Todd Klein's Blog, page 86

GASPAR SALADINO’S COMICS LOGOS Jan-June 1973

From CRYPT OF SHADOWS #1, Jan 1973. Image © Marvel.

In this year, Gaspar was busy designing logos for both Marvel and DC. He was lettering house ads for DC, covers for both DC and Marvel (more for the former), lots of war stories and a sampling of stories from other genres at DC, including his ground-breaking story lettering for SWAMP THING that would win him another Shazam award for his work in this year. Gaspar took on an additional role at Marvel: lettering the first page of stories otherwise lettered by others. Marvel felt Saladino’s skill and creativity would draw in readers, and they were right in my case, even though it was a bait and switch of a sort. Nothing wrong with the lettering on the rest of the stories, but Gaspar’s first page was usually better. He was paid double rate for this, I believe, and somehow he also found time to occasionally letter stories for other publishers like Western, according to the Grand Comics Database, though I haven’t look at them to see what I think. Letterers spend the least amount of time on a comics page of the creative staff, in most cases, allowing them to take on many jobs at almost the same time, and Gaspar had more than two decades of steady work behind him to get fast. Even so, this was a lot to juggle, and I don’t know how he managed it.

The logo for CRYPT OF SHADOWS, above, is similar to other Saladino horror efforts except that it uses some drips at the bottom edges of the letters, in the style of some comics from the past. Perhaps that was intentional and asked for, I don’t know. Marvel did seem to want to remind readers of those horror books from the early 1950s, even using similar titles.

From FRANKENSTEIN #1, Jan 1973. Image © Marvel.

This is a looser, slightly cartoony style of horror logo, but I feel sure it’s also by Saladino. I can’t point to any one thing, it just uses shapes I associate with Gaspar’s lettering, and it’s certainly creative and eye-catching. The texture in the letters is another clue.

This and following images © DC Comics except as noted. From DOOM PATROL #122, Feb 1973

DC tried to bring back this series from a few years earlier using reprints, but it only lasted three issues. It had this new Saladino logo, which I think is better than the ones Ira Schnapp did. DOOM has a feeling of menace and PATROL makes it seem more modern.

From FOUR STAR BATTLE TALES #1, Feb-March 1973

The most interesting thing about the trade dress of this war reprint book is Gaspar’s use of four actual stars in place of the word STAR in the logo. Note the typical Saladino R shape.

From JOHNNY THUNDER #1, Feb-March 1973

The logo on this western reprint book reminds me of Artie Simek’s work at Marvel, but I feel sure it’s by Gaspar instead. Saladino may have been thinking of the jagged-ended logos Simek did on many Marvel westerns.

From JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #3, Feb 1973. Image © Marvel.

Meanwhile, at Marvel, Gaspar was asked to redesign the word MYSTERY on this title, replacing a jagged-ended Simek logo. Simek’s JOURNEY INTO was kept. This is again a looser style of horror logo. I like the join of the E and R, and the latter has the Saladino R shape. The lines between Gaspar’s work at DC and Marvel were blurring.

From LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1, Feb 1973

DC tried this Legion reprint series with a new Saladino logo using block letters with telescoping in three lines. Very three-dimensional and reminiscent of Ira Schnapp. Many of these short-lived reprint books were edited by Jeff Rovin who has had a long career as a writer and editor for many companies, but who did not stay long at DC.

I found this dynamic, creative SHAZAM logo in the DC files, clearly by Gaspar, and intended for the new series about the original Captain Marvel DC was planning. It was never used.

From SHAZAM! #1, Feb 1973

Instead, DC went with this logo by cover artist (and original Captain Marvel artist) C.C. Beck that worked better with Beck’s retro approach. I understand the decision, but would have liked to see the Saladino logo used somewhere.

From SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS #2, Feb 1973. Image © Marvel.

This horror series at Marvel featured various characters, usually with logos by Saladino. This one begins with a horror look that fades into dotted lines to suggest invisibility, though the coloring doesn’t support that well.

From SWORD OF SORCERY #1, Feb-March 1973

Conan at Marvel showed this genre could be popular with readers, and new DC editor Denny O’Neil launched this title to house stories adapted from the work of fantasy writer Fritz Leiber about his characters Fafhrd and Grey Mouser. Gaspar’s logo is an unusual and interesting version of an Old English style with fanciful curves that captures the fantasy feel well. Sadly, the book only lasted five issues.

Gaspar’s original logo from the DC files is the same, but you can see the outlines better. It’s done on old DC cover paper with the old Schnapp DC bullet symbol and Comics Code seal printed on it. It looks like Gaspar inked circles for the new symbol and price, but they were not positioned right and were painted out, while the old code seal was cut and peeled away where it was close to the logo.

From VAULT OF EVIL #1, Feb 1973. Image © Marvel.

This new horror reprint title from Marvel ran 23 issues, all using a fine logo by Gaspar, somewhat similar to the one for CRYPT OF SHADOWS. Editor Roy Thomas had lots of 1950s Marvel horror stories to choose from for the contents. These book titles are deliberately meant to recall the EC horror comics of the early 1950s like CRYPT OF TERROR and VAULT OF HORROR, which had become fan favorites. The Marvel stories were less graphic and Comics Code approved. Saladino did not try to copy the EC logos, just did his usual horror thing.

From CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #22, March 1973. Image © Marvel.

An unusual logo style from Gaspar, somewhat similar to the one on FRANKENSTEIN. I might have missed it except for the Saladino R’s on WARRIOR. In style it’s somewhere between horror and heroic fantasy, but unique, with loose, rough slab serifs on THONGOR and open telescoping.

From DRACULA LIVES! #1, 1973. Image © Marvel.

Having had success with comic book horror, Marvel expanded into magazine-size black and white horror books along the lines of Warren’s CREEPY and EERIE. This fine Saladino logo uses dry brush on the angular letters of DRACULA that’s both artful and exciting, and unlike any Dracula logo before it.

From G.I. WAR TALES #1, March-April 1973

Another short-lived reprint book from editor Jeff Rovin. G.I. is from the Al Grenet logo for G.I. COMBAT done for Quality and used by DC as well. I can’t be sure Gaspar did the new, matching WAR, but he seems the likeliest person, and these ragged-edged letters were not a new style for him. Only partially new, but I’m still counting it as a logo for Gaspar.

From TRIGGER TWINS #1, March-April 1973

This western reprint book lasted only one issue, so was probably a test to see how it would sell. The new logo by Saladino is close to his horror style, and not very appropriate for a western or for the characters. Could this have confused readers? It seems unlikely, but who knows? Nice logo, just not the right one, in my opinion.

The original logo is the same, a few white paint corrections can be barely seen.

From SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE #130, April 1973

Gaspar did this new logo for the last eight issues of Lois Lane’s title. It pushes the LL which was a memorable aspect of this and many character names in Superman’s world. For once the top line almost fits the space…almost. Not one of Gaspar’s finer efforts, but better than the previous one in my view.

From SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS #3, April 1973. Image © Marvel.

The third feature in this series has a Saladino logo with the word WORM done in curved thick pen strokes that overlap at the corners in places. Organic and creative, it commands attention, though not particularly suggesting fantasy or horror.

From AMAZING ADVENTURES #18, May 1973. Image © Marvel.

This one surprised me, a feature I loved as a reader. Note the characteristic Saladino R shapes and wonky perspective. It brings back good memories, though the series had little to do with the H.G. Wells novel.

THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN, 1973

This tabloid-sized comic was created to promote a Superman theme-park that never opened. The Saladino R in WORLD and again the wonky perspective in the telescoping on both the top logo and the word SUPERMAN indicate the work of Gaspar. He was never comfortable trying to emulate Ira Schnapp’s famous Superman logo from 1940, and the results show it here, this one is not very good. Despite that, it’s an appealing cover overall.

