Fred Kida (December 12, 1920 – April 3, 2014) was a

Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...

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 ...

and

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

best known for the 1940s aviator hero

Airboy Airboy is a fictional aviator hero of an American comic book series initially published by Hillman Periodicals during the World War II-era time period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He was created by writers Charles Biro ...

and his antagonist and sometime ally Valkyrie during the period fans and historians call the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

. He went on to draw for

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 ...

' 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics, in a variety of genres and styles, and then again for Marvel

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

titles in the 1970s. He drew the company's ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'' newspaper comic strip during the early to mid-1980s. Kida also assisted artist Dan Barry on the long-running strip ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

'' from 1958 to 1961 and then again from 1968 to 1971.

Biography

Early life and career

Born on December 12, 1920,Fred Kida
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Archived
from the original on September 11, 2015. in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and raised in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Kida attended the city's American School of Design, where

Bill Fraccio William Fraccio (July 9, 1920 – October 24, 2005)William Fraccio
Bob Fujitani Robert Fujitani (October 15, 1921 – September 6, 2020) was an American comic book artist. Biography Fujitani was born in 1921 to an Irish-Japanese family. After studying art in New York City, he drew comics for several small publishers within t ...

were classmates. Like many young artists in the 1930s to 1940s

, he then broke into the field at the Jerry Iger Studio, formerly

Eisner & Iger Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Many of comic books' most significant c ...

, one of the earliest "packagers" that produced outsourced comic book content for

publishers Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

entering the new

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

. Starting as an

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...

and background artist in 1941, Kida moved on to a staff position at Iger client

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

. There he both

penciled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

and inked his first known credited work, the feature "Phantom Clipper" in ''Military Comics'' #9 (April 1942).Fred Kida
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 ...

Airboy and afterward

In 1942, he joined

Hillman Periodicals Hillman Periodicals, Inc., was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher. It is best known for its true confession and true crime magazines; for the long-runni ...

, where he drew such features as "Iron Ace" (from its premiere in ''Air Fighters Comics'' #2, Nov. 1942), "Boy King" and "Gunmaster", and the following year began work on his most prominent Golden Age character,

. That aviation hero, created by writer

Charles Biro Charles Biro (May 12, 1911 – March 4, 1972) was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He is today chiefly known for creating the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and for his work at Lev Gleason Publications on '' Dared ...

with scripter

Dick Wood Malcolm Richard Wood (February 29, 1936 – April 4, 2015) was an American football quarterback and coach who played college football at Auburn and professionally in the American Football League (AFL). After his player career ended, Wood served ...

and artist Al Camy, appeared initially in ''Air Fighters Comics'', later renamed ''Airboy Comics''. Aside from Airboy himself, the feature was known for the sexy antagonist Valkyrie, a cleavage-baring

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

aviatrix who soon defected and became his ally. Kida remained on the feature through 1948, afterward working with writer Biro on such Hillman

crime comics Crime comics is a genre of American comic book, American comic books and format of crime fiction. The genre was originally popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s and is marked by a moralistic editorial tone and graphic depictions of violence a ...

as the seminal ''Crime Does Not Pay''. From 1949 to 1951, he drew

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, crime and

romance comics Romance comics is a comics genre depicting strong and close romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published t ...

for

Lev Gleason Publications Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and ''Boy Comics''. Backgr ...

, signing some stories Kid or KID. In 1952, he left to freelance for Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of

. There he worked on characters including the

gunslingers the

Ringo Kid The Ringo Kid is a fictional Western appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. His comic book series was originally released by the company's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. A lesser-known character than the company's Kid Colt ...

and the

Two-Gun Kid The Two-Gun Kid is the name of two Western fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first, Clay Harder, was introduced in a 1948 comic from Marvel predecessor Timely Comics. The second, Matt Hawk a. ...

and the medieval hero the

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with t ...

, plus humor, horror,

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and

Bible stories The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. Kida returned to Marvel in the 1970s, primarily as an inker, working on such characters as

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

, Ka-Zar,

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...

and

Man-Wolf John Jonah Jameson III (also known as Colonel Jupiter, the Man-Wolf and the Stargod) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as the son of J. Jonah Jameson, and a friend to ...

, plus

Captain Britain Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in ''Captain Britain Weekly'' #1 by writer Ch ...

for

Marvel UK Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dill ...

. His final known full comic-book credit is the superhero-team title '' The Defenders'' #72 (June 1979) — featuring Marvel's unrelated character

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...

. His last known published comic-book work was artwork for the two-page text feature "Re-Educating Valkyrie" in

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

's ''Valkyrie!'' #1 (May 1987), one of that publisher's revamped Airboy comics, and penciling the character entry for the

Grand Director William Burnside, PhD,''Captain America'' #602 also known as the Captain America of the 1950s, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Busce ...

in Marvel's ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' #17 (Aug. 1987).

Comic strips

In addition to his comic-book work, Kida in 1941 was one of writer-artist

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

's assistants on the

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

Sunday-supplement comic-book ''

The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid (paper size), tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday editio ...

''; Main pag
archived
from the original on July 4, 2012. and from 1946-47 assisted Fujitani (also known as "Bob Wells") on the comic strip ''Judge Wright''. He also briefly assisted

Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates (comic strip), Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography ...

on the strip ''

Steve Canyon ''Steve Canyon'' is an American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, '' Terry and the Pirates'', ''Steve Canyon'' ran from January 13, 1947, until June 4, 1988. It ...

''. Most prominently, Kida assisted

Dan Barry on the long-running strip ''

'' from 1958 to 1961 and then again from 1968 to 1971, and under his own byline drew the comic strip ''

'' from August 1981 to July 1986, returning to do the Sunday editions from September 1996 to July 1997.

Personal life

Kida married Elly Ahnert on October 5, 1946, and they had two children, Paul and Peter. An elder in the Port Chester Congregation of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

, he died on April 3, 2014.

Reprints include

* ''Fred Kida's Valkyrie!'' (Ken Pierce, Inc., 1982) :Black-and-white reprints of selected stories from ''Air Fighters Comics'' vol. 2, #2 & 7; and ''Airboy Comics'' vol. 2, #12, and vol. 3, #6 & 12. Introduction by

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

References

External links

Fred Kida
at AtlasTales.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kida, Fred American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American people of Japanese descent Golden Age comics creators People from Manhattan 1920 births 2014 deaths Atlas Comics Marvel Comics people