Lettering Credits | Examples
   
 

"What you say?" -"All Your Base"

When lettering Japanese comics (manga) for English consumption, the page has to be reversed to read from left to right, Japanese sound effects have to be removed and signs in English have to reversed back. This last part was more time consuming before digital retouch.

Some of this retouch is painstaking because it sits over screen tone that has to be matched and replaced. When I was working on photostats, I would spend a lot of my time sorting through sheets of tone to find the perfect match. I would try to avoid having to do this by making larger sound effects (sfx) with huge white borders to cover the existing kanji. If, despite my best efforts, the kanji is still visible, then sometimes I would white out the remaining effect. This is not exactly the best solution.

Now most of my work is digital and I find that I don't have to draw the larger effects that I have previously. However, I now spend a fair amount of my time pushing around little patches of tone to make my retouch FLAWLESS. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever be able to work quickly and stay on time.

+ -- with Tom Orzechowski
* -- with L. Lois Buhalis

Published by Project Gen/New Society Publishers
+ "Barefoot Gen" by Keiji Nakazawa

Published by Doubleday
"The Dao of Zhuangzi" by Tsai Chih Chung
"Wisdom of the Zen Masters" by Tsai Chih Chung

Published by Dark Horse/ Studio Proteus
+ "Orion" by Masamune Shirow
+ "Ghost in the Shell" by Masamune Shirow

"Oh My Goddess" by Kosuke Fujishima
* "1-555-GODDESS"
"Love Potion No. 9"
"Sympathy for the Devil"
"Terrible Master Urd"
"The Queen of Vengeance"
"Mara Strikes Back!"
"Ninja Master"
"Miss Keiichi"
"Adventures of the Mini-Goddess"
"The Devil in Miss Urd"
"The Fourth Goddess"
"Childhood's End"

* "You're Under Arrest" by Kosuke Fujishima

"Gunsmith Cats" by Kenichi Sonoda
"The Return of Gray"
"Goldie versus Misty"
"Bad Trip"
"Bean Bandit"
"Kidnapped"
"Mister V"
"Misty's Run"

"The Legend of Mother Sarah: City of Children" by Katsuhiro Otomo and Takumi Nagayasu

"Shadow Lady" by Masakazu Katsura
"The Awakening"
"Sudden Death"

"Drakuun" by Johji Manabe

"Cannon God Exaxxion" by Kenichi Sonoda