LOGO FUN REDUX

We have a winner

So, a few months ago we ran our first (and, so far, only) “contest” here… and it appears we actually have a winner!

If you recall, the contest involved the identification of the origins of the letter forms -- taken from existing comicbook logos -- in this “Joe Casey” logo (brilliantly constructed by graphic design guru, Sonia Harris):

Full disclosure: I thought for sure that no one would be able to completely crack this. I mean, some of these letters are deep cuts, to say the least.

But clearly I couldn’t foresee the mysterious and enigmatic Dave Hinson showing up and blowing the goddamn doors off of this contest. Not only did he correctly identify each and every letter to their correct, respective logos, he provided really great context in his response, which we’ve partially reprinted below.

And so, take it away, Dave…

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“So I blame John Siuntres for the last 3 days of this obsession. I was listening to your interview on the show. I thought "sign up for Joe Casey Substack" and have a new repository of info. But I look at the logos and thought man I know most if not all. Then I went down a rabbit hole looking for comic covers I thought the letters came from. Some were easy as I read those books growing up. Some took me a awhile. So here are my guesses.

J - from the Justice League #1 relaunch after Legends and Crisis. I was reading this because of the Cap Marvel/Shazam inclusion. I quit reading when the title added "international" and was that a dumb move - I ended up going back when I saw the batman punch and loving the Bwah-Ha-Ha stuff. Plus it’s Giffen, who becomes a recurring creator all through my life.

O - from Iron Man #180-199, this was When Rhodey took over the Iron Man armor for a while before the Landmark Silver Centurian Armor in issue 200. I will confess to not being a huge Iron Man fan until the Armor Wars.

E - from Legion of Super-Heroes #1 - another Keith Giffen great run "Five Years Later", this was my entry point into Legion, I had read some of the Superboy and Legion/Adventure Comics issues, but this felt different - more mature/grown up. I didn’t read this until late 80s after reading Justice League - this fueled my love of the Legion well into the 2000s

C - From Blackhawk #1 - Howard Chaykin mini series run. This was the hardest for me to identify and took me re-looking at the actual comics. For some reason DC tweaked the logo on the followup ongoing 16 issue series. So this confused me. But the mini series relaunched the classic character. I found out about this run after listening to an interview with Chaykin in the last 5 years and how he put a lot into the story and felt that this was a great book.

A - From Avengers but this was also a tricky one. Issue #96 has the first "A" with the arrow, except the "the" is on the letter also, then issue #151 (new roster and a Kirby cover) is the first "A" with arrow and no "the" which returns next issue. But my choice is #221 the new roster, and only because of the year/decade it was published. All the other letters/logos/titles are 1980s mostly 1984 - 1987.

S - Nexus #1 magazine - Mike Baron and Steve Rude - Damn, this series was good, that’s all that needs to be said.

E - DC Thriller #1 Mini Series - I’m not 100% sure why this was on the list, I tried to read this and was not hooked. I know that DC was testing different types of stories but I do remember this having some hype at the time it was produced. I have not finished reading this, maybe I need to go back and give it a different read through. Age and perspective changes everything.

Y - Infinity Inc. - Justice Society is a nostalgia love for me. I remember Crisis on Two Worlds (JLA/JSA crossover, Green Lantern, Flash) being a big deal during Crisis on Infinite Earths. I was an observant fan after Crisis and gave every new launch a chance, but All Star Squadron and Infinity Inc were good books to me.”

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Okay, Dave, if you’re still a faithful reader here, feel free to drop me a line at the BLOOD SQUAD SEVEN letters page e-mail: bloodsquatting@gmail.com and if you’re comfortable providing a snail mail address, we’ll send you something cool to properly commemorate your victory.

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Finally, just to put the focus back on… y’know… me, here’s some more WEAPON X-MEN goodness as we get closer to issue #1’s release day on February 19. I hope everyone reading this will race to their LCS and put the series on their respective pull lists. I promise, we’ll make it worth your while.

Joe Casey

USA