Comics: IBM Typewriter “Lettering”

The earliest use of IBM typewriter “lettering” may have been on Stan Drake’s “The Heart of Juliet Jones”. In Cartoonist Profiles #4, November 1969, Drake was interviewed and asked about the lettering.

Q: Would you tell us what you did about the business of lettering your strip?

A: I was paying a considerable amount of money to a lettering man [According to Irwin Hasen, it was Ben Oda.] to letter my strip each week and I began to think, “Wouldn’t it be neat if I could just type it out and save all that money for the lettering.” So I got in touch with IBM and wanted to know if I had a lettering man letter up the alphabet, whether they could make a set of keys for their Executive typewriter, with these hand-drawn letters. My hope was that I could then sit down and type out my balloons and save the cost of a lettering man. But IBM told me that it would cost me as much as $7000 to make a set of keys like this. I realized finally that they didn’t want to do it because such a machine would be the only one existent, and if it needed repairs they’d have to be done specially, etc. I did actually settle for one of their standard type faces that looked something like comic strip lettering, but it was just so perfect that it wasn’t hand lettering. I did strips with this for a while though. I finally gave it up when the syndicate decided that they didn’t like it as well as hand-drawn lettering. But I guess I did save something like $1400 in lettering costs during the period when I used it.

Drake used IBM typewriter “lettering” on the dailies from January 10 to July 9, 1966, and the Sundays from February 13 to July 17, 1966. 

June 26, 1966, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions

The typeface was called IBM Directory. Below is a page from the 1964 National Office Machine Dealer’s Association Blue Book.

The same typeface was used by Neal Adams on several projects including “A View from Without...” in Phase 1, 1970. 

Courtesy of Heritage Auctions

Below are side-by-side typeface details from the Blue Book, “The Heart of Juliet Jones” and “A View from Without...”.

Further Viewing

Heritage Auctions, Stan Drake and Neal Adams

Related Posts

A. Machine and Royal Cartoon, Mario Acquaviva, Al Allard, Gerald Altman, Gene Barnett, Vivian Berg, Daniel Bhang, John Bulthuis, Ray Burley, Ray Burzon,

Jean Callahan, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Milton Cohen, Ellen Cole, Herb Cooper, Danny Crespi, Laurens Crossley,

Jon D’Agostino, James Daleo, Martin DeMuth, Marty Epp, Howard Ferguson, Herb Field, 

Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Louis L. Goldklang, Angelo Grasso, Anita Greene, Al Grenet, Ed Hamilton, Delores Heilman, Ray Holloway, IBM Directory, Alex Jay, Albert and Charlotte Jetter, 

Abe Kanegson, George Kapitan, Anna Kaufman, Gary Keller, Rick Keller, Nadine French King, Ralph Komisarow, Grace Kremer, Morrie Kuramoto, Al Kurzrok, 

Bob Lander, Bob Laughlin, Bob Leatherbarrow, Shelly Leferman, Len Leone, Joe Letterese, Veda Lufkin, 

Robert N. MacLeod/Leroy Lettering, Lee Maroshek, Larry Mayer, Ed McLean, Jack Meltzer, Mel Millar, Jim Novak, Bill Oakley, Ben Oda,

Walter Palais, Stephen Palmisano, Charles Paris, Otto Pirkola, Jerry Robinson, Joe and Sam Rosen, George Roussos,

Georgette Sauterel, Ira Schnapp, Irving Settel, Rome Siemon, Artie Simek, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Herman Stackel, Stan Starkman, Daisy Swayze, Zoltan and Terry Szenics, 

Richard Deane Taylor, Alberta Tews, Matthew Tweedy, Frank Vina, George Ward, Irv Watanabe, Irving Werstein, Leo Wurtzel, John Yakata, Bill Yoshida, Bernie Zuber

(Next post on Monday: Artists Merna Gamble and John Lindermayor)

Bruce Lee by Neal Adams

Today is Bruce Lee’s birthday. 

The Way of the Dragon sketch by the late Neal Adams.

Purchased for $35 at the San Diego Comic-Con in the mid-1970s

Further Viewing

The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu covers

Related Posts

Neal Adams in the 1940s and 1950s

Neal Adams Monsters

The New Superadventure Colorforms Set

The Dynamite 3-D Poster Book

The Metropolitan Opera’s Ring Cycle (2012)

Neal Adams’ Mercury Tracer Advertisements

(Next post on Monday: Jack Meltzer, Letterer, Artist, Art Director, Consultant and Graphic Designer)

Anatomy of a Logo: The Masterworks Series of Great Comic Book Artists

The project was for Phil Seuling of Sea Gate, Inc. He had an arrangement with Paul Levitz to produce a comic book series, named by Seuling, The Masterworks Series of Great Comic Book Artists. Seuling also wanted a Sea Gate emblem opposite the DC bullet. 

