In the
comic book industry, the person who draws the
text and
word bubbles. It's certainly the most under appreciated jobs in
comics. A few
comic artists (which means
penciler) and
writers have even said that they feel it isn't necessary anymore. (Note: If I ever actually hear any comic artist say this, I'm going to punch them in the head. They've been warned.)
You should really feel sorry for letterers. They're constantly being blamed for pushing a book over its
deadline, and usually because the other
artists broke their deadlines. Plus, the days of letterers doing the layout and text by
hand is slowly fading away. Computer
layout is becoming increasingly common and many letterers are putting down their
pens, and it shows. Books are losing their
character and individual style by adopting
ComicCraft fonts, and older letterers are being forced out of the business.
Method : By Hand
The method for lettering
comics by hand hasn't change for about 50 years. First, the letterer gets a
script which has marked up and looked over by both the
penciler and the
writer. After the
penciler is done with his
full-size pages, the letter gets them. He/she then lays out the word bubbles in
blue pencil or
pencil and places some
guide lines for the text. Next, the actual text is added in
pencil (to be traced later) or in
ink, dependant upon the letter. Finally, the word balloons are inked, any "special" text is finished, and the pages are sent to the
inker.
Method : By Computer
The computer method breaks the normal order of
comic book production. Instead of the letterer getting the pages before the
inker or
colorist, he usually gets it last. (Though in reality, they could get it at any time) The pages are scanned then edited with any number of image tools (
PhotoShop,
The GIMP, etc.). Most companies use
ComicCraft fonts, a company who basically OWNS the entire comic industry when it comes to
fonts. Also well known for their open disdain for hand-lettering, and have called it a "dead art" on a few occasions.
Letterers to watch out for:
Tom Orzechowski (
The Uncanny X-Men,
Spawn) - The man basically invented the modern way to letter
super-hero titles. His word bubbles complement his text blocks, instead of just giving them a place to sit.
Todd Klein (
The Sandman) - Todd was probably the first letterer to give different characters different
fonts. The
Sandman series alone had over forty different fonts, all drawn by hand.
Dave Sim (
Cerebus) - If you doubt that lettering is indeed an art form, then you haven't seen
Cerebus. Every single bit of a character's voice and tone come across in his lettering, even going as far as to have the letters and word bubbles interact with the environment. Undoubtedly the most original lettering in
comic books, and one of the many reasons it's my favorite.