From RED WOLF #7, May 1973. Image © Marvel

I’m not sure Saladino designed this logo, but it seems likely to me. The rough wood style is not one he used generally, but the details have a crisp look unlike other Marvel western logos of the time, and that suggests Gaspar.

From WORLDS UNKNOWN #1, May 1973. Image © Marvel

I would not have thought this logo was by Gaspar except for the Saladino R in Worlds, with the rest of that word looking like his work too. Could UNKNOWN have been lettered by someone else, or is this Gaspar getting loose with the pen and working in a hurry? Hard to be sure, but I’m counting it for him.

From THE HAUNT OF HORROR #1, June 1973. Image © Marvel

There’s no mistaking Saladino’s style on the word HORROR here for this digest-size reprint book.

From THE PHANTOM STRANGER #25, June-July 1973

This is more cover lettering than feature logo, but it was used on a run of PHANTOM STRANGER covers, so I think it qualifies. A larger and more logo-like version was on the following issue, and I will cover it in the next post. Very different from Gaspar’s Marvel Frankenstein logo.

From SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS #4, June 1973. Image © Marvel.

This logo is again unmistakably by Gaspar, using two matching styles for the aspects of the character, one clean and modern, one horrific. Perfect.

For the first half of 1973, I count 24 logos by Saladino, quite a lot! There are more for this year in the next post. Other articles in this series and more you might like are on the LOGO LINKS page of my blog.

The post GASPAR SALADINO’S COMICS LOGOS Jan-June 1973 appeared first on Todd's Blog.

And Then I Read: PYRAMIDS by Terry Pratchett

After sampling and skipping around in the massive opus that is Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, I’m now gradually reading through the ones I don’t know in publishing order. This book was the seventh, published in 1989.

The land of Djelibeybi (pronounced and a pun on jelly baby, or jelly bean in America) is very much like Egypt, a desert land kept alive by its one large river. The people there follow the Egyptian idea of building pyramids for the dead to great extremes, to the point where there are pyramids of all sizes on much of the available land, and upkeep and construction have obsessed and monopolized the people and their rulers for ages. King Teppicymon XXVII, the current ruler, leaves nearly all the decisions about ruling to his high priest Dios, a man of great age who stubbornly preserves all the ancient rituals and ideas that are stifling the land. The king’s son Teppic has other ideas. He wants to get out of his traditional role for a while to train in Ankh-Morpork, the largest city on Discworld. His idea is to become an student of the Assassin’s Guild there, and despite the objections of Dios, Teppic follows his plan and has some interesting times in Ankh-Morpork, some of them life-threatening.

As Teppic is completing his training, events in his homeland compel him to return and take on the role of King, but he soon finds that almost nothing he wants to do in Djelibeybi can be accomplished. His every new idea is blocked by Dios, and when Teppic tries to get to know his people better, they are horrified and frightened by his attempts at simple friendliness. Meanwhile, Dios and the royal pyramid builders are planning a massive new pyramid, the largest by far, for Teppic’s deceased father. The project is underway, but the new pyramid seems to be creating all kinds of new problems. Teppic has his own outlet: escaping at night from the palace using his assassin training, and when he rescues a handmaiden of her father, Ptraci, who objects to being sealed in his tomb, things get even more interesting.

This was a fun read. One thing that put me off about Pratchett’s work early on and kept me from reading more of it then was the pun names. I find they take me out of the story every time they turn up, but I’ve learned to ignore them better, and there aren’t many in this book. Recommended.

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GASPAR SALADINO’S COMICS LOGOS July-Dec 1972

All images © DC Comics except as noted. From WEIRD MYSTERY TALES #1, July-Aug 1972.

1972 was again a busy year for Gaspar Saladino. Not only was he lettering logos for DC and Marvel, at DC he was also creating house ads and lettering covers and stories. At Marvel he was doing some story lettering under assumed names like L.P. Gregory. This new title in DC’s mystery line was edited by E. Nelson Bridwell, and for it Gaspar again used his excellent horror style with rough, energetic outlines on organic, almost furry letter shapes, and a graduated dot texture inside to add interest.

The original logo from the DC files shows the outlines and texture better, and reveals that TALES was added later, and might be type or lettering by someone else.

From LARRY HARMON’S LAUREL AND HARDY #1, July-Aug 1972

For a brief time, DC thought they had the rights to publish this comic based on a cartoon series by Harmon, but some put a stop to it, and only one issue was published. I believe Gaspar did this logo, though I’m less sure about it than most others in this post. He did the cover balloon and lettered the one new story inside (the others were reprints).

The original logo offers no clues except that there’s only a few white paint corrections, so it was lettered with Saladino’s usual confidence. The small words are added with Letraset adhesive type.

From THE DEMON #1, Aug-Sept 1972

This new Jack Kirby title has a fine Saladino logo that features his take on flaming letters. The flames surround the entire logo, creating room for a second color, though here partly filled with the same red, and the block letters with rough outlines are gently curved and leaning away in perspective above black telescoping. I like this one a lot. Note that DC has begun using a new trade dress with DC block letters in a circle on the left. This would become the inspiration for the later Milton Glaser studio version. I think they and the entire top banner are done with headline type, but the DC might be by Gaspar. As I’m not sure, I won’t call it a logo.

From THE INFERIOR 5 #11 Aug-Sept 1972

After a gap of several years, DC tried two more issues of this superhero humor series, but they were just reprints from the original SHOWCASE tryout issues. The title was changed from FIVE to 5, and has a new logo by Saladino using slab serif letters on the I’s and R’s but non-serif on the rest, an odd mix that works fine. Not as interesting has his previous logo, though.

The original logo shows that an outer shape around the whole logo was created but not used, and the narrow telescoping was open here but filled black for the cover.

From WEIRD WORLDS #1, Aug-Sept 1972

Some other Edgar Rice Burroughs characters and worlds were attracting interest, and moved to this new title from backups in TARZAN and KORAK. Gaspar’s block letter logo expands at each end, giving it a wide-screen movie feel.

The original is the same with no corrections visible. Note the Saladino R’s. Writing in blue at the top says, “Reduce to 7 1/4″ from 9 1/2.” This is a note from the production person assembling the cover elements to the darkroom person making a photostat of the logo, and it tells us the original is exactly 9.5 inches wide. My handy proportion wheel (from DC staff days) tells me that’s a reduction to 77%, and that was just to fit it on the cover art. The cover would have been reduce to about another 66% from there, so total reduction from the lettered logo to the printed cover was about 50%. That helped smooth out any small imperfections and made for a good final result.

From DOC SAVAGE #1, Oct 1972, image © Marvel.

Over at Marvel, they were following a similar idea by licensing the rights to this pulp magazine character. I like the energy of the Saladino logo, particularly the S. THE MAN OF BRONZE is type.

From FEAR #10, Oct 1972, image © Marvel.

The MAN-THING logo here is in Gaspar’s usual horror style, but with a more even and curved top edge and very thick outlines. Was this logo designed before or after his SWAMP THING one? We’ll never know, but it’s interesting that they saw print at almost the same time. The treatments are different enough to cause no confusion for readers.

From KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH #1, Oct-Nov 1972

Another new title from Jack Kirby. This time Gaspar used block letters with added extensions on the A’s and D. The outlines are thick and rough, as is the drop shadow. Handsome display lettering in a broken-wood banner completes the second line.

A photocopy of the original logo looks just the same, a fine, energetic logo.

From SWAMP THING #1, Oct-Nov 1972

We’ve come to my all-time favorite Saladino logo, and I’m going to spend a little extra time on it. The character had been created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in a short story that appeared in HOUSE OF SECRETS #92. The overwhelmingly positive response to that paved the way for this series with the same creators. The editor was Joe Orlando, who was already using Saladino on his logos. Did he give Gaspar any direction for this one? Did Wein or Wrightson? My guess is that Gaspar was given the green light to simply do his best horror logo, and he did it brilliantly. This one is even shaggier than previous examples, with thick outlines that are done with a dry brush, and crosshatched textures in the letters (hard to see here because of the color) added with a narrow pen point. A thin outline surrounds the entire logo following all the ins and outs of the shapes.

