Note that this page was written well before I had yet worked up the idea of the so-called “Unwritten Rules,” an informal social compact guiding interactions between “capes” and their foes—whether superpowered or otherwise. Even so, I still can’t quite decide if Thugboy is deliberately overstating the potential hazard to Emp, or if he’s actually being wholly serious. Accidentally killing a superhero in the heat of battle would be one thing, but straight-up executing a helpless superheroine would be quite another. Then again, as we will one day see, Thugboy was once immersed in a violent context in which no rules whatsoever seemed to govern interactions between the caped and the uncaped. (Uh, SPOILER ALERT, I guess?)

Note panel 2’s use of lettering or, more specifically, use of varying word-balloon outlines to convey shifting emotional tone. Ninjette’s first word balloon is “normal” in appearance, but subsequent balloons get wavier and, eventually, bold-outlined as she grows more and more upset. Well done, 2006-Era Lettering Me!

From time to time I’ve thought of using the approach of using outline-free, “all-white” word balloons, an approach one occasionally sees used in full-color comics, but I’d hate to lose all the value one can achieve from a varied and colorful arsenal of balloon outlines. Whether they’re wavy, bold, “electrical,” jagged, squared-off, icicle-dripping or broken-line “whisper balloons”—or a bajillion other variations—word-balloon outlines can be an incredibly valuable tool for the imaginative cartoonist. Of course, we rarely see very much flexibility and creativity in modern comics lettering, as this valuable art has become an underpaid and disregarded afterthought in the short-sighted, misguided and—all too often—pig-ignorant North American comics field. 

I should add that this is a criticism that, for once, applies to both print comics and webcomics, as I’ve seen arguably even more examples of creators in the latter medium badly botching their works’ lettering. Low-selling corporate print comics have little to no budget to pay a halfway decent letterer, even if one could be found—but individual webcomic creators have no such excuse for how badly they often bungle their (creator-owned) comics’ lettering. Well, step your g-d lettering game up, fellow creators! Don’t miss out on an easy opportunity to tune up your storytelling and improve the clarity and readability of your comics!

Whoops, that’s all the time I have today for yet another rant about lettering. Rest assured, I’ll return to this topic sooner or later. 

-Adam Warren