Lettering serves a number of purposes in this medium in addition to straightforward narration. It is used to convey emotional subtext, state-of-mind, character and mood. It is also used quite often to express sound, a function that is nearly impossible to accomplish through imagery alone. Some sound effect lettering have become practically iconic. Who can forget the classic Batman series of the 1960’s when Adam West or Burt Ward would lay out an opponent with a textual sound effect splashed across the screen? Where would Wolverine be without his infamous “SNIKT” every time he unleashed his claws? Indeed, lettering is a comic book tradition as old as the medium itself.
You can’t ignore bad lettering any more than you could bad penciling or inking. Good lettering should appear organically on the page, guiding the reader’s eye in the intended direction without being a distraction, an important fact for any aspiring letterer. Font selection is also very important. Readers will grant a certain degree of latitude when it comes to artistic decisions regarding fonts, but the one thing they will not abide is illegibility. Professional letterers are font nerds. They understand which fonts best convey the functional aesthetic of the writer. I use the word functional here because lettering is a rather time-consuming. Even though the computer has dramatically reduced the time it takes to letter a page, it is still something of a manual process. A balance must be struck between artistic vision and efficiency.
White Devil (NSFW)
Writers/Creators: Matt Evans & Andrew Helinski
Art: Nate Burns
Homepage: http://whitedevilcomic.blogspot.com/
Preview Link
The Story
Issue #1 of White Devil introduces us to Judy, an unassuming Southern woman with a dark secret. During the day, she tends to her domestic responsibilities as dutiful wife to a loving husband and mother to two darling little children. Under the cloak of night, she leaves her home under the pretense of attending a book club with her friend Betty to participate in an occult ceremony held by a secret society deep in the woods. This is where the book takes a turn for the weird and perverted as Judy engages in highly explicit acts of sexual depravity and ritual sacrifice. By the way, if you have any issues with a full-on illustration of a vagina being masturbated and woman-on-woman cunnilingus, stop here. Did I mention this book is in no way safe for work? Lo and behold, the purpose of this ceremony is to call forth some kind of demon, an effort that ultimately bears fruit. We are left with a gruesome murder and a nude something walking into the forest.
The Good
White Devil benefits from strong writing and artwork. Writers Evans and Helinski effectively portray a woman trying to reconcile her feelings about her double life. We get a real sense of Judy’s profound feelings of shame and guilt tempered by her need to embrace her inner darkness and sexuality. As the story progresses, the writers drop subtle hints of things to come; a fleeting glance on the street, a knowing smirk, a lustful attempt at intercourse from her husband. Artist Nate Burns does a superb job of leading us through Judy’s world. He knows just where to place the camera and his panel work is profoundly artistic. The book is in black and white, and as it progresses the palette gets progressively darker, gradually framing Judy’s world in demonic iconography until her secret life is revealed. Burns shines here with strong shadow work and dense environments. There is a sense some of the panels could do with a bit more polish, but all in all, this is one of the strongest creator-owned books artistically that I’ve read so far.
The Bad
You’ve probably assumed by my introduction that we would be returning to lettering at some point, and boy is the lettering in White Devil atrocious. I mean it’s really, really bad. I usually print out each book before I read it and this the only book I had to return to the PDF and zoom in to read. The book begins in cursive in what I assume to be a hand-written journal style font. It’s extremely difficult to read. At times, its downright illegible.
Around page 4 it switches to a more traditional balloon format. Whomever did the lettering clearly used a graphic design suite like Photoshop to place the text inside the balloon. The font sizes varies from panel to panel. Vertical spacing changes from balloon to balloon to accommodate the lettering which is sometimes clipped by the balloon border. Some of the words are even misspelled, an unforgivable mistake.
I am ambivalent about the story. The justification for Judy’s double life seems a little thin. Apparently she was unsatisfied with her life as a homemaker, so the viable alternative was a sexual cult? I hope her decision to join this radical organization is fleshed out a little further in future installments. Needless to say I’m intrigued by her decision, however improbable.
Short of Judy, none of the other characters in the book are even remotely realized with the exception of maybe her husband who seems doting and genuinely attracted to her. I would like to know more about Betty and what her background is with Judy as it is barely addressed in the book.
Final Thoughts for the Readers
White Devil is a fascinating read if you can get past the horrible lettering. This book is not shy about its subject matter. It is raw and visceral and I like that about it. I see this book as an exciting opportunity to explore the darker side of female sexuality. I hope the writers continue to pursue this subject matter, delving deeper into Judy’s shadowy proclivities instead of pursuing the supernatural elements that have been beaten to death by so many other books out there. It would etch out a unique niche for this title and that’s not something you find in a creator-owned comic every day.
Notes for the Creator
- I think I’ve made my primary complaint very clear. Hire a professional letterer. It will make a significant difference. I would even go back and re-letter this first issue, because if a publisher saw this it would most likely go right onto the pass pile.
- Some of your panels have borders on only three sides. I don’t know if that’s an issue with the PDF I downloaded or not, but panel bordering should be consistent even if the shapes are not.
- Sometimes you use balloons when caption boxes are expected. Again, something a professional letter will point out.
- Like I said earlier, some of the panels could be polished up a bit. Here is a screenshot of what I’m talking about. Notice the vertical lines and what appears to be a smudge on the husband’s face? It looks like pencil lines that were not removed in clean-up before inking.
- The last panel on page 6, which I assume is Jesus, makes little sense to me in the context of the story. The last panel on page 7, however, is genius. I love that panel to death. Great work.
- I might have been taken aback by the sexual content of this book, but by no means should you remove it. More creators should embrace human sexuality in their books. Be careful though as there is a fine line between artistic and pornographic…but I have a feeling you know where the line is.
- Work on your website! Your website is the primary vehicle for promoting your book. Hire a web developer and come up with something professional looking. Buy a .com domain and be sure to added a contact page to each issue.
P.S. I would be remiss not thanking the many creators who have submitted their work so far. Keep it coming, folks!
