Frederick George Kelly (September 8, 1921 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

– September 14, 2005 in

Owen Sound Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attractio ...

) was a

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 ...

writer and artist known for his contributions to the " Canadian Whites" era during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Kelly worked for Bell Productions in Toronto, where his creations included the original version of the character " Mr. Monster".Fred Kelly
at Lambiek; by Lambiek; published 12 November 2010; retrieved 21 March 2014 He also worked for the Montreal-based "Educational Projects", where he illustrated non-fictional comics about Canadian historical figures.FRED KELLY, ARTIST AND REALTOR 1921-2005
; by Tom Hawthorn; published in ''

the Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 24, 2005; page S-9; archived at the

Ontario Genealogical Society The Ontario Genealogical Society, operating as Ontario Ancestors since early 2019, is the largest organization devoted to research into family history in Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1961Harry, George, "Thrill of Tracing Your Own History", ''The S ...

In 1946, Kelly briefly worked with

Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To N ...

on "The Other Half", a comic strip based on Runyon's Prohibition-era stories; however, this project collapsed with Runyon's death. Kelly subsequently left comics, and worked in various fields including

medical illustration A medical illustration is a form of biological illustration that helps to record and disseminate medical, anatomical, and related knowledge. History Medical illustrations have been made possibly since the beginning of medicine in any case for hu ...

and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

.Fred Kelly Remembered (Part 1)
by Michael T. Gilbert; in '' Alter Ego'' #56, page 64 (archived at

Issuu Issuu, Inc. (pronounced "issue") is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. Founded in 2004 as a Danish startup, the company moved its headquarters to the United States in 2013. ...

); published February 2006 In 2003, Michael T. Gilbert (whose 1980s creation of "Mr. Monster" was directly inspired by Kelly's work)ICONS Interview with Michael T. Gilbert - MR. MONSTER
at Icons of Fright; published 2008; retrieved March 21, 2014 wrote a tribute to Kelly, and — in the process of researching Kelly — befriended comics historian Robert Pincombe; the next year Pincombe notified Gilbert that he had located Kelly, who (to Gilbert's surprise) was still alive. Kelly subsequently appeared as Gilbert's invited guest at the June 2004

Toronto Comic Con The Toronto Comic Con was an annual comic book convention held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It started in 2003 and was sold in 2009 to Wizard Entertainment owner Gareb Shamus. It was subsequently relaunched as a Wizard event in 2010. The event h ...

. Kelly's complete run of "The Adventures of Doc Stearn" and the two issue debut of "Mister Monster" were collected into a single volume through the efforts of comics publisher enthusiast Rachel Richey and independent Canadian publisher RAID Press in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Fred University of Toronto alumni Golden Age comics creators 1921 births 2005 deaths