This is the condition in which I found the original logo in the DC files when I had many of them scanned for me in 2009. At some point, another logo with a lot of rubber cement on the back had become attached to this one, causing the brown stains as it dried, and when the two were separated, parts of the ink were pulled off. What a sad thing, and completely random I’m sure.

My blog only allows images up to a size of about 625 pixels wide, so many details on the logos I’m showing are not clear. Here’s a much closer look at just the S with those details on display. You can now see how artful the lines are, dry brush on the thick one and pen on the texture and outer line. Anyone who doubts that Saladino was a true artist with both pen and brush need only look at this example.

This scan, courtesy of Heritage Auctions, ha.com, is of the original cover art and therefore has the best existing example of Gaspar’s logo, a first-generation photostat. It captures the details well. I loved this book, and the logo — and Gaspar’s unique story lettering inside — were equally as important as the contributions of writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson.

At the 2014 New York Comic Con, the first one Gaspar ever attended, I had the chance to reunite him with Len Wein for the first time in decades. It was a joyful thing. More HERE.

From LOVE STORIES #147, Nov 1972

DC’s romance books were struggling, and they renamed HEART THROBS with this logo by Saladino that certainly puts the emphasis on the right word, and is a classy job. It only lasted six more issues.

The original logo shows some corrections on the curved areas, always the trickiest. Gaspar’s S’s are somewhat off-model for this style of serif lettering, but they still work fine.

From ACTION COMICS #419, Dec 1972

At this time, DC was sticking mostly to superheroes in their main line, but a new non-super character, The Human Target began as a backup feature in ACTION with this logo from Saladino. The long first leg of the H is appealing, but the T is too close to it, making that letter a bit hard to read.

From SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS #1, Dec 1972, image © Marvel.

Finally, at Marvel, I think Gaspar did the large rough letters for IT on this new series. He might have also done the top title, but I’m not sure, it could be by someone else such as Danny Crespi. It’s rare to have such a short word to use at a large size like this, and it’s certainly an attention-getter. Saladino’s logo work at Marvel seems to have slacked off a bit by this time, but it was only a momentary lull, there are more coming.

To sum up, I count 12 new logos by Saladino for this period, and therefore 27 for books with 1972 cover dates, work mostly done between the fall of 1971 and the fall of 1972. There would be considerably more in 1973. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the LOGO LINKS page of my blog.

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Incoming: ECHOLANDS #1

ECHOLANDS #1 covers A and B © 2021 J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman

Here’s something I and artist J.H. Williams III have been working on for years, and printed copies of the first issue have arrived. My records show I worked on the logo design with Jim in 2015 and lettered this issue in 2016. It’s a terrific creator-owned project, a fantasy epic on a world where echoes of our own fantasy creations come to life, both good and bad, and survival is chancy at best, even for someone with immense hidden powers like the protagonist Hope, seen on cover A above, particularly after she steals a jewel with hidden importance from one of the most feared and hated inhabitants of the Echolands, Teros Demond. Teros sends his magically trained daughter, seen on cover B above, to retrieve his treasure and kill those responsible. What happens next is a thrill ride of imaginative proportions and amazing visuals of which the first issue is only the beginning.

One unusual thing about the series is that it’s in wide-screen format. Ultra-wide screen, as each two page spread, in landscape format, like the covers above, has a continuous narrative across both wide pages. The book is center stapled on the narrow left edge. The story is 26 pages, and there’s additional material at the back including comments from Haden and Jim. I highly recommend it.

Publication date is August 25, 2021. The price is $4.99. Check with your comics retailer, or there’s a link below.

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GASPAR SALADINO’S COMICS LOGOS Jan-June 1972

All images © DC Comics except as noted. From SUPERBOY #181, Jan 1972

Gaspar Saladino was kept busy designing logos in this year, and about a third of them were for Marvel rather than DC Comics. The one above is a perfectly fine logo with well made block letters in a style that Saladino was increasingly using for superhero titles: tall, forward slant, double outline. It replaced one of Ira Schnapp’s best logos that had been on the book from the beginning in 1949, and while it does fit the mandate Gaspar was given by Carmine Infantino to update and modernize the line, I don’t think this one is an improvement over Ira’s original. Note that the Schnapp DC bullet symbol has now been gone for a while, but there isn’t a consistent replacement. Most titles used some kind of character image in the corner and tall upper case DC letters, but it varied a lot.

From DETECTIVE COMICS #420, Feb 1972

For DETECTIVE, this new Saladino logo replaced the large bat shape, though it remains small here below perhaps as a reminder to readers and was dropped after this. The new logo is large upper and lower case block letters on the first word that manages to fill the space well. This was an expanded page length for the title, and the characters featured inside ran down the left edge. As with many of these longer titles, the main story was new but most of the rest was reprints. Despite its lack of visual ties to Batman, I like this logo. It lasted less than two years, and was then replaced by the original DETECTIVE COMICS logo from the first issue.

From THE AVENGERS #96, Feb 1972. This and the next four images © Marvel.

Over at Marvel, Gaspar turned in his most well-known and memorable logo of all time for THE AVENGERS. The design features an arrow in a large A followed by Saladino block letters on a slant (made a tighter fit by the V) and a lower case THE in the arrow. It’s not only still around, it’s all over the Avengers movies that Marvel has been producing for the last decade or so. It remained on the title as is until 1982, but has continued to be used in some form most of the time since. Because of the movies, most superhero film fans know this work by Saladino even if they don’t know who created it.

From MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #1, Feb 1972

A much larger arrow was the backdrop for this logo. It takes up space, but delivers lots of information about what’s inside. Note that both the arrow and the circles have three outlines, reinforcing the triple theme. I like Gaspar’s lower case MARVEL. I think he also did the character names in the three circles for this issue, but not for most of the others. The large arrow was dropped after a while to simplify the trade dress, which is a shame.

From AMAZING ADVENTURES #11, March 1972

Anyone who has seen Saladino’s horror/mystery logos for DC would recognize the similarities in this one for The Beast, from the organic “furry” shapes to the rough outline and textured fill. The top two lines are carried over from past issues and not by Gaspar. It’s possible he also designed the feature logo for the previous run, Black Bolt and the Inhumans, but I’m not sure about it, so haven’t included it.

From MARVEL TEAM-UP #1, March 1972

This new title worked as a regular team-up book for Spider-Man and the rest of the Marvel Universe. I think Gaspar lettered the entire thing, including the character logos. SPIDER-MAN has an odd backward slant in the middle. Was this supposed to echo the original Spider-Man logo by Brodsky and Simek? If so, it doesn’t look right to me especially next to the slanted HUMAN TORCH one. Those two character logos continued to be used on this book for a few years along with many others not by Saladino.

From OUR LOVE STORY #16, April 1972

This new logo for a Marvel romance comic uses styles familiar from Gaspar’s DC ones. It has a creative flair sometimes missing from his superhero logos.

From THE SINISTER HOUSE OF SECRET LOVE #4, April-May 1972. This and the next six images © DC Comics.

For the fourth issue of this title, a new approach uses a somewhat psychedelic poster style closer to other Saladino romance logos. Can you imagine parents of the time allowing their children to buy a comic with such a disturbing title? Not that parents are always aware of what their kids are reading.

From TARZAN #207, April 1972

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. controlled the licensing rights to this and other characters created by the author, and in this year DC was granted the comic book license, taking over from Western Publishing. DC continued the Western numbering, something that wouldn’t happen in later years when first issues were prized by collectors, though it did say “First DC Issue.” Gaspar did his version of the classic newspaper strip logo from the 1930s whose designer is unknown. This version is taller than that one but otherwise quite similar.

