adamwarren
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COMICS RIFFS I LOVE: "Yelling" lettering fonts!
🕑 Added 2022-05-24 13:01:02 +0000 UTC(UPDATE: TBH, I probably posted this example on Patreon years ago, but ehh, screw it; if so, here it is again, folks!)
And now, a brief return by the long-dormant Comics Riffs I Love feature!
Behold, a collection of examples of the largely lost art of what I've dubbed "yellin' fonts," scanned from my Dirty Pair: Start the Violence, Gen 13: Magical Drama Queen Roxy (UPDATE: and from Gen13: Grunge! The Movie, also) and Battle Chasers pages hand-lettered by, respectively, the great Tomoko Saito, Bill Oakley, and Tom Orzechowski.
The idea is that, for strongly emphasized or figuratively if not literally "loud" bits of dialogue like the ones above, creative and imaginative letterers like Tomoko, Bill, and Tom would shift from conventional fonts to bigger, bolder, more striking forms of lettering to help convey the increased significance and volume. Note by the way, that I didn't actually specify the use of "yellin' fonts" in my scripts; rather, these heavy hitters from the arguable Golden Age of Comics Lettering all added these wonderful flourishes entirely on their own.
Note also that, while all these examples are from the bygone era of hand-lettered comics pages, such "yellin' fonts" could be easily achieved by modern-era letterers using software; in fact, some high-level contemporary letterers do exactly that on occasion, such as Nate "Blambot" Piekos (who did a bit of this riff on Empowered and the Soldier of Love).
Howeva, most modern letterers don't bother with this approach. In fairness, I should add that contemporary letterers are paid very, very little—only a miserly fraction of what hand letterers used to earn, adjusted for inflation—and are almost always working on appallingly short deadlines, as they're nearly the last link in the creative chain and have to make up for the invariable tardiness of behind-schedule writers and artists.
Regardless, I'm regularly appalled by excerpts of mainstream American comics which feature big, bold panoramas of action with raging capes exchanging heated rants and furious exclamations back and forth—but, hilariously, conveyed by wee, meek, sad little word balloons using the default tiny-ass font size used in most Marvel and DC comics. Really, the lettering gives the impression that these rootin', tootin' tough guys are having a quiet, polite conversation in hushed tones.
Not, by the way, that this is a particularly new problem in mainstream comics lettering; for example, take a gander at the ludicrously teeny, tiny word balloon used for the infamous Ultimates page of Captain America (theoretically) yelling, "You think this letter on my head stands for France?" (Note that the lettering couldn't even shift from mixed-case to ALL-CAPS for this Big Moment.)
Wellp, if any of my upcoming comics projects actually come to fruition, you can damn well be sure that they're gonna feature a veritable s-load of yellin' fonts, folks! (In fact, I'm considering an extremely g-d aggressive approach to lettering in future projects, but more about that later.)
NEXT TIME ON THIS HERE PATREON: Not sure, TBH, but as I'm rolling with every-weekday posting to finish off the month of May, something should be going up tomorrow.
Comments
KranberriJam
I've always appreciated your lettering, it really helps make the dialogue have an impact.
PixelThis
When I find that comic box, I'm reasonably sure both books are right next to each :)
Adam Warren
I should hasten to clarify that Pizza Dude is from GRUNGE! THE MOVIE, which I need to update in the text.
andrew
Where do I send my money?
Tim Price
Totally love this riff, too!
Steven W
“Adam Warren presents: Two attractive Asian women yelling back and forth at each other: the Series!”
PixelThis
Time to go find my copy of "Magical Drama Queen Roxy" and reminisce over the Pizza Dude and his scantily-clad Pizza Babes 😂
Mike Powers
I'm <b>reminded</b> of <b>MAD Magazine</b> and the way they would <b>bold</b> half of the <b>words</b> in every <b>speech balloon!</b>
Person
I don't remember that speech balloon feeling small when I read it all those many moons ago. Sure do remember that line though. Wasn't he air dropped in a small tank at the start of that fight?
