All images © DC Comics. From SILVERBLADE #1, Sept 1987

This article combines two unrelated titles which each have a substantial amount of story lettering by Gaspar Saladino, and the first one also features his cover lettering on a few issues. SILVERBLADE ran twelve issues in 1987-88, it was about a 1940s film star written by Cary Bates, and was right up artist Gene Colan’s alley. I did the logo, Gaspar did all the other fine lettering, which I don’t think was helped by the blue color hold, but it still looks okay.

From SILVERBLADE #4, Dec 1987

The book soon went off in odd directions, but Saladino’s caption helps sell it.

From SILVERBLADE #7, March 1988

Again the blue color hold on the blurb here does it no favors, and makes the last word hard to read, but the rest works okay.

From SILVERBLADE #1, Sept 1987

Gaspar did the inside lettering on issues 1 to 5, here including fine Art Deco movie poster work in the background, and a handsome title.

From SILVERBLADE #3, Nov 1987

On this page the credits retain the Art Deco style and the rest of the lettering uses some style points from Saladino’s earlier work like the circle behind the first letter in the first caption and some almost rectangular balloons.

From SKIN GRAFT #1, July 1993

SKIN GRAFT was a four-issue Vertigo series and Saladino lettered all the story pages, many of which include his fine display lettering like the one above.

From SKIN GRAFT #2, Aug 1993

Another example is in the letter on this page, not his usual style for handwriting nor for balloon lettering, but something else that probably took extra time.

From SKIN GRAFT #4, Dec 1993

As with most Vertigo titles, things got pretty weird, but Saladino was ready for any challenge.

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

SILVERBLADE #1, 4 & 7, three in all. Below are the details of his story lettering.

SILVERBLADE #1 Sept 1987: 32pp

#2 Oct 1987: 25pp

#3 Nov 1987: 25pp

#4 Dec 1987: 24pp

#5 Jan 1988: 24pp

SKIN GRAFT #1 July 1993: 24pp

#2 Aug 1993: 24pp

#3 Sept 1993: 24pp

#4 Oct 1993: 24pp

That’s a total of 226 pages. 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 SHADE, STARFIRE and STARMAN

All images © DC Comics. From SHADE THE CHANGING MAN #2, Aug-Sept 1977

There are lots of DC Comics titles beginning with the letter S, here are three unrelated ones with a relatively small amount of lettering by Gaspar Saladino, mostly on covers. SHADE was the creation of Steve Ditko with dialogue from Michael Fleisher, and Gaspar lettered four covers in the eight-issue run. The first example, above, has three matching balloons with style variations that add a lot to the story and explain the character relationships in a compact way. My guess is they were written and perhaps pencilled in by Ditko.

From SHADE THE CHANGING MAN #3, Oct-Nov 1977

I feel that Ditko was at his best in this series artwise, and Saladino matched him with fine lettering. Look at the diverse styles in that bottom caption.

From SHADE THE CHANGING MAN #6, April-May 1978

More exciting art and dynamic lettering on this cover.

From SHADE THE CHANGING MAN #8, Aug-Sept 1978

In the final published issue, Gaspar had only two balloons to letter. The tail for the right one is to the white-coated character, and he wisely didn’t cross the foreground leg with it. It works fine. This book was a victim of the “DC Implosion,” and another issue appeared in CANCELLED COMICS CAVALCADE.

From STARFIRE #1, Aug-Sept 1976

Not the Teen Titans character, this was an eight-issue series with a sword and sorcery/science fiction theme. Gaspar’s blurbs and balloons help tell the story and entice readers to buy the comic.

From STARFIRE #6, June-July 1977

Clearly it wasn’t selling well, so changes were touted in this Saladino bottom banner. They weren’t enough to keep it going.

From STARFIRE #3, Dec 1976-Jan 1977

Gaspar lettered the inside pages on just this one issue, his large title shines.

From STARMAN #1, Oct 1988

Starman is another name that DC used several times over the years. This version had a good run of 45 issues from 1988 to 1992. Gaspar lettered some of the covers. The next version began in 1994 and had an even longer run of 83 issues to 2010. There Saladino lettered two issues but no covers. On the cover above, I’m not sure who designed the logo, but Gaspar did the blurb below it.

From STARMAN #18, Jan 1990

Just when I thought I’d seen every style in Saladino’s repertoire I came to this one! The oddly inflated letters suggest internal pressure to me.

From STARMAN #21, April 1990

Here’s a great example of using contrasting styles to add interest to a blurb. The top line is very fat block letters, the R barely reads as such, while the bottom line is organic dry brush lettering with a pen outline to hold a second color.