From BATMAN #241, May 1972

Saladino designed this new Batman logo with a new bat shape and Batman head probably by Neal Adams. It returns to the traditional break in the name with the face between BAT and MAN, as in the original Jerry Robinson logo from the 1940s, but these block letters give it a more modern feel. The double outline makes room for a second color, and I like the overall result. I remained on the book until 1986.

From SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #149, May 1972

As with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen received a new Saladino logo of similar style, though this one adds interest by doing JIMMY in upper and lower case with the Y over OLSEN, and extending the right leg of the N. Again, the Schnapp top line is not a good match for the rest, but it was always an uneasy combination.

Mark Evanier writes: The JIMMY OLSEN logo was based on a rough sketch by Len Wein. Len had no official position on the comic.  He was just there one day when it was under discussion and he submitted an idea which they used.  I have no idea how much Gaspar’s final rendering matched up to whatever Len did.

The original logo from the DC files shows in blue pencil that Gaspar considered adding open telescoping but must have decided against it, or the idea was rejected. He did the top and bottom banners instead.

From KORAK, SON OF TARZAN #46, May-June 1972

Another Burroughs title taken over from Western with the numbering continued, but the word KORAK is all Gaspar in the style he used for horror logos. I think it works fine for a jungle character too, and is balanced by the traditional TARZAN below it. This trade dress is too busy, but KORAK commands attention.

This photocopy of the original logo is just the same. I really like the texture in those letters, done with a dry brush I think.

From MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #3, May 1972. Image © Marvel.

There’s no disguising Saladino’s horror logo style in this one. By now DC must have recognized Gaspar was also working for their main competition, but it doesn’t seem to have affected his ability to get work from DC. I find this logo very effective, perfect for the character.

From TOMAHAWK #140, May-June 1972. This and following images © DC Comics.

Back at DC, TOMAHAWK was on it’s last leg when editor Joe Kubert and Gaspar collaborated on this new logo. The design is by Kubert and the finish by Saladino, I think. It only appeared on the final issue. Too bad, I think the logo is great.

Mark Evanier writes:  That TOMAHAWK logo was based on a sketch by Marv Wolfman, who was Joe Kubert’s assistant at the time.  Marv says that he may have done rough sketches for a few other logos in his time but the only one he can remember for sure was NOVA.

From WEIRD WESTERN TALES #12, June-July 1972

With this issue, ALL-STAR WESTERN became WEIRD WESTERN TALES. Jonah Hex had first appeared in issue #10 of the previous series, and probably influenced this change of direction, one editor Joe Orlando probably liked. Jonah Hex was certainly the weirdest of DC’s western characters, and proved very popular. He would get a cover logo in a few issues. Saladino takes a somewhat different approach on the word WEIRD here, using what looks like dry brush on some of it. The rest is classic western lettering.

To sum up, I found 15 logos by Saladino in books with January to June 1972 cover dates. I could include the rest of the year in this post, but I’ve decided to do them next time. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the LOGO LINKS page of my blog.

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And Then I Read: THE COMPUTER CONNECTION by Alfred Bester

First edition image found online, I read it as an ebook.

Alfred Bester had a long and interesting writing career, first in science fiction, then comics, then radio. In the 1950s he wrote two classic award-winning novels, “The Demolished Man” and “The Stars My Destination.” In the 1960s he became an editor for a travel magazine and wrote little fiction, but in the 1970s, he returned to science fiction with this new novel published in 1975. I’d never read it, and decided to try it recently.

The story involves a group of immortal humans who have become that way through accidental and peculiar situations, different for each of them. Gradually they have come to know each other and form a loose group of kindred souls. Each member of the group takes on a nickname to avoid the confusion of the multiple identities they must assume in the mundane world to avoid questions about their age. The narrator of the story is one of these immortals, who goes by the name Grand Guignol or Guig for short. He’s been trying for centuries to understand and duplicate the immortality process, and he finds what he thinks would be the perfect candidate, a Cherokee physicist named Sequoyah Guess. Guess is about to begin a major experiment with the help of a giant computer. Some of the immortals are present when he does, but the experiment goes wrong, and Guess is incapacitated and in a coma even though evidence shows he’s gained immortality. The Immortals take Guess to the lands of his people, where he gradually recovers, but something is wrong. His personality has changed, and it’s gradually revealed that the computer has taken over his mind, and they are now merged, causing Guess to take uncharacteristic actions, including trying to kill some of the immortals who the computer sees as a threat. Meanwhile, Guig has fallen in love with Sequoyah’s sister in his time on the reservation, and they marry. After Guig is nearly killed by the computer, he and his wife retreat to a remote part of South America. Gradually the immortals reconnect with each other and put together a dangerous plan to destroy the computer that’s making life difficult for all of them.

There are aspects of this book I enjoyed, but it’s a flawed work, and I think the biggest problem for me was the first-person narration by Guig. The character is sarcastic, makes lots of jokes, and reacts even to near-death with little concern, so it’s hard for the reader to get very worried or concerned either. None of the characters really came to life for me, they seemed more like puzzle pieces moving through this plot-driven story, and I didn’t care that much about any of them. The plot itself is interesting, but this book had none of the spark and freshness of Bester’s earlier novels. Mildly recommended.

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GASPAR SALADINO’S COMICS LOGOS 1971

This and all images © DC Comics except as noted. From DC 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #4, Jan 1971

1971 was an important year for Saladino’s logo work. At DC, he was being given high profile new projects like logos for superstar Jack Kirby’s interconnected series of comics beginning with THE NEW GODS, and later in the year he began branching out by designing logos for Marvel Comics. Whether DC knew about this is unknown, but Gaspar had no contract with DC, so there was nothing they could do legally to prevent him from working for others as long as he wasn’t on staff. The comics industry at the time was a small world centered in New York City, and many creators worked for more than one comics publisher, though sometimes under pen names. When Gaspar began lettering comics for Marvel, he sometimes did that, with his most frequently used pen name being L.P. Gregory. As far as logo designs go, they were never credited at the time, so it was not an issue. The logo and trade dress above is busy and elaborate. Gaspar clearly lettered the word WEIRD in his horror style, but I think he also did parts of the top banner: DC, and 100. He might have lettered the price, too. The rest is probably type, except of course for Ira Schnapp’s Comics Code seal. Reversing all the line work made for an effective horror look.

The original logo from the DC files gives a better idea of which parts Gaspar did, and has a somewhat different layout. It looks like he also lettered PAGES, and perhaps drew the horizontal lines. The texture in WEIRD made of ink dots shows up better here. The pasted-on type is obvious because of its darker background color.

From DC SPECIAL #10, Jan-Feb 1971

Is STOP a logo or a word balloon in a burst? In this case, both. DC used this gimmick several times on different titles, thinking it might increase sales, and perhaps it did. Gaspar’s large open letters certainly command attention.

From SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE #107, Jan 1971

Once long-time Superman editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1970, changes on the Superman family of titles became more common, as DC tried to update the characters and approach. This new logo for Lois Lane replaces the one Ira Schnapp created for her first issue that had been used ever since. The top line is still an awkward fit, but the main logo is indeed more modern and streamlined, if not terribly exciting. Gaspar would do another version later.

From THE NEW GODS #1, Feb-March 1971

When Jack Kirby made the startling move from Marvel Comics to DC Comics some time in 1970, he was living in California and mailing his work to New York, so not closely involved with cover design, other than the art itself. Here’s the story I have about this logo from Mark Evanier. He writes, “The logo for NEW GODS was someone’s (perhaps Gaspar’s) tracing of a logo that Jack himself whipped up by cutting letters out of an ad he saw in some magazine. He saw this lettering and thought it would be perfect…and what’s more, it had all the letters necessary to spell out NEW GODS. So he cut them out, pasted them up and sent them to New York with a note that said something like, ‘I’d like the logo to be something like this.’ What emerged was very close to the pasted-up lettering, if not identical. I never had the chance to compare them side-by-side but I don’t recall any difference.” With that in mind, and remembering that Gaspar was the go-to logo person at DC then, I think it was Saladino who created this logo from Kirby’s type layout. It would have been Gaspar’s task to make a logo that would read on a comics cover, and at the time that usually meant outlined letters with some kind of space for a second color, in this case a short telescoped open drop shadow. Since we can’t credit the original type designer, I think it’s fair to say this logo is designed by Saladino from a layout by Kirby. It’s type origins make it different from most other logos of the time at DC, but of course what really sold this book was Jack Kirby…and Jack Kirby coming over to DC after years of fan-favorite work at Marvel. The logo isn’t that important!

