Richard Starkings (born 27 January 1962) is a British
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design.
In mod ...
designer and comic book
letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...
, editor and writer. He was one of the early pioneers of computer-based comic-book lettering, and is one of the most prolific creators in that industry.
Career
Starkings' lettering style was originally inspired by British comic strip letterers
Bill Nuttall
Bill Nuttall (born March 10, 1948, in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is the owner of Golden Viking Sports, licensee for the soccer brand Diadora. He was a first team Junior College and first team NSCAA All-American soccer goalkeeper who spent at lea ...
and
Tom Frame. Starkings' UK career began with lettering jobs in ''
2000 ADs ''
Future Shocks
''Tharg's Future Shocks'' is a long-running series of short strips in the British weekly comic '' 2000 AD'' in 1977. The name originates from the fictional editor of 2000 AD and the book titled ''Future Shock'', written by Alvin Toffler, publi ...
'' and various
strips in ''
Warrior
A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have been p ...
''. From there he moved to
Marvel UK
Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dill ...
where he lettered Zoids in ''
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
Weekly'' and ''
Transformers
''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...
'' before becoming an editor for the company in the late 1980s. Titles he edited included ''
Death's Head
Death's Head is the name of several fictional characters appearing in British comics and American comic books both published by Marvel Comics.
The original Death’s Head is a robotic bounty hunter (or rather, as he calls himself, a "freelance ...
'' and ''
Dragon's Claws''. However, by the beginning of the 1990s he devoted himself exclusively to lettering, finding work in the much larger comic-book industry in the United States.
His work in the
Whoniverse
The Whoniverse is the non-narrative name given to the fictional setting of the television series ''Doctor Who'', ''Torchwood'', ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' and ''Class'' as well as other related media.Lofficier (1992Foreword/ref> The word, a p ...
has been mostly confined to two periods. He was variously a writer, editor and letterer during the Sixth and early Seventh Doctors' eras in the pages of ''
Doctor Who Magazine
''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...
''. At this time, he also served in the staff position of "picture consultant" for a number of issues. Two decades later, he returned to the newly-created American centre of Whoniverse publishing at IDW Publishing, working on several issues involving the Tenth Doctor.
In the 20th century
Starkings edited ''
Redemption!'', ''Culture Shock!'', ''
Nemesis of the Daleks'' and ''
Follow That TARDIS!
Follow may refer to:
* ''Follow'' (album), the third album by Pakho Chau
* Follow (dancer), one member of a partner dance
*"Follow", a song by Jerry Merrick, popularized by Richie Havens on his 1966 album '' Mixed Bag''
*"Follow", a song by Drowni ...
''. Usually under his pseudonym of "Richard Alan" or Zed, he wrote or co-wrote ''Time and Tide'', the aforementioned ''Nemesis of the Daleks'' and ''Up Above the Gods''. He lettered or co-lettered ''Frobisher's Story'', ''The Gift'', ''The World Shapers'' and ''Up Above the Gods''.
In the 21st century
For the BBC Wales era of the Whoniverse, Starkings co-wrote ''Cold-Blooded War'' under his own name. It was also a story he lettered, along with ''The Whispering Gallery'' and most issues of ''The Forgotten''. He was also one of the letterers on ''Rift War!''
Beginning in 2014, he and
Comicraft
Comicraft is a company which provides graphic design and lettering services to various (primarily comic book) companies.
History
The company was founded by Richard Starkings in 1992. Starkings had been working for Marvel UK for five years, but ...
's Jimmy Betancourt lettered all of Titan Comics' ''Doctor Who'' comic book series.
In 1992 Starkings founded
Comicraft
Comicraft is a company which provides graphic design and lettering services to various (primarily comic book) companies.
History
The company was founded by Richard Starkings in 1992. Starkings had been working for Marvel UK for five years, but ...
, a studio which trains and employs letterers and designers and provides "Unique Design and Fine Lettering" services for comic books from many different publishers. In the mid-1990s Comicraft, online as comicbookfonts.com began to sell their Font designs as software applications through their
Active Images
Richard Starkings (born 27 January 1962) is a British font designer and comic book letterer, editor and writer. He was one of the early pioneers of computer-based comic-book lettering, and is one of the most prolific creators in that industry. ...
publishing company.
Hip Flask
Originally Starkings had intended that the advertisements for these fonts would feature
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics
...
and
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
' characters, however when he failed to receive the authorisation to do that, Starkings created his own character to illustrate the ads –
Hip Flask
A hip flask is a thin flask for holding liquor.
