Irv Watanabe

Irv Watanabe (1919–1993) was a comics letterer and commercial artist born Hitoshi Irving Watanabe in Hawaii. He studied commercial art in Honolulu and contributed illustrations to a Hawaiian homemaking guide before moving into the New York comics industry in 1940.

His early work included comics for MLJ and Lev Gleason, followed by advertising work with Johnstone and Cushing. He became a prolific Marvel letterer during the late 1960s and 1970s, with credits on titles including X-Men, Rawhide Kid and Not Brand Echh. His career also encompassed work for DC and Warren and lettering for Hostess comic-strip advertisements, linking the production of comic books with commercial illustration.