From STARMAN #45, April 1992

Gaspar wasn’t being asked to do cover lettering very often by 1992, which is a shame. As this example shows, he was still able to do fine work. the word ECLIPSED is almost a character logo for Eclipso.

From STARMAN #10, Aug 1995

Here’s a page from one of the two stories lettered by Saladino for the 1994 character with the Starman name, the one probably best known today.

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

SHADE THE CHANGING MAN (1977): 2-3, 6, 8

STARFIRE (1976): 1-4, 6-8

STARMAN (1988): 1-2, 18, 21, 23-24, 28, 38, 45

That’s 20 in all. Below are the details of his story lettering for these titles.

STARFIRE #3 Dec 1976-Jan 1977: 17pp

STARMAN #10 Aug 1995: 22pp

STARMAN #11 Sept 1995: 22pp

That’s a total of 61. 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 SHOWCASE

All images © DC Comics. From SHOWCASE #45, July-Aug 1963

SHOWCASE was DC’s first tryout comic, where new series were given one or more short runs to test reader interest. It ran 93 issues from 1956 to 1970, then was revived for 11 more issues in 1977. The title was revived again as an anthology from 1993 to 1996. Unusually, the book’s contents passed from editor to editor in the initial series, each vying for the chance to add new titles to the DC Comics lineup. Julius Schwartz was the most successful, beginning with his Silver Age revival of The Flash. Gaspar Saladino lettered most of the entries from editors Schwartz and Robert Kanigher, and later he became the regular cover artist in 1968, but even before that he lettered a quite a few covers beginning with the one above. Unusually, everything on it is lettered by Saladino except the SHOWCASE logo, SGT. ROCK is his first cover logo. Some of his early cover lettering is not so good, as it took Gaspar a while to get comfortable doing that, but the caption here works well. I’ll look at covers first, then return to stories.

From SHOWCASE #48, Jan-Feb 1964

By contrast, and as usual, everything on this cover is by Ira Schnapp except the balloon. This would have been an easy job for him, but he must not have been available when the cover was needed to go out to the separator, so Gaspar filled in for him. Gaspar is trying to imitate Schnapp’s balloon shape style, but it doesn’t work very well. Nothing wrong with the letters, though they’re wider and more angular than Ira’s.

From SHOWCASE #51, July-Aug 1964

The large Saladino caption on this cover works well and fills the space in the box. The first two lines are closer to Schnapp’s style than usual.

From SHOWCASE #63, July-Aug 1966

Writer/editor E. Nelson Bridwell may have asked for Saladino to letter this cover, and he adds lots of energy and variety doing it. The display lettering in the balloon is not in his usual style and seems stiff.

From SHOWCASE #65, Nov-Dec 1966

If anyone needed to see how Saladino could letter covers in his own styles if given the chance, these Inferior Five examples were the perfect tryout. Carmine Infantino, at least, was paying attention. WOW is much improved display lettering.

From SHOWCASE #66, Jan-Feb 1967

With this character and concept, DC hit a low point that Saladino’s lettering can’t help.

From SHOWCASE #69, July-Aug 1967

Another Bridwell creation with great Saladino cover lettering using his own styles. Even the Schnapp logo is full of energy. Around this time, new art director and soon to be editorial director Infantino gave Gaspar the mission of updating the company’s design presence on covers, logos and house ads, though Schnapp continued to do some of them.

From SHOWCASE #73, March-April 1968

With this issue, Saladino became the regular cover letterer and logo designer, as Schnapp was soon to be retired, though he did letter the blurb right of the logo on this cover. The rest is by Gaspar, and he rose to the occasion with fine logo and cover lettering work on this and most DC titles.

From SHOWCASE #74, May 1968

This cover was a bit of a step backwards. I think the logo is by cover artist and creator Howard Post. Gaspar did the bottom blurb, which is unfortunately partially cropped off, and also SHOWCASE PRESENTS, which I feel looks uneven and poorly done. Despite that, it was reused on a number of later covers.

From SHOWCASE #75, June 1968

Gaspar was back on form for this Steve Ditko project with fine lettering and logo. I usually don’t like multiple panels on a cover, but this one works well because of the large figures at each side.

From SHOWCASE #76, Aug 1968

I like everything about this cover except SHOWCASE PRESENTS, Gaspar’s old west style logo and poster lettering are excellent.

From SHOWCASE #77, Sept 1968

This cover is getting back on track other than the top line, with a good Saladino logo and balloon.

From SHOWCASE #81, March 1969

A few issues later, Gaspar’s lettering is looking more confident and accomplished as he settled into his new role as the main style setter for the company and drew on new influences like rock posters to attract young readers. His logo is also fine, but sadly the property is lame, an attempt to reprint Dobie Gillis stories from many years earlier with updated clothing and hairstyles.