Description
Hip flasks were traditionally made of pewter, silver, or even glass, though most modern flasks are made from stainless steel. Some modern flasks are made of plastic so as to avoid de ...
an
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
"Information Agent". Hip Flask has since graduated to his own series of
one-shot
One shot may refer to:
Film and television
* One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so
* ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake
* ''One Shot'' (2 ...
comic books, published by Active Images. Starkings plotted the first two issues with artist
Ladrönn and enlisted the assistance of
Joe Casey
Joe Casey is an American comic book writer. He has worked on titles such as '' Wildcats 3.0'', ''Uncanny X-Men'', '' The Intimates'', '' Adventures of Superman'', and '' G.I. Joe: America's Elite'' among others. As part of the comics creator grou ...
to co-script. ''
Mystery City'' and all subsequent issues are plotted and scripted by Starkings. In 2006 Image Comics launched an ongoing prequel series to ''Hip Flask'', ''
Elephantmen
''Elephantmen'' is an American ongoing monthly comic book published by Image Comics and written by Richard Starkings with art by Moritat and a number of other artists. Issue #1 was released in July 2006.
Overview
Some 200 years from now, the M ...
'', written by Starkings and illustrated by Axel Medellin, Justin "Moritat" Norman, Marian Churchland,
Tom Scioli
Thomas Scioli is an American comic book artist and writer best known for working in a style similar to Jack Kirby.
Biography
Scioli was born in Philadelphia and moved to Pittsburgh after studying at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1990s.
Sci ...
,
Henry Flint
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
,
Chris Bachalo
Chris Bachalo (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics' ''Shade, the Changing Man'' and Neil Gaiman's two Death (Sandman), Death series. Chr ...
and
Chris Burnham
Chris Burnham is a comic book artist known for his work on ''Batman Incorporated'' with Grant Morrison, as well as the creator-owned books such as Officer Downe and ''Nixon's Pals'', which were published by Image Comics.
Early life
Born in Connec ...
.
In 2001 the character's similarities with an Australian comic book character called
Hairbutt (a bumbling anthropomorphic hippopotamus private detective) led Hairbutt co-creator Bodine Amerikah and Darren Close of OzComics to accuse Hip Flask creator Starkings of
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
. Starkings replied that he created Hip Flask without any knowledge of Hairbutt, and that their similarities were a bizarre coincidence.
[Brice, Jason]
"Sentinels, Not Senators"
. Comics Bulletin
Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry.
History Silver Bullet Comicbooks
The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice.
During this ...
. accessed 17 October 2011.
Elephantmen
''Elephantmen'' is an American
ongoing monthly
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
published by
Image Comics
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...
and written by Richard Starkings with art by
Moritat and a number of other artists. Issue #1 was released in July 2006.
* Elephantmen, vol. 0: Armed Forces- Collects Elephantmen: War Toys #1-3 Elephantmen: Yvette, Elephantmen #34-35. Softcover: Hardcover:
* Elephantmen, vol. 1: Wounded Animals - Collects Elephantmen #1-7. Softcover: Hardcover:
* Elephantmen, vol. 2: Fatal Diseases - Collects Elephantmen #8-15 & The Pilot. Softcover: Hardcover:
* Elephantmen: Damaged Goods - Collects Elephantmen #18-20. Softcover:
* Elephantmen, vol. 3: Dangerous Liaisons - Collects Elephantmen #16-23. Softcover: Hardcover:
* Elephantmen, vol. 4: Questionable Things - Collects Elephantmen #24-30. Softcover: Hardcover:
* Elephantmen, vol. 5: Devilish Functions - Collects Elephantmen #31-33 and 36-39. Softcover: Hardcover:
* Elephantmen, vol. 6: Earthly Desires - Collects Elephantmen #40-49. Softcover: Hardcover:
* Elephantmen, Mammoth Vol. 1 - Collects Elephantmen: War Toys #1-3 Elephantmen: Yvette, Elephantmen #1-11, #34-35, #57. Softcover:
* Elephantmen, Mammoth Vol. 2 - Collects Elephantmen #12-30. Softcover:
* Elephantmen, Mammoth Vol. 3 - Collects Elephantmen #31-50. Softcover:
* Elephantmen: 2260 vol. 1: Memories of the Future - Collects Elephantmen #51-55. Softcover:
* Elephantmen: 2260 vol. 2: The Red Queen - Collects Elephantmen #58-62. Softcover:
* Elephantmen: 2260 vol. 3: Learning to be Human - Collects Elephantmen #50, 56-57, 64-65. Softcover:
* Elephantmen: 2260 vol. 4: All Coming Evil - Collects Elephantmen #65-69. Softcover:
* Elephantmen: 2260 vol. 5: Up Close and Personal - Collects Elephantmen #70-71, 73-76. Softcover:
* Elephantmen: 2260 vol. 6: The Least, The Lost & The Last - Collects Elephantmen #72, 77-80. Softcover:
* Elephantmen: 2261 vol. 1: The Death of Shorty. Softcover:
References
;Notes
;Sources
Richard Starkingsat 2000 AD online
External links
*
* 200
with MCAD students
Comic world news interviewStarking's tips for new lettererscomiXology.com's podcastwith Richard Starkings on ''Elephantmen ''#11 and ''War Toys''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starkings, Richard
Comic book editors
Comic book letterers
1962 births
Living people
Writers from Yorkshire
20th-century English writers
20th-century English male writers
21st-century English writers
21st-century English male writers