Can Anyone ID This Silver Age DC Letterer?

[Red Oak Kid]

I can't really tell the difference between 99% of comic book letterers, but this DC lettering from the 60s is pretty distinctive, even to my untrained eye.

Can anyone ID it for me?

This page is from B&B 65.

Thanks.

Update: I think he also lettered B&B 67.

[prince hal]

Offhand, no, ROK, but I remember this style from Doom Patrol and from other offbeat things like House of Secrets. I don't ever recall it being used in, say, Batman or Superman titles. I identify it with Bruno Premiani and Mort Meskin stories. I don't know that Premiani would've lettered his stuff as well as others, given that he (I think) lived in Argentina, but is it possible someone like Meskin lettered his own stuff and did other assignments?

[Cei-U!]

I don't know the letterer's name but I've seen his/her work in many titles edited by Jack Schiff and his successors Murray Boltinoff and George Kashdan, including some of the pre-New Look Batman material. Whoever it is has the double virtue of clarity and aesthetic appeal.

Hopefully Rob Allen will see this and pass the question on to Tom Orzechowski. If anyone knows, it'll be Tom.

Cei-U!
I summon the mystery!

[scratchie]

Can Anyone ID This Silver Age DC Letterer?Have I mentioned how much I love this board?

[InfoBroker]

When I first encountered this lettering style in the early Doom Patrol comics, it seemed a bit odd. It fit in well with the overall style of the Doom Patrol and I did find it had a certain charm. But it was way different from the clean lettering of Sam and Artie over at that "other" comical company.

I think it is Stan Starkman's fine work and if Tom O. can't confirm perhaps Mike Tiefenbacher is reachable on one of those many lists that Rob subscribes to.

- jb the calligrapher's bump ib -

[InfoBroker]

Hmmm....

Because of the different balloon lines in your second example, I wasn't sure at first if these were the same letterer. I checked a lot of the detail structures of the letters themselves (slants, size of ascenders and descenders, "kerning", the negative to positive balance, the openings inside certain letters like R P and B, the use of drop caps, and just overall skootch, leading and other spacing aspects to balance and improve readability), and if that part isn't the same person, then someone was working real hard to make it look like the same person.

The balloons are interesting thou, especially the long tails which showed up in a lot of the comics that Carmine illustrated circa 1965-67. The amount of air is similar, but this seemed to be a guideline for a lot of DCs at the time. But the swish on the balloon lines is different. Not so free and loose on the Bats/Flash panels as it is on the Doomy ones captions.

It was pretty standard practice that the letterer did the balloon lines and the panels. Maybe DC had a different policy and left it to the inkers. Especially considering those extra long tails.

-jb the ( and the difference could be by choice, not by changing who did it) ib -

[Red Oak Kid]

It was the distinctive "boomerang" shaped balloon outlines that caught my eye. Also the letters seem to have a pronounced slant.

I have never heard of Stan Starkman. But his credits on the GCD jive perfectly with Cei-U's memory of pre new look Batmans.

I have Batman 135 which the GCD credits to Starkman. The lettering and balloons look nothing like the stylish work in B&B 65, IMO.

However he is also credited with lettering Teen Titans 4 and Blackhawk 223, both of which I have. These two books do resemble B&B 65, especially the TT issue.

I was assuming just one letterer used the boomerang and or kidney shaped balloons and the long tails. But perhaps Infobroker is right that this could have been some sort of specific look that was used by DC on certain books, and other letterers were asked to use it.

But at the moment Stan Starkman looks like the most likely candidate.

[zilch]

I WAS going to say Starkman, only because he did a lot of Tomahawks and it looked awful familiar.

However, my id of letterers is just guessing. Same with most pencilers and inkers.

[InfoBroker]

I was assuming just one letterer used the boomerang and or kidney shaped balloons and the long tails...

Boomerang and Kidney shaped ballon types need to be added to the lexicon of Comic Book Lettering (http://www.balloontales.com/articles/glossary/). You gotta, just gotta head over there Red Oak and get John Roshell to include them. They will fit in nicely with Sam Rosen's trademark Loaves of Bread, especially since these three types tend to get stacked a lot one on top of the other. It will also be a nice way to get more coverage of DC's silver-age letterers.

