The font is available in capital letters, numbers and most punctuation marks. Step by step, comic book lettering the comicraft way guides you through the process of lettering a comic strip digitally. Until you earn points all your submissions need to be vetted by other comic. Purveyors of unique design and fine lettering since 1992, the awardwinning comicraft studio is best known for pioneering the use of the computer in the art of comic book. Initially, ec was owned by maxwell gaines and specialized. Sean will cover the art of lettering and the design process behind it. May 06, 2020 the ios version is particularly exciting since it brings the very real possibility of being able letter comics on an ipad pro, taking advantage of the bestinclass digital drawing capabilities of the apple pencil. Our very first balloon tales a newsletter we published back in 1994 in response to questions from our fellow letterers, explaining the computer lettering process. Make sure you have plenty of processing and storage ram, and also a good printer so that you can print out proofs of your work for the editor to approve. Some, such as dc comics, now have onstaff letterers doing much of the companys lettering work on computers. This volume of vanguards wally wood classics collects for the first time ever, the complete nonec 1950s crime and horror comics of wallace wood. It was an invention of political cartoons, and was a natural progression of. Aug 06, 2016 comixwriter is raising funds for comixwriterscriptwriting software for comic books on kickstarter.
Care and feeding of the leroy lettering set ben towle. These are among the best drawn comic books ever created. Longtime comics writer mark evanier wrote a thorough comparison of digital and hand lettering. I just hope other editions are planned for the future. Comic lettering programs comic fury webcomic hosting. This is another ec comics story with a racial theme, this time dealing with holocaust survivors and the tormentors and what would happen if they confronted each other after the war. Lettering comic books with illustrator linkedin learning. A reddit for fans of comic books, graphic novels, and digital comics. The worlds first software dedicated to writing scripts for comic books and graphic novels. Comicraft purveyors of unique design and fine lettering. Leroy lettering was used most notably by publisher ec comics in books like tales from the crypt and vault of horror. If so, why was it so widespread, especially at ec comics. May 25, 20 from ec comics to witzend, sally forth, mad, daredevil, mars attacks, cannon, t.
Lettering for this class will be done done by hand with calligraphy pens nibs, india ink and ames lettering guides. The lettering in the ec comics was different from other publishers. Comicbase express comes with builtin data on over 875,000 comics, along with current pricing values determined entirely by actual market data. There is more to lettering than just copying and pasting a script onto artwork. Lettering comic books on a mac or pc has a number of advantages. Bram letters comic book lettering, logo design, and. Gaines and his son william gaines, who took over the family business after his fathers death in 1947.
While the technology has changed, the goals and principles still apply. Dc comics guide to coloring and lettering comics acclaimed artists mark chiarello and todd klein demystify these essential steps in traditional graphic storytelling. Entertaining comics, more commonly known as ec comics, was an american publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid1950s, notably the tales from the crypt series. Mar 28, 2012 aside from the incredible artwork and the variety of genres, ec had many aspects that distinguished them from the competition.
Idw is the premiere publisher of ec comics works like this wally wood edition and i doubt there will ever be anything better. Lettering with speedball pens art of the comic book. Its actually a company that professionally letters comics for you. A guide to handlettering your strips webcomic alliance. Todd klein is the dean of comics lettering in the us, with more awards than he can carry, and a portfolio of logos and classic lettering that would be hard to touch.
How nate letters a comic read about nate piekos lettering. The computer letterer does his work over scans of inked art pages and has the same responsibilities as the hand letterer. Click here to learn more about the comicbase software. This story appeared in one of ecs new direction books, issue 1 of impact and seems to have been quit an influential comic story. Nov 21, 2014 todd klein is the dean of comics lettering in the us, with more awards than he can carry, and a portfolio of logos and classic lettering that would be hard to touch. Comics, lettering and other stuff from the damaged brain of jim campbell. Great comic book software will allow artists to organize and create books in one workspace and offer drawing tools, like pens, pencils and airbrushes. I provide lettering, logo design, and production for independent comics.
How the lettering was done for the old ec comics tales from the crypt comic books. I used to letter all of the various comics that we created back in the midlate 2000s. For regular lettering i prefer a speedball c6 wedgeshaped point, and a b6 round point for bold letters though i often do the bold letters with a tech pen instead. A guide to handlettering your strips posted on june 5, 20 june 5, 20 by chris flick i think i should start this article off by letting everyone know this really isnt an article about how to handletter your strips that would be akin to writing an article on how to draw and lets face it, there isnt one single article that. Todd klein is the dean of comics lettering in the us, with more awards than he. Dec 03, 2008 this is another ec comics story with a racial theme, this time dealing with holocaust survivors and the tormentors and what would happen if they confronted each other after the war. The pretrend 19441950 the letters ec originally stood for educational comics. Bram letters comic book lettering, logo design, and production. Lettering adding text representing speech, thoughts, and sounds to images is much older than the modern comic. Where lesser artists would have just drawn floating heads next to the bubbles or. In the olden days, way back in 40bp before photoshop everything in comic books was hand drawn and coloured.