The Photo-Lettering font, Longacre Round Open Condensed N, second from the top, was used for the series title. 

Photo-Lettering’s One Line Manual of Styles (1971)

A dummy cover featuring Neal Adams’ Deadman. The character could not be used in the series. 

The artists’ names were lettered by Todd Klein. Advertisements appeared in many publications including The Comics Journal. 

The Comics Journal #79, December 1982

Number 1

Number 2

The Comics Journal #82, July 1983

Number 3

Photostat of unpublished cover

The series ended after three issues. 

(Next post on Monday: On This Day Phil Seuling Passed Away)

Lettering: Popeye, Olive Oyl, Brutus, Wimpy, Sweetpea and Jeep Mini-Banks

In 1979 Alper Industries, Inc. or its agency hired Continuity Associates for a packaging project. The company wanted to present King Features Syndicate characters (Popeye, Olive Oyl, Brutus, Wimpy, Sweetpea and Jeep) as mini-bank toys to coin-operated machine vendors. 

Four mini-bank samples were adhered with two-sided tape then shrink-wrapped onto cardboard (8.1875 x 9.3125 inches or 20.8 x 23.65 centimeters) and sent to potential customers. 

I did the lettering for “Popeye Sez:” and characters’ names. Someone else did the balloon lettering. Here are the pencil roughs that Neal Adams approved. I rubbed graphite on the back of the tracing paper and traced the letters onto kid finish Bristol board for inking. The original lettering was delivered to the client.

Rejected

The decal and mini-bank were inside a capsule. After peeling off the decal’s backing, the decal was positioned on the bank. A decal measured .9375 x 3 inches or 2.4 x 7.6 centimeters.

(Next post on Monday: Otto Pirkola, Lettering Artist and Art Director)

Creator: Neal Adams’ Mercury Tracer Advertisements

Discover, July 1996

Scientific American, August 1996

Entertainment Weekly, September 6, 1996

Related Posts

Neal Adams’ Ring of the Nibelung

Neal Adams Monsters

The New Superadventure Colorforms Set

The Dynamite 3-D Poster Book

Neal Adams in the 1940s and 1950s

(Next post on Monday: Veda Lufkin, Artist, Letterer and Teacher)

Comics: Tom Palmer, Artist and Inker

Thomas John “Tom” Palmer was born on July 13, 1941, in Queens, New York, New York, according to the New York, New York Birth Index at Ancestry.com. His parents were Leo Palmer and Frances Maute who obtained a marriage license on October 10, 1929 in Queens. In the 1940 U. S. Census, his parents and brother, William, resided in Queens at 71-64 72nd Place. His father was a contractor.

Palmer’s father signed his World War II draft card on April 26, 1942. His address was 71-17 72nd Street, Glendale, Long Island, New York. He worked at the Star Showcase Company in Brooklyn. 

The 1950 census counted Palmer, his parents and brother in Queens at the same address on the draft card. Palmer’s father did architectural drafting; his mother was an envelope machine operator; and his brother delivered newspapers. 

The Ridgewood Times (New York), September 10, 1953, reported the passing of Palmer’s father.

Leo Palmer, of 71-17 72nd St., Glendale, September 2. Husband of Frances; father of Frances Mohan, Emily Barragry, Joseph, Raymond, John, William and Thomas Palmer; also survived by 7 grandchildren. Funeral held Saturday from George Werst Funeral Home with mass at St. Pancras R. C. Church. Interment St, John’s Cemetery.

The Long Island Star-Journal (Long Island City, New York), June 30, 1955, said Palmer graduated from Public School 119 in Glendale. 

In June 1959 Palmer graduated from Newtown High School in Elmhurst, New York. He was on the Lantern school newspaper art staff.

The Newtowner, June 1959

The Comics Journal published an interview with Palmer on October 21, 2015. Palmer said he attended evening classes at the School of Visual Arts and the Frank J. Reilly School of Art. He also explained how he got into comics. An excerpt from his obituary said 

He got his first big break in 1968 when he landed an assignment for Marvel Comics' Doctor Strange series. After pencilling one issue, Tom was asked to shift his talents to inking. The new penciller for the series was Gene Colan, an artist known for fully-rendered pencil art that was notoriously difficult to ink. Tom wasn't intimidated and applied techniques he learned in art school and various ad agencies to bring a lush, illustrative quality to the finished art. 

