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Re: Hi! Hope you can help me

Posted By: MACK!
Date: WED, 10/2/02, 6:05 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Hi! Hope you can help me (jackie h.)

Hi Jackie,

Thanks for your interest in my work. And for the kind words. I've posted some responses to your questions below:

: Anybody want to jump in here and give a hand, that's
: fine, too.
: I was looking over Kabuki and her many stories (yet
: again!) and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. In
: an interview with someone, at somewhere, David says he
: actually letters everything by hand. By hand?!?!?
: EVERYTHING?!?!?! Is that true? Wow. But now this puts
: me in a predicament. I was looking for someone who
: does both hand lettering and by computer. Even Circle
: of Blood was done by hand? Incredible. But if that's
: the case, I'd like to know how he does it, and how he
: feels about it being a quickly vanishing artform.

Of course I do a lot of the lettering by hand. But most of the captions and balloon type lettering (especially in Circle of Blood) are typed up on the computor, printed out and then cut and pasted by hand onto the artwork. This is the full extent of my use with the computor in any of my art. More below...

: Dear Mr. Mack,
: Hi. My name is Jackie Hafenstein. I'm 26 yrs. old and a
: Graphic Art student at Madison Area Technical College.
: After I graduate and work awhile, I hope to study
: sequential art. I've posted here a few times before,
: but I have a very serious favor to ask you.

: The reason I need your help is because I'm working on a
: major school project. Currently one of my classes is
: Typography2, and a big chunk of my final grade will be
: based on a slide presentation (or a similar sort of
: visual aide)of a topic in Typography. While most are
: researching an inventor of a particular font, I
: thought of an idea in comic book lettering, a topic in
: the most popular and least appreciated of all
: artforms, and lettering being the least talked about,
: but yet a very vital part of americana. (What would
: the old tv Batman show be without WHAM! and POW!???)
: So I've decided to do a brief (Very!)overview of the
: history of comic book lettering; Past, Present, and
: Future. I plan on talking and researching three people
: who I believe represent these areas. Mike
: Chen of the Joe Kubert College and possibly the lettering
: teacher of the same school, Hy Eisman, will help me
: with Past. Nate Piesko, of Blambot.com, has agreed to
: help me with the Present. That leaves the Future, and
: that's where you come in, if you would be so able.
: The more I learn, the more I see that it is a subject
: that bears considerable weight, since no one has
: really ever done a book on the history of comic book
: lettering. I'm beginning to fear that this is far
: bigger than I can work with, especially since what
: info I can get has to be ultimately pared down to
: 10-15 minutes tops!
: The reason why I would like you to be a part of this is
: because you utilize both past techniques and modern to
: achieve your one-of-a-kind art, in which important
: words, be they story or dialogue, are also a vital
: part of your overall design. They are not just stray
: thoughts by the character, they are a layer in a deep
: and involving story, to the point where they are read
: over and over to make sure you get all the details!
: While no doubt you were influenced by past masters
: (and please list them, if you like!) there can be no
: argument that you are a master in your own right and
: since your style (of ever-changing styles) seems to
: represent a whole new way of looking at comics and the
: comic book genre, I can think of no one else who is
: better qualified.
: Provided you'd be willing and able to help me. I realize
: of course that this would involve a good piece of your
: time. Rest assured that it is only typography that I'd
: be asking about, and not the visual process (except
: how lettering factors in as a visual aide on the
: whole.)
: I'd also like to ask when did you decide to break out of
: the typical balloons and panels? I myself have not
: known anyone else to do that. I'm sure there have been
: some, but I highly doubt it was on as regular a basis
: as your stories.

All of the interesting things in Kabuki really just come from problem solving. I have a situation and I need to find ways to resolve that.
For every step of my work, I leave margin for improvement from the intent of the previous step. This means that I do a lot of my script editing when I am lettering. I tend to cut half of the words out of the story, simply because to many words on the page can ruin the flow. This helps me focus on my word choice. Originally, I'd cut out so many balloons or captions, and they interrupted the flow the the rhthym of the page. So I left most of them out. Or I found ways to incorporate the type within the art in a way that was not intrusive. Such as the hand lettering.
Or sometimes this was used as a means to show what is happening inside the character's mind while the balloons show what is spoken.

The idea is to just use the right medium of artwork to best communicate the story, and the same holds true for the lettering.
In fact, I make no distinction between type and art. The image is the story. the story is the letters and the letters are the art. Etc. The whole point of the medium is to make them indistinguishable. It's like sheet music. The real magic happens in between the notes. And if I've done my job, and put the type and image on the page in the right way(more like a map than anything else) the real magic does not happen on the page, but in the reader's mind. The page is just a navigational device for the journey.

: Some are obviously done in pencil, ink, or paint; others
: by computer. Which is easier/difficult?

I don't think in those terms.

What makes you
: decide which to use and why?

Just like you choose the right words for a story, you want to choose the right medium to best support the atmosphere of the story. The character decides the story. And the story decides the words and the medium and the style.

: Where do you see yourself and your stories in about a
: decade?

I see myself focussing on and enjoying the the project that I am working on at that time.

Do you think you will be creating comics
: similar to the "collage" style of Kabuki, or
: will you go back to "old school"? Both?

I do everything. There are no limits in comics. That is the entire reason that I am doing comics. It is the medium that I can apply all other mediums into.

And
: finally, what are your thoughts on how the computer
: has changed the way comic lettering is done,
: especially how it makes hand-lettering ever more rare?
: Reply when you are able, and any other sort of help would
: be greatly appreciated. Perhaps after I graduate I'll
: be able to return to the ChicagoCon and say hello
: again. Until then, may you continue to be a beacon for
: others to be guided by. Yes, I'd like to be a beacon
: myself, but I'm not quite there yet. "Soon,"

I hope that is helpful. Thanks for your interest!

Best,

David

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