The Great Ben Oda

Quite a few excellent comics have been coming out lately, and I've been so busy reading them that I forgot to make any blog entries for the entire month of September. Whoops! I'm back now, though, and I'll be posting AT LEAST one article every week. If you check back here every six or seven days there should be something new and great for you to read.

One of the great comics in September was the new Justice League of America #1. The writing was great and the artwork was also great, but what especially caught my attention about the issue was the short flashback to a 1970s issue of JLA. It was a pleasure to see some Dick Dillin artwork in print, but the high point of that flashback was seeing lettering by Ben Oda appear in a comic book again.

Those of you who have followed my auctions on ebay have already heard me sing the praises of Mr. Oda, my favorite comic book letterer of all time. Mr. Oda worked with Simon & Kirby in the 1940s and 1950s, did title lettering for Mad and other EC Comics in the 1950s, and I got to know his steady hand from his DC work through the 1970s and into the 1980s. For a reminder of Mr. Oda's great lettering style, click here to see an image of a Legion of Super-Heroes splash page I used to own.

And now I have a gift to share with you. In the hayfamzone we are nothing if not generous! There is a FREE computer font named OdaBalloon whose design is based on the hand lettering style of Mr. Ben Oda! I use it on a daily basis, and I hope you will also. Click here for more information, and be sure to tell Mr. William Oda at that site that you were referred to him by the hayfamzone!

I can anticipate that your next question will be, "All well and good, your favorite comic book letterer of all time is Mr. Ben Oda, but which letterer in the comics of today is doing work that you favor?" In the hayfamzone we will always answer your questions, and that even includes anticipated questions! Though he letters only sporadically, Mr. John Workman is my favorite currently working letterer. His style blends in so organically on any Walt Simonson page he touches, and I have appreciated his work since way back 29 years ago when he lettered the Englehart & Rogers run in Detective Comics.

This week, the hayfamzone's six-week hiatus from ebay screeches to a halt. Click here to see what great comics and other interesting items are currently up for auction, and I'll even whet your appetite by telling you that one of this week's auctions is for a copy of the 1960 version of Justice League of America #1.

And I'll see you right back here next week!