JoEllen Briggs is very unhappy with her life. For years it was she and her mother against the world, then George turned up, and now he and Jo’s mother were getting married. Everyone loved George…except Jo. While they honeymoon, she’s been sent to stay with a very elderly aunt in Winterbloom, the family home in New Hampshire, four stories high and built of stone by an ancestor. Jo is prepared to run away as soon as she gets a chance, but her Aunt “Granty” is quite nice, and the house is fascinating. Still, Jo makes a plan to get out through the moon window in the attic, where a tall tree has a branch she can reach.
The plan seems to go well at first, but as Jo hikes away from the house, she begins to notice odd things. The road is no longer paved, A doctor comes by from a late night delivery riding a horse. And when she reaches town, the interstate is gone. Overheard conversations suggest she’s about 100 years in the past. Confused, Jo retreats back to the tree and in through the window. This begins her adventures, for every time she goes through the moon window, she’s in a different time, but never the same one or her own. And some trips lead to all kinds of trouble. What’s the secret of Winterbloom? Why is there a hidden room? Who could be hiding there?
The Foot Soldiers. Client: Jim Krueger. Medium: digital. Date: 1995. I was contacted by and did this directly for Jim. The top line is one of my headline fonts, the main logo started with a commercial font. It appeared on four issues from Dark Horse, four issues from Image, and three issues from AiT/Planet Lar.
Forever People. Client: DC Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1987. This begins with the original title logo from the 1971 series by Gaspar Saladino, with a few changes, and tilts it forward in extreme perspective, with open telescoping running vertically and not in perspective off the top. Most of the telescoping is trimmed off on the series covers. Appeared on six issues.
Forgotten Realms. Client: DC Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1989. Adapted from the TSR game logo, which was on one line, among other things and this is simplified for line art. Appeared on 25 issues.
Formerly Known as the Justice League. Client: DC Comics. Medium: digital. Date: 2003. The main logo is a modified version of one designed by Alex Jay for JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL. That one had the letters broken into sections like a stencil. This one removed those breaks. The top line is mine using a commercial font. I probably should have shared the logo fee with Alex. Appeared on six issues.
Foxfire. Client: Malibu Comics. Medium: digital. Date: 1995. I think this began with a commercial font, not sure. I might have drawn it in Adobe Illustrator. Appeared on four issues.
Fragile Things. Client: HarperCollins. Medium: digital. Date: 2021. One of the book covers I designed for Gaiman paperbacks with Robert McGinnis covers. This one goes for a 1960s movie poster style, and began as a marker sketch. More about these covers is HERE.
Freex. Client: Malibu Comics. Medium: digital. Date: 1995. I can’t find this in use anywhere, possibly it was planned for a relaunch of the title that didn’t happen.
From Hell. Client: Tundra. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1993. This series written by Alan Moore with art by Eddie Campbell has a confusing publishing history. I believe Tundra published the first two issues in collaboration with Alan Moore’s short-lived publishing company Mad Love. Those issues had a logo by Campbell similar to this, but thinner. For a second printing, Eddie did a thicker logo, but Tundra asked for a more robust version from me. I added an open drop shadow to help it read against painted art, and it was okayed by Eddie. However, I think the remaining issues were only published by Mad Love, as Tundra went out of business. Later collections were done by several publishers, most used a different logo. Appeared on eleven issues, possibly other places.
Frost and Fire. Client: DC Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1985. One of the titles for DC’s Science Fiction Graphic Novel series, the letters were typeset by the art director and then traced by me on vellum to create outline versions, something that would become easy to do in Adobe Illustrator about eight years later.
Funny Stuff (Stocking Stuffer). Client:DC Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1984. From what I recall, DC was planning to relaunch their 1940s-1950s funny animal title with new art on existing characters, but all that came out was a single large issue titled FUNNY STUFF STOCKING STUFFER. This logo was revised into one line with the rest on a second line. I think I did that, but don’t have a copy of it. The other lettering on the cover was by Gaspar Saladino.
