Editing Letterer (section)

=== Origins ===
[[File:AmericasBestComics3006 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Lettered 1949 panel from ''[[America's Best Comics]]'']]
By the time comic books came of age in the 1940s, the huge volume of work demanded by publishers had encouraged an assembly-line process, dividing the creative process into distinct tasks: writer, [[penciller]], letterer, [[inker]], and [[colorist]]. By the late 1940s, it became possible to make a living just lettering comic strips and comic books for artists, studios, and companies that did not have the time or desire to do it in-house. The career of freelance letterer was born, and by the 1950s, letterers such as [[Gaspar Saladino]], [[Sam Rosen (comics)|Sam Rosen]], and [[Ben Oda]] were crafting full-time careers as letterers for [[DC Comics]], [[Marvel Comics]], and [[King Features Syndicate|King Features]].<ref>Klein, Todd. [http://kleinletters.com/LetteringTop.html "How it all began," Todd Klein: Lettering – Logos – Design.] Retrieved July 22, 2008.</ref><!-- [[Image:SandmanEndless.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Four panels from ''[[The Sandman (Vertigo)|Sandman]]'' #21, demonstrating multiple [[Harvey Award]]-winning letterer Todd Klein's different styles for members of [[Endless (comics)|The Endless]].]] -->

Letterer and logo designer [[Ira Schnapp]] defined the DC Comics look for nearly thirty years. Starting in 1940, he designed or refined such iconic logos as ''[[Action Comics]]'', ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'', ''[[The Flash (comic book)|The Flash]]'', and ''[[Justice League of America]]'', while also creating the distinctive appearance of DC's house ads and promotions. (Schnapp also designed the [[Comics Code Authority]] seal, which was a fixture on comic book covers from all major companies for over forty years.)<ref name="chill">Kimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/376/ "The Big Chill," Dial B for Blog #376 (Oct. 10, 2006).] Retrieved July 21, 2008.</ref>

DC Comics used a stable of more than 20 letterers in the comics they published in the 1950s and 1960s (some of the letterers — like [[Jerry Robinson]] and [[Dick Sprang]] — were more well known as artists):<ref>"Letterer Index," DC Comics Artists. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120530054647/http://dccomicsartists.com/letters/letters.htm Archived at the Wayback Machine.] Accessed July 31, 2019.</ref> 
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[John Costanza]]
* [[Jon D'Agostino]]
* [[Ben Oda]]
* [[Jerry Robinson]]
* [[Joe Rosen]]
* [[George Roussos]]
* [[Gaspar Saladino]]
* [[Ira Schnapp]]
* [[Dick Sprang]]
{{div col end}}

Starting in around 1966, Ira Schnapp's classic, art deco-inspired look was replaced by the pulsing, organic style of Gaspar Saladino, who redesigned DC's house style for the [[counterculture]] era.<ref name="BDS">B.D.S. [http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/saladino.shtml Interview with Gaspar Saladino in "Silver Age Sage," The Silver Lantern: A Tribute to the Silver Age of DC Comics (May 25, 2007).] Retrieved July 18, 2008.</ref> Gaspar became the cover letterer for all of DC's books throughout the 1970s, and even "[[Ghostwriter|ghosted]]" as Marvel Comics' "page-one" letterer for much of the same period.<ref>[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2006/08/31/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-66/ Mark Evanier quoted in Brian Cronin's "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed" #66, Comic Book Resources (Aug. 21, 2006).] Retrieved July 20, 2008.</ref><ref name="Natural">Kimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/489/ "Gaspar Saladino — The Natural,"] Dial B for Blog #489 (Sept.). Accessed May 18, 2011.</ref> Gaspar's work became so iconic that various independent comics publishers which sprang up in the 1970s and 1980s – such as [[Atlas/Seaboard Comics|Atlas/Seaboard]],<ref name="Gaspar Saladino — Atlas Shrugged!">Kimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/497/ "Gaspar Saladino — Atlas Shrugged!"] Dial B for Blog #497 (Sept.). Accessed May 19, 2011.</ref> [[Continuity Comics]], and [[Eclipse Comics]]<ref>[http://www.comicvine.com/gaspar-saladino/26-4302/ "Gaspar Saladino,"] ComicVine. Retrieved July 20, 2008.</ref> – hired him to design logos for their entire line of titles.

From the 1930 through the 1990s (with a few exceptions), the letterer plied his craft on the same page drawn by the penciler. (The penciled art was then inked after the letterer has completed his work on the page.) At DC Comics during the "[[Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]]" of the 1960s, pencilers were required to "rough in balloons and sound effects" for the letterers to later go over. An accomplished letterer was able to adapt his or her style to the style of the art for that particular book.<ref>Letterer [[Clem Robins]], quoted in Kimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/490/ "Gaspar Saladino — A New Star on the DC Horizon,"] Dial B for Blog #490 (Sept.). Accessed May 19, 2011.</ref>