From SHOWCASE #82, May 1969

With this issue, Gaspar tried a completely new approach for the series logo, and included a large DC in a burst that perhaps he thought could be the new company symbol, though the old one is also present. It takes up a lot of space, but looks great to me, as do his character logo and caption, but this approach didn’t last long, and aside from a few other trials, this DC symbol did not spread. Despite the apparent new name, the actual title remained simply SHOWCASE.

From SHOWCASE #85, Sept 1969

The design was already being pulled back on this cover with PREVIEW gone, the side banner much narrower, and SHOWCASE in serif type. Perhaps the big DC in a burst would have gained more traction if it too was smaller, it tends to dominate the cover. Gaspar’s logo and blurb are great.

From SHOWCASE #88, Feb 1970

Here the DC burst is smaller and looks better to me. Gaspar’s lettering in the top banner and balloons is effective, but I don’t like the logo. It seems stiff and uneven. Perhaps Jason’s Quest creator Mike Sekowsky had a hand in it, but that’s a guess.

From SHOWCASE #93, May 1970

Here the DC is a little larger again, and Gaspar’s logo swoops under it, which seems forced. I do like his bottom blurb, though. This was the last issue of the book for several years.

From SHOWCASE #95, Oct-Nov 1977

When it returned in 1977, Ira Schnapp’s original SHOWCASE logo was back for the duration of this run. The dynamic Doom Patrol logo is by John Workman, Gaspar lettered the blurb left of it, and the one at the bottom. This all works, but I feel the logo is too tall.

From SHOWCASE #97, Feb 1978

I think this layout and logo by Saladino work better, and his burst at upper right is also fine.

From SHOWCASE #100, May 1978

Issue #100 was a tour-de-force using every character that had appeared in the previous 99 issues. Gaspar’s top blurb and banner sell it well. The book never topped this high point, and was a victim of the DC Implosion a few months later. When a new version of the book returned in the 1990s, it had no traditional cover lettering, only type on the covers.

From SHOWCASE #2, May-June 1956

Now for Gaspar’s story lettering. As I said, this title rotated among the DC editors of the time. That included Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff (with assistants Murray Boltinoff and George Kashdan) as well as Schwartz and Kanigher, but Saladino was doing most of his lettering for the latter two, and that was true on this book. There was a statement in the first issue that DC would consider suggestions from readers for content, but there’s no evidence that was ever the case. Issue two was “Kings of the Wild,” animal stories edited by Kanigher. Gaspar lettered all of them. By this time his story titles were generally large and effective.

From SHOWCASE #3, July-Aug 1956

The third issue was also from Kanigher, who may have had this Frogmen material already in the works for his war titles, and they just needed to be joined into a three-part story. Kanigher seemed to like the theme, and returned to it for Sea Devils. Again, Saladino’s story title is large and impressive. He was still doing the open capital letters against a black shape to begin first captions, and his sound effects add to the drama.

From SHOWCASE #4, Sept-Oct 1956

On the other hand, Julie Schwartz’s revamp of the Golden Age Flash was new in every way: new origin, new costume, new character, all beautifully realized by writers Kanigher and John Broome and artists Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert. They would not know for some time what a hit the idea was, as sales reports took a few months to come in, but it was a turning point for DC, and I think really made the careers of Schwartz and Infantino. Gaspar’s lettering was an important part of the mix, and he and Infantino were good friends. Gaspar would sometimes work in Carmine’s home with him to help him meet deadlines. I particularly like the treatment of THUNDERBOLT on this first page.

From SHOWCASE #8, May-June 1957

The next Flash issue was not until #8, six months later. By then, the editor and creators may have begun to realize their success, but this series still did not feature the character again until issues 13 and 14, while other editors took their turns. After that, plans went ahead for a regular Flash title that began a few months later. The page above has some of the Flash ideas that I loved as a kid: the costume in his ring, the speed lines, the rapid trips around the city. There were plenty more.

From SHOWCASE #17, Nov-Dec 1958

The next Julius Schwartz tryout was Adam Strange, an Earthman who traveled to the distant planet Rann in each story. It was also a moderate hit and soon found a home in Schwartz’s science fiction anthology MYSTERY IN SPACE after a three issue tryout in SHOWCASE. DC was now allowing editors to prepare longer initial tryouts.

From SHOWCASE #22, Sept-Oct 1959

But it was superheroes that fans wanted most, and Schwartz’s next revamp was also a big success. The Golden Age Green Lantern had had a good run, but this new version hit readers in the right spot, and has never flagged since. Above, the feature logo is by Ira Schnapp, but Saladino lettered his own version in the story title, as he often did.