Here’s the original logo from the DC files. There’s quite a bit of white correction paint on it, suggesting that Gaspar had some trouble getting the look he wanted, particularly on the O. Round and oval shapes are the hardest to get right when drawing them, and that’s one reason why many comics logos don’t use them very much. I don’t think he succeeded with the telescoping of the O, it’s not the same depth as the others, but as is often the case, it looks fine on the cover where no one is likely to be examining the logo closely enough to notice that.

From THE FOREVER PEOPLE #1, Feb-March 1971

Mark and I think the other Kirby logos are all Saladino work, and notice how this one uses more square letters. I like the angled tabs emerging from the left side of many of the letters creating a unified look mirrored by the angled ends on some letters, but otherwise this logo is simple and fairly sedate with no drop shadow or telescoping. It still works fine. And the cover blurb by Gaspar, “KIRBY’S HERE!” adds all the excitement needed.

The original logo is the same, I don’t see any obvious changes or corrections, though THE is type, probably Letraset adhesive letters, and seems like an afterthought. Gaspar’s characteristic R shapes are here, where the indent on the right edge is below center making it look like a P with the right leg added.

From ADVENTURE COMICS #403, March-April 1971

With this issue, ADVENTURE had a giant-size issue focused on the Legion of Super-Heroes rather than Supergirl, who starred in the title at the time, with this one-use logo by Gaspar. It’s probably not intentional, but it shares some style elements with the FOREVER PEOPLE logo above. That’s just a matter of it being a style Gaspar liked then I think. For a long title it works fine.

From DC SPECIAL #11, March-April 1971

The pale yellow-green used inside these letters makes the Saladino logo less effective, but it still works pretty well, and I love the crossed out and replaced word. As you can see, DC SPECIAL was a home for reprints of all genres.

From MISTER MIRACLE #1, March-April 1971

The third book of Jack Kirby’s intertwined new series has my favorite Saladino logo of the three. This time the block letters of MIRACLE are thicker inside, with a thinner outline and a shallow open drop shadow for a second color. The first word is wide and much thinner, and provides contrast to put the emphasis on the important word. The arc adds interest and the whole logo is somehow more elegant than the other two.

This is a photocopy of the original logo, so we can’t check for corrections, but it looks the same. I like the way the drop shadow letters are joined in some places and not others.

From BATMAN #230, March 1971

A year after introducing the large Batman letters in this bat shape, Saladino did a new version cutting them in half to make room for ROBIN, whose logo seems to be typeset but might be lettered. I guess I will call this a new logo, though it’s only half of one at best.

From THE NEW GODS #2, April-May 1971

For the second issue of NEW GODS, ORION was added to the logo, with the rest reconfigured in a horizontal banner. The top line is by Gaspar, though surprisingly, the indent in the R of ORION is centered on the right side for a change, and it’s so small that the letter barely reads as an R.

From DC SPECIAL #12, May-June 1971

The original logo for this character was by Ira Schnapp, Gaspar’s version is more modern. The angle and shallow arc add interest, as does the larger V.

From YOUNG LOVE #86, May-June 1971

This Saladino logo replaced his previous one. Both suggest 1960s styles, but this one is simpler and less interesting to me. Sales on romance titles were probably continuing to fall, and this may be a case of, “We’ll do a new logo, that will fix it.” As if.

The original is just the same, I see no corrections.

From WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #203, June 1971

For a while, WORLD’S FINEST became a team-up book for Superman, as BRAVE AND BOLD was for Batman. Here Gaspar created a new bouncy Aquaman logo that’s quite different from the Ira Schnapp original. I like it, but I don’t think it would have worked on a solo title for the character.

From GHOSTS #1, Sept-Oct 1971

Murray Boltinoff was the editor of this new title with a fine scary logo by Gaspar on a large rolled scroll. Later only the book title would be retained. Boltinoff had been editing for the company since the early 1940s, usually as an assistant to Jack Schiff, but was now getting his own titles. Horror anthologies were doing well for the company, I assume.

From WEIRD WAR TALES #1, Sept-Oct 1971

Editor Joe Kubert joined in with this crossover horror book. The logo letter shapes are by Saladino while the figures in WEIRD are by Kubert, using a similar idea to the MAD Magazine logo. They seem to be piles of dead and dying soldiers, pretty gruesome. I wonder what young readers made of that?

From THE SINISTER HOUSE OF SECRET LOVE #1, Oct-Nov 1971

DC also tried to capture a gothic romance audience with this title from romance editor Dorothy Woolfolk. For a long time I thought it was done with type…

…but then I found this original logo in the DC files. Romance novel titles were probably the inspiration for the logo, which is elegant and beautifully done. Is it by Gaspar? It’s on regular DC art paper, so I have no reason to think otherwise. Perhaps he was also inspired by some of Ira Schnapp’s romance logos.

From HEART THROBS #135, Nov 1971

This interesting logo replaced a much blander one by Gaspar. I love the large ball-end serifs and elegant curves. Another logo that might have been influenced by romance novel covers.

The original logo from the DC files shows a fair amount of white correction paint and a pasted on section with a revised OB. The result works well for me.

This and the following images © Marvel. From CAPTAIN AMERICA #143, Nov 1971

Now we come to the beginning of Saladino’s logo work for Marvel. I don’t know what brought him there, but certainly his skill was well known to the many people he’d worked with at DC, and some of them were now at Marvel. Gaspar won the Shazam Award for best letterer for work done in 1971, as voted by his fellow professionals, which shows the respect and influence he had, and at the time Marvel’s line was growing, so new freelancers of every kind were wanted. The CAPTAIN AMERICA above is definitely by Gaspar, note the typical R shape. FALCON is very similar to the previous logo, and might simply have been reused from there. This logo only lasted a few issues, but I think it works well.

From SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #93, Nov 1971

On this logo we again see a typical Saladino R shape, and the logo is clean and modern while also being bold and full of impact. It takes up less space than the Sol Brodsky-Artie Simek logo it replaced while being very readable. Despite that, it lasted only a few years before the Simek logo returned. There’s no doubt the original Marvel Age logos had a lot of impact and good memories for readers.

From ASTONISHING TALES #9, Dec 1971

Some of the Marvel logos I’m calling for Saladino in these articles have not been credited to him before, and are even a surprise to me, but I’ve based my calls on the Gaspar lettering I’ve been studying since I began working in comics, and similar work he did for DC. Here the R in KA-ZAR has the Saladino shape, and the texture inside the letters is similar to what he did on some of his DC horror logos. This logo also lasted about two years.

From CONAN THE BARBARIAN #12, Dec 1971

Finally we have this well-known logo. It replaced the first logo on the book that was probably designed by Sam Rosen. There’s nothing here that definitely says Saladino to me, but the Grand Comics Database says, “In the letters section of Conan # 45 it is revealed that Gaspar Saladino designed the new cover logo.” That’s good enough for me! The angular, rough-edged letters of CONAN were certainly in Gaspar’s toolbox, as was the ability to draw the sword. It adds energy and impact that weren’t as obvious in the first logo, and Marvel must have liked it, as it stayed on the book until 1990, quite a long run for any Marvel logo. Gaspar’s impact as a logo designer for the company was clear from this point on, even if readers didn’t know it.

To sum up, I found 21 logos designed by Saladino for comics with 1971 cover dates. He would do even more the following year. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the LOGO LINKS page of my blog.

