Sam Rosen (comics)

Sam Rosen (April 4, 1922 - April 8, 1992),[1][2] often credited as S. Rosen, was an American calligrapher best known as a letterer for Marvel Comics during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books. Along with letterer Artie Simek, Rosen lettered and helped design logos for virtually all Marvel Comics published during the 1960s. Rosen also moonlighted for other companies during this time: he was the (uncredited) letterer for the 1965-66 Archie Comics series The Mighty Crusaders.

Sam Rosen
Born(1922-04-04)April 4, 1922
New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 8, 1992(1992-04-08) (aged 70)
Brentwood, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Letterer

Biography

Sam Rosen began his career as a comic book letterer in New York City in 1940, working on writer-artist Will Eisner's The Spirit, the seven-page lead feature in a comic-book style Sunday supplement syndicated to newspapers.[3] During this period, he also worked for Fox Comics and Benjamin W. Sangor studio, a comic book packager.[2]

Credits for Rosen are hard to determine, as comic-book letterers did not begin to routinely receive published credit until the early 1960s. Beginning with his first confirmed Marvel Comics credit, the three-page recap "The Origin of the Hulk" in The Incredible Hulk #3 (Sept. 1962), Rosen became, with Artie Simek and, later, Rosen's brother Joe Rosen,[4][5] one of Marvel's primary letterers, hand-drawing the word balloons and sound effects for virtually every comic produced by the company, including such flagship titles as The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four.

In addition to his work for Marvel during the decade of the 1960s, Rosen worked extensively during that period as a letterer for Archie Comics.[2]

Rosen's last known credited comics work to appear is the 20-page story "Two Into One Won't Go" in Captain America #156 (Dec. 1972), which he was unable to complete. According to Nick Caputo (per his post on Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae, Monday, January 23, 2012), he reportedly had a nervous breakdown, and did no more work in the comics field for the last two decades of his life.

Notes
  1. Sam Rosen (b. 1922)
  2. Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.
  3. Grand Comics Database: Police Comics #13 (Nov. 1942), which reprinted the June 30, 1940 Spirit story.
  4. Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.
  5. Klein, Todd. "Joe Rosen Passes," Todd's Blog: Todd Klein on Lettering, Life, Literature, and More (October 12, 2009).

References
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