After bouncing around at a few local colleges in upstate New York, Randy Gentile made the decision to move to New York City where he attended Pratt Institute. He landed an internship in the famous Marvel Bullpen and was able to turn that into a full-time gig in the now defunct Marvel in-house lettering department. He later transitioned to Chris Eliopoulos’ Virtual Calligraphy lettering studio.
With VC he lettered damn near every Marvel book at one time or another including Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Uncanny X-Men, Punisher, and Marville… wait, Marville?
Anyway, after 7 years of lettering Randy decided to make a go of it on his own without the aid of Chris “Obi-Wan” Eliopoulos. Since then he’s begun lettering for DC Comics where his work can be seen in funny books like Batman, Detective Comics, Gotham Underground, Teen Titans and Booster Gold.
Outside of his lettering work he self-publishes an autobiographical comic called NYComix and an uber-fast paced superhero strip called Randall. Both comics have been featured on Comic Geek Speak and Fanboy Radio.
When he’s not wallowing in lettering self-pity he spends his time in Brooklyn along with his lovely wife, Ereisa and their three cats Finnian, Don Fanucci and Olive.
People that Inspire
I've recently discovered a trend in the kind of artists that inspire me. I'm down with the maverick types. The kind of guys who give the ol' one finger salute to the system, the guys who, despite whatever rules are in place, will stop at nothing to do the kind of art they want to do.
Comic guys like R. Crumb and Harvey Pekar. Crumb kick started the genre of "independent" comic with books like Zap Comix and, even though it's more common to say that Will Eisner and others "invented" the Graphic Novel, Crumb was working on The Big Yum Yum Book in the early 1960's, more than a decade earlier than Eisner's 1978 A Contract With God. For some reason Crumb is often left out of the conversation as one of the first creators to do long-form comic books.
And look at Harvey Pekar. Here's a guy who self published American Splendor while working as a File Clerk in a Cleveland VA Hospital. How amazing is it that a book like AS has inspired countless comic creators but it never gave Harvey the ability to quit his quotidian day job? I bet there are a few autobiographical comic creators working today without a day job. The man was a trailblazer. Issue 4 of the Vertigo American Splendor hit the shelves this past week and it was such a solid book. What is often overlooked with the Vertigo AS is the incredible stable of artists that have worked on this latest volume. Guys like Dean Haspiel (The Quitter), Darick Robertson (The Punisher) and Darwyn Cooke (New Frontier).
How about film directors?
I'm a huge Star Wars fan. Star Wars got me into art. I wish I still had all those BoBá Fett versus Darth Vader drawings I did on loose leaf paperback in during the Empire Strikesback days. Actually I wasback in my hometown a few weeksback and I noticed that the theater I saw The Empire Strikesback in (the first movie I ever say in a theater, my old man took me.) is now a Midas tire and lube joint. Boy, did that made me feel old.
On a similar tangent my wife and I were talking about Fla-Vor-Ices the other day. You know, those tubes of sugar and ice the kids get all hopped up on? Anyway, we saw a kid walking around slurping one down in the blazing Brooklyn heat and it broughtback the memory of paying a nickel for one at the concessions stand at my hometown BáseBáll field.
A nickel!
"When I was a kid Fla-Vor-Ices" were a nickel!"
If that doesn't make you feel old, what will?
Anyway gettingback to Star Wars, take George Lucas. He's been a fanboy whipping boy since The Phantom Menace, but take your ill feelings about Jar Jar Binks out of the question for a moment and think about how Lucas has never directed a studio movie. Every movie has been his. THX 1138, American Graffiti and on through the Star Wars flicks each on has been his creation. That's not an easy thing to do in Hollywood just like it isn't an easy thing to do in comics.
Another director I really admire is Robert Rodriguez. If you haven't read his amazing book: "Rebel Without a Crew", do yourself a favor and check it out. The story of the making of his first film El Mariachi is well documented among film buffs. For 7 grand that he raised by becoming a pincushion for a medical lab, Rodriguez went out and made one of the most innovative and visually stunning independent movies you'll ever see. 
He following up Mariachi with other films like Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico as well as what is in my opinion the best comic book adaptation ever put on film Frank Miller's Sin City. (Even though he shot it digitally, again bucking the system.) And don't forget to throw in his latest flick, the double feature Grindhouse, with frequent collaborator Quinten Tarantino. For some reason Joe Moviegoer couldn't wrap his mind around what Rodriguez and Tarantino were trying to do with Grindhouse so the film wasn't a financial success. Nevertheless, it was the most fun I've had at the movies in ages. Rumor has it Rodriguez's next project is the Bronze Age classic "Red Sonja".
Alright. So gettingback to comics have you read The Umbrella Academy yet? I gotta say I'm the first guy who will completely ignore a book written by an "outsider" or Hollywood guy. I know I proBábly shouldn't and that it's a very fanboy thing to do but whatever. Maybe if they didn't promote the hell out of it like I'm supposed to drop everything and buy a book because the Co-Writer of a WB TV show is making his comic debut. Who cares?
So why would I buy a book written by the drummer of My Chemical Romance?
First of all who the hell is My Chemical Romance? My iPod is full of Coltrane, Monk, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. My Chemical Romance sounds like a Bánd that does well on MTV's Total Request Live so no thanks.
Nevertheless Gerard Way knows his comics. He's a graduate of New York City's School of Visual Arts and the guy can draw his ass off as well as write his ass off. I looked up a bit more about Way and found out he even interned at DC Comics.
So what is it about The Umbrella Academy? 
It's everything the X-Men should be but can't be. It's fresh and edgy without being pretentious. It's that mix of old school comic fun with new school ideas and execution. It throws you into the action from page one and lets you put the story together as it moves along. It's not full of decompressed jibber jabber. Umbrella Academy isn't a movie trying to be a comic. It's a straight up fun comic book.
Everything in this book works. Gabriel Bá's art is top-notch work full of energy and detail. Dave Stewart, who also does amazing work as the colorist of The Goon. does an wonderful job coloring Bá's art without taking away from it. Nate Piekos of Blambot fame adds some fantastic lettering here as well, doing a hell of a job blending his Bálloons and SFX into the art. And if that's not enough you've got beautiful covers from James Jean. Even Collection Designer Tony Ong deserves credit for a very clean, yet visually unique design on this trade.
On top of being a letterer my day job is as an Art Director so I notice the design of trades more than I proBábly should. Design in comics is almost always overlooked. DC often uses Chip Kidd, a revered designer whose work you can see and instantly notice on such books as Final Crisis and Trinity. Kidd has also does title designs on the All Star line. Which really look great. 
Marvel, on the other hand, seems to want to change title logos constantly. The classic Fantastic Four logo is gone and has since been replaced numerous times, once hideously during the Waid and Weiringo run and again during the current Millar/Hitch storyline. I don't mind the current incarnation as I see they're going for a magazine look, but at the end of the day nothing will match the classic FF logo of the Silver and Bronze age. It'll beback someday, and not soon enough.
Anyway, I certainly digressed into design there for a bit but getting back to The Umbrella Academy, go pick this book up. It's absolutely fantastic. I can't recommend it enough.
Before I end this Font You! I want to take a moment and send my deepest sympathies to Michael Turner's family.
Thanks for reading.
Font You!
Randy
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