By Robin Jones
ZAPP! POW! BIFF! BOOOOOM! BWOOOM!
Welcome to the latest Papercuts and Inkstains! It’s been a while but I’m back and this time around I’ve got a special treat for you! In fact, the first of several special treats!
Now, lettering in comics is a big deal. A poorly lettered and laid out comic can really affect the flow and pace of the story. In some instances it can make a comic unreadable. Having had a go myself, I can tell you, choosing correct fonts, letters, styles, sizes, shapes and picking a layout can be extremely tough. Well, my guest this week is perhaps the king of lettering. Joe Caramagna is one of the hardest working guys in comics right now, and if you’ve read any major Marvel events and storylines over the past few years, chances are, he lettered them! He also writes several comics for the Marvel universe, including Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble and Hulk and the agents of S.M.A.S.H!
Joe has also written this years free comic book day Rocket Racoon title from Marvel which, with the release of the Guardians of the Galaxy film later on this year, is guaranteed be a sure fire hit! Joe is a massive hockey fan, and if you follow him on twitter you’ll often see him talking about the New Jersey Devils! But more than anything, he’s a really cool, approachable guy. Joe was kind enough to have a chat with me about lettering, his writing and influences, so without further interruption, here’s what he had to say:
Me: First things first, what was it that first got you into comics and how did you get into lettering comics?
Joe: Like many people my age, I got into comics because of the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon of the ’80s starring Spidey, Iceman and Firestar. I wasn’t even that aware of comics until a friend gave me some issues of Amazing Spider-Man and I thought, “I love that cartoon!” I already loved to write and draw, so I fell in love with comics very easily.
Me: You’ve worked on some of the biggest titles to come out of Marvel. What was your favourite Marvel project to work on and why?
Joe: In case you couldn’t tell from my reply to your first question, I’ve always loved Spider-Man. So my favorite Marvel project as a letterer has to be the one hundred consecutive issues of Amazing Spider-Man that I lettered, and I moved from that into my second favorite, which is the current Waid/Samnee Daredevil run, so I’ve been very lucky. As a writer, I really enjoyed writing the stories in my upcoming Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man, on sale in May/June.
Me: What’s the most important part of lettering, and how do you decide how to choose particular fonts/typography/directions? Is placement a major issue for you and how do you decide on when to string word balloons together or have them as a single balloon?
Joe: The most important part of lettering to me is the reading order. The reader has to be able to know which balloon comes next without being taken out of the story. That obviously makes placement a big issue, especially if the artist doesn’t leave enough room for text or draws characters in the incorrect speaking order. The decision to string word balloons together or have them as a single balloon is usually the writer’s, not mine. But there have been situations where i thought the writer and/or editor wouldn’t mind and I made a judgment call.
For font and style choices, I take visual cues from the art. Though if the comic belongs to a certain “family” of books, like Spider-Man, the Avengers or the X-Men, I try to match it to the house style of those books to keep the threads there.
Me: You also write comics, notably Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble and Hulk and the Agents of SMASH, which are all, primarily, kid centric. What’s the most important aspect of writing for a younger audience, do you find it restrictive or can you have a lot more fun with the characters?
Joe: The most restrictive part is that Marvel requires the all ages stories to be told in one shot and not continued over the course of multiple issues. I rarely have the luxury of writing “To be continued” at the end, so everything has to be compressed, and you have to find ways to squeeze the small moments in between the fast-paced action. Otherwise, in many ways, I prefer writing all ages material. I love knowing I could be getting someone else hooked on comics the way I was hooked as a kid. And it’s a nice break from most modern comics that are just so gloomy.
Me: Have you got any creator owned work coming out?
Joe: Everyone who’s contributed to my Kickstarter will tell you that i’m taking a really long time working on my comic The Further Travels of Wyatt Earp. A final on sale date hasn’t been set, but I sure am glad I’m taking my time with it instead of rushing it out just to satisfy my backers because the last thing I want to do is crank out a product I’m not proud of. So far it’s the single most satisfying work of my career, and I hope they find it worth the wait.
Me: Seeing as you pretty much letter EVERY major comic that comes out, do you still have time to read comics yourself, and if so, what are your top comic picks at the moment?
Joe: I don’t. For a while I was keeping up with a bunch of DC titles, but had to stop when they increased the wait time before dropping the cover price on the digital versions. I fell too far behind. There are a few Marvel books that I don’t work on that I read, like Superior Spider-Man and some others. But I fall behind and have to binge-read when I get a long weekend or something.
Me: Lettering is massively important to a comics flow and pace, do you get involved in the writing side of things too, suggesting where something may or may not work or is it your job to make what your presented, script wise, work?
Joe: I think it’s my job to help the writer tell the story he wants to tell. If I find something that doesn’t work, and I feel I have a solution to offer, I’ll bring it up to the editor. Most of my editors value my input so I feel comfortable sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, ha ha!
Me: What’s the thought process that goes into choosing particular sound effects and then sizing them up for the panel?
Joe: I always deliver the sound effect as it’s written in the script. Sometimes I might delete an “o” or two in a “BOOOOOOOOM!” just to make it more visually pleasing in the space I have to work with, but I’m almost always told what it should be. Sometimes I’ll get a “insert loud crash noise here,” but that’s rare. The size of the sound effect depends on how much room I have, how loud the sound should be, and sometimes what looks best based on my graphic design training.
Me: Do you have a particular way of working, such as a routine involving particular music or do you just plough on into your work?
Joe: I am VERY routined. I wake up at the same time every day (very early), check e-mail and twitter first thing to see what I missed, and I mostly listen to podcasts while I’m lettering. After lunch i switch to listening to music to keep my energy levels up. I always letter the hardest parts of a book first so I know that it gets easier as I go along, which keeps me from getting burnt out. I also set a timer so I know how long each page is taking me, and I have a better grip on when I’ll finish each page/issue.
Me: Finally, if you could pick any comic from any of the different eras to have lettered and stamped you mark on, which would it be and why?
Joe: I don’t know, I’m not that much of a lettering nerd, to be honest, haha. I just want to have fun with whatever it is I’m working on. if the work isn’t fun, even if the book is great, it’s a grind. So rather than choose a particular book from any era, more than anything else, I want to have fun.
So there we go, when you’re checking out your comics, don’t forget about the letterer! It’s an important job, one that’s often overlooked! You can order the Daredevil series which Joe currently letters HERE and you can check out info on Joe’s The Further travels of Wyatt Earp HERE.
Join me next time when I’ll be chatting to Darick Robertson, co-creator of Transmetropolitan, The Boys, HAPPY and Ballistic and he’ll also be answering some of your questions too!
Until next time…
For more comic views and reviews follow Robin on Twitter at @Hulksmash1985
Posted on March 5th, 2014
Category: NEWS & VIEWS, PAPERCUTS AND INKSTAINS VOL. 2
Tags: Comic Blog, Comic lettering, Joe Caramagna interview, marvel comics, Robin Jones