I'VE GOT IT COVERED - WELL, ALMOST...

Characters copyright REBELLION

As a rare treat (I hope), I thought I'd give you an insight into a little of what goes into preparing a cover for a book - or in this case, two covers for two books.  What you're looking at, above, is the first rough of the cover that a part-time publisher sent to me when he was looking for cover ideas for a two volume set he was preparing, containing all the strips that KEN REID had drawn for ODHAMS PRESS back in the '60s.  Below is the art by a young female artist, based, I'd hazard a guess, on specific panels or pictures by Ken that appeared in WHAM!, SMASH!, and POW! (Hey, if you've got the time [and the books] to trawl through the strips to check, be my guest.)  

   

I was invited to suggest a title for the set and also to produce a logo, which these days, takes me far, far longer than it used to during my 15-year career as a lettering artist for IPC, MARVEL, REDAN, and USBORNE.  (We're talking days, when once it would've been hours.)  Trouble was, the publisher wanted the books out in a hurry, and I was really pushed for time, which meant I couldn't hand-letter the text, instead having to rely on WORDPAD for the task.  I'd have preferred to use something resembling (where feasible) the original strips' logos.   

I also thought that it would be nice if the covers gave a flavour of the mastheads of the comics that the strips had originally appeared in.  The publisher wasn't too keen at first, but once he saw what I came up with, he softened to the idea.  I didn't want (nor did the publisher) the mastheads to be outright copies of the originals, merely similar, so above is what I produced, by hand, basing it on Wham!, as that was the first comic of the three.  The 'His Complete Wham!, Smash! and Pow!' line was a combination of computer font and the comics logos taken from an ad in an issue of FANTASTIC.  If I'd had time, I'd also have done a version with Ken's name not quite as tall, and the line underneath actually within the jaggy blurb, but time was a luxury I wasn't given.  

However, before I actually set to work on lettering the logo, I did a pencil rough (above) of the already finished illustration for the first volume, which included the contents in a banner underneath the art, but the publisher didn't favour this layout, preferring (for some reason) to place the info directly onto the illo.  Next, I produced a colour rough, with the cover copy in two circular blurbs, but as I didn't yet know which introduction was for which book, I used NIGEL PARKINSON's name for the first volume.  (Note that Ken's son ANTONY isn't mentioned, because the publisher was reticent about approaching him for a contribution until I urged him, saying it would lend an air of 'approval' to the project.  I'd read Antony's intro in the REBELLION FACEACHE volume and thought it quite poignant, which is why I thought it would be a good idea to get him to do the same for these two volumes.)  I actually think that something more like the cover below would've been better than the published version, but the publisher seemed determined to place the text over the art.

Below is what the publisher's designer came up with, based on my roughs.  Note the thick colouring within the jaggy blurbs, as opposed to the more subtle, tapering touch that I'd suggested (and which was more in the spirit of the original Wham! logo).  At this stage, without going through a pile of emails, I no longer recall if it was me or the designer that came up with the particular font for the 'Volume 1' text, but whoever it was, I soon realised it was too small to have the required impact.  The publisher acceded to my suggestion that the jaggy 'highlights' should be more like my rendition, but disagreed with my view that the 'Volume One' text was too small, saying that he'd shown it to various professional artists and designers who all approved of it.  I told him (in my usual understated way) that, in my opinion, they were talking out of their @rses and that the names needed to be bigger. 

It wasn't until I sent him amended versions, below, that he saw the wisdom of my advice.  I also increased the width of the mastheads.  However, despite my pleas for spacial symmetry on either side of the text, neither he nor his designer seemed capable of comprehending what I was on about, which is why the published versions are less than perfect in their lettering layout.  I must confess to having a few reservations about the covers, which I'll share with you.  The Volume 1 and Volume 2 lines could have been punchier - something like the same font used in my 'Crivens!' masthead, but I just wasn't given enough time to explore alternate options.  Also, I'm not convinced that static medium shots of the characters is an exciting enough visual; perhaps it would've been better to have full figure shots (preferably coloured art by Ken himself) of the characters capering about in a daft way, like the covers of the Odhams Annuals.

Getting back to the symmetry though, the first 'box' below is the best that his designer could produce (after numerous interventions from me), but still wasn't perfect.  The second one is a 'cut & paste' of how I thought it should look.  They just couldn't see the difference, regardless of how often I brought it to their attention.  It was like banging my head off a brick wall, and it sure as hell didn't do my blood pressure any favours.  I wanted the covers to be as good as they could be, but the publisher was prepared to settle for 'good enough' in his haste to get the books out. Sometimes, quality takes second place to expediency it would appear.

Below is a couple of colour versions of the slipcase that the publisher was considering using.  It seemed to me that Ken's actual signature was a bit too rough, so I came up with an 'idealised' version, which - to my eyes at least - captures the spirit of Ken's signature while being more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  (Though that more orangey red might've been better.) 

Ken's actual signature can still be found within, so it's not like it was being completely omitted.  It doesn't look so bad in reduced form, but if you click to enlarge, it looks just a bit too scratchy.  I just felt that a tidier finish was the way to go - others may disagree.  (I'm sure they'll tell me soon enough.)

Below are other early cover suggestions I made when the publisher didn't like the idea of the circular blurbs.  I wasn't too keen on these new ones myself, but was trying to find inspiration by throwing out ideas and seeing what would stick.  I suffer from a medical disorder which leaves me in a state of near-constant fatigue, and was also looking after an infirm elderly relative at the same time, so it was extremely hard going, but I didn't want to let the publisher down.  Unfortunately, he started to fob me off by saying he'd make certain amendments and corrections I'd suggested (and in some cases insisted on - after all, I want the fruit of my labours to look as good as it can), and then, in the end, simply not doing so.  I made it clear from the start that I wasn't looking for any financial remuneration, but although I received a slipcase edition of the books, I'm yet waiting for prints of two of the original art-scans I supplied to promote the project, despite being promised I'd receive copies of everything of mine that was used.  Publishers, promises and p*sh, eh?  

Again, these roughs were produced before I knew which intro was for which book, so that's why they're the opposite of the published versions.  Antony J. Reid's name was added after the publisher saw the sense in my suggestion to invite Ken's son to be involved by contributing some personal reminiscences about his father.

Finally, the spine of the slipcase.  I'd considered 'The Power Pack of Ken Reid', but my original suggestion was 'The Power of Ken Reid' and then 'The Power Pack Output of Ken Reid', and, I think, one other that I can't recall without referring to my email correspondence with the publisher.  He eventually went for 'The Power Pack of...', but later expressed reservations due to the fact that he thought the 'Power Pack' referred to the readers and not the comics themselves.  I wasn't 100% certain, but suggested that it might sometimes have been used in reference to both, but, in any event, I considered his fears redundant.  After all, he wasn't bound by what it meant back in the '60s, and was free to use the term in any way he wanted to apply it.  (It's called artistic license.)  The way I saw it, the books contained a 'pack' of strips by Ken Reid so the title was therefore entirely appropriate.     

The books are worth having, though I don't regard them as being 'ultimate' versions of Ken's Odhams work.  Once the greyscale pages are restored to their original colour incarnations (which I hope some more archival-minded publisher might do in the not-too-distant future), then we'll have a definitive visual tribute to the genius of Ken Reid's Power Pack strips.  These volumes will do for the moment, but we must look forward to the time when they're finally done 'right'.

Incidentally, in the unlikely event you were considering asking me to be involved in some artistic project or other - don't bother.  It's too stressful, too draining, causes far too much grief, and I'm not prepared to put up with 'publishers' saying any old thing to get me on-side and milk some free work out of me - only to treat my contribution in any way they like, with no regard to its artistic integrity.  Stuff that for a game of soldiers!