Nothing against Annie Parkhouse's style but it doesn't really suit Dredd. Simon Bowland's ABC Warriors lettering style is neat and reminds me a little of the late, great Tom Frame. I think Bowland would be ideal for Dredd.
Nah, sorry. Annie has seniority over Simon. I like simon's balloons (not yer basic oval shape and a tail with a curve) and agree that his is a fine lettering style, but Annie has been with Tharg for over 20 years (Her profile doesn't look right as I've got her having credits in the 500's and my database is far from complete) and her work is still of a high enough quality to deserve Dredd.
Bolt-01- lettering wannabe
You are Simon's mum, and I claim my £5.
You are Simo- Arse, someone got there first!
I've only noticed lettering twice ever. Once was when I read a comic with terrible lettering; the letters had just been typed and stuck in the talk bubbles. The other time was when Tom Frame died...I went and looked for his lettering. When it was brought to my attention, I noticed that it was indeed easy on the eye. But I've never thought that lettering detracted from a Dredd story...it always seems to do its work.
so what bought you to the board, Moonbeam? How long have you been reading 2000AD? You certainly seem to know it pretty well.
For what it's worth I have to admit to a soft spot for Simon's lettering. Like Floyd I don't normally notice it at all (which is the sign of good lettering, I suppose) but I've really taken notice of his since it started appearing; maybe because it's so strikingly different to the rest of what we see in Tooth.
Thanks for all the kind comments folks - it's very much appreciated. My Mum is definitely not posting here, though she does read 2000AD every week!
For what it's worth, I'm just excited and proud to be lettering *anything* in 2000AD. I've read the comic since around 1982, and I'm happy to letter whatever Tharg and Cyber-Matt throw in my direction.
Simon, since you're here... Have you developed a new font for 2000AD? I noticed that the first work you did was very italicised and since then it's become a lot more like Tom Frame's old font.
Hi Dudley,
It's not a new font as such, I'm just trying to pick a font style which suits each individual series which I work on. The font I've used on ABC WARRIORS is really more of a homage to the great Steve Potter's work on the series, many years ago. Anyone know what he's up to these days?
Steve Potter disappeared from 2000AD around the year 2000. Perhaps he retired. He was a great letterer. Tom Frame and Steve Potter - arguably the best 2K letterers.
Steve Potter worked mostly on Pat Mills projects. Think he was the first letterer I noticed as being tied to one creator's output.
Same as I always liked to see Gordon 'Kid' Robson lettering Stont.
Bolt-01
If I recall correctly, didn't Steve also letter the first two volumes of the brilliant HALO JONES series? And I think my lettering idol, Richard Starkings, lettered volume three.
I could sit here and talk about lettering all day I think...
In that case- your ballons. How do you generate them? Are they a warp of a standard ellipse or a custom shape?
also: which program do you use for lettering?
Bolt-01
I do all my lettering in Macromedia Freehand MX. Most letterers prefer to use Adobe Illustrator, and I think Annie and Ellie actually letter using Quark?
My balloons are created using a standard ellipse, which I'll then adjust so they don't look quite so perfectly elliptical. I find this tends to lend an "organic" feel to the balloon. Then it's a case of drawing the tail, and ensuring that the curve follows though so it's pointing to the mouth of the character who's speaking.
And, of course, there's constant saving of the document, in case Windows decides to offer me a nicely frustrating BSOD!
Don't think Starkings has ever done much work for 2000AD (though from memory I think he lettered Judgement on Gotham).
By the way, you might be interested to read the interview I did with Annie & Ellie a while back.
Link: http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/features/interviews/2006/parkhousedeville/parkhousedeville.shtml
Ah, thanks for that. I'm an Illustrator user so I'll be setting myself up some custom shapes to save then.
Cheers
Bolt-01
"If I recall correctly, didn't Steve also letter the first two volumes of the brilliant HALO JONES series? And I think my lettering idol, Richard Starkings, lettered volume three."
Yup, Steve Potter on books 1&2, Rich Starkings on book 3 (though not credited on this site, for some reason). I think Starkings did more stuff for 2000AD than he was credited for, possibly because he used to use a number of pseudonyms, or maybe just because he was working for Marvel UK a lot at the time. Steve Potter came back to letter the final Nemesis strip, which I thought was a nice touch.
Speaking of wrtier-centric letterers, anybody else remember when Tom Frame used to letter everything that Peter Milligan wrote? Strange Days, Johnny Nemo, Paradax, Sooner or Later, Bad Company, Bix Barton, Hewligan's Haircut and Skreemer all come to mind...
The lettering stats for the site database are not that hot.
Wake- how much work woould it be to update them from an Excel sheet, and what other data would be useful to help the credits 'link'?
Bolt-01