1970’s-1980’s DC Comics Font

[Rindcorp]

I feel like I should know this but - can anyone identify the font used on this 1980 DC Comics cover?  The text that reads “4 COMPLETE STORIES” and “SUPERMAN BATMAN...etc”?  Would love to find a free matching font if possible. Thanks in advance!

[Riccardo Sartori]

They look like different widths of Eurostile.

[Rindcorp]

Ricardo - I believe you are correct!!  Thank you so much!

[Ignacio]

Eurostile or Microgramma ? 😊

 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Ignacio

[Riccardo Sartori]

34 minutes ago, Ignacio said:

Eurostile or Microgramma ?

Given that there isn’t a condensed width of Microgramma, it’s either Eurostile and Microgramma, or Eurostile and Eurostile Extended.

[Ignacio]

From the book Type and Typography by Ben Rosen, 1976 edition:

[Riccardo Sartori]

20 minutes ago, Ignacio said:

From the book Type and Typography by Ben Rosen, 1976 edition

I stand corrected!

[Ignacio]

🙂 I believe it is Microgramma. When I  saw the cover the first one I thought about was Eurostile, but there were something in the N the M and the G that were not right on, and Microgramma, from those years, is right on I think.

[Rindcorp]

I spoke to a professional comic book letterer. He told me these fonts were created by a Vari-Typer machine (if anyone knows what that is). Looks like some form of Microgramma to me too. Thanks for the feedback!

[Rindcorp]

Ok.  The "ALL NEW" "4 COMPLETE STORIES" does not appear to be either Microgramma or Eurostile.  Any other ideas??

[Rindcorp]

Well, I guess it's the same font, just squished somehow.  Didn't think the typesetting machine was capable of that...

[Riccardo Sartori]

5 hours ago, Rindcorp said:

I guess it's the same font, just squished somehow.

Exactly.

5 hours ago, Rindcorp said:

Didn't think the typesetting machine was capable of that

I don’t think it either. This is most probably achieved via phototypesetting.

[Rindcorp]

So I’ve been using Microgramma Bold Ext in Illustrator, and no matter how I tweak it, I can’t get it to match the cover. Still seems like the wrong font.

[Ralf Herrmann]

You need to use the extended version and squish it a lot horizontally. That’s why the stroke widths are kind of terrible. You will also have to add the corner rounding manually and adjust the kerning. As mentioned before, this is almost certainly phototypesetting and no digital font will exactly match that. 

[Ignacio]

Not having Microgramma Bold (No Extended) I have used my Eurostile Bold (No extended).

I have only “touched” the first line, it’s squished at 69% and with a thin stroke to make it a little bolder. Not exact exact but…

[Rindcorp]

That looks pretty good!  I can get it close, but I’m being anal. I think I need the Microgramma that is just bold - not extended. Also, I’m doing mine in black and white. I own the original art for the cover and am making replacement “stats”. 

[Rindcorp]

I appreciate everyone’s help! 🙂

[George Thomas]

I've done some testing in InDesign using Eurostile Bold and find that to match the top line, if I set it at 25 point, tracking 25, vertically 110%, horizontally 70% and selective kerning in two or three places -- I have an almost perfect match.

 

[Rindcorp]

I’ll give it a try!