A letterer's contributions to a comic often go unremarked. Thanks to the contributions of Letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, that can not be said of Savage #2.
Did you read the preview pages for Savage #2 yet, and see all the available covers? Aren't they fun? If you haven't, you may want to scroll scroll down to see those first, then come back to enjoy this focus on Hassan's magnificent lettering.
Sharp-eyed readers will notice that Hassan is using lower-case letters in the first dialogue balloon. Then in the second, he shifts to the normal upper-case lettering for "insane." You'll notice Hassan not only colors the word red, but he moves the letters up and down.
The overall effect makes me think that Kevin is staring at the caged dinosaur, and muttering to himself. Only at the last minute does he rip his eyes off the dinosaur, turn toward his captor, and emphasize what he thinks of the man. The multi-level lettering of "insane" also reinforces that he doesn't think the guy is in any way level-headed.
By the lower case lettering, I think the man adores his invention, but bemoans the fact that it doesn't work. The bold Hoofman 7B stresses the name of the device, as well as the equine nature of its intended wearer. What I find most interesting is that the Hootfman 7B is the same color as the lettering of Project Bizarre.
The man mentions his family has a long history of invention and experimentation. This suggests Kevin's captor comes from a wealthy family. For him to be able to run such an operation as Project Bizarre for a 150 to 200 years suggests that his family has long been a member of the aristocracy. The linkage through the color pink also brings to mind the coats that members of a British hunt have worn. Although the coats the horse riders wear look red, they're called "hunting pink."
So, Kevin's captor comes from a historic, wealthy family, rich in history and tradition, and likely bearing close ties to royalty.
Here we finally learn the name of Kevin's captor. In addition to the use of bold lettering, upper-case, and lower-case lettering, he reveals his name is Professor Hanley Nealon. Naturally, Hassan uses the same pink color for his name as the pink in earlier panels for Project Bizarre. But Hassan's lettering bursts out of the dialogue balloon, as if his name--the importance of who he is-is just too big to contain. Thus the name becomes more like a sound effect, like BAM or CRASH. Or, to put it another way:
You want to know my name?
You want to hear me tell you my name?
Wait for it.
Wait for it...
BOOM!
Kevin's dialogue also gets a multi-colored treatment. If you remember my post on Hassan's lettering for Savage #1, Hassan used green and red letters in the conversation between Kevin and his manager. I'm still not sure how he intends the colors green and red to sound, but they certainly differentiate themselves from the rest of the dialogue.
You'll also notice that the pink fellow behind Kevin and the professor utters his dialogue, or at least the noise he makes, in a yellow-orange color. What do you think that means? Is the blob creature making a low rumbling sound, or more a high-pitched squeal?
I could go on, and show you plenty more examples of Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's innovative lettering. But if you've read the preview pages for Savage #2, you can see that Hassan is clearly playing with all the tools in his toolbox. I suspect all the members of the creative team were having a blast when they made this series. How else would they have created a comic so jammed-full of fun?
Dragon Dave
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