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A Comics Story Greeting Card by National (DC) Comics, 1950

My friend and fellow comics historian Alex Jay has been looking through trademark listings online, and on August 2, he emailed me this image, writing: I found something that may interest you. National Comics Publications (DC Comics) filed a trademark application for “A Comicraft Card”. A notice was published in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, June 5, 1951. I thought the entry was interesting not only because I’d never heard of or seen any National (DC) Comics greeting cards from that era, and also because the image looks like hand-lettering by Ira Schnapp.

This and all following images © DC Comics

Alex searched further online, and found just one example of such a card. It was for sale on eBay, and he bought it. When it arrived, he scanned the entire thing and sent me the scans so I could write this article. Above is the front of the card, which is actually a small comic booklet meant to act as a get-well card for a child. It measures 6 and 5/8 by 5 inches, and it’s self-covered, meaning it’s all printed on the same paper, which Alex describes as newsprint, but a little thicker than typical comics paper. It’s center-stapled twice on the left side of the cover, and there are 16 pages in the booklet. It’s printed in three process colors: magenta, cyan (blue) and yellow, no black. The appearance of black comes from combining blue and yellow to get a very dark green, or in other places all three colors to get a dark brown. This might have saved some money on separations, and possibly also on printing if DC had access to a three-color press. (DC’s co-owner Harry Donenfeld first entered publishing with a printing company started by his brothers, so it’s possible there was still a family printing business in operation.) The art is typical funny animal work of the kind DC was publishing in titles like ANIMAL ANTICS, and is probably by one of their artists for that, perhaps Rube Grossman or Howard Post, but I’m no expert on identifying artists for such work. The lettering on the cover appears to be by Ira Schnapp, though he didn’t letter the story inside. The cover lettering is generic, so it could have been used on other cards, perhaps with other art. The animals on the cover are hard to identify, but the one with the stethoscope is a pretty close match to the bear child inside, so I guess it’s two bears, though the one in bed is not in the story, and I guess simply represents the child getting the card.

The back of the cover has only a small copyright notice in blue: COPYRIGHT 1950, NATIONAL COMICS PUBLICATIONS, INC., and a blue ink inscription from the giver of the card, which I think says “Love Mary Anne & Deb.”

The story begins on the next page, and there are small page numbers at the lower corners of each story page. The main character is a father bear wearing a bow tie and vest. He’s not named, but his son Bobbie is. You can better see how the three colors of ink work here, all the line work and lettering is solid blue (cyan) and tints of cyan, magenta and yellow are used creatively to give the impression of a full color palette. The lettering uses a thick and thin style made with a wedge-tipped pen, and is condensed horizontally, definitely not by Schnapp, but I don’t know who did it. The character looks a little like DC’s Biggety Bear:

From MOVIETOWN’S ANIMAL ANTICS #27, July-Aug 1950

A little, but not really that much, other than the fact that they share a funny animal style. There were a few other bears in DC comics, but none of them really match the one in the card.

Unlike Biggety, this bear and his son live in a human-style house, and the father has human tools.

The value of money in 1950 is a sub-plot in this story. I wonder what the card cost?

As is often the case, the son has a good handle on how to get what he wants from his dad.

Thus ends the story, but there’s one more page, a sort of afterword:

This ties the somewhat unrelated story to the get-well aspect of the card as seen on the cover.

The back of the card has only some small blue type: A COMICRAFT CARD, “THE GREETING CARD WITH THE PICTURE STORY,” T-2002, MADE IN U.S.A., REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.

The card was preserved by being pasted into a scrapbook, as explained by the seller, and you can see where paper from the scrapbook remains attached. In the text we have the advertising slogan, and the number might suggest this was card number 2, with 200 added in front to make it seem like there were lots more, but that’s a guess. It was printed in the U.S., which is not surprising, and the patent registration is listed. Note that the hand-lettered version of the card name was not used.

I find the card charming, and I would have loved to get one as a child myself. Perhaps there are other examples that have survived, but this is the only one I’ve ever seen. It seems likely it was not profitable for DC, or there would have been more survivors. Alex Jay found an entry in the Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent Office for 1957 stating that the trademark registration was canceled. I bet Richard Starkings and John Roshell, founders of a certain comic book fonts company, are glad that the rights to the name COMICRAFT were not retained by DC! Thanks to Alex Jay for sending me the images and allowing me to write about them.

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GASPAR SALADINO’S COMICS LOGOS 1970

All images © DC Comics. From ADVENTURE COMICS #390, March-April 1970

After the enormous amount of logo work on 1969 cover-dated titles, Gaspar’s assignment to give DC Comics a visual face-lift through his logos, house ads and cover lettering eased off a little in 1970, but there was still plenty to do. The excellent ADVENTURE logo by Ira Schnapp needed SUPERGIRL added to it, as she became the main star of the book, and this open block letter logo fit the available space well. I find the U interesting, the right arm extends below the baseline a bit, something I haven’t seen earlier from Saladino. Otherwise, just the slanted letters add interest. Supergirl would get a better Saladino logo in a few months, this one was only used once I believe.

From BATMAN #220, March 1970

Here Gaspar takes on one of DC’s most important titles using the bat shape and Batman head he employed on DETECTIVE COMICS, but this time filling the entire shape with the character name. Certainly it commands attention, but I’ve never liked this logo. To me it feels too gaudy for Batman, as if he was wearing a bright, large sign on his cape. I might have liked it better without his face there.

From SHOWCASE #88, Feb 1970

Another logo I’ve never liked. Despite the up and down bounce of the letters, it seems stiff and uneven. Perhaps creator Mike Sekowsky had a hand in the design, or it was simply done on an off day.

From THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #88, Feb-March 1970

This is more like it, Gaspar getting back to what he does best, rough letters for a rough character.

From HOT WHEELS #1, March-April 1970

As with Captain Action, this was a comic based on a line of toys, this time from Mattel. The logo was created by the toy company. I’ve seen several versions. The most common uses solid yellow letters on a red flame banner. Gaspar created this version for the comics with only minor differences.

From OUR FIGHTING FORCES #124, March-April 1970

In 1968, editor Robert Kanigher left the DC staff, though he continued to write for their war comics for decades. Joe Kubert, his artist partner for many of them, took over as editor in a continuing trend at the company then to hire artists as editors. On this title, Kanigher and Kubert gathered some of their best-known war characters other than Sgt. Rock to form The Losers. This very tall logo was created for issue #123, but shows up better here on the following one. It was only used a few times, as Kubert began incorporating the group name into his cover art in many different ways. Then for a while there was a new Losers logo I think designed by Joe. Eventually Gaspar did a new logo for them which I’ll include later. Nothing fancy here, standard block letters with the characteristic Saladino R shape.

From GREEN LANTERN #76, April 1970

One of the high points of DC’s willingness to experiment with new ideas and younger creators that began in this decade was a run of GREEN LANTERN where he teamed with Green Arrow in stories written by Denny O’Neil and illustrated by Neal Adams. Gaspar modified his logo to reflect the team-up, and the result is even better than the GL solo one. I particularly like the arrow on the W.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #150, April-May 1970

In this title, editor Kubert commissioned a new logo from Saladino that emphasized WAR with double-outlined letters. I don’t like some of the choices here, especially squaring the triangular points of the W. Other variations followed that I like better, but again Kubert was experimenting, so some of them may have been by him. This version looks like Gaspar’s work, but perhaps from a Kubert layout. The thinner outlined shape inside the thick one might be a requested addition.

The original logo is the same, with some white correction paint showing. STORIES is typeset probably using Letraset adhesive transfer letters.

Editor Julius Schwartz was still pushing this idea, here with reprints from the earlier tryout in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD. Gaspar’s logo adds interest to his standard block letters with a flag-wave on the top line.

From THE THREE MOUSEKETEERS #1, May-June 1970

Funny animal comics had been gone from the DC lineup for a few years, but they decided to try a series reprinting these characters created by Sheldon Mayer. It didn’t last long, but Gaspar’s logo shows he was just as good at cartoony logos as Ira Schnapp. I particularly like the spiral E’s.

