In comic books, the letterer is the person who draws the letters in the word balloons, draws in sound effects and usually designs a book's logo. This may seem like an easy job, but the right use of fonts, letter size, and layout of the words inside the balloon all contribute to the impact of the text. A good letterer is a good calligrapher, and a great letterer has as much to do with the quality of the comic as the penciler, inker, writer, or colorist. While many comics are still hand lettered, most mainstream American comics are lettered using a graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator and a font that usually resembles lettering done by hand. Many cartoonists who formerly lettered by hand now use a computer font made to match their handwriting. Both the Eisner Awards and the Harvey Awards have a 'best letterer' category. A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Calligraphy (from Greek καλλι calli beauty + γραφος graphos writing) is the art of decorative writing. ... In producing a comic book, the penciller (or penciler) draws the comic based on the script created by the writer. ... The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book, or graphic novel. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A colorist is an artist who colors comic art reading it for production as a comic book. ... Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based drawing program developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. ... An Eisner Award is given for creative achievement in comic books, one of the most prestigious such awards in North America. ... The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. ...

Famous letterers include:

• Jim Aparo
• John Costanza
• Chris Eliopolous
• Tom Frame
• Todd Klein
• Dave Lanphear
• Jim Novak
• Bill Oakley
• Ben Oda
• Tom Orzechowski
• Joe Rosen
• S. Rosen
• Gaspar Saladino
• Henry Shikuma
• Artie Simek
• Richard Starkings

Cartoonists known for the lettering on their own comics include: James N. Jim Aparo (1932-July 19, 2005) was a comic book artist best known for his work on various Batman stories for DC Comics. ... Tom Frame is undoubtedly the premier letterer of British comics. ... Todd Klein is a well-known and respected comic book letterer. ... William Douglas Oakley (April 1, 1964 - February 16, 2004) was a letterer for numerous comic books from Marvel, DC, and other companies. ... Sam Rosen, often credited as S. Rosen, lettered many of the Silver Age comic books published by Marvel Comics. ... Artie Simek lettered a number of the Silver Age comic books published by Marvel Comics. ... Richard Starkings is one of the hardest-working letterers in American comics. ...

• Daniel Clowes
• Dave Sim
• Chris Ware
• Stan Sakai
• Rian Hughes

Companies that provide computer lettering include: Daniel Clowes (sometimes credited as Dan Clowes) is a comics-author and cartoonist of alternative comic books, including Eightball, and Lloyd Llewelyn. ... Dave Sim (born May 17, 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian comic book writer and artist, best known as the creator of the 6,000 page graphic novel Cerebus the Aardvark. ... Chris Ware ( 1967–Present) is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, best-known for a series of comics called the Acme Novelty Library, and a graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. ... Stan Sakai (1953– ) is a third-generation American of Japanese descent. ... Rian Hughes is a British graphic designer and comics artist, most noted for his work on 2000AD, where he illustrated Robo-Hunter, Tales Beyond Science, Really and Truly and Dan Dare, among others. ...

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