"'Christabel' was written by Mel Shavelson, who ten years later created (and sometimes wrote and directed) the James Thurber-inspired series My World and Welcome to It, with a fourth episode called "Christabel" (10-6-69) that was very similar to the Alcoa-Goodyear version, right down to the cartoon dog in the credits. Directed by James Sheldon and also starring Georgeann Johnson, Susan Gordon, Charles Herbert, and Dabbs Greer. Music by Joseph Liebling. Alcoa Theatre was a half-hour anthology series that ran from September 30, 1957 through May 23, 1960. You can find more episodes of this and other vintage TV anthologies in the BetaGems playlist 'Anthology Television 1950s-1960s.'"
PANDEMIC PRACTICE
NOTES FOR ASPIRING COMICS
ARTISTS REGARDING LETTERING:
Lately, so many people have messaged me asking about lettering, I thought perhaps I would make a few public comments in the hope that they might help aspiring comic artists with their lettering.
It's my opinion that cartoonists and the people who look at their work would all be better off if we all hand-lettered our work.
Fonts are really cold and have no soul. At best, comics is an artform done by a human hand. There is almost no lettering in comics today that is as good as the hand lettering on comics in the good old days by artists like Ben Oda, Sam Rosen, Joe Rosen, Gaspar Saladino.
Look around. All the great cartoonists working today letter their own work. Crumb, Dan Clowes, The Hernandez Brothers, Chris Ware, Noah Van Sciver and many others.
There is a good reason for this. They want their lettering to be a perfect match with their artwork stylistically. And for other reasons. It's more enjoyable to look at.
In my experience, and to be as brief and possible, the most important thing is that the lettering has to be EASY TO READ. One of the most important ways to accomplish this is to avoid having any letters touching and to leave ample white space around the lettering in the balloons.
I put together this sample with you in mind. Look at each letter and copy it a few times. Don't worry about your work looking like mine. After a while your own style will develop.
Each letter is composed of a variety of strokes. The vertical mark, the horizontal mark, the diagonal mark and several variations of circles. There are not that many strokes. Practice making them. The entire alphabet can be written down in only 62 simple strokes.
Finally, please keep in mind that the "I" with the serifs on it is a personal pronoun and should not be used in a words like "ship, thin, crisp or little".
It should be used in a case such as , "I went out for a walk."
Good Luck.
"My father, Henry Martin, passed away yesterday, June 30th, two weeks shy of his 95th birthday. I’d like to share what my sister Jane wrote, which I think he would have thoroughly enjoyed:
"Longtime New Yorker cartoonist Henry Read Martin (who signed his cartoons H. Martin) died on June 30, 2020, just two weeks shy of his 95th birthday. For a man who had dealt with serious heart issues since he was fifteen, his sweet, loving, funny ticker sure gave him his money’s worth.
"Also known as Hank, Martin was born in Louisville, KY, where he attended public schools until entering Texas Country Day School in Dallas, TX, now known as St. Mark’s School of Texas. He graduated from Princeton University in 1948, after which he attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Hank then headed back East and began his 45-year career with The New Yorker magazine. He sold his first drawing — known as a 'spot' (the small drawing inside a story) — to The New Yorker in April 1950, though it was another 14 years before he sold his first cartoon there. He was also a longtime contributor to Punch magazine and The Spectator in England and for fifteen years had a daily syndicated newspaper cartoon called 'Good News/Bad News.' Collections of his cartoons included Good News/Bad News and Yak! Yak! Yak! Blah! Blah! Blah!, both published by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Hank received the National Cartoonist’s Society’s Gag Cartoon Award in 1978 and also illustrated many books published by Peter Pauper Press.
"In 1953 Hank married Edith (Edie) Matthews and they settled in Princeton, NJ, where they raised their two daughters and Edie taught pre-school. It was Edie who noticed a sign for a one-room office for rent across the street from the Princeton University Press that became Hank’s studio for close to forty years. For years he commuted to it on his bicycle and friends often stopped by his window to say hello. Despite working with pen and ink, Hank always wore a coat and tie to work 'because you never know when someone is going to stop by and ask you to lunch.' In fact, every Thursday for over ten years, Hank and other Princeton cartoonists such as Arnold Roth, Clarence Brown and Mike Ramus met regularly for lunch at the (now defunct) Annex Restaurant on Nassau Street.
"On Wednesdays Hank would take the bus into New York 'to peddle his wares' at The New Yorker, Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post. Wednesday was 'Look Day' at The New Yorker where the cartoon editor chose potential cartoons from each artist. Hank capped those days with lunch with the New Yorker cartoonists, a group often consisting of some combination of George Booth, Roz Chast, Sid Harris, Lee Lorenz, Nurit Karlin, Mort Gerberg, Sam Gross, Frank Modell, Jack Ziegler, Warren Miller and Peter Porges (who usually sold his drawings elsewhere but regularly joined the lunch). It was a long-held tradition: in the 1940’s the cartoonists’ lunch included such luminaries as Charles Addams, Charles Saxon, Barney Tobey, Whitney Darrow and William Steig.
"In Princeton Hank served on the boards of several local Princeton organizations including SAVE, McCarter Theater and Friends of the Princeton Public Library. The Special Collections at Princeton University Library holds over 500 of his original cartoons published in the New Yorker and other publications along with 680 pen drawings for the famous New Yorker ‘spots.’ Also included in the collection is a complete set of his illustrated books and other archival materials. Hank also contributed cartoons and drawings to the Princeton Alumni Weekly as well as other Princeton University-themed mailings throughout his career and into retirement. In addition, the Morgan Library in New York City holds eight of his cartoons in its permanent collection.
"Hank and Edie remained in Princeton until moving to Pennswood Village in Newtown, PA in 1998. Edie predeceased him in 2010. He is survived by his sister Adele Vinsel of Louisville, KY, two daughters, 'The Baby-Sitters Club' author Ann M. Martin and Jane Read Martin, as well as son-in-law Douglas McGrath, grandson Henry, and eight nieces and nephews."
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