Comicraft is a company which provides graphic design and

lettering Lettering is an umbrella term that covers the art of drawing letters, instead of simply writing them. Lettering is considered an art form, where each letter in a phrase or quote acts as an illustration. Each letter is created with attention to d ...

services to various (primarily

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

) companies.

History

The company was founded by Richard Starkings in 1992. Starkings had been working for Marvel UK for five years, but left London for New York, circa 1990.Starkings, Richard
"The Secret Origin of ''Comicraft''" Part 1
Accessed February 10, 2008 Lettering large numbers of pages overnight for Marvel editor Gregory Wright, Starkings decided to move away from the New York Marvel offices to California, partly hoping that the increased distance would mean increased deadlines. A year later, Starkings (now based in Los Angeles) was asked to letter issues of Marvel's premier title ''

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the ...

''. Unable to meet the deadlines of then-editor Bob Harras, he considered faster methods of lettering, and turned to computers.Starkings, Richard
"The Secret Origin of ''Comicraft''" Part 2
Accessed February 10, 2008 Digitizing his lettering in readiness, and joining with designer John Roshell, Starkings unwittingly found that the formation of

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-o ...

created a perfect opportunity for his innovative lettering practices. The 'superstar artist' status of the Image founders, and the money they were able spend on production allowed Image to attract letterers from DC and Marvel, creating a vacuum made all the more stark by the concurrent comics boom inspiring companies to increase output. Although meeting resistance in some quarters (most famously from Harras at Marvel), the higher-paychecks offered by Image allowed some letterers to produce less work, further snow-balling the demand for Starkings' services. For a name Starkings recalled a friend's carpentry business being called "Proudcraft", and the two settled on ''Comicraft''. Overcoming the reluctance of the comics industry with such titles as '' Ghost Rider 2099'', ''

Astro City ''Kurt Busiek's Astro City'' is an American superhero anthology comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Created and written by Kurt Busiek, the series is mostly illustrated by Brent Anderson, with character designs ...

'' and ''

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s ...

'', although unable to challenge the legendary

Todd Klein Todd Klein (born January 28, 1951) is an American comic book letterer, logo designer, and occasional writer, primarily for DC Comics. Biography Early career Todd Klein broke into comics in the summer of 1977, hired by DC Comics as a staff pr ...

for the "Lettering" title, Starkings and Comicraft nevertheless managed to win an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

in 1994, for "Best Publication Design" for Busiek and Ross' '' Marvels''. The ''

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The public ...

'' and ''Wizard: The Comics Magazine'' also went against the Eisners, and named Comicraft the best letterer for 3 and 7 years in a row respectively.

Active Images

A sub-company, "Active Images" was initiated in 1995ComicBookFonts: More Information
Accessed February 10, 2008 as an online arm initially to "make Comicraft's library of comic book fonts commercially available", but in 2002 its role was expanded into the world of publishing.

Active Images Richard Starkings (born 27 January 1962) is a British font designer and comic book letterer, editor and writer. He was one of the early pioneers of computer-based comic-book lettering, and is one of the most prolific creators in that industry. ...

publishes, among other titles, Richard Starkings' own comics '' Hip Flask'' and Elephantmen.

Clients

Comicraft's work and fonts have appeared in hundreds of products produced and distributed by all four of the major American comics companies:

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

and

; as well as for magazines and books produced by

Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several ...

, Nickelodeon Magazine,

Scholastic Scholastic may refer to: * a philosopher or theologian in the tradition of scholasticism * ''Scholastic'' (Notre Dame publication) * Scholastic Corporation, an American publishing company of educational materials * Scholastic Building, in New Y ...

and

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and ...

. Many of the company's fonts, created by Starkings and designer Roshell are commercially available to individuals and institutions as

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

applications through the

publishing company via their website
ComicBookFonts.com

Bibliography (selected)

Comicraft has produced a 64-page book detailing the basics of lettering comics: *''Comic Book Lettering: The Comicraft Way'' Comics and books either lettered by, or featuring fonts created by, Starkings/Comicraft include: *'' Batman: The Killing Joke'' ( DC) (By

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', '' V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell ...

and

Brian Bolland Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' ( Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology ' ...

) — hand-lettered by Starkings pre-Comicraft, when he was still in England. *''Spider-Man Blue'' ( Marvel) (By

Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville'' and '' Lost'', writer for the films ''Commando'' and '' Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...

and Tim Sale) *'' Marvels'' ( Marvel) (By Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross) *''

'' (

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...

) (By Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross) *'' Battle Chasers'' (

Image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...

) (By Joe Madureira) *'' Danger Girl'' (

) (By J. Scott Campbell) *'' Batman: Hush'' ( DC) (By

and

Jim Lee Jim Lee ( Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a H ...

) *'' Superman For All Seasons'' ( DC) (By

and Tim Sale)Active Images.com
Accessed February 10, 2008 Almost every book published by MonkeyBrain features cover fonts licensed from Comicraft. These include: * Jess Nevins' Annotations on

and Kevin O'Neill's ''

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a comic book series (inspired by the 1960 British film ''The League of Gentlemen'') co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four volu ...

''; "Heroes & Monsters" and "A Blazing World"

Notes

References

* Ihnatko, Andy. "Web Can be Font of All Fonts" ''Chicago Sun-Times'' (May 24, 2007). * Benjamin Ong Pang Kean
"The Starkings Way: Talking Letters & Fonts with Richard Starkings"
(April 15, 2005). * Thomas, Michael
"The Invisible Art in Plain Sight: A Look at the Art of Lettering"
(June 9, 2000).

External links

*

{{Authority control Comic book letterers Graphic design studios Comics studios Typesetting Companies based in Los Angeles Design companies established in 1992 1992 establishments in California