This is the ultimate guide for comic book lettering, It will make any struggling lettering artist into a pro.

I've worked as a professional comic book letterer for more than a decade. I've had to learn a lot through trial and error since there was so little written about this technical field of work. Finally, there is now a book for amateur letterers to have all they need to understand the craft and for professional letterers to both reference and pick up new ideas from.

This book isn't just a tutorial on "how to letter comics." This also showcases creative ways to letter, interesting techniques that even experienced letterers might not know about, and - what I found to be the most helpful - the realities of a letterer's freelance life and ways the write had worked to develop a good workflow and healthy work schedule to avoid burnout or physical strain.

This is an engaging book, so even if you know how to letter well or you know nothing about lettering and want to understand the kind of work that letterers do, I highly recommend this as a great read. Through my experience, I developed very different methods than what this guide described, but both are valid and I even picked up new ideas and tried out new ways of doing things while reading this book.

If you want to learn how to letter, buy this book. If you want to be a better letterer, buy this book. If you don't want to letter but you want to know more about how comics are made or how one freelances in this industry, this guide is great for that too.

The only thing missing is a thorough explanation on how to develop one's own comic book fonts, but like the author said, that would take up an entire book in itself. Here's hoping one day there's a companion guide to comic book font creation, because I would love to learn more about that too.

I'm completely new to Comic Book Lettering with some experience in Graphic Design but I picked this up just for my curiosity. After taking a quick flip with the book, It does not disappoint and lives up exactly to the title. It TRULY is the essential guide to Comic Book Lettering. This book comes from Nate Piekos who is the founder of BLAMBOT (one of the most professional comic book lettering companies to date). He drops every bit of wisdom and experience he's ever received / gotten through into this book and the result speaks for itself.

All the tools, techniques, tips, discussions, etc are found here. He goes through what he uses / recommends for programs and tools, breaks down the structures of what goes into comic book lettering (balloons / dialogue / captions / fonts / etc), teaches you how to create a useful / time-saving templates, gives you pointers even at the most subtle aspects of lettering, covering / creating dialogue balloons, covering / creating sound effects, covering / creating logos, etc. There's so much information and visual imagery here within these pages that I can talk about this book day and night.. and again: I'm completely new to this. The book is honestly that inspiring.

I recommend this, without a doubt. A master class in comic lettering! Truly thankful for Nate Piekos creating this book as well as those that helped bring it to publication.

When I first got this book, I was a bit disappointed. I thought it was going to be detailing lettering by hand.

It didn't.

But guess what? It's better for it.

As the author, Nate Peikos, demonstrates, the bulk of lettering now is done digitally and with good reason. So not only is this book incredibly inspiring for any graphic artist / letterer -- with its many examples of great lettering; its demonstration of useful techniques -- the author is so open and honest in his writing. While reading it, you don't feel that he's putting the job of lettering out of the reader's reach. In fact, he's putting it right within reach through a humility that is coupled with his exceptional skills. If you're an up-and-coming letterer, someone on the outskirts of lettering wanting to delve into it more professional (like myself), or even if you've had some work doing lettering, there is something for each type in this book. It's a book that I'll cherish and reference frequently, especially with all the examples that just ooze inspiration.

My only regret is that I didn't know about some of these techniques a few years ago! But, nevertheless, I started implementing some of the techniques the first day after reading just a few pages. It reinvigorated my own desire to become a better and even semi-professional letterer, a very under-appreciated profession.

This is a great book to illuminate the mysterious art of comicbook lettering. It goes deep into the practical details and theory required to make a graphic novel, manga, or superhero comic with the look and feel of a professional product. But comicbook lettering is actually more than a purely aesthetic art form, it plays a critical role in conveying meaning, emotional mood, and tone of voice. Along with the artwork and panel composition, the layout of the lettering and dialogue balloons is also critical to help guide the reader's eyes naturally from panel to panel.

If you're curious about how graphic design for visual narrative works, this is an interesting and inspiring book.

My only criticism is the conspicuous omission of perhaps the one topic this author is uniquely qualified to illuminate, and that is: the actual creation of the fonts themselves. I've admired Nate's Blambot comic fonts for a long time (and have purchased licenses for some of them), so I was looking forward to at least getting an overview of how he approaches this seemingly critical aspect of comicbook lettering. But no. He doesn't go into it even slightly, which is a shame, because this would have been the perfect book on the topic if he had. I understand that font design is a huge topic unto itself, but was disappointed that in a book of this size, there weren't even a few pages dedicated to discussing the process of making fonts for comicbooks. Literally anyone reading this book would want to know that information.

Having said that, it's a great book, and I still enjoyed it very much. You'll probably be surprised by how much more there is to learn about this topic than you may have thought. Reading it will deepen your appreciation for an art form that, like a great movie score, is basically invisible when done very well, yet amplifies the emotional impact of each contributing discipline, and profoundly contributes to the enjoyment of the final experience.

Nate Piekos is a rockstar. If you want it learn how to letter comics, this is the first thing I would buy. It’s not a fancy book, just practical step-by-step how to do a craft right.

This is a FANTASTIC book! The information may seem overwhelming at first, but it is easy to understand.

As some reviewers said, it does not spend much time on hand lettering (I assume this is due to the industry going more digital as time goes on). Those who want more information on hand lettering may have to seek help elsewhere. It is mentioned VERY briefly in the beginning, I believe.

It includes: step by step instructions on creating speech bubbles, tips on font creations, sentence formatting, page borders, splash/double splash page construction, creating templates that save you time in the long run, making logos, sound effects and much more.

This book is a great launching point for anyone looking to start their lettering career or even for anyone that wants to gain an appreciation for an intergral and often overlooked part of Comic books!

Honestly, one of the best books on making comics that I've read. So well done, insightful, well-organized, and easily referential. If you're looking for the basic principles of lettering, look no further than this.

“The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering” di Nate Piekos è il punto di riferimento indispensabile per tutti coloro che lavorano col lettering o per i lettori che sono curiosi di conoscere questo mondo. Piekos, letterista di fama internazionale ed eccelso divulgatore, ha creato un testo che spiega i principi di un buon lettering, le sue regole di base, fino a spiegare passo passo come si realizzano gli elementi costitutivi: balloon, pipette, onomatopee, loghi e tutto ciò che ci sta attorno.

Tutto è spiegato con estrema chiarezza e anche i neofiti possono cominciare a produrre lettering senza avere alcuna nozione precedente di Adobe Illustrator, l’applicazione con cui generalmente si lettera.

Un testo lungamente atteso che non tradisce le aspettative ma che è diventato il fondamentale testo di riferimento sull'argomento. Altamente consigliato per chi conosce la lingua inglese.

This is a very good good book about lettering. It is authored by Nate Piekos, the man behind the site Blambot, a site with one of the best comic fonts in my opinion.

When I saw this reference book pop up on my suggestions, I immediately ordered it thinking it was a guide on hand lettering comics. Unfortunately, I REALLY should've read the book's description! Though this wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I'm still keeping it because it is still a fantastic reference book on common lettering conventions that apply to both methods. There is a page and a half dedicated to traditional hand lettering, but the information presented isn't anything you can't find on YouTube. Still, I highly recommend this book!

Super livre, seul point négatif : pas traduit en français.

Das Buch ist großartig, aber als E-Book auf dem Kindle fast nicht lesbar. Unbedingt die kindle reading App herunterladen (gibts in jedem Playstore oder auch hier auf der Homepage) und dort lesen. Dann hat man auch Spaß an der elektronischen Version.

Zum Inhalt: Der Autor behandelt akribisch jede einzelne Eventualität, die einem beim Comicbook-Lettering so passieren kann. Kleine Fragen werden in Textboxen unterhalb des eigentlichen Textes beantwortet (z. B. Heißt es speechbubbles oder speechballoons?)

Das Buch ist auf Englisch, aber ich konnte dem Inhalt trotzdem gut folgen. Es ist sehr reich bebildert. Zur Not kann man sich anhand der Bilder weiterhangeln.

Zum Vorgehen des Autors: Nate Piekos arbeitet für das Buch ausschließlich im Adobe Illustrator. Nach meiner eigenen Erfahrung ist es aber VOLLKOMMEN UNNÖTIG, sich nur fürs Comicbook-Lettering den Illustrator anzuschaffen. Ich persönlich arbeite mit ClipStudio Paint und die Werkzeuge, die in ClipStudio fürs Lettering zur Verfügung stehen, sind ausgesprochen komfortabel. Wer auch das nicht möchte, kann sich das kostenfreie Inkscape herunterladen und damit so ziemlich alles anstellen, was der Illustrator auch kann. Allerdings muss man sich dazu durch eine Reihe von Online-Tutorials arbeiten, die sich aber auf den einschlägigen Homepages leicht finden lassen.

Klare Kaufempfehlung für das Buch!