"The Vision" Lettering Spotlight Columns 

2016 in Review: Best Letterer

By | December 19th, 2016
Posted in Columns | % Comments

It’s that time of year! The Multiversity Year in Review is here, and from now until Thursday, December 22, we will be talking about favorites in a variety of categories. Let us know what we missed in the comments!

Best Letterer
This is a new category for us, but one we’ve discussed for the past few years as a possibility. This is an under-heralded part of comics, but an incredibly important one, and we’re really glad to honor these three excellent pros.

3. Jared K. Fletcher

(Mark Tweedale) The lettering in both “Southern Bastards” and “Paper Girls” caught my attention this year. In the case of the former, the seam between Jason Latour’s art and Jared K. Fletcher’s lettering was utterly invisible. Fletcher’s lettering follows the cues from Latour’s art: the panels are borderless, so the speech balloons are likewise borderless; when the story goes into flashbacks, the speech balloons go off-white cream, just like the gutters; and the edges of the balloons have a little roughness to them, just like the line between Latour’s flat colors and shadows. The lettering doesn’t pop off the art — it sits right in there as part of it, inseparable from it.

In “Paper Girls,” I was impressed by the voices the Fletcher’s lettering gave the characters. The series uses a lowercase font, which gives more nuance to the dialog. Simple things, such as beginning a sentence with a lowercase letter, evokes a different tone (especially after following an ellipses). And then there was the way space was used within the speech balloons, sometimes to make the dialog feel cramped, other times to feel full of hesitation. These are the little things that make a scene work, like when Erin, Tiffany, Mac, and 2016’s Erin are cramped in a tiny car and talking over the top of each other in issue #6. And it’s a real pleasure to read.

2. John Workman

(Leo Johnson) Letterers are often overlooked in comics, with some saying that a good letterer’s job is to not be noticed. Maybe that’s true to an extent, but lettering can definitely make or break a comic. Still, few letterers have made such an impact on comics as John Workman. He lettered Simonson’s “Thor” run, worked on “Incredible Hulk,” “Fantastic Four,” “Doom Patrol,” and numerous other titles in his decades of work. His hand lettering style influenced countless other letterers and can still be seen influencing books like “The Walking Dead” today. Even despite his decades of work and influence in the industry, Workman still continues working today. He may have moved towards a more digital approach now instead of his handlettering, but he’s still killing it on books like “Ragnarok” and “Shutter” and has lost none of his charm.

1. Clayton Cowles

(Ken Godberson III) Ah, lettering. Someone once told me that lettering is like editing, you only notice it when it’s bad. And honestly, that is a load of crap, for both those professions. Case in point: Clayton Cowles. Apart from seemingly to be everywhere (seriously, it’s almost a guarantee his work is in at least one book a week for me) the man has shown such flexible skills. Whether it is having to craft specific lettering style to a multitude of different characters (“The Wicked + The Divine”) or great placement (recent issue of “Uncanny Inhumans”), the man shows such finesse and attention to detail in his work.

Editors’ Notes:

Brian: I must admit, I was skeptical how enthusiastic our staff would be with discussing lettering. Sure, we have a little history discussing the subject, but it is, perhaps, the part of comic making that flies the most under the radar. But, as usual, our staff exceeded my expectations tenfold, and not only picked three incredible pros to spotlight, but spoke about the cogently. I’m very glad we added this category.

Mike: I’m glad we did, too. Lettering is an invisible art when done right, so it’s not surprising when people don’t have the strongest opinions on the matter. Letterers can add just as much tone and atmosphere to a story as a colorist, and I think this list is a fantastic sampling of how impressive the craft can be.

Matt:  If I recall correctly, Workman continues to do a lot of his lettering by hand, except on a Wacom or something, and I think that continues to give his work some invigoration. The letters are what really cements the story, and when they’re pasted on or clearly so separate from the artwork, it makes the whole book jarring. The best-looking books, I think, often involve letters that are done directly on the page. Cowles and Fletcher are fine, but I wonder if we notice them more because they seem to be doing everything?


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