Glenn FleishmanFeb 27, 2024

Fascinated by how comics pass from an artist’s hand through to the printed page—or a display? I’ve spent years researching, interviewing, and developing *How Comics Were Made: A Visual History from the Drawing Board to the Printed Page*.

If you’d like to a rich history of 130 years of newspaper cartooning told with original art, printing artifacts, and much more, pre-order now for delivery later this year: https://howcomicsweremade.ink/order

Participate :: How Comics Were Made: a Visual History of Printing Cartoons by Glenn Fleishman

Show threadgedawei
@glennf As a kid in the 1960’s, I saw my mom do the lettering for a syndicated newspaper comic strip called David Crane, by Craig Flessel. Craig lived in the same town (Huntington NY) and he’d regularly come to our home to pick up the completed strips that my mom lettered in her bedroom. I remember the strips were pretty large, maybe a foot high and a few feet long. If I recall correctly, the strips were just sketched in by Craig, the words pencilled in, and then got lettered by my mom.
Mar 19, 2024 at 2:28amWeb
Show threadGlenn FleishmanMar 19, 2024
@gedawei that is so cool! Do you know how she would have wound up doing that?
Show threadgedaweiMar 19, 2024
@glennf @gedawei Well, kind of. After she graduated from the School of Art & Design in Manhattan (Tony Bennett was a classmate!), where she studied calligraphy, she got a job at DC Comics (around 1945), doing lettering for their comic books. She quit that full-time job, with a long commute, when she started a family. Once we were a little older, mom found this part-time job through her contacts at DC Comics. It was fortunate that Craig lived close by.
Show threadGlenn FleishmanMar 19, 2024
@gedawei really interesting! Do you have photos of her at work? I’m trying to expose hidden labor, particularly women and manual labor (like in printing and engraving plants) because it’s little remembered! I’d love to include her in the book!
Show threadgedaweiMar 19, 2024
@glennf @gedawei I don’t think we do have a picture, but I can look. She set up an easel in the bedroom, where should would lay out the big strips (they were made of a strong, but somewhat flexible paper material - similar to poster paper.) Her work at DC Comics and for Flessel definitely fits the description of “hidden labor.” I’ve tried to find some kind of documentation for her work, but nothing yet. Thanks so much for the offer to include her. She passed about 12 years ago. Unsung hero!