First, a couple of announcements. Coming this September, Amazing Venom—continuing the story of symbiote-bonded Boomerang from Web of Venom #1! Good ol’ Freddy Throwsthings is sure having a moment. Next, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive! It’s my first book with a full sentence title—and unless I’m mistaken, my first original I.P. title of the year! It’s illustrated by Heather Vaughan, and it’s a welcomed challenge to push myself creatively. Bring it on!

You know those Spiders & Symbiotes editorial bulletins in the Spider-Man/Venom comics? Well, I’m “This Month’s Host”! Pick up any of this month’s Spider-Man or Venom books to see my bald head, learn who my real-life super hero is, and the Spider-Man villain I identify with the most (hint: it’s another guy with a bald head).

On the personal end, June was a pretty good month of domesticity and light vacation prep. We’re heading back to the Von Trapp Family Lodge for our annual pilgrimage, and we spent most of the month building and tending to five different veggie gardens. Here’s one of them:

I’ve also been listening to lots of music—some of it new. Here are some tracks I enjoyed throughout the month of June:

• “Somewhere” by the Oscar Peterson Trio

• “Hilo Sky” by Underworld

• “Father and Son” by Boards of Canada

• “Serpentskirt” by Cocteau Twins

• “No Salt on Her Tail” by The Mamas and the Papas.

• “Waiting Room” by Phoebe Bridgers

• “Modern Lust” by Oneohtrix Point Never

• “Chelsea Bridge” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

• “Find the River” by R.E.M.

Sound Effect of the Month:

Q&A:

Q: Thank you for the long and detailed reply about gradients!

I have another question, if you don't mind: when you take-over as a letterer on an existing book, what thoughts go into whether you copy the existing style vs replacing it with something that you feel would suit the title better?

A: For the record, this is so good a question that my answer has fully changed since it was asked one month ago.

So how I approach this depends on two things. First, is this a Marvel book or a book for another publisher? If it’s for Marvel, I ask the editors what they want. Being a member of Chris Eliopoulos’ Virtual Calligraphy (VC) lettering studio, my job there is to deliver a lettering style that’s consistent with what Marvel’s doing across its publishing line. If, for example, I’m offered an Avengers spinoff, and the editors want a style that matches what Cory Petit does on the main Avengers book, I’m going to do that.

However, if this is a job in which I work independently, and I’m asked to copy an existing style…unless I’m being asked by friends who are in a bind, I’ll probably pass on it.

This doesn’t mean I’ll refuse to collaborate. For example, if a character has an established lettering style that every letterer has to use (like Poison Ivy does right now), I’m not going to fight that. I’ll also ask the editors if they have any lettering style requests like I always do, and help develop whatever ideas they have. But if I was offered an existing title and told to copy the previous letterer’s style, I would resist for a few reasons:

• Even if I was taking over because the letterer just couldn’t do it anymore (and not because they’d been fired or anything), it would be insulting to both of us for me to do an imitation of them.^*

• So many letterers now have unique stylistic voices, and even if I was sent a style guide, it would be tremendously difficult to get inside their heads and do what they do.

• Consciously or not, I will be trying to follow precedent, and my work will suffer for it.

To illustrate that last point, let’s revisit Tom King’s time on Batman.

When I was first offered Batman back in 2016, the deal was I would be trading arcs with living lettering legend John Workman. John would letter one arc, I would do the next, and so on. I was a firm believer at the time that “the best lettering is invisible,” and a major factor to that is trade consistency. Trade consistency is ensuring every issue of a title reads—well, consistently—when it’s published in a collected edition. So I partially tailored my lettering style to match what was already being done. While I didn’t choose a font that matched John’s handwriting (I used a more art deco font because I just couldn’t help myself), I still used symmetrically circular word balloons, so the transitions between our chapters wouldn’t be too jarring to the reader.

But the thing is, nobody told me to do that. I asked the editors what they wanted me to do, and they gave me free rein. Despite having that in writing, I still did what I thought other people wanted me to do. I was eventually offered Batman in full, and I was stuck doing a half-imitation of another letterer from Batman #25 all the way through #111. Looking back on that work now, all I see is myself compromising on something nobody asked for. I really wish I had fully gone my own way—and that I’d remembered some of the best advice Chris Eliopoulos has ever given me.

Very early in my career, VC was asked to fill in on a book normally lettered by a non-VC letterer (who I will not name, because I respect this person). The book was given to me, the new guy. I read the previous issue, and tailored a lettering style that matched what the other letterer had been doing for the sake of trade consistency. Being a non-VC letterer, their style didn’t fully match what we were doing at the time. The tails were curved differently, and the sound effects were a little more old school. Having stayed even more invisible than usual, I thought I had done a great job.