Palmer’s credits are at the Grand Comics Database and Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999. Some of his work can be viewed at Heritage Auctions. 

The New York, New York Marriage License, at Ancestry.com, said Palmer and Ann Louise Tienken obtained a Queens marriage license in 1965.

In the mid-1970s, Palmer moved to Oakland, New Jersey.

The Glendale Register (New York), February 8, 1979, reported the passing of Palmer’s mother.

Frances Palmer

Mass of Christian Burial was offered at St. Pancras R.C. Church. Interment followed in St. John’s Cemetery, under, the direction of the George Werst Funeral Home, Inc., 71-41 Cooper Ave.

Mrs. Palmer died on Jan. 31st. She leaves two sons, William and Thomas; two daughters. Frances Mohan and Sister Emily Palmer OSM; one sister, Anna Hutter; one brother, Conrad Maute; fourteen grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Mrs. Palmer was a resident of Glendale.

Palmer passed away on August 18, 2022, in Oakland, New Jersey. An obituary is here. 

Further Reading and Viewing

Tom Palmer Illustration

Comics Book Artist #3, Winter 1999, The Art of Inking Neal Adams 

Comic Book Historians, Tom Palmer Interview, Text and Video

(Next post on Monday: Trylon and Perisphere Variations)

Creator: Neal Adams in the 1940s and 1950s

1959 Kaleidoscope yearbook

of the School of Industrial Art

Neal Edward Adams was born on June 15, 1941, in New York City. The New York, New York, Birth Index, at Ancestry.com, listed a “Neal E Adams” born on June 15, 1941 in Manhattan. Wikipedia said he was born on Governor’s Island. Adams’ sister, Lynne F. Adams was born on May 9, 1943 on Governor’s Island. Their parents were Frank W. Adams and Lillian Rose Barry who obtained a marriage license on August 30, 1940 in the Bronx. The New York Times, May 4, 2022, said “His mother, Lillian, ran a boardinghouse. His father, Frank, who was largely absent, was a writer for the military.” 

Adams grew up in a military family who lived at various east coast locations including the Bronx and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At some point the family moved to occupied Germany. Adams said his father was an army sergeant. The Jerusalem Post said Adams recalled being nine years old when he watched newsreel footage of World War II concentration camps. In the Times, August 6, 2008, Adams said he was ten when he saw the footage. Where the Adams family was stationed is not known at this time. Below are maps of occupied Germany from Forging the Shield: U.S. Army in the Cold War 1951–1962 (2015). 

In an interview conducted by Howard Chaykin, Adams recalled some of the comic strips, comic books, radio programs, television shows and movies of his childhood. 

On October 22, 1953, Adams, his mother and sister sailed aboard the USNS General Alexander M. Patch from Bremerhaven, Germany. They arrived at the port of New York on October 31.

Brooklynite Adams attended the School of Industrial Art (SIA) where he studied cartooning. The instructor was Charles Allen. Allen was a gag cartoonist who contributed to Colin Allen’s What a Family. Adams talked about his time at SIA in Cartoonist Profiles #12, December 1971. 

Adams graduated in 1959 and looked for work at DC and Archie Comics.

SIDEBAR: Neal Adams’ Mother and Sister

Lillian Adams passed away on February 15, 1997 in Troy, New York. 

Lynne Adams Smith passed away on April 4, 2011. Her obituary appeared in the Troy Record, April 6.

Lynne F. Adams, 67, of the Kennedy Towers, died on April 4, 2011. Born on Governor's Island, NY, a daughter of the late Frank W. and Lillian Rose Barry Adams, she was wife of the late Harold Smith. Lynne grew up in Germany and resided in Queens, NY for many years. She moved to this area in 1990 to care for her ailing mother. She was a driver for the Star and Strand Company in Troy and she enjoyed playing bingo, sewing and being with family and friends. She was the mother of Ted, Al, Mark and Scott Smith, Lee and Teresa Adams; sister of Neal Adams and grandmother of ten grandchildren. Funeral service at the Parker Bros. Memorial, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet on Friday at 12 noon with visiting from 11 am until the time of the service. Burial will follow in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Troy. 

