The Visitor #6 Spotlight: Lettering

 

The Visitor #6 Cover B by Alan Quah

 

Simon Bowland's lettering is all about simplicity. His art is so subtle that you barely notice it. Yet that staid veneer hides a symphony of meaning in The Visitor #6.

 

Writers have been using an asterisk to add a footnote in a narrative box for decades. Yet that asterisk is usually black, or the same color as the text. Here, Simon Bowland replaces the normal black asterisk for a red one, which links you to the narrative box informing you that Kubo-sama is speaking in Japanese.

The Japanese flag, remember, is a red circle on a white field.

 

When The Visitor walks in on Kubo-sama and Talia Dauber, she warns him that she is under Kubo-sama's control. She has to work hard to fight him off his mental powers. Her warning of "Careful," in bold and a larger font, reveal just how hard she's working to prevent him from using her like a doll.

Or should that be an action figure?

 

 

Kubo-sama, on the other hand, is more practiced in controlling others. So his order to Talia of "Kill him," while bold, isn't noticeably larger.

Whereas Talia's warning seems more like a shout, Kubo-sama is just raising his (mental) voice a little, and concentrating on his intonation.

 

The way Simon Bowland does the sound effects here seems rather artful. They gently curve around Talia in a visually pleasing way, despite doing so asymmetrically. Like I said: subtle.

 

And then there is the electrical sound effect, and the now familiar yellow-and-blue narrative box to reveal The Visitor's thoughts. Simple, cool, and effective.

Can The Visitor resist Talia's unwilling attack, as well as Kubo-sama's power? This next panel, with the way his words dwindle and then fade, makes us wonder. 

Great job on The Visitor #6, Simon Bowland. Way to draw attention to your art, by not drawing attention to your lettering.

Dragon Dave

The Visitor #5 Spotlight: Lettering

 

The Visitor #5 Cover B by Caspar Wijngaard

In The Visitor #5, Paul Levitz writes in largely visual terms. This leaves Simon Bowland with less lettering to do than in more recent series like Savage and Shadowman. Still, Simon enhances the story with expressive and emotive lettering.

Simon shares The Visitor's thoughts with us through blue narrative boxes outlined with yellow, and white lettering. While the character's past--at least in the beginning of the issue--are unknown to us, these narrative boxes give us insight into how he perceives the world, as well as what's important to him.

 

I particularly like this scene when a woman, wrapped up in her spiel, catches a glimpse of The Visitor. With a spiky balloon and red lettering, Simon shares her shock at turning around, and seeing this strangely clad figure falling past. Whether or not she's aware of the security threat to her company, seeing someone fall off a multistory building is guaranteed to frighten anyone.

As she no doubt realizes a second later, the figure is sliding down via a cable. He's unlikely to die from his fall. So we can smile, even while we know how much it would throw us for a loop if the same thing happened to us.

 

In fact, The Visitor does fall and hit the ground. At least, he does at one point in the story. When he does, Simon Bowland shows us the impact he sustains with a sound effect that pairs well with the motion penciler and inker Soo Lee tries to capture.

 

You may recall that The Visitor has the ability to interface with circuitry. The blue lettering of this sound effect--outlined in white--combines well with the way Ulises Arreola's colors the sparking electricity.

I hope The Visitor doesn't get electrocuted!

When people shoot at The Visitor, Simon Bowland relates the sound of the bullets' impacts with simple white block lettering. They help us realize that, while bullets would stop you or me, they probably won't stop The Visitor.

Also, consider how the BLAMs are smaller than the WHAMMM when The Visitor falls. This suggests that, while The Visitor was hurt in neither scene, perhaps the first one bothered him more due to its unexpected nature.

Perhaps, for a moment, the impact of his fall shocked him as much as seeing him fall shocked the woman.

 

Simon Bowland's most inspired work on The Visitor #5 could be the way he relates the title character's thoughts to us. These tri-colored narrative boxes merge well with his appearance.

As they relate his inmost thoughts, Simon Bowland's blue, yellow and white narrative boxes make The Visitor seem more approachable. They help us feel--and care--for him. That's a welcome contribution when dealing with a mysterious figure like The Visitor.

Dragon Dave

The Visitor #5 Preview Pages

 

The Visitor Cover A by Amilcar Pinna

After a long wait, we're all looking forward to the two final issues of The Visitor. What exactly have the Japanese researchers created? Who is the being known as The Visitor? And how will his plans clash or align with those of the Japanese scientists?

Perhaps in the inside front cover and the first four pages of The Visitor #5, we'll get a hint of where writer Paul Levitz, penciler and inker Soo Lee, colorist Ulises Arreola, and letter Simon Bowland are taking us with this beautiful and intriguing series.

I hope you enjoyed this preview of The Visitor #5. So what happens next? Who will live in this issue, and who will die? And how will the actions of Talia, the Japanese scientists, and the Visitor affect the future of the Valiant universe?

Drop by your local comics store today and pick up this penultimate chapter. I promise you: some of your questions will be answered!

Dragon Dave