Fran Hopper (July 13, 1922 – November 29, 2017), née Frances R. Deitrick, was an American

comic-book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist active during the 1930s–1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. One of the earliest women in the field, she drew primarily for the publisher

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...

on features, including "Jane Martin", "Glory Forbes", "Camilla", "Mysta of the Moon", and "Gale Allen and Her All Girl Squadron".

Early life

Hopper was born in Maryland as the second oldest of five children of Stapelton C. and Emily R. Dietrick, and by age 7 was living in

Rutherford, New Jersey Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough's population was 18,834. Rutherford was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 21, 1881, fr ...

. By 1940, the family was living in Nutley, New Jersey.

Career

Hopper entered the

field in 1943 through the

S. M. Iger Studio Samuel Maxwell "Jerry" Iger (; August 22, 1903 – September 5, 1990) was an American cartoonist and art-studio entrepreneur. With business partner Will Eisner, he co-founded Eisner & Iger, a comic book packager that produced comics on deman ...

, one of the era's "packaging studios" that produced outsourced comics for publishers. Because comics creators were not routinely credited at the time, Hopper's first comics work is undetermined. Her first confirmed credit, under the name Fran Dietrick, is as penciler and inker of the six-page

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

feature "Norge Benson" in publisher

's ''

Planet Comics ''Planet Comics'' was a science fiction comic book title published by Fiction House from January 1940 to Winter 1953. It was the first comic book dedicated wholly to science fiction.Benton, Mike. ''Science Fiction Comics: The Illustrated History'' ...

'' #24 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d May 1943).Fran Hopper
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

. Page 1 and Page
archived
from the originals on December 14, 2017. For the same publisher, she went on to do the humor feature "Private Elmer Pippin and the Colonel's Daughter" and the adventure feature "Glory Forbes" in ''Rangers Comics''; the biographical feature "Yank Aces of World War II" in ''

Wings Comics ''Wings Comics'' was an aviation-themed anthology comic book published by Fiction House from 1940–1954. ''Wings Comics'' was one of Fiction House's "Big 6" comics titles (which also included '' Jumbo Comics'', ''Jungle Comics'', ''Planet Comics' ...

''; the science-fiction feature "Gale Allen and the Girl Squadron" in ''Planet Comics''; and the nature features "African Wild Life" and "Jungle Facts" in ''Jungle Comics''. Following her marriage, her first known work signed Fran Hopper is in two comics both cover-dated May 1944: "Monkey Business — The Tree-Folk of Africa" in ''Jungle Comics'' #53, and an illustrated text story plus the "Gale Allen" feature in ''Planet Comics'' #30. She is most associated with three features. In ''Planet Comics'', she quickly took over art for the science-fiction feature "Mysta of the Moon", created by pseudonymous writer Ross Gallun and artist Joe Doolin in issue #35 (March 1945), drawing it from #37–40, 42, 48–49 (July 1945 — July 1947). In ''Jungle Comics'', she drew the jungle-girl adventure feature "Camilla", created by an unknown writer and artist C.A. Winter in issue #1 (Jan. 1940), from issue #70-92 (Oct. 1945 – Aug. 1947). And in ''Wings Comics'', she drew the

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

feature "Jane Martin", created by pseudonymous writer Fred Hawk and an unconfirmed artist in issue #1 (Sept. 1940), from #67–84 (March 1946 – August 1947). One source gives her last credited work as appearing in 1948, though the

gives it as the "Jane Martin" story in ''Wings Comics'' #84 (Aug. 1947). As well, one source says Hopper drew some

Patsy Walker Patricia "Patsy" Walker is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stuart Little and Ruth Atkinson, Patsy Walker first appeared in ''Miss America Magazine'' #2 (November 1944), published by Marvel precu ...

teen-humor stories from Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, but gives no specifics and no such work is listed at that database.

Personal life

She married Dr. John B. Hopper II (October 3, 1920–Feb. 19, 2010) in 1944 and started signing her name as "Fran Hopper." They had three children: John B. Hopper III, Peter B. Hopper, and Anne R. Knutson.she married Eric Knutson. Her daughter Anne had four children Jonathan knutson, Liz knutson, Mark Knutson and David. The family lived in Mendham, New Jersey, until 1955, when they moved to

Chester, New Jersey Chester Borough is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 1,649,Arabian horses The Arabian or Arab horse ( ar, الحصان العربي , DIN 31635, DMG ''ḥiṣān ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is ...

. They returned to Mendham in 1955, then moved to

Thornton, New Hampshire Thornton is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,708 at the 2020 census, up from 2,490 at the 2010 census. History Thornton was incorporated on July 6, 1763, and named for Doctor Matthew Thornton, a signe ...

, in 1974. In 2006, Hopper and her husband moved to the retirement home The Pines in the Whiting section of

Manchester Township, New Jersey Manchester Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The township is noted for containing the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, the site of the infamous Hindenburg disaster of May 6, 1937. As of the 2020 United States census ...

. Hopper died in New Jersey on November 29, 2017.

Accolades

In 2000, Hopper was nominated to the

Friends of Lulu Friends of Lulu was a non-profit, national charitable organization in the United States, which operated from 1994–2011 to promote readership of comic books by women and the participation of women in the comic book industry. Membership was op ...

Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

*''Jungle Comics'' (1940) #53–55, 58–62, 64, 66–68, 70–92 *''Movie Comics'' (1946) #1 *''Planet Comics'' (1940) #23–26, 28–42, 48–49, 68 *''Rangers Comics'' (1941) #11–18, 25–27, 31 * ''Wings Comics'' (1940) #41–44, 46–47, 49, 67–84

References

External links

*
Fran Hopper
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Fran 1922 births 2017 deaths American female comics artists Golden Age comics creators Artists from Maryland 20th-century American artists Artists from New Jersey People from Chester Borough, New Jersey People from Manchester Township, New Jersey People from Thornton, New Hampshire