Yeppers, John Roshell is the same guy who created the Astro City and Herocopia websites and I am long overdue to include addition entries for the later, so don't mention me when you head that direction.


But at the moment Stan Starkman looks like the most likely candidate.

I think it was the style of a couple of the writers at DC that lended itself to the need to do balloon-stacking, particularly when a panel had to contain more than just one moment of activity.

I'm still pretty sure that this is Stan Starkman's work, but I can think of a couple other letterers at DC who stacked balloons. Maybe not this stylistically, but I have a short list of others who did this during the 60s at DC.

-jb the (ames lettering guide in hand) ib -

[Mark Evanier]

It's Starkman.

[InfoBroker]

Thanks for the confirmation Mark.

And oh my goodness, I just took a peek at your website this morning, the Griffith Park fire is closer to the observatory than I expected, and wow, it really looks nasty, thanks for commenting that its not really that close.

I am wishing the best for your friend living nearby.

-jb the ib -

[Kirk G]

Mark Evanier:
Save the comic books, buddy....
Get them out of the path of the fire NOW, or else we'll all come over with garden hoses to defend the stash!

[Rob Allen]

Hopefully Rob Allen will see this and pass the question on to Tom Orzechowski. If anyone knows, it'll be Tom.

I did see it, but I've been slammed with work recently and so has Tom, so I haven't sent it to him yet. It looks like the question has been answered, but I'll still get his opinion.

[sabreboy914]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but Stan Starkman was (and is!) my father. I remember as a kid watching him in our basement letter hundreds of comics. It was fascinating then and I recognize the comics posted by Red Oak Kid as those on which my father worked. He is 83 y/o and still has the best handwriting of anyone I know.

[Red Oak Kid]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but Stan Starkman was (and is!) my father. I remember as a kid watching him in our basement letter hundreds of comics. It was fascinating then and I recognize the comics posted by Red Oak Kid as those on which my father worked. He is 83 y/o and still has the best handwriting of anyone I know.

Awsome!!!

Tell us more.

[Cei-U!]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but Stan Starkman was (and is!) my father. I remember as a kid watching him in our basement letter hundreds of comics. It was fascinating then and I recognize the comics posted by Red Oak Kid as those on which my father worked. He is 83 y/o and still has the best handwriting of anyone I know.

Don't be sorry! Your father contributed to the look of some of my all-time favorite comics. Please convey our gratitude and best wishes to him.

Cei-U! (Kurt Mitchell)
I salute the Old Master!

[Sir Tim Drake]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but Stan Starkman was (and is!) my father. I remember as a kid watching him in our basement letter hundreds of comics. It was fascinating then and I recognize the comics posted by Red Oak Kid as those on which my father worked. He is 83 y/o and still has the best handwriting of anyone I know.

Welcome to this board! I'm glad to hear that your father is still alive and hopefully well.

Can you tell us anything about his career? Like, how did he get into lettering comics, and what sort of relationship did he have with the editors he worked for?

[zilch]

PLEASE!!!

Contact Jim Amash or someone with Alter Ego to get him interviewed!

Loved his work on Tomahawk!!

[Rob Allen]

I second the Amash recommendation.

I'll contact Jim & Roy - unless someone has done so already?

[sabreboy914]

Stan Starkman
Silver Age Letterer Extraordinaire
May 16, 1927 - January 22, 2011
RIP Dad!

[MWGallaher]

Thanks for informing us, and my condolences to all of Mr. Starkman's family and friends. It may seem easy to dismiss lettering, but Stan Starkman's talents helped to distinctly characterize a large body of much-beloved comics. I always found him to be the most memorable and recognizable letterers of the Silver Age, and I will certainly see and appreciate his work for years and years to come.

[Red Oak Kid]

When reading those comics as a young kid, I was not consciously aware of the lettering. But they made some kind of impression on my brain because Starkman's style jumps out at me now as I reread those comics and brings back vivid childhood memories. AMAZING!