It is scanned, cleaned in photoshop, and put together as a book in indesign. Tales from the crypt font here refers to the font used in the title of tales from the crypt, which is an american horror anthology television series based on the ec comics of the same name in the 1950s. A beginners guide to computer lettering balloon tales. Comic fury is a free, easytouse, advertisement free host for your webcomics. Agents, and more, this eisner award hall of fame talent is one of the most noted comicbook creators ever. Jan 15, 2011 the comic sans font was designed in 1994 for microsoft by typographer vincent connare with the intention of providing a casual style typeface reminiscent of comic book lettering. Comixwriter is raising funds for comixwriterscriptwriting software for comic books on kickstarter. Aug 01, 2015 idw is the premiere publisher of ec comics works like this wally wood edition and i doubt there will ever be anything better.
Most independent comics and even some mainstream books are handlettered. What computer software do dc comics, marvel comics, other. Computer lettering has certainly taken over from handlettering in many areas of. The lettering in the comics of the sensationalist horror comics publisher ec comics c.
The importance of lettering cant be underestimated. Although you can create computer lettering on any pc, it is important to note that most of the comics and publishing industry favors work generated on macintosh computers. Further posts on this as and when updates to the software bring us closer to that goal of a featurecomplete illustrator replacement. If youre looking to make your own handwritten font, ive seen a few comics use.
Entertaining comics, more commonly known as ec comics, was an american publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid1950s, notably the tales from the crypt series. The awardwinning comicraft studio is primarily known for pioneering the use of the computer in the art of comic book lettering. Comic book lettering and production with sean glumace. Comixwriterscriptwriting software for comic books by. Step by step, comic book lettering the comicraft way guides you through the. This full color stepbystep guide is filled to the brim with the wisdom and wit. The production process of comics also goes hand in hand with lettering and you will also learn what is needed to get your comic to the printer and ready for digital publication using indesign. The ec horror line tales from the crypt, haunt of fear, vault of horror had one of the most talented artistic staffs ever to work in comics wally wood, jack davis, harvey kurtzman, will elder, john severin the list goes on and on. Chiarello explains the entire coloring process, from computer and software choice to creating color effects that give the action its maximum impact. Ec s lettering was typeset as opposed to handwritten.
Furthermore, the lettering would come before the art, making sure that the art would not compromise the prose that was scripted originally for the comic. This story appeared in one of ecs new direction books, issue 1 of impact and seems to have been quit an influential comic story too and there is a surprising. When that company merged with dc comics in 1944, gaines retained rights to the comic book picture stories from the bible, and began his new company with a plan to market comics about science, history and the bible to schools and churches. I bought the large jack davis book and to acquire this more affordable version of wally woods stories leaves me equally impressed despite the difference in size. Todd kleins history of lettering the beat comics beat. Fontastic, is a logotype designer and lettering artist for comic books. Gene luen yang sep 7, 2016 once a month, gene luen yang, the national ambassador for young peoples literature, stops by book riot comics for creativity in progress, a minicolumn on art, process, and how he creates comics. The font used in title of the tv series is very similar to postcrypt. From ec comics to witzend, sally forth, mad, daredevil, mars attacks, cannon, t. From a modern perspective, where weve been spoiled by computer lettering with thousands of fonts able to be reproduced flawlessly, an ec comic page may not look all that special. This puts the world of comics at your fingertips, and takes the work out of handling even the largest collection. Ecs lettering was typeset as opposed to handwritten.
In the 1950s, ec comics, famed for horror books, chose to forgo hand lettered narration in favor of typeset printing. Squa tront and spa fon 2001 around 1999 or 2000, my artist friends and extremely influential mentors george pratt and scott hampton convinced me to read more and more of the ec comics from the 1950s for examples of excellent storytelling and illustration tales from the crypt, weird science, frontline combat, etc. I enjoy giving a professional polish while keeping the attention on the art and story. Aug 21, 2012 great comic book software will allow artists to organize and create books in one workspace and offer drawing tools, like pens, pencils and airbrushes. Last week, we talked about the uncommon skill and heroism of the men and women who have diligently lettered this nations comic books, armed with little more than a few speedball pens, a bottle of higgins ink or black magic, and some white paint for corrections. You can put up your own comics and get a website dedicated to them. If you want to create your own fonts, you need separate software for that. Initially, ec was owned by maxwell gaines and specialized in educational and childoriented stories. The software is very reasonably priced, is a onetime purchase for a perpetual license rather than adobes subscription model, and is available for mac, windows and ios although only designer and photo at present. Letterer todd klein describes using the leroy tool used regularly on ec horror comics in the 1940s and 50s. The comic sans font was designed in 1994 for microsoft by typographer vincent connare with the intention of providing a casual style typeface reminiscent of comic book lettering.
Computer lettering news from me mark evaniers blog. The firm, first known as educational comics, was founded by max gaines, former editor of the comicbook company allamerican publications. From font design to balloon placement, sound effects, signage, title page and publication design, the creators of the worlds greatest comic book fonts cover every conceivable aspect of comic book lettering. One of the most distinctive techniques they used, ironically enough, was to the most overlooked art in comics. And, as graphic designer and creative director for more than two decades, i can design the complete publication and the accompanying marketing material.
Jan 27, 2017 dc comics guide to coloring and lettering comics acclaimed artists mark chiarello and todd klein demystify these essential steps in traditional graphic storytelling. Jun 05, 20 a guide to handlettering your strips posted on june 5, 20 june 5, 20 by chris flick i think i should start this article off by letting everyone know this really isnt an article about how to handletter your strips that would be akin to writing an article on how to draw and lets face it, there isnt one single article that. Ecs letterers achieved their particular look by using a leroy lettering set, a. Ec comics project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. And hes put it all together for a seven part series on the history of comics lettering.
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