From SHOWCASE #27, July-Aug 1960

For Kanigher, Gaspar lettered Sea Devils in their three-issue tryout. They went on to their own title. Around this time Gaspar was lettering everything at the same italic slant, perhaps it saved a little time. I like the display SEA DEVILS in panel 5.

From SHOWCASE #34, Sept-Oct 1961

For Schwartz, Saladino lettered The Atom’s three issue tryout. Most of these tryouts were now going on to new series, including this one, but some did not have the staying power of The Flash and Green Lantern. The feature logo, and I think also the credit book, are by Schnapp.

From SHOWCASE #37, March-April 1962

For Kanigher, Gaspar lettered a four-issue tryout for METAL MEN, again moving into their own title right after. As you can see, there was often lots of work for him on these team pages.

From SHOWCASE #45, July-Aug 1963

Some of Kanigher’s tryouts used reprints, but this one for Sgt. Rock was all new. Saladino’s sound effects add much to the action.

From SHOWCASE #55, March-April 1965

In the pages of another hit Schwartz book, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, he had begun an annual team-up with the Golden Age version, the Justice Society of America, following on from the multiple worlds concept he introduced in THE FLASH. Here he tried to launch a new title featuring two of them, but this time management didn’t go for it, probably due to poor sales. I think just Dr. Fate alone would have done better. The character logos are by Schnapp, the Saladino title is great.

From SHOWCASE 57, July-Aug 1965

Kanigher next tried one of his newest and best war features for two issues, Enemy Ace. It did not get a series, but remained a popular feature in the war titles. Again, Saladino’s sound effects magnify the drama.

From SHOWCASE #60, Jan-Feb 1966

Schwartz then tried this Golden Age character with good results, it landed a series after three tryout issues, though not one that lasted very long. The Spectre’s immense power and creepy demeanor may have hurt him.

From SHOWCASE #76, Aug 1968

Saladino’s last story lettering in this run was for a single tryout issue of Bat-Lash, where his creative and innovative ideas like wanted poster sound effects added much to the book, which went on to a short series.

From SHOWCASE ’93 #6, June 1993

When the concept was revived in the 1990s, Saladino was tapped to letter a number of stories, some running through several issues. Unlike the original, this was not aimed at creating new series so much as it was to feature characters that hadn’t been seen in a while, and most issues had three or four stories, an anthology. Great title on this one.

From SHOWCASE ’95 #7, Aug 1995

Arion is a good example of a character that needed some exposure to fans who might not have seen him before, and that also pleased long-time fans.

From SHOWCASE ’96 #1, Jan 1996

This story reaches way back to Simon and Kirby’s Boy Commandos from the early 1940s. I like the creative caption under the title and the credits on the rocks.

To sum up, I found Saladino lettering on these covers: 45, 48, 51, 63, 65-66, 69, 73-78, 82-90, 93, 95-97, 100. That’s 27 in all. Below are the details of his story lettering. Where he did one of two stories with the same feature, the story number is in parentheses.

#2 May-June 1956: Rider of the Winds 8pp, Racer From Stone Age to Jet Age 2pp, Outcast Heroes 8pp, Runaway Bear 8pp

#3 July-Aug 1956: The Frogmen 8pp, First Frogmen 2pp, Flying Frogmen 6pp, Silent War (Frogmen Part 3) 10pp

#4 Sept-Oct 1956: The Flash 12pp, 10pp

#8 May-June 1957: The Flash 12pp, 12pp

#13 March-April 1958: The Flash 14pp, 12pp

#14 May-June 1958: The Flash 13pp, 12pp

#17 Nov-Dec 1958: Adam Strange 15pp (1)

#18 Jan-Feb 1959: Adam Strange 15pp, 10pp

#19 March-April 1959: Adam Strange 13pp, 12pp

#22 Sept-Oct 1959: Green Lantern 6pp, 9pp, 10pp

#24 Jan-Feb 1960: Green Lantern 12pp (2)

#27 July-Aug 1960: Sea Devils 26pp, The A-B-Seas of Skin Diving 2pp

#28 Sept-Oct 1960: Sea Devils 9pp, The First Frogman 2pp, Sea Devils 16pp

#29 Nov-Dec 1960: Sea Devils 13pp, The Divers of Olde 1pp, Sea Devils 12pp

#34 Sept-Oct 1961: The Atom 10pp, 15pp

#35 Nov-Dec 1961: The Atom 25pp

#36 Jan-Feb 1962: The Atom 12pp, 13pp

#37 March-April 1962: Metal Men 25pp, Metal Facts and Fancies 2pp

#38 May-June 1962: Metal Men 26pp, Metal Facts and Fancies 2pp

#39 July-Aug 1962: Metal Men 26pp, Metal Facts and Fancies 2pp

#40 Sept-Oct 1962: Metal Men 25pp

#45 July-Aug 1963: Sgt. Rock 25pp

#53 Nov-Dec 1964: G.I. Joe 4pp (framing reprints)