From SHOWCASE #91, June 1970

A more typical Saladino logo was created for this tryout. The curve of MANHUNTER fits well between the other logo elements and has more rounded corners than usual, perhaps to suggest something futuristic. The open telescoping and bounce add interest to the year date.

The original logo is the same except for the E, which I like better than the revised one used on the cover. Some of Gaspar’s pencil lines can be made out here.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #152, June-July 1970

This version of WAR looks more like Kubert to me, though possible Saladino inked it. I won’t count it as a new logo for Gaspar.

From DETECTIVE COMICS #400, June 1970

Another version of the DETECTIVE logo which combines all three main characters, but I don’t think there’s any new lettering in it, so I won’t count it as a new logo, just showing it for completeness.

From DC SPECIAL #8, Aug-Sept 1970

This logo uses stencil-style letters, but outlined, for WANTED, with a handsome Saladino tagline below it.

From ALL-STAR WESTERN #1, Aug-Sept 1970

DC tried a revival of this western title using just reprints at first. Saladino’s logo for Pow-Wow Smith is based on the 1950 one by Ira Schnapp, and uses the same triangular edge pattern, but on slanted block letters. The dark color in the background box makes it seem incomplete and hard to read. ALL-STAR WESTERN is probably type.

From STRANGE ADVENTURES #226, Sept-Oct 1970

With this issue, STRANGE ADVENTURES moved from featuring Adam Strange to a larger science fiction reprint anthology. Gaspar’s deeply slanted logo with open telescoping works well. ADVENTURES is type.

The original from the DC files shows the top word was originally GIANT and revised for the final version. The perspective on GIGANTIC looks better.

From SUPER DC GIANT #13, Sept-Oct 1970.

A new reprint series, DC SUPER GIANT, began for some reason with issue #13. Gaspar’s ribbon-award logo is new, the BINKY logo is one he’d done previously. Note that around this time, Ira Schnapp’s DC bullet symbol was disappearing from covers, it’s also missing from the previous example. The DC in this logo mimics the style Ira used in his bullet, but for a while there was no set corner symbol.

From SUPER DC GIANT #14, Sept-Oct 1970

This is an odd one. TOP GUNS here mimics Ira Schnapp’s logo for Top Gun in SHOWCASE #72 of 1968, which itself was, I think, Schnapp imitating Gaspar. OF THE WEST is all new.

The original is the same except for the drop shadow, which is open here but filled in black on the cover. Even though OF THE WEST is similar to western style fonts, it’s much more interesting.

From SUPER DC GIANT #16, Sept-Oct 1970

DC pushed out a bunch of these over a three month period. #15 used an existing logo by Schnapp. The top banner logo here might be all set type, but the three features in a bat shape is new and lettered by Gaspar. I’m not sure if that qualifies as a logo, but I’ll call it one.

From DC SUPER GIANT #17, Sept-Oct 1970

This one is all new and all Gaspar, using the psychedelic style he’d employed on romance comics logos recently for LOVE. The too-dark color making it hard to see the line work, but I like it all the same. It was used again on issue #21 with the year revised to 1971, and better color choices.

From ADVENTURE COMICS #398, Oct 1970

Gasper did a more impressive logo for Supergirl for this issue of ADVENTURE using his standard block letters with open telescoping in two-point perspective. No lines inside the telescoping gave it a clean look, and it saved time, as he didn’t have to work out all those perspective lines. Gaspar style R’s are present. ADVENTURE COMICS is type except for the banner. Schnapp’s ADVENTURE logo would return on some issues alongside this one used smaller.

From ALL-STAR WESTERN #2, Oct-Nov 1970

Gaspar’s large OUTLAW logo looks great on this cover using slanted letters and a rough-ended box suggesting a piece of wood, matching the title above it. These are outlined letters, but colored so dark it’s hard to tell. Ira Schnapp’s DC bullet is in use here, so it was a gradual and uneven process of dropping it.

From FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN #7, Oct-Nov 1970

A new Saladino logo for FBTU on this larger issue is more compact, taking up less cover space, and putting the emphasis on the last word. The open drop shadow allows room for a second color.

The original is just the same and shows no corrections or touch-ups.

From G.I. COMBAT #144, Oct-Nov 1970

G.I. COMBAT continued to use the venerable Al Grenet logo designed for the Quality Comics first issue, but here Gaspar has added BIG atop it in wide block letters with telescoping. The two don’t go together particularly well, but it gets the message across that DC was trying to expand the page count of many of their titles for an increased price of 25 cents.

From OUR ARMY AT WAR #224, Oct 1970

After using Gaspar’s previous Sgt. Rock logo on this title for some time, editor Joe Kubert replaced it with a new one that may be a collaboration between him and Saladino. the new version of OUR ARMY AT WAR at the top is certainly by Gaspar, the rest may be a Kubert layout with Saladino finishes. Some issues returned to the Schnapp book logo at the top.

From STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #153,

Another version of this logo, I’d say it’s all Gaspar this time. It lasted for a few issues and then was replace by other logos I don’t think he worked on.

From YOUNG ROMANCE #168, Oct-Nov 1970

This logo replaced Gaspar’s much more creative and unusual logo done in 1968. Perhaps editor Joe Orlando had received complaints about it either from readers or from DC management. This version is sedate and safe, with only the shape of the G having an interesting style. The corner symbol is Saladino block letters in a simple heart shape.

For I while I thought perhaps this was by some other designer, but the original logo shows it was done on the usual DC art paper with the heart and code seal indicated in blue pencil. The thin outer second outline has been whited out here, as the logo was used later, and I think it looks better that way. Probably Gaspar, but not one of his better efforts.

From TOMAHAWK #131, Nov-Dec 1970

DC’s long-running western title was struggling, and was given to editor Joe Kubert. He tried to find new readers by changing the focus to the original character’s son, with a new logo by Saladino. Nothing fancy, just block letters, but it’s an improvement over the previous Schnapp logo.

From ALL-STAR WESTERN #3, Dec 1970-Jan 1971

The third issue of ALL-STAR WESTERN has a new El Diablo logo and a different Outlaw one, both by Saladino. They work fine, and are stacked to fit around the Neal Adams cover art, but…

…I like this unused version from the DC files a lot better. Perhaps editor Dick Giordano wanted the two character logos to be more similar in size? The printed version is less interesting than this one, and the idea of hanging the character logos from the book title is clever, even though it wouldn’t have worked on the cover of issue #3.

I count 30 logos by Gaspar for 1970 issues (including these last two unused ones), not much less than he’d produced for the previous year. Plenty more to come. Other articles in this series and more you might enjoy are on the LOGO LINKS page of my blog.

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GASPAR SALADINO’S COMICS LOGOS May-Dec 1969

All images © DC Comics. From ANGEL AND THE APE #4, May-June 1969

As he entered 1969, in addition to lettering lots of story pages, covers and house ads, Gaspar Saladino was continuing to revamp DC’s logos. In this case he revamped one of his own that had first appeared on the first issue of this series only a few months earlier. Angel seems to have become the more popular character, and the title was revised to feature her. In effect it became MEET ANGEL, though that was not reflected in the indicia for a few more issues. By promoting Angel, the series now was not far from other DC teen humor titles, and Gaspar’s logo treatment reflects that. In fact, he would soon use this style for revamps on the others. The style has lots of energy and impact, and is also somewhat humorous. It presents a strong, angular contrast to Archie logos, which DC was hoping to compete with, and had been imitating in earlier logos. This seems like a good plan to me, but sales did not follow, and none of them lasted long.

