Attention Paid: The Lettering skills of Artie Simek and Sam Rosen

An essential component of Marvel Comics’ distinctive appearance in the 1960s was the interior and cover lettering of Artie Simek and Sam Rosen - two of the finest craftsman employed by Stan Lee. Both men had worked in the business for decades: In the 1940s Rosen lettered for Will Eisner on his seminal Spirit comic strip and produced much work for Quality comics (Blackhawk); Simek worked on staff at Timely comics, the precursor to Marvel, where he crafted many logos. He also lettered for DC in the 1950s, where his work can be seen in Tales of the Unexpected and early issues of Challengers of the Unknown. Both men brought bombast and personality to Marvel's 1960s output. Guided by Editor/Art Director Stan Lee, who helped design the different bursts, balloons, captions and sound effects that Simek and Rosen brought to life, the Marvel letterers, through Lee’s promotional extravagances, began to gain unprecedented recognition, even if they were often the punch line to countless jokes in the credits.

Simek's name can be seen on a billboard, possibly added by artist John Severin, "A Dude There Was!" Stan Lee story. Two-Gun Kid # 50, Oct 1959.  

Sam Rosen's bold title lettering, splash from Amazing Spider-Man # 17, Oct 1964, Steve Ditko art.

Artie Simek's clean, attractive lettering (note the signature scallop style on "The Search for the...") Fantastic Four # 27, June 1964. Jack Kirby pencils; Chic Stone inks and Stan Goldberg coloring. All professionals at the top of their game. 

Besides contributing to a skillful product at Marvel for over a decade, Simek and Rosen designed eye-catching and attractive logos that drew the attention of those browsing the neighborhood newsstands.  The Fantastic Four, said to be designed by Sol Brodsky, with assistance from Artie Simek, had a fanciful, circus like style that was unlike more serious logos, the Amazing Spider-Man, possibly with the help of Steve Ditko, created a motif that held the lettering in an intricate web; Thor and Sgt. Fury had scalloped edges that were the motif of Artie Simek. The ragged, rough-edged look made the line stand out. Stan Lee, as art director, oversaw the finished product, as did publisher Martin Goodman. 

Sam Rosen lettered the cover of Tales of Suspense # 51, March 1965, Jack Kirby pencils; George Roussos inks. Stan Lee sometimes wrote directly on the penciled art, setting the balloon placement and style he wanted (i.e. the arrow, burst) that Rosen skillfully rendered.   

Artie Simek lettering, splash to Journey into Mystery # 125, Feb 1965, Jack Kirby pencils; Vince Colletta inks.

While other letterers were employed by Marvel in the 1960s, some quite good, especially the work of John Duffy, Ray Holloway (who is often credited as using the pen name "Sherigail." It is actually production assistant Morrie Kuramoto, who used an amalgam of his wife and daughters names), Jon D'Agosyino and Terry Szenics (whose husband Zoltan also worked in the industry as a letterer and occasional artist).Simek and Rosen were the workhorses, though. Their presence was anticipated almost as much as Lee, Kirby, Ditko, Colan or Romita. Simek worked for Marvel until he died in 1975; Rosen’s last work appeared in 1972; he reportedly had a nervous breakdown and passed away in 1992. His talented brother, Joe, another prolific letterer for various companies, including Harvey, went on to work for Marvel into the 1990s.

John Duffy's earliest lettering credits date back to the late 1940s. He worked for a great many companies in the 1950s, including Hillman, St. John, Chalrton, Dell, Archie and DC, to name just a few. Duffy likely started freelancing for Marvel in the late 1950s. He worked on a few fantasy stories and on early issues of The Fantastic Four and other hero titles. His attractive, low-keyed lettering gave a distinctive ambiance to Ditko's Spider-Man. The above example is from issue # 3, July 1963. Since this blog is entitled "Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutia," I'd be neglectful if I didn't note that Duffy was paired with Ditko again in the mid-1970s, when he inked some of his Atlas/Seaboard stories (The Destructor; Tiger Man). 

Ray Holloway's splash to Journey into Mystery # 89, Feb 1963; Jack Kirby pencils; Dick Ayers inks, featuring one of my favorite titles: "The Thunder God and the Thug!". Holloway worked on staff at Timely/Atlas, I'm unsure of exactly when he began lettering, although examples likely occur in the late 1950s "monster era". He crafted quite a few of the early superhero stories in the 1960s and also worked for DC on many titles. His last known work appeared at Marvel in the mid-1970s in Spidey Super Stories.  

Terry Szenics was an both an inker and letterer; her art appeared primarily in MLJ/Archie comics titles from the 1940s into the 1960s. She worked for Marvel in the 1960s as well, particularly early fantasy and superhero features. Her attractive, subdued lettering was a perfect fit for Ditko's mood-drenched "Doctor Strange". Splash page from  Strange Tales # 111, August 1963. 

Although rarely discussed in conjunction with the period of 1960s Marvel, Simek and Rosen’s talents were sorely missed by the mid-1970s, when quite a few less talented letterers were employed. Those less skilled at calligraphy made the finished package considerably weaker in appearance.Thankfully, a number of exceptional letterers continued to grace the Marvel line, notably Tom Orzechowski and John Costanza, but the professionalism of Simek and Rosen was a cut above, ranking highly with the best in the field such as Ben Oda, Joe Letterese, Howard Ferguson, Gaspar Saladino and Ira Schnapp, to name a few. Along with the coloring skills of Stan Goldberg (who rates his own blogpost, coming soon) Simek and Rosen gave the Marvel comics of the 1960s a distinctive and attractive look.     

For an informative study on Marvel's logo's (as well as other companies) go to lettering pro Todd Klein's blog:

http://kleinletters.com/Blog/?page_id=2709