Ramona Fradon obit

Comic Book Creator Ramona Fradon Has Died, Aged 97

 Comic book creator Ramona Fradon has died at the age of 97. Her agent, Catskill Comics, posted the news earlier today.

She was not on the list.

Comic book creator Ramona Fradon has died at the age of 97. Her agent, Catskill Comics, posted the news earlier today. "It comes with great sadness to announce that Ramona Fradon has passed away just a few moments ago. Ramona was 97 and had a long career in the comic book industry, and was still drawing just a few days ago. She was a remarkable person in so many ways. I will miss all the great conversations and laughs we had. I am blessed that I was able to work with her on a professional level, but also able to call her my friend. If anyone wishes to send a card to the family, Please feel free to send them to Catskill Comics, and I'll be happy to pass them along. You can send cards to Catskill Comics "Fradon Family", Po Box 264, Glasco, NY 12432"

It was only last month that Ramona Fradon retired. And she means it this time. Catskill Comics posted to their website, "after an extremely long run in the comic industry, at 97, Ramona has decided it's time for her to retire. She will no longer be doing commissions. She apologizes to all the fans who have been waiting patiently on her wait list to get one. She did say from time to time she'll do a drawing or two to put up for sale on the website."

And indeed a few pages were  still for sale on her agents' website. Ramona Fradon, born in 1926 is best known for drawing and reinventing Aquaman – her name was on the credits of the recent movie – as well as co-creating the superhero Metamorpho. Her comic book career began after graduating from the Parsons School of Design in 1950. Her first published work was on Shining Knight from DC Comics and she got a regular gig on the Adventure Comics strip, Aquaman, including the Silver Age relaumch of the character in Adventure Comics #260, and the creation of the sidekick character Aqualad in Adventure Comics #269. She then co-creators the character  Metamorpho for The Brave And The Bold series as well as his subsequent spinoff. She also drew The Brave and the Bold #59, a Batman/Green Lantern team-up, the first time that series teamed Batman with another DC superhero, and setting the format up for the series going forward.

Ramona Fradon left comics from 1965 to 1972 to raise her family. but returned in 1972 to draw Plastic Man, Freedom Fighters, and Super Friends, which she pencilled for almost its entire run, during which she also drew a couple of issues for Marvel, In 1980, she took over Dale Messick, drawing the newspaper strip Brenda Starr, Reporter, until 1995. When she retired for the first time. But she kept doing private commissions, drew Mermaidman stories for SpongeBob Comics, graphic novels The Adventures of Unemployed Man in 2010, The Dinosaur That Got Tired of Being Extinct in 2012, the collection The Art of Ramona Fradon, and covers for DC Comics. Her name was also the inspiration for the Scott Pilgrim character Ramona Flowers.

Ramona Dom was born on October 2, 1926, in Chicago and moved to New York when she was five. She grew up on the outskirts of New York City in Westchester County. Her father, Peter Dom, was a well known commercial lettering man and designed logos for Elizabeth Arden, Camel, and Lord & Taylor. Fradon also had an older brother and uncle in the lettering business. Her brother worked as a technician for the Air Corps overseas and eventually died of alcoholism. Her mother fell ill and died in 1952. She never read comic books growing up but she had a love for newspaper strips. Fradon's father was the one that encouraged her to go to art school.

From 1965 to 1972, Fradon left comics to raise her daughter. In 1972, she returned to DC where later in the decade she would draw Plastic Man, Freedom Fighters, and Super Friends which she penciled for almost its entire run. She also worked for Marvel Comics during this period, but left after only two assignments: a fill-in issue of Fantastic Four and the never-published fifth issue of The Cat. Fradon recounted:

First of all, I was really rusty. And [on The Cat #5] I was totally confounded by not drawing from a script. They gave me this one paragraph and said go draw this 17-page story. I don't think I did my best work by any means. I think I had a script on Fantastic Four, but I just don't think they were satisfied with my work. Then I went back to DC and started doing mysteries with Joe Orlando. I really had a lot of fun doing that. It suited my style, I think.

In 1980, Dale Messick retired from drawing the newspaper strip Brenda Starr, Reporter, and Fradon became the artist for it until her own retirement in 1995. She went back to college in 1980 at New York University where she studied psychology and ancient religions.

Fradon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006. She was married to Cartoonist Dana Fradon.