Related Posts

Neal Adams’ Ring of the Nibelung

Neal Adams Monsters

The New Superadventure Colorforms Set

The Dynamite 3-D Poster Book

Neal Adams’ Mercury Tracer Advertisements

(Next post on Monday: Ira Schnapp’s Thirty-Plus Years in Motion Picture-Related Businesses)

Comics: Gerda Gattel, Letterer, Proofreader, Production Manager, Editorial Assistant and Archivist

Gerda Gattel was born Sara Gerda Hammerschlag, a German national, on October 28, 1908, in Lichtenstein, according to a family tree at Ancestry.com. During World War II she was in England. Her full name and birth information was recorded on the card, Female Enemy Alien—Exemption from Internment—Refugee, which had Gerda’s address as “18, Raglan Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham”. She had been a “Radio Kindergarten Teacher and Private Secretary” and was currently unemployed as domestic help. On October 13, 1939 Gerda was exempted from internment because of ”Nazi oppression”.

In September 1945, Gerda married Gerhard Julius Gattel at Henley, Suffolk, England.

Gerhard was a German emigrant who arrived in New York City on September 22, 1938. According to the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, he resided with his uncle, Martin Gattel, in Brooklyn at 803 Beverly Road. Gerhard was a mechanic and had filed a naturalization application.

On October 16, 1940 Gerhard signed his World War II draft card which said he was born on January 18, 1912 in Chemnitz, Germany. He lived at 245 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. Gerhard enlisted in the army October 19, 1942, and became a naturalized citizen on June 17, 1943 in Louisville, Kentucky. At some point he was stationed in England where he met and married Gerda.

In April 1946 Gerda was set to join Gerhard in the United States. The British manifest said she was a British citizen and her U.K. address was ”Great Oaks, Goring Heath, Pangbourne, Nr. Reading, Berks.” She was the “Dependent of: T/5 Gerhard Gattel, ASN 32534331, US Army. 117 Midwood St., Brooklyn 25, New York.” Aboard the M.S. John Ericsson, Gerda arrived in New York City on April 29. 

Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999 said Gerda was a letterer in the production department of Timely Comics (Marvel Comics) from 1947 to 1952. Information about her art training has not been found.

The 1948 Manhattan city directory listed the Gattel’s address as 86 Fort Washington Avenue and it was the same in 1960.

On February 7, 1949, Gerda became a naturalized citizen according to a document at Ancestry.com.

On June 26, 1952, Gerhard and Gerda were aboard the S.S. Liberte bound for Le Havre, France. The passenger list said they planned to be away for ten weeks. They returned aboard the Ile De France to New York on September 3, 1952. The passenger list recorded Gerhard’s occupation as clerk and Gerda’s as proofreader.

In Alter Ego #35, April 2004, Jim Amash interviewed Al Jaffee.

Jaffee: What about Gerda Gattel?

Jim Amash: I don’t know much about her, except she was in production, and after Timely let everyone go in 1957, she went over to DC Comics and had a long career there.

Jaffee: That’s right. I think she took over as head of the lettering department after Gary Keller left. I think she had some editorial duties, not to edit scripts, but as a traffic manager. in the 1950s, I brought in my “Patsy Walker” work to her when either Stan or his assistant Bonnie Hano wasn’t available. I think she retired as a traffic manager when she left DC.

I was very friendly with Gerda. She had survived the Holocaust. She was one of the children who was lucky enough to be accepted by Great Britain during the Kinder Transport of Jewish children over to London, right before they stopped it. She wound up in London and was a little bit older than us, so she regaled us with stories about being in London during the Blitz. Then she came over here. I don’t know of any other way to say this, but she was a hunchback, but still a very attractive woman. She was a very good letterer.

In Alter Ego #104, August 2011, Jim Amash interviewed Al Sulman.

Jim Amash: There was another lady there named Gerta [sic] Gattel.

Al Sulman: Gerta [sic] was on staff. She kept records of who was drawing what, and when it had to be finished... when it was time for publication. We knew when an issue had to be printed, and she kept track of who was drawing what, and made sure that they finished on time. She was an immigrant from Germany and spoke with a German accent. She was not a young woman, but she was a nice person.

Who's Who said Gerda was also a proofreader and production manager at Timely before moving to National Periodical Publications (DC Comics) in 1958. At National she was Irwin Donenfeld’s assistant from 1958 to 1968 and became production coordinator in 1968. Gerda was responsible for archiving the company’s publications.

