Ben Oda (December 21, 1915 - November 1984) was a Japanese-American letterer for comic books and comic strips.
During World War II, Oda was a paratrooper. Entering the comics industry after WWII, some of his earliest lettering was for Hillman Periodicals' Airboy and Real Clue Crime Stories, which connected him with the Simon & Kirby team. In the 1950s, his lettering appeared in the EC Comics edited by Harvey Kurtzman. He also contributed to DC Comics and many titles from other publishers.
Comic strips lettered by Oda include Apartment 3-G, Big Ben Bolt, Dondi, The Dropouts, Flash Gordon, Johnny Hazard, Little Orphan Annie, Miss Peach, On Stage, The Phantom, Prince Valiant, Rip Kirby, The Spirit and Steve Canyon.
His wife, Nishi Oda, also did lettering.
Odaballoon, created by Oda's family, is a tribute freeware typeface in his lettering style.
I've seen love go by my door
It's never been this close before
Never been so easy or so slow.
Been shooting in the dark too long
When somethin's not right it's wrong
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Dragon clouds so high above
I've only known careless love,
It's always hit me from below.
This time around it's more correct
Right on target, so direct,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Purple clover, Queen Anne lace,
Crimson hair across your face,
You could make me cry if you don't know.
Can't remember what I was thinkin' of
You might be spoilin' me too much, love,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Flowers on the hillside, bloomin' crazy,
Crickets talkin' back and forth in rhyme,
Blue river runnin' slow and lazy,
I could stay with you forever
And never realize the time.
Situations have ended sad,
Relationships have all been bad.
Mine've been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud.
But there's no way I can compare
All those scenes to this affair,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Yer gonna make me wonder what I'm doin',
Stayin' far behind without you.
Yer gonna make me wonder what I'm sayin',
Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin' to.
I'll look for you in old Honolulu,
San Francisco, Ashtabula,
Yer gonna have to leave me now, I know.
But I'll see you in the sky above,
In the tall grass, in the ones I love,