Gaspar Saladino

Gaspar Saladino (September 1, 1927 – August 4, 2016) was an American letterer and logo designer who worked for more than sixty years in the comic book industry, mostly for DC Comics. Eventually Saladino went by one name, "Gaspar," which he wrote in his trademark calligraphy.

From 1966 to the 1990s, he lettered many of the logos, titles, captions and balloons on DC Comics covers. For a period in the 1970s, he was also "page-one letterer" for many Marvel Comics books.

He did much of the lettering for the humor strips of Henry Boltinoff in Action Comics. In the late 1950s and 1960s, Saladino was a mainstay on DC editor Julius Schwartz's books, like Strange Adventures, Mystery in Space, Justice League of America, The Flash, Showcase, and many more.

When Carmine Infantino came on as DC's art director and then editorial director in 1966/1967, he gradually shifted all of DC's premiere lettering tasks: logos, cover lettering and house ads, from veteran letterer Ira Schnapp to Saladino. This changed the whole line's look, adding Saladino's bold, dynamic style., and lettering titles including Iron Man, The Avengers and Tales to Astonish. He eventually credited himself as simply either Gaspar or Gaspar S. He also re-designed established character logos to make them more contemporary and stylish, such as with Green Lantern.

For Marvel, Saladino's logos, which he either created or updated, include The Avengers, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, Captain America and the Falcon, and Marvel Triple Action.

In the 1980s he designed logos for Neal Adams' Continuity Comics and for some titles published by Eclipse Comics.

During the early 1970s Saladino lettered the interiors for the then-new title Swamp Thing. It was in the pages of this series that he created the concept of character-designated fonts, with Swamp Thing's distinctive outlined, "drippy" letters.

Saladino always lettered by hand. Likewise, his word balloons were drawn freehand, never with a template.

Selected bibliography Justice League of America (DC, 1962–1967) G.I. Combat (DC, 1979–1981) L.E.G.I.O.N. (DC, 1989–1994) Hellblazer (DC/Vertigo, 1990–1994) The Flash, vol. 2 (DC, 1993–2002) R.E.B.E.L.S. (DC, 1994–1996) Seekers Into the Mystery (DC/Vertigo, 1996–1997)

Awards 1971 Shazam Award: Best Letterer 1973 Shazam Award: Best Letterer