In Alter Ego #56, February 2007, P. C. Hamerlinck wrote about Michael Uslan and said

In addition to Woodchucking, Uslan made time to become friendly with many of the DC staff. One in particular was Gerda Gattel. “She was one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever met in my life,” Uslan recalled. “I would talk to her about the old days at DC. At the time she was in charge of DC’s library. She knew how interested I was in comic book history. Most days around lunchtime Gerda would let me go into the library, and she would pull down volumes of books for me. Ultimately, over my summers with DC, I wound up reading every comic book they had ever published. I also had a chance to talk to Ira Schnapp, who had designed virtually every DC logo. He had refined Joe Shuster’s logo for ‘Superman.’ Amazing people … it was a phenomenal time to be there.”

Gattel appeared in The Amazing World of Superman Metropolis Edition #1 (1973). 

The June 1973 Academy of Comic Books Arts Newsletter published a photograph of Neal Adams and Gerda who presented the 1972 Best Letterer Award to John Costanza. Below are details of pages two, four and five.

The June 1973 newsletter was reprinted in its entirety in Alter Ego #143, November 2016.

Gerda retired in 1973. The Social Security Death Index said she passed away May 14, 1993 and was laid to rest at Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium. Gerda’s death notice was printed Aufbau, June 6, 1993. Gerhard passed away January 18, 2002.

Further Reading
Paul Levitz: A Moment In The DC Library


Comics Letterer Posts

A. Machine and Royal Cartoon, Mario Acquaviva, Al Allard, Gerald Altman, Gene Barnett, Betty Bentley, Vivian Berg, Daniel Bhang, John Bulthuis, Ray Burley, Ray Burzon,

Jean Callahan, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Milton Cohen, Ellen Cole, Herb Cooper, Danny Crespi, Laurens Crossley,

Jon D’Agostino, James Daleo, Martin DeMuth, Shel Dorf, Marty Epp, Howard Ferguson, Herb Field, 

Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Louis L. Goldklang, Angelo Grasso, Anita Greene, Al Grenet, Ed Hamilton, Delores Heilman, Ray Holloway, IBM Directory, Alex Jay, Albert and Charlotte Jetter, 

Abe Kanegson, George Kapitan, Anna Kaufman, Gary Keller, Rick Keller, Nadine French King, Ralph Komisarow, Grace Kremer, Morrie Kuramoto, Al Kurzrok, 

Bob Lander, Bob Laughlin, Bob Leatherbarrow, Shelly Leferman, Len Leone, Joe Letterese, Veda Lufkin, 

Robert N. MacLeod/Leroy Lettering, Lee Maroshek, Larry Mayer, Ed McLean, Jack Meltzer, Mel Millar, Jim Novak, Bill Oakley, Ben Oda,

Walter Palais, Stephen Palmisano, Charles Paris, Otto Pirkola, Fred Proctor, Jerry Robinson, Joe and Sam Rosen, George Roussos,

Georgette Sauterel, Ira Schnapp, Irving Settel, Rome Siemon, Artie Simek, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Herman Stackel, Stan Starkman, Daisy Swayze, Zoltan and Terry Szenics, 

Richard Deane Taylor, Alberta Tews, Matthew Tweedy, Frank Vina, George Ward, Irv Watanabe, Irving Werstein, Leo Wurtzel, John Yakata, Bill Yoshida, Bernie Zuber

Women in Comics Posts

Jeanne Alippe, Ruth Atkinson, Olive Bailey, Valerie Barclay, Betty Bentley, Vivian Berg, Zena Brody, Jean Callahan, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Ellen Cole, Corinne Boyd Dillon, Anahid Dinkjian, Jill Elgin,

Barbara Clark Fogel, Laura E. Foster, Evelyn Gaines aka Lynn Lovelace, Merna Gamble, Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Jane Krom Grammer, Anita Greene,

Bonnie Hano, Delores Heilman, Ray Hermann, Joye Hummel, Marjorie Wilkes Huntley, Grace Jacquet, Charlotte Jetter, 

Anna Kaufman, Bessie Mae Kelley, Nadine French King, Alice Kirkpatrick, Grace Kremer, Ada Levy,  Pauline Loth, Veda Lufkin,

Marion McDermott, Emma C. McKean, Tarpé Mills, Claire S. Moe, Phyllis Muchow, Lily Reneé, Ruth Roche, 

Georgette Sauterel, Marie Severin, Marcia Snyder, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Serena Summerfield, Daisy Swayze, Terry Szenics, Claire Szep, 

Alberta Tews, Peggy Zangerle

(Updated August 4, 2022; next post on Monday: W.C. Fields Shorts)