James R. Novak (September 14, 1955 - April 2018) was a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

creator, primarily working as a letterer for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, where he worked on almost every one of their ongoing series, and contributed to the development of the iconic ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' logo. He did occasional work as a writer, penciler, and colorist, and also worked at publishers including

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person, team or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, that is unlikely to succeed but has a fighting chance, unlike the underdog who is exp ...

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (stylized as BOOM! Studios), is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House sin ...

Image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

, and IDW.

Biography

Jim Novak was born in Chicago, on September 14, 1955. He broke into the comics industry in 1975 with ''

Marvel Spotlight ''Marvel Spotlight'' is a comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics as a try-out book. It stood out from Marvel's other try-out books in that most of the featured characters made their first appearance in the series. The series or ...

'' #25, as a member of the "third wave" of creators at the company, which included artists John Byrne and Frank Miller, and writers

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfo ...

, Jo Duffy, Mark Gruenwald, and Ralph Macchio. He became a staff letterer (and occasional logo designer) at Marvel, ascending to production manager in the mid-1980s. During this time, in advance of the film's release, he redesigned the logo for the company's ''

'' comic, making changes that were incorporated into the version used in the film's marketing. In the 1980s Novak was the regular letterer for such titles as '' Avengers'' (1981–1987) ''

Doctor Strange Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...

'' (1980–1984), ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

'' (1980–1984), '' The Incredible Hulk'' (1981–1984), and ''

Marvel Fanfare ''Marvel Fanfare'' was an anthology comic book series published by American company Marvel Comics. It was a showcase title featuring a variety of characters from the Marvel universe. Volume one ''Marvel Fanfare'' featured characters and setting ...

'' (1982–1991), when he lettered as many as five or six books per month. Fellow letterer Bill Oakley opined that Novak created the best shapes for speech balloons of any letterer he knew. In the 1980s and early 1990s (and even in 2000–2001), Novak was often paired with writer/artist Byrne, on such titles as ''The Avengers'', ''Fantastic Four'', ''

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

'', '' Sensational She-Hulk'', and '' Marvel: The Lost Generation''. Over the years, Novak also lettered a number of titles written by Stern, including ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

'', ''The Avengers'', ''Doctor Strange'', ''Marvel Universe'', '' The Spectacular Spider-Man'', and ''Marvel: The Lost Generation''. In the 1990s, Novak worked on many limited series and one-shots, as well as full-time lettering on ''

Darkhawk Darkhawk (Christopher Powell) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Darkhawk'' #1 (March 1991), and was created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Mike Manley. The character a ...

'', ''

Green Goblin The Green Goblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the first and best-known incarnation of the Green Goblin is Norman Osborn, ...

'', ''Fantastic Four'' again, and ''Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy''.

Bibliography

* ''Captain America'' (1979–1982) * '' Master of Kung-Fu'' (1980–1982) *'' Doctor Strange'' (1980–1984) * ''Fantastic Four'' (1980–1984, 1995–1996) * ''The Avengers'' (1981–1987) * ''Incredible Hulk'' (1981–1984) * ''Marvel Fanfare'' (1982–1991) * ''Sensational She-Hulk'' (1989–1992) * ''Darkhawk'' (1994–1995) * ''Green Goblin'' (1995–1996) * ''Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy'' (1996–1998)

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Novak, Jim 1955 births 2018 deaths Comic book letterers Marvel Comics people Artists from Chicago