From SHOWCASE #82, May 1969

With SHOWCASE issue #82, the old Ira Schnapp logo was gone again and a completely new logo and trade dress by Saladino begins. Well, not quite completely new, Schnapp’s DC bullet is still there at the upper right, but it’s eclipsed by the huge new DC in a circle and burst just below it. This is the same one Gaspar used on DC SPECIAL in 1968. The word SHOWCASE appears at the top paired with PREVIEW, which was the task of the title, and also vertically down the left side. Overkill, perhaps, but certainly a fresh approach. The tryout feature NIGHTMASTER logo is also by Gaspar in his familiar horror style but with added dot shading inside the letters where it transitions from black to open. The entire cover was designed to attract attention and new readers, and I think it succeeds at that.

From BINKY’S BUDDIES #4, July-Aug 1969

Despite what I said about MEET ANGEL above, this new logo for BINKY’S BUDDIES is actually a step backward. Not sure what the thinking was, I’m almost tempted to say it was cobbled together by someone else in the DC production department, but a letterer had to create a new S for BINKY’S as well as a new version of BUDDIES, and Saladino seems the most likely person for that.

From DEBBI’S DATES #3, Aug-Sept 1969

Here’s the new direction Gaspar wanted to take these teen humor logos, somewhat similar to MEET ANGEL, and full of energy and whimsy. Very different from the previous Archie direction, easy to read, bound to be noticed. Only the fact that readers were not very interested in this line from DC kept it from succeeding, I’d say, aside from that fact that the contents might not have been as appealing as what Archie Comics was offering.

From HOUSE OF SECRETS #81, Aug-Sept 1969

HOUSE OF SECRETS had ceased publication due to falling sales a few years earlier, and after a successful horror revamp of HOUSE OF MYSTERY, editor Joe Orlando decided to bring this one back to accompany it once again. Gaspar’s logo follows the horror style he’d developed as well as the giant word balloon idea from THE WITCHING HOUR, directing the tail to horror host Abel. The dark color in the outer shape obscures the outline of the inner one, but otherwise I like this a lot.

The original logo from the DC files shows those outlines much better, and reveals how similar the style is to HOUSE OF MYSTERY as far as line treatment, though the letter shapes are different. Interestingly, the head and hands of Abel are not the same as the printed version. I think this one was deemed too happy, the revision is more sinister. This version actually looks more like the model for the character, comics fan and DC staffer Mark Hanerfeld.

From LEAVE IT TO BINKY #68, Aug-Sept 1969

LEAVE IT TO BINKY got the new teen humor treatment with this issue. I find it more appealing than the previous version.

From SWING WITH SCOOTER #20, Aug-Sept 1969

SWING WITH SCOOTER had a new logo for this giant annual-size issue, mostly reprints of course, but I like the Saladino logo.

Here’s the original from the DC files. I thought SUMMER FUN was set in type, but here it seems to be lettered, not pasted on, so I’m not sure. I like the way the minimal telescoping on GIANT blends into the outline of SCOOTER.

From BINKY’S BUDDIES #5, Sept-Oct 1969

One issue after that retro version, BINKY’S BUDDIES gets a new Saladino logo to match LEAVE IT TO BINKY, and using the same first word.

A photostat of the original logo shows one change, the lower leg of the S in BINKY’S has been shortened, but part of the original outline is still there. Otherwise it’s the same.

From DATE WITH DEBBI #5, Sept-Oct 1969

DEBBI’S DATES has a title change and revised logo with issue #5. The flower as the dot of the i adds interest. Though the letter shapes are close to the previous version, this is all redrawn.

The original logo is the same, and it’s lettered on cover paper with preprinted DC bullet and code seal. I like Gaspar’s loose lower case letters in DATE WITH.

From SHOWCASE #85, Sept 1969

For issue #85 of this title, the logo has been toned down. PREVIEW is gone, and the SHOWCASE letters at the top look like they could be type. The vertical second version is much smaller, but the huge, eye-catching DC in a burst remains. Gaspar’s technique for burning letters, seen in FIREHAIR, is quite different from Ira Schnapp’s. His look more like they are being consumed by flames, with many small gaps in the rough outlines. The flames are also larger and more wind-blown. I think it’s an excellent treatment.

From FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN #1, Oct-Nov 1969

Julius Schwartz was the editor of this new anthology reprinting science fiction stories from his earlier titles STRANGE ADVENTURES and MYSTERY IN SPACE. The Saladino logo is sedate block letters except for the shortened E and K to fit in the small words, a good way to keep the important words large. It’s unified by black telescoping, though much of that is hidden here.

The original logo reveals the telescoping and shows it was not blacked in until later. There are a few missing connecting lines I would have put in as at the lower left corner of the B, but generally this looks fine to me.

Another version of the logo is also in the DC files, but only the top line was used from this one. Perhaps this earlier version was considered too tall, or Julie didn’t like the extreme angle of BEYOND. The Y is also oddly shaped, and Gaspar clearly had trouble with it based on the white correction paint. The later version works better.

From GREEN LANTERN #72, Oct 1969

Thus far, Gaspar’s revamps had been taking place around the outer edges of the DC lineup, but with this new logo he tackles the superhero center for the first time. Collaborating with cover artist Gil Kane, who did the figure and lantern, Saladino’s take adds energy, depth and style to the book. He retains the flames from the Schnapp versions, but his are along the edges of beams coming from the lantern, and are made with a large wedge-tipped pen that adds to the effect. The letters are tall block ones, very vertical except for the rounded G. Note the Saladino R’s in each word with the divider below center on the right side.

The original logo has been heavily modified. The Gil Kane figure has been painted out and the lantern lines completed. Other areas of white paint probably cover the DC bullet and code seal. Later changes to the series like a team-up with Green Arrow made the figure no longer useful, but it’s a shame the original logo was changed and not a photostat of it, as could easily have been done.

From SWING WITH SCOOTER #22, Oct 1969

With this issue, SWING WITH SCOOTER received the new Saladino logo it would have for the rest of its run, and that run was longer than most of the DC teen humor books, so it must have found an audience. This is similar to the one on issue #20.

The original logo is just the same, I don’t see any corrections or changes. I had no interest in teen humor books from any publisher growing up, but these logos would have steered me to DC’s rather than Archie. I like them a lot.

This unused version from the DC files is even livelier than the one they went with, but perhaps was thought too hard to fit into cover art due to an awkward shape.

From UNEXPECTED #115, Oct-Nov 1969

With this issue, UNEXPECTED received a new Saladino version of his previous logo that removes the swaying, wind-blown effect and the word THE, which is now part of the top line. It works fine, but I don’t like it as much as the previous two versions, it seems too calm by comparison. I do like the word balloon treatment, though.

The original logo shows the outlines better and reveals that the top line is pasted on. It looks hand-lettered, but perhaps it’s type, it is very regular. I don’t recall seeing a font like that, though. Gaspar’s technique with the rough-edged, organic letters is terrific, as always, and you can see they were done here with a pen point that had a wedge or oval shape to produce variations in line thickness depending on the direction it was held. Great stuff.

In all I count 16 logo designs in this time period by Saladino. Adding these to the 19 from the previous post, we have a whopping 35 new logos for books with 1969 cover dates, quite a lot of work, especially considering each design had to go through a process that usually involved several sketches first for the editor to choose from, then development into the final inked version.

Just to see where the line revamp has happened so far, I went through all the covers for November and December titles, two months to catch all the bimonthly ones, leaving out monthly repeats. It’s a little complicated at times with more than one logo on some books, but I come up with the following: three logos not by either Ira Schnapp or Gaspar Saladino — ACTION (pre-Schnapp, designer unknown), G.I. COMBAT (designed by Al Grenet for Quality Comics) and SUGAR AND SPIKE (then running a logo by creator Sheldon Mayer). Then there are sixteen books with logos by Ira Schnapp, including his first DC logo for SUPERMAN, and the rest are new or revamped logos by Gaspar, 33 in all. There’s no doubt Saladino was putting his stamp on the DC line, and he wasn’t finished yet.

Other parts of this series, and more articles you might like are on the LOGO LINKS page of my blog.

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