John Costanza

John Costanza (born August 14, 1943, in Dover, New Jersey) is an artist and letterer who has worked in the American comic book industry. He has worked for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was the letterer during Alan Moore's acclaimed run on Swamp Thing. The bulk of Costanza's art assignments have been for funny animal comics and children's oriented material.

Biography

Costanza began his career in 1965, working as Joe Kubert's assistant on the syndicated newspaper strip Tales of the Green Berets. Costanza soon started to work for comic books, both as an artist and a letterer. He started out with contributing to DC titles like G.I. Combat and House of Mystery in the period 1968-1971.

Then, during the 1970s, he produced comics with Warner Brothers characters for Western Publishing.

For Marvel in 1980s, Costanza drew comics with Heathcliff, the Get Along Gang, and Hugga Bunch.

In the 1990s, he returned to Warner Bros. comics, this time for DC's Looney Tunes and Animaniacs titles. He also did stories with Roger Rabbit and Mickey Mouse for Walt Disney Studios. Costanza has also drawn issues of Matt Groening's The Simpsons comics.

Bibliography (selected)

Lettering

• The New Gods (with writer/artist Jack Kirby, DC, 1971)
• Mister Miracle (with writer/artist Jack Kirby, DC, 1971)
• The Forever People (with writer/artist Jack Kirby, DC, 1971)
• Conan the Barbarian (with writer Roy Thomas and artists Barry Smith and John Buscema, Marvel, 1972–1978)
• Tomb of Dracula (with writer Marv Wolfman, penciller Gene Colan, and inker Tom Palmer Marvel, 1972–1979)
• Doctor Strange (with writers Steve Englehart, Marv Wolfman, Jim Starlin, and Roger Stern and artists Frank Brunner, Gene Colan, Rudy Nebres, Al Milgrom, Tom Sutton, and Tom Palmer, Marvel, 1974–1979)
• The Invaders (with writer Roy Thomas, penciller Frank Robbins, and inker Frank Springer, Marvel, 1975–1978)
• Legion of Super-Heroes (with writer Paul Levitz and penciller Keith Giffen, DC, 1982–1984)
• Camelot 3000 (with writer Mike W. Barr and penciller Brian Bolland, DC, 1982–1985
• Crisis on Infinite Earths (with writer Marv Wolfman and penciller George Pérez, DC, 1985–1986)
• Swamp Thing (with writer Alan Moore, DC/Vertigo, 1985–1994)
• The Dark Knight Returns (with writer/penciler Frank Miller and inks by Klaus Janson, 4-issue limited series, DC, 1986)
• Wonder Woman (with writer/artist George Pérez, DC, 1987–1989)
• Sandman Mystery Theatre (with writers Matt Wagner and Steven T. Seagle, Vertigo, 1993–1999)
• Captain America (with writer Mark Waid and penciller Ron Garney, Marvel, 1995–1996)
• Scene of the Crime (with writer Ed Brubaker and penciller Michael Lark, Vertigo, 2000)

Awards

Costanza's lettering has been recognized by both peers and fans. The Academy of Comic Book Arts named him Best Letterer of 1974 (the Shazam Award), and in 1986 and 1987 he won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Letterer for his work on Swamp Thing.

References