Ramona Fradon
Encyclopedia
Ramona Fradon is an American
comic book
and comic strip
artist, known for her work illustrating Aquaman
and Brenda Starr
, and co-creating the superhero Metamorpho
. Her career began in 1950
, when it was even more unusual for women to illustrate superhero comics.
George Ward, a friend of her husband (New Yorker cartoonist Dana Fradon), asked her for samples of her artwork to pitch for job openings. She landed her first assignment on the DC Comics
feature Shining Knight
. Her first regular assignment was illustrating an Adventure Comics
backup feature starring Aquaman
, for which she co-created the sidekick Aqualad
.
Following her time with Aquaman, and taking a break to have her daughter, Fradon returned to co-create Metamorpho
, drawing four issues of the series. She returned briefly to design a few covers for the title.
From 1965 to 1972, Fradon left comics to raise her daughter. In 1972, she returned to DC, with assignments drawing Superman
, Batman
, and Plastic Man
. Her other work includes Marvel
's The Cat
and Fantastic Four
; and DC's Freedom Fighters
and Super Friends (which she penciled for almost its entire run).
In 1980, Dale Messick
retired from drawing the newspaper strip Brenda Starr
, and Fradon became the artist for it, until her own retirement in 1995.
Fradon was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
and comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
artist, known for her work illustrating Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
and Brenda Starr
Brenda Starr
Brenda Starr may refer to:* Brenda Starr, Reporter, a comic strip about a female reporter* Brenda Starr, a 1989 film based on the comic strip* Brenda Starr, Reporter, a 1945 film serial based on the comic strip...
, and co-creating the superhero Metamorpho
Metamorpho
Metamorpho is a fictional character, a superhero in the . He is a founding member of the Outsiders, and has also joined multiple incarnations of the Justice League.-Publication history:...
. Her career began in 1950
1950 in comics
-European publications:* Quatre aventures de Spirou et Fantasio by André Franquin, Dupuis * Eagle launched on April 14 of this year and ran until 1994.-U.S. publications:In 1950 the U.S. comics industry came to a turning point...
, when it was even more unusual for women to illustrate superhero comics.
Career
Fradon entered cartooning just after graduating from the Parsons School of Design. Comic-book lettererLetterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comic's "display lettering": the story title lettering and...
George Ward, a friend of her husband (New Yorker cartoonist Dana Fradon), asked her for samples of her artwork to pitch for job openings. She landed her first assignment on the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
feature Shining Knight
Shining Knight
Shining Knight is the name of three comic book superheroes that have appeared in books published by DC Comics. The original Shining Knight, Sir Justin, was created by Creig Flessel and first appeared in Adventure Comics #66 .-Sir Justin:...
. Her first regular assignment was illustrating an Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
backup feature starring Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
, for which she co-created the sidekick Aqualad
Aqualad
Aqualad is the name of two fictional comic book superheroes appearing in books published by DC Comics. The first Aqualad, Garth, debuted in Adventure Comics #269 , and was created by writer Robert Bernstein and artist Ramona Fradon...
.
Following her time with Aquaman, and taking a break to have her daughter, Fradon returned to co-create Metamorpho
Metamorpho
Metamorpho is a fictional character, a superhero in the . He is a founding member of the Outsiders, and has also joined multiple incarnations of the Justice League.-Publication history:...
, drawing four issues of the series. She returned briefly to design a few covers for the title.
From 1965 to 1972, Fradon left comics to raise her daughter. In 1972, she returned to DC, with assignments drawing Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, and Plastic Man
Plastic Man
Plastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
. Her other work includes Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
's The Cat
Cat (comics)
Cat, in comics, may refer to:* Tigra , a Marvel Comics character whose original superhero identity was The Cat* Patsy Walker, a Marvel Comics character who inherited The Cat costume, and taking the name of Hellcat...
and Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
; and DC's Freedom Fighters
Freedom Fighters (comics)
Freedom Fighters is a DC Comics comic book superhero team made up of characters acquired from the defunct company Quality Comics. Although the characters were created by Quality, they never were gathered in a group before acquired by DC...
and Super Friends (which she penciled for almost its entire run).
In 1980, Dale Messick
Dale Messick
Dalia Messick was an American comic strip artist who used the pseudonym Dale Messick. She was the creator of Brenda Starr, which at its peak during the 1950s ran in 250 newspapers....
retired from drawing the newspaper strip Brenda Starr
Brenda Starr
Brenda Starr may refer to:* Brenda Starr, Reporter, a comic strip about a female reporter* Brenda Starr, a 1989 film based on the comic strip* Brenda Starr, Reporter, a 1945 film serial based on the comic strip...
, and Fradon became the artist for it, until her own retirement in 1995.
Fradon was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.
Further reading
- Career Retrospective, Gold & Silver: Overstreet's Comic Book Quarterly #6 (December 1994). p. 114. Overstreet Publications.
- Interview, Comics Forum #20 (Autumn 1999), pp. 17–22. Comics Creators Guild.