Bubble Troubleby Laura Dower, May 2000. Cover design by Peter Kobish. Around 2000,Scholasticpublished a series of picture story books adapted fromCartoon Network’sPowerpuff Girls. The main typeface on the covers (and, for some books, also on interior pages) isWhachouse. Designed in 1993 as part of House Industries’General Collection,Ken Barber’s bold wide semi-slab appears to be inspired by faces likeBenguiat Interlock. A decade later, in 2004, House Industries would collaborate withEd Benguiaton a more advanced interpretation of a similar design,Ed Interlock. Whachouse is typically used with one or more colored contours, and a curved setting of the subtitle. All smaller text is inZuzana Licko’sBase 9 Sans. ThePowerpuff Girlslogo is custom drawn and doesn’t use a font. There at least two fonts based on it, though:Powerpuff Girlsby Tom White and Powerpuff byNeale DavidsonofPixel Sagas(2011–2014, revised in 2015 and renamedUtonium). The Cartoon Network logo that’s partly visible in the top right corner usesEagle,see the dedicated post. Mojo Jojo’s Risingby Laura Dower, April 2000. Cover design by Peter Kobish. Monkey See Doggy Doby Laura Dower, October 2000. Cover design by Peter Kobish. Snow-Offby E.S. Mooney, December 2000. Design by Louise Bova. Fishy Businessby Laura Dower, 2001. Cover by Christopher Cook, design by Louise Bova. The Mane Eventby Alice Jablonsky, 2002. Cover by Bill Alger, design by Bethany Dixon. Let the Fur Flyby Laura Dower, 2002. Cover by Carlo Lo Raso, design by Peter Kobish.
This typography system captures the anarchic-yet-wholesome energy of The Powerpuff Girls—combining the bold, chunky confidence of Whachouse with its semi-slab structure that feels both heroic and approachable. The wide letterforms and colored contours create a comic book aesthetic that's muscular enough for superhero action but playful enough for preschool audiences, embodying the show's unique blend of sugar-rush excitement and Saturday morning cartoon nostalgia.
Whachouse's bold, wide semi-slab construction with its thick strokes and generous x-height provides excellent readability at small sizes while commanding attention on book covers. The face's Benguiat Interlock-inspired DNA gives it a retro comic book authority, while its rounded terminals soften the impact for young readers. Base 9 Sans provides perfect contrast as a clean, neutral sans-serif that doesn't compete with Whachouse's theatrical personality, creating clear typographic hierarchy between titles and supporting text.
The pairing creates perfect tension between spectacle and clarity—Whachouse delivers the superhero bombast and visual excitement expected from cartoon-based media, while Base 9 Sans grounds the design with readable, unpretentious functionality. This hierarchy mirrors the show's own balance between over-the-top action sequences and gentle moral lessons, with the display type handling the "pow!" moments and the text type managing the narrative flow.