Ben Oda
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Ben Oda (21 December 1915 - November 1984) was a Japanese–American comic strip letterer. He fought in World War II as a paratrooper and later provided lettering for many leading comic strips, including Apartment 3-G, Big Ben Bolt, Dondi, The Dropouts, Flash Gordon, Little Orphan Annie, Mary Perkins, On Stage, The Phantom, Prince Valiant, Rip Kirby and The Spirit.
He lettered numerous comic books, notably for the Harvey Kurtzman-edited EC Comics, Warren Publishing and DC Comics and is also known for his title logos, as seen on the early Mad and Warren's Eerie.
When Oda was in an all-Japanese bowling league, one of his teammates was Bill Yoshida. He taught the trade to Yoshida who went on to letter for Archie Comics and other companies.
Odaballoon, created by Ben Oda's family, is a tribute freeware typeface in the style of his lettering.