The Fury of Firestorm, The Nuclear Man. Client: DC Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1983. The title began in 1982 with a dynamic Gaspar Saladino logo, but one with a wavy shape that I think was sometimes hard to work with on covers, so they asked me to design this straight horizontal version. I stuck closely to Gaspar’s letter shapes. Appeared on 36 issues.
(The Origin of) Galactus. Client: Marvel. Medium: digital. Date: 1995. This began with a commercial font, but I reshaped most of the letters in some way. Then I used a KPT Vector Effect for the metallic telescoping. The top line was added by someone else. Appeared on one issue.
Galaxia Magazine. Client: Astral Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1981. I met publisher Tom Sciacca at DC, and he asked me to design this logo. The stars and planets were added by someone else, probably cover artist Rich Buckler. This was the only issue.
Gambit. Client: Marvel. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1992. One of those pointy and dangerous logos that Marvel liked. The first series of four issues had the logo stretched very tall vertically in a way I dislike, this is an issue from the second four issue series. It also appeared on 25 issues of a third series, and possibly other places. More HERE.
Gammarauders. Client: DC Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1989. As far as I can see, this is the TSR game logo. I don’t recall doing anything like this, though I was paid for something. Maybe I did a different logo that wasn’t used. Possibly I traced the game logo on vellum to give it a clean black and white image for the comic, but I can’t see myself doing all that tiny stippling. This was in the DC files with my name on it. A mystery. Appeared on ten issues.
Generation Hex. Client: Amalgam Comics (Marvel and DC). Medium: digital. Date: 1996. A western wanted poster font for GENERATION with HEX from the Gaspar Saladino Jonah Hex logo. The oval behind it kind of imitates the one behind the X in Marvel’s Generation X. Some other versions are HERE.
Generation X. Client: Marvel. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1993. This new X-Men spinoff was, I thought, a clever use of a then-popular term for a generation of Americans. I submitted many sketches, this is the one they chose. More on that HERE. The tall letters are a bit hard to read, but fans bought it in droves anyway. Appeared on four issues, then was replaced with a Comicraft logo that was at least a little easier to read.
Generation X. Client: Marvel. Medium: digital. Date: 2000. At this time Warren Ellis was revamping some of the X-books at Marvel, and I worked with him and the editors to create new logos. This one was chosen, but on the covers, the letters were stretched vertically and the big X was not used. I never cared much for any of these, but tried to give them what they wanted. Appeared on thirteen issues.
Posts in this series are listed on the Logo Links page of my blog.
Fantastic Four. Client: Marvel. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1994. Commissioned by Toy Biz, for licensed products. I’ve never seen it in the wild, but you can find images online. I thought this was a good take. Marvel liked it too, they used a modified version on their 2018 series relaunch, and it appeared on most of the 48 issues. More HERE.
The third book about the Hall family of Concord Massachusetts, this time Eleanor and Eddy have been sent a magical stereoscope by their uncle in India, Prince Krishna, while their new stepsister Georgie has received a kaleidoscope. Of course the magic isn’t obvious right away, but when the set of dual-picture cards for the Stereoscope are examined closely, Eleanor and Eddy, and later Georgie and even their Uncle Freddy are drawn into the most amazing adventures. But what they really want is for their friend and Uncle Freddy’s student, John Green, to recover from his injuries. He fell off the roof of their house while putting up decorations, and both Eddy and Eleanor feel responsible, and would try anything to wake him up. Meanwhile the hospital bills are making life for Uncle Freddy and Aunt Alex very difficult, and they might lose their house.
This time Langton gets even more adventurous with her magical lessons and adventures, exploring history, religion, science, and and more, and of course there’s danger in every one. My favorite character this time was the family’s new cat, Herm, who jumps into the first slide with them, and then they can’t get him out, he travels to all their adventures. Recommended.
Electric Warrior. Client: DC Comics. Medium: pen and ink. Date: 1985. From a layout by series artist Jim Baikie. I no longer have that, so I can’t be sure how closely I followed what he did, but I think the WARRIOR is likely to be mostly his. Appeared on eighteen issues.