Surprisingly, Chris did not approve of my work. When I explained my reasoning, he told me, “Don’t lower yourself. Show them why they should have hired you in the first place.” I went back and made the issue look more like “me,” even though it bothered me at the time. But Chris was the boss man, and in hindsight, he was correct. I can only do my best work when I’m being me. Let’s hear it for Chris for having my back, even when I didn’t.

I don’t want to dismiss trade consistency completely. It’s an important principle, and one I fully adhere to when I’m covering for any of my VC comrades (not to mention lettering my own books). But in hindsight, both of these were instances of me overthinking things and making unnecessary sacrifices. It took me over half a year of studying to learn to tell other letterers apart—most readers aren’t going to notice slightly different word balloons and tails between chapters. Besides, how essential is trade consistency when the art teams change from arc to arc? It’s not like David Finch and Mikel Janín are interchangeable.

So yeah, part of it is just to protect me from myself—and while it may not seem like it, it’s ultimately what’s best for the book. I’m never going to do my best work if I’m trying to be someone else.

^*I know I’ve left a few titles and other letterers have had to follow the styles I established, and I mean no disrespect toward them—nor do I feel in any way insulted. They’ve brought enough of their own voices to those books, and the books are much better for it. I’m only speaking for me and where I am right now.

Community:

• Biggest, welcomest of congratulations to Andrea Shea, who’s just been promoted to Senior Editor at DC! I’ve worked with Andrea on Aquaman, Black Manta, Wonder Woman: Historia, and [unannounced DC book that everyone’s going to love], and her dedication and project management ability is unparalleled. Without her help, I would have been fully lost on Wonder Woman: Historia. Congrats, Andrea!

Recommendations:

• Comic: The Incal. Look directly above. That’s all you need. If you haven’t read it, get to it. Or don’t read it—just look at the pictures. It’s never been easier.

• Non-comic: Meghan O’Gieblyn. I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without recommending my favorite contemporary non-fiction writer, but she has a new book coming out this October, and the action has found me. Common themes in O’Gieblyn’s work include substance, transhumanism, religious museums, millennial malaise, humanity’s tendency to anthropomorphize everything (including the universe), and her deeply evangelical upbringing. My favorite writing of hers is Dispatch from Flyover Country, the first essay from Interior States, which is about the missing-outingness of living in past-their-prime rust belt cities. The essay focuses on the Midwest, but having grown up in a New York city instead of the New York City, I found it poignant. “It’s difficult to live here without developing an existential dizziness, a sense that the rest of the world is moving while you stay still.” Fun fact: Rochester’s last concert with a major headliner was Bruce Springsteen in 2016, and even that was a rarity. So check her out if you can relate—or if you grew up in the Big City and you want to know why we’re all “like this.” Also, here’s a TED Talk she did in 2019 about Neuralink.

Stuff with my name in it (July 2026):

7/01:

• Batman #11

• DC W.I.P.: Supergirl - Woman of Tomorrow #1

7/08:

• DIE: Loaded #7

• Showdown #2

• Uncanny X-Men #31

7/15:

• Alien: King Killer #4

• Avengers: Armageddon #2 (fill-in)

• Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories - Jace #3

• Star Trek: The Last Starship #9

• Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge - Echoes of the Empire #4

• Venom: Black, White & Red Treasury Edition TP

• Wonder Woman #35

• X-Men #3

7/22:

• Moonstar #5

• Queen in Black #1

• Star Wars Modern Era Epic Collection: The Screaming Citadel TP

• Uncanny X-Men #32

• Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone vol. 4: Where Monsters Dwell TP

7/29:

• Predator vs. Planet of the Apes #1

• Predator: Black, White & Blood Treasury Edition TP

• X-Men #34

• X-Men by Jed MacKay vol. 4: Age of Revelation Aftermath TP

And, finally, the cat photo:

I have a busy few months coming up, so the newsletter is going on a soft hiatus until October. Sorry, everyone! I’ll still send out release schedules, cat photos, and Sound Effects of the Month, but I’m afraid I won’t have time to compose tips, Q&As, recommendations, or community highlights. If you’re one of my fellow Americans, I hope you have a safe and pleasant America’s 250th birthday. The country may be at a low point, but we can still have a barbecue.

Got a question you’d like me to answer in a future newsletter? Ask away in the comment section!

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