Comics' Legend Ramona Fradon, R.I.P.

[JimInks]

Legendary comic book artist Ramona Fradon passed away today at age 97. She was the co-creator of Metamorpho, long time artist on Aquaman and Super Friends along with pencilng stints on Freedom Fighters and Plastic Man for DC Comics. She drew the Brenda Starr newspaper strip for many years. In 1995, I was very fortunate to ink a Brenda Starr daily at the San Diego Con. I didn't have a brush to ink with, so Ramona gave me the one she brought with her. Mark Evanier paid me a high compliment when he said I came closest to matching her style. Some years later I conducted a comprehensive interview with Ramona in Alter Ego #69. For those who are interested, you can purchase a digital copy here, and read about a great cartoonist: Alter Ego 69 : TwoMorrows Publishing, The Future of Comics and LEGO™ Publications. - https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=123_139_141&products_id=563

 

[kcghost]

Man, she goes back a long, long way!! RIP.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I was sad to hear this—but she lived a long life. I loved her Metamorpho comics as a kid.

 

[Daddypants]

I had no idea you were an inker, @JimInks! Your username makes WAY more sense now! I remember Mark Evanier from the old Groo comics. I am a big fan of Sergio Aragones. He was my favorite part of Mad magazine!

Do you still ink? A few years back, I started inking traditionally with crow quill pens and nibs and brushes. I really enjoy it. I prefer it to Copics and other pens.

 

[JimInks]

I had no idea you were an inker, @JimInks! Your username makes WAY more sense now! I remember Mark Evanier from the old Groo comics. I am a big fan of Sergio Aragones. He was my favorite part of Mad magazine!

Do you still ink? A few years back, I started inking traditionally with crow quill pens and nibs and brushes. I really enjoy it. I prefer it to Copics and other pens.

I still ink with a brush a crow quill. Actually, I consider myself to be a finisher because I always do more than just ink. I often fix things while inking when I see the need for it. Unless it's something that requires tech work like buildings, cars, boats, etc., I redraw as I ink.

Mark and Sergio are long time friends of mine. High quality professionals and good people.

 

[Kobold]

Rip. I just read her run on Metamorpho last summer.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Sorry to hear that, Jim. I don't read comics but it's always sad when someone talented dies.

I thought about you the other day, Jim. I've been watching old David Letterman interviews and an interview with a dude called Harvey Pekar came into my recommendations. To be honest I wouldn't have watched it because i'd never heard of him but the title for the video was "Harvey Pekar's On-Air Implosion" which sounded interesting. Apparently, Pekar published a comic for years that was based on his life as a file clark. It was a hilarious car crash interview and Dave seemed to be getting genuinely annoyed, which made it even funnier. Pekar seemed like a really interesting and funny character so I watched a few interviews he'd done with Letterman over the years. I saw that there's a movie based on his life called "American Splendor" which gets good reviews and is now on my watch list.

Anyway, probably gone a bit off topic here. It's just when he started talking about his comic book I thought to myself "I bet Jim knows this dude".

Link to the interview:

 

[JimInks]

Sorry to hear that, Jim. I don't read comics but it's always sad when someone talented dies.

I thought about you the other day, Jim. I've been watching old David Letterman interviews and an interview with a dude called Harvey Pekar came into my recommendations. To be honest I wouldn't have watched it because i'd never heard of him but the title for the video was "Harvey Pekar's On-Air Implosion" which sounded interesting. Apparently, Pekar published a comic for years that was based on his life as a file clark. It was a hilarious car crash interview and Dave seemed to be getting genuinely annoyed, which made it even funnier. Pekar seemed like a really interesting and funny character so I watched a few interviews he'd done with Letterman over the years. I saw that there's a movie based on his life called "American Splendor" which gets good reviews and is now on my watch list.

Anyway, probably gone a bit off topic here. It's just when he started talking about his comic book I thought to myself "I bet Jim knows this dude".

Link to the interview:

Harvey and I were acquaintances because we spent a little time together at San Diego cons, but I didn't know him well enough to say that we were friends. I saw him on Letterman a few times, too, and thought Letterman would get annoyed by Harvey. I though that was dumb of Letterman.

In the 1980s and early 90s, I ran a comic book shop, and always had copies of American Splendor for sale. My favorite stories in them were drawn by Robert Crumb. There was a sense of honesty about life in those stories that you didn't often see in comics. I never did get to see the movie.

 

[Daddypants]

@JimInks Did you ever finish any of Big John Buscema’s work? Buscema was one of my favorites, especially when he was pencilling Savage Sword of Conan. Alfredo Alcala’s inks over Buscema’s pencils was amazing on those early issues.

What advice would you give someone learning how to ink traditionally? Besides practice, practice, practice… lol. Are there any books on pen and ink that you recommend?

I only do this in my limited off time but I have done maybe fifty finished pieces (not “sketches”), most are 11”x17” or 9”x12”. I have recently been learning to color with Bombay India ink. It seems a lot like watercolor to me. Any advice on coloring with inks would be appreciated also.

I hope I ain’t bothering you too much with this. I just don’t know of anyone else who does this traditionally anymore, but I also don’t get around much.

 

[JimInks]

@JimInks Did you ever finish any of Big John Buscema’s work? Buscema was one of my favorites, especially when he was pencilling Savage Sword of Conan. Alfredo Alcala’s inks over Buscema’s pencils was amazing on those early issues.

What advice would you give someone learning how to ink traditionally? Besides practice, practice, practice… lol. Are there any books on pen and ink that you recommend?

I only do this in my limited off time but I have done maybe fifty finished pieces (not “sketches”), most are 11”x17” or 9”x12”. I have recently been learning to color with Bombay India ink. It seems a lot like watercolor to me. Any advice on coloring with inks would be appreciated also.

I hope I ain’t bothering you too much with this. I just don’t know of anyone else who does this traditionally anymore, but I also don’t get around much.

I would have loved to ink John Buscema, but I never had the opportunity.

I