Ken Lopez (born September 4)
[ Miller, John Jackson]
"Comics Industry Birthdays"
''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 publ ...
'', June 10, 2005. Accessed February 1, 2011
WebCitation archive
/ref> is a letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic-book-reading experience. The l ...
and logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
for the 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 ...
industry. A pioneer of computer lettering, Lopez designed the fonts
In movable type, metal typesetting, a font is a particular #Characteristics, size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design.
For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) inclu ...
for DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
's in-house lettering unit,[Contino, Jennifer]
"ABCs with Orzechowski," Comicon.com: The Pulse (Dec. 30, 2003).
Retrieved July 17, 2008. and is currently DC's art director for lettering and its cover editor.[Biography at the Comic Book Database.](_blank)
Retrieved August 26, 2008.
Lettering
Marvel
Lopez began his lettering career as a freelancer 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 ...
in 1986, rapidly rising to prominence for his speed and creativity.The Punisher
The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher mad ...
'', ''Guardians of the Galaxy
The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Comic book teams 1969 team
The 1969 version of the Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), Guardians of the Galaxy were the origi ...
'', ''Deathlok
Deathlok (also referred to as Deathlok the Demolisher) is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first Deathlok, Luther Manning, appeared in '' Astonishing Tales'' #25 (Aug. 1974 ...
'', and '' X-Men 2099''. His tenure on ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' lasted five years.
Valiant
In 1992–1994, Lopez lettered for a number of Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was ...
titles, including ''Magnus, Robot Fighter
Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional superhero who battles rogue robots in the year 4000, appearing in comic books created by writer/artist Russ Manning in 1963.Steve Holland, ''Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History''. Lewes: ILEX, 2009. . .pp. 102–1 ...
'' and almost the entire run of ''X-O Manowar
X-O Manowar (Aric of Dacia) is a fictional superhero co-created by writers Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart, and artists Bob Layton and Barry Windsor-Smith.
The eponymous comic book series published by Valiant Comics has sold more than 8 million c ...
''.
DC
From 1994 to 2005, Lopez moved to DC, where he was regular letterer on a number of titles, including '' Superman: The Man of Steel'', ''The Batman Chronicles
''The Batman Chronicles'' is a series of comics published by DC Comics from 1995 to 2001, which lasted 23 quarterly issues.
Publication history
With a larger page count than typical comics of the time, most issues contained three separate storie ...
'', '' Resurrection Man'', '' JLA'', ''Young Justice
Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen T ...
'', '' JSA'', and ''Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, PhD) is a fictional American character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for ''Batman: The Animated Series'' as a henchwoman for the ...
''. Lopez lettered ''Superman: The Man of Steel'' for nine years, and ''JLA'' for eight years. Lopez also lettered the landmark limited series ''Identity Crisis
In psychology, identity crisis is a stage in Erik Erikson's theory of personality development. This stage happens during adolescence. It is a period of deep reflection and examination of various perspectives on oneself.
The Erikson's stages of ps ...
''. With Lopez's ascension to DC's art director of lettering in 2004, his output has understandably decreased.
Logos
Lopez has designed logos for such titles (among others) as Marvel's '' Wally the Wizard'' (1985),[Lopez on Todd Klein's blog]
"Logo Study: X-Men Update," (Oct. 19, 2007).
Retrieved August 26, 2008. ''Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...
'' (1985), '' Classic X-Men'' (1986), '' Comet Man'' (1987),Excalibur
Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...
'' (1988), and ''Spider-Man 2099
Spider-Man 2099 is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi in 1992 for the Marvel 2099 comic book line, and he is a futuristic re-imagining of the origin ...
'' (1992); and DC's ''Green Lantern
Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...
'' (1994 and revised in 2002), ''Green Lantern Corps
The Green Lantern Corps is a intergalactic Peacekeeping, peace keeping agency appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the plan ...
'' (2006), and ''Justice League of America
The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived t ...
'' (2006).Logo studies on Todd Klein's blog.
/ref> In addition, as DC's cover editor, Lopez solicits new logos from freelancers, and modifies existing designs. He continues to create fonts while training others.
Personal life
Lopez lives in Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.
Selected bibliography
* ''Marc Spector: Moon Knight'' (Marvel, 1989–1993)
* ''The Punisher'' (Marvel, 1989–1993)
* ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' (Marvel, 1990–1995)
* ''Deathlok'' (Marvel, 1991–1994)
* ''X-O Manowar'' (Valiant, 1992–1994)
* ''X-Men 2099'' (Marvel, 1993–1996)
* ''Superman: Man of Steel'' (DC, 1994–2003)
* ''The Batman Chronicles'' (DC, 1995–2000)
* ''Resurrection Man'' (DC, 1997–1999)
* ''JLA'' (DC, 1997–2005)
* ''Young Justice'' (DC, 1998–2003)
* ''JSA'' (DC, 1999–2005)
* ''Harley Quinn'' (DC, 2000–2002)
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Ken
Designers from Manhattan
Living people
American comics artists
1963 births