#55 March-April 1965: Dr. Fate & Hourman 26pp

#56 May-June 1965: Dr. Fate & Hourman 25pp

#57 July-Aug 1965: Enemy Ace 24pp

#58 Sept-Oct 1965: Enemy Ace 24pp

#60 Jan-Feb 1966: The Spectre 24pp

#61 March-April 1966: The Spectre 24pp

#64 Sept-Oct 1966: The Spectre 24pp

#76 Aug 1968: Bat-Lash 24pp

SHOWCASE ’93 #6: Kobra Chronicles 10pp

SHOWCASE ’93 #7: Kobra Chronicles 10pp

SHOWCASE ’93 #8: Kobra Chronicles 10pp

SHOWCASE ’93 #9: Kobra Chronicles 10pp

SHOWCASE ’93 #10: Kobra Chronicles 10pp

SHOWCASE ’93 #11: Kobra Chronicles 10pp

SHOWCASE ’95 #7: Arion 10pp

SHOWCASE ’96 #1: Metropolis S.C.U. 10pp

SHOWCASE ’96 #2: Metallo 10pp

SHOWCASE ’96 #6: Firestorm 10pp, Atom 10pp

SHOWCASE ’96 #7: Firestorm 10pp

That’s a total of 736 pages. Other articles in this series and more you might like are on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

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And Then I Read: CHILDREN OF EARTH AND SKY by Guy Gavriel Kay

Every few years I return to Kay’s fine historical fantasies, and wonder why I waited so long. They are rich in fascinating events, memorable characters, unpredictable plots, and beautifully realized variations on our own history. The fantasy element in this and many of his books is minor, here mainly a girl who converses with the spirit of her dead grandfather. The world of the book is connected to other books by Kay, and is his version of 16th century Europe, with the town of Seressa representing Venice, a city of merchants always angling for profit by any means, while much of the story takes place in what would in our world be the coast of Turkey and the disputed territories inland to the east, contested by the Jaddite (Christian) empire and the Osmanli (Ottoman) empire. We know it’s not our world, not only from the differences in geography and place names, but this planet has two moons, for instance, but in most ways it’s recognizably Earthlike and human.

There are five main characters, and many other important supporting characters. Each of the main threads is connected to the others in interesting ways, and one of my favorite things about Kay’s work is that the story of each character does not seem driven by the plot, it feels as though the characters are making their own decisions and acting accordingly, often doing things not even the author expected. This is fine writing!

We have a teenage girl, Danica Gradek, trying to prove herself as a warrior in a city of coastal pirates where only men are warriors. She is an expert with bow and arrows, and proves her courage and skill in a solo event that gains her acceptance, but soon she’s swept into another kind of story where she becomes a bodyguard and then an outlaw raider.

Young artist Pero Villani of Seressa is barely making ends meet when he is chosen by the council of Seressa to make a long journey to the capital of the Osmanli empire, where he will paint a portrait of that empire’s fearsome ruler. His journey is full of peril, and when he arrives at his destination, he finds his troubles are only beginning.

Leonora Valeri has been banished to a religious prison of sorts by her father, but is rescued by the council of Seressa, who wants her to act the part of a doctor’s wife and spy. She agrees, but when her “husband” dies on the journey to her assignment, everything changes, and she finds herself somehow in a position of great power in the city-state of Dubrova, Seressa’s main competition.

We also follow the life of Damaz, a teenage boy trying to become one of the elite fighters of the Osmanli empire that will soon be marching toward the Jaddite capital hoping to capture territory and cities. He will discover someone must die before that can happen, and receive help that he doesn’t quite understand.

On the way to Dobrova, Leonora, Danica, and Pero become friends, and make an ally in Marin Djivo, the owner of the ship they travel in, part of a wealthy merchant family in Dubrova, and the last of the five main characters. Some of them will travel together to Asharias, the capital city of the Osmanlis, and the fortunes of each will change along the way.

This is an excellent book, long, but the kind where you hate for it to end, even though it ends well. Recommended highly.

Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

The post And Then I Read: CHILDREN OF EARTH AND SKY by Guy Gavriel Kay appeared first on Todd's Blog.