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‘SPLAT!’: Archie Comics and the Joy of SFX

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Roy Lichtenstein’s Pop Art diptych painting Whaam! would not be as powerful without the giant yellow lettering spread over a large part of its canvas depicting the sound effect of a missile hitting a target and a plane blowing up. What the image cannot convey, the word ‘Whaam!’ signifies. There it is in stark bold letters—a brilliant sound effect open to a million academic interpretations.

In the 1960s, the much-loved Batman TV series interjected fight scenes with wonderful descriptive graphics of the various sound effects: “Ka-Pow!” “Smash!” “Aiiieee!” “Awk!” “BAM!”. These colorful images added greatly to the excitement of watching Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) defeat the Joker, the Riddler, Catwoman, the Penguin and all their other arch nemeses.
 
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Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘Whaam!’ (1963).
 
Comic books, of course, have always had panels filled with such wonderfully onomatopoeic words that greatly add to the reader’s enjoyment. Away from the usual superheroes and action comics, artist Dan DeCarlo and Archie Comics brought a whole new level to the power of graphic book sound effects. DeCarlo has been described as:

...a master at framing a scene, clearly portraying the action, and conveying the appropriate emotions of the characters…. not as easy a task as you might think.

The figures in his frames are active—they are dynamic and appear to be moving and responding to the action around them. Add to this the incredible sound effects in every frame, then Betty, Veronica and their pals are suddenly in a work of surreal mini Pop Art.
 
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A collection of ‘Batman’ graphic SFX.
 
However, it should be noted that it was the writer who usually picked the words to represent the various SFX and then the letterer who then placed them within the panel—as comic book writer and editor Paul Castiliglia explains:

....most of the sound effects are first indicated by the writer in the script, and then are added in to the art by the letterer after the pencil artist has drawn the figures in each panel. The pencil artist may write in sound effects (in plain text) to indicate their location in each panel but most of the time it is the letterer who determines the shape and lettering style for the sound effects and who actually renders them, inking the outlines.

Archie has employed many letterers over the years. It is highly likely that the majority of the panels you posted were lettered by Bill Yoshida; some may have been lettered by Archie’s long-time editor Victor Gorelick as well.

These written SFX often become the focus of our attention—creating a dynamism mere illustration alone could not provide. This is a little something I find quite fascinating—how did these writers come up with say “Smeerp!” to represent a kiss? Or “Sceeeee!” to depict something untoward just out of frame? Do people actually say “Awk!” when scared? Do we say “Aaaiiiiieeee!” when fleeing in terror? In fact, is there a thesaurus of these wondrous words? And if so, where can I get a copy?

This selection of Dan DeCarlo’s artwork with lettering by (most likely) Bill Yoshida and Victor Gorelick for Archie Comics are a superb example of the surreal joy of comic book SFX.
 
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More of the joy of comic book SFX, after the jump…

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Posted by Paul Gallagher
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03.23.2016
10:56 am
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Naughty, sexy vintage 50s cartoons from ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ creator

Humorama illustration by Don DeCarlo, 1950s
 
Many of you may already recognize Dan DeCarlo’s name as the man behind the Archie Comics in the 1950s and most of the 60s. Some of you will also be aware of the kitschy fact that DeCarlo, who also penned the comic Josie and the Pussycats, modeled the character of Josie after his own wife whose name was, you guessed it… Josie. According to DeCarlos’ wife, it was the leopard cat costume she wore on a cruise with DeCarlo that inspired “Josie’s” signature leopard leotard with a tail that she wore on stage while performing with her rockin’ girl combo, the Pussycats.
 
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Dan DeCarlo’s “Josie” in her cat costume (and her signature hairdo) from the pages of a ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ comic
 
In the late 40s when Marvel Comics was still known as Timely Comics, the editor-in-chief (yes, Stan Lee), gave DeCarlo a few good breaks and DeCarlo would go on to work with Lee in different comic publishing outfits for many years. During the 50s and 60s, DeCarlo’s cheesecake pin-ups and racy (and often sexist) illustrations were routinely published in “Humorama” magazines like Breezy, Comedy, Romp, Eyeful of Fun, and other “digest sized” publications alongside fleshy pin-up images of burlesque queen Lili St. Cyr, Bettie Page and actress Julie Newmar. DeCarlo’s original illustrations are highly sought after by collectors and routinely sell for several thousands of dollars each.
 
Dan DeCarlo Humorama illustration, 50s
 
DeCarlo’s “amusing” illustrations are often accompanied by not-so-amusing captions that contained straightforward misogyny as well as the typical sexism that was rampant in the 1950s. There’s also a lot of spanking involved. Thankfully, as I’m a woman with a good sense of humor and strong appreciation for art (especially when it comes to historical documents belonging to notable and respected artists), I really dug looking at the “other side” of the man behind some of my favorite pop culture memories and his bawdy, scientifically impossible bodacious bad girls.

If you too dig DeCarlo’s work, there are two wonderful books that detail his pen and paper obsession with cheeky girls—the 300-page Innocence & Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo and The Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo (published by Fantagraphics).
 
Don DeCarlo's Humorama illustrations from the 1950s
Dan DeCarlo’s “Humorama” illustrations from 1950s “digest size” magazines
 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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02.03.2016
10:18 am
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