Bill Oakley (comics)
Bill Oakley | |
---|---|
Born | William Douglas Oakley April 1, 1964 Oneonta, New York |
Died | February 16, 2004 Utica, New York | (aged 39)
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Letterer |
Notable works | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Batman: Gotham Knights |
William Douglas Oakley(April 1, 1964 – February 16, 2004) was alettererfor numerouscomic booksfromMarvel,DC,and other companies. His most prominent works include the first two volumes ofAlan MooreandKevin O'Neill'sThe League of Extraordinary GentlemenandBatman: Gotham Knights#1-11, #15-37.
Biography
[edit]Oakley attendedThe Kubert SchoolinDover, New Jerseyfor a year, intending to be a comics artist. However, his experience at the school convinced him that he couldn't handle the workload of a comic book artist and, still desiring to work in the comics field, decided to do lettering instead.[1]In July 1986 he started on staff at Marvel,[1]working underJim Novak.[citation needed]For Marvel, Oakley letteredAvengersfor a long time,Avengers West Coast,theX-Men,theFantastic FourduringWalt Simonson’s run,Rampaging Hulk,andAmazing Spider-Man.
Oakley concluded a late 1987 interview by remarking "I would hope, by this time next year, that I would have enough work that I could go freelance. I wouldn't mind the idea of working at home. That kind of appeals to me, not having to get up at 6:00 every morning to commute here. That Idefinitelywould look forward to. "[1]Oakley indeed went freelance by the end of 1988. For DC, he worked on a number of the Superman titles,Batman,Lobo,DC vs. Marvel Comics,Batman: Gotham Knights,Justice Society,andHawkman.
Death
[edit]Due to the fact that he did not possess medical insurance ( "because he had a previous medical condition and the insurance companies refused to cover him" ),[2]he was forced to letter comics from his hospital bed to pay bills before he died of cancer inUtica, New York.His hometown wasOneonta, New York.Oakley was survived by his wife Leslie and son Stephen.[2]
He was halfway through designingThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossierat the time of his death. The final volume (finished by Todd Klein) was dedicated to his memory, with Moore noting in the introduction to the book that he felt the cancer made Oakley's lettering style much better than a non-cancer-addled letterer.
Lettering style
[edit]Oakley had a distinctive but understated lettering style. One of his trademarks as a letterer was to often erase or omit panel borders when they touched the top, side, or bottom of aword balloonor caption, thus opening up the balloon/caption to the gutter. In this regard, Oakley's lettering style was similar toJohn Workman's. Also like Workman, even in the age of computer lettering, Oakley did all this lettering by hand, using a Hunt 107 pen.[3]Before the age of computer lettering, unlike Jim Novak and others, Oakley was one of the few letterers to continue to create word balloons entirely freehand instead of usingtemplates.[1]
Awards
[edit]- 2000: Nominated for "Favorite Letterer"Wizard Fan Award,forThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I[4]
- 2002: Nominated for "Favorite Letterer"Wizard Fan Award,forThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II[5]
- 2004: Nominated for "Best Lettering"Eisner Award,forHawkman,JSA,The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume IIandSleeper[6]
Bibliography
[edit]Assorted titles:
- Batman: Gotham Knights#1-11, #15, #17-37 (withDevin Grayson,Roger Robinson and others, DC Comics 2000-2002)
- Daredevil#302-306, #308-322, #324-327, #329-332, #334, #336-343 with various Marvel Comics.
- DC Versus Marvel(withRon MarzandDan Jurgens,DC Comics, 1995)
- Grifterv1#1-2, 5-10 (withSteven T Seagle,Ryan Benjamin, Image Comics, 1995)
- Hawkmanv4#1-6, #8-10, #19-25 (withGeoff JohnsandRags Morales,DC Comics, 2002)
- Spectrev3#1-11, #13-17, #19, #21 (withJ. M. DeMatteisandRyan Sook,DC Comics, 2001-2002)
- Sleeper#1-3, 7-8 (withEd BrubakerandSean Phillips,Wildstorm, 2003)
- Starman v2#12-63, #55-80, ANNUAL #1&2, STARMAN: THE MIST, STARMAN #1,000,000 (withJames Robinson,Tony HarrisandPeter Snejbjerg,DC Comics, 1995-2001)
- Team 7#1-4 (withChuck DixonandAron Wiesenfeld,Image Comics, 1994-1995)
- Team 7: Objective Hell#1-3 (withChuck DixonandChris Warner,Image Comics, 1999)
- Team 7: DEAD RECKONING#1-4 (withChuck Dixonand Jason Johnson, Image Comics, 1995)
- X-menv2#19-41 (withFabian NiciezaandAndy Kubert,Marvel Comics, 1993-1994)
Notes
[edit]- ^abcdZimmerman, Dwight Jon (January 1988). "Bill Oakley".Comics Interview.No. 54.Fictioneer Books.pp. 27–32.
- ^abEliopoulos, Chris(February 18, 2004)."RIP Bill Oakley".PULSE News.Comicon.com.Archived fromthe originalon June 5, 2011.Retrieved2008-08-23.
- ^Klein, Todd(February 18, 2004)."Comment on" RIP Bill Oakley "".PULSE News.Comicon.com.Archived fromthe originalon June 5, 2011.Retrieved2008-08-23.
- ^8th Annual Wizard Fan Awards
- ^10th Annual Wizard Fan Awards
- ^2004 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
References
[edit]- Bill Oakleyat theGrand Comics Database
- Bill Oakleyat the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
External links
[edit]- "Obituary".Archived from the original on 2004-03-13.Retrieved2004-02-24.
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:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link),The Daily Star,February 19, 2004