How The Watchmen Inspired Comic Sans

Did you know that Comic Sans is heavily based on the lettering of dark, gritty comics like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.

Text from wikipedia that says "... he decided to create a new typeface with only a mouse and cursor, based on the lettering style of comic books he had in his office, specifically The Dark Knight Returns (lettered by John Costanza) & Watchmen (lettered by Dave Gibbons)." The text is written in Comic Sans font.

Given it’s current reputation, I never would have guessed Comic Sans took inspiration back to two of the darkest and most influential comics of the 1980s, so I had to see it for myself.

Batman ripping apart a riffle and saying "this is the weapon of the enemy! We do not need it. We will not use it." The font is written in comic sans, but doesn't look to out of place.
Comic Sans version
Batman ripping apart a riffle and saying "this is the weapon of the enemy! We do not need it. We will not use it." The font is handwritten. This is the original version from Dark Knight Returns.
original version

I started by replacing the lettering in a classic Batman panel with Comic Sans. Then I did the same thing with a few panels from Watchmen.

Three panels from Watchmen, showing Rorschach challenging Dr. Manhattan to keep him in order to keep a secret safe. "Do it!", Rorshcach begs. The font is written in comic sans, but doesn't look to out of place.
Comic Sans’d Watchmen
Three panels from Watchmen, showing Rorschach challenging Dr. Manhattan to keep him in order to keep a secret safe. "Do it!", Rorshcach begs. The font is handwritten. This is the original handwriting by Dave Gibbons.
Original Watchmen

I was really impressed by how well Comic Sans worked in these comics, especially in that Watchmen panel. I mean… holy cow! Comic Sans looks nearly identical to Dave Gibbon’s original lettering.

I originally Comic Sans-ified these comics as a joke, but the results aren’t as weird as I had expected. Thinking about it more, I think it’s because we usually think of Comic Sans as mixed-case usage, but comics are usually lettered in all uppercase. Case in point:

Batman ripping apart a riffle and saying "this is the weapon of the enemy! We do not need it. We will not use it." The font is written in comic sans, but with mixed case lettering. It certainly looks weird, but mostly because comics are usually written in all caps.
Comic Sans’d with mixed case usage

The lesson here is that Comic Sans is surprisingly good for lettering comics, but only if you use it correctly (no lowercase!).

Also, Dave Gibbons deserve some heavy credit for his influence on Comic Sans font.

If you’re interested in learning more about Comic Sans, including why some people with dyslexia find it easier to read, check out this special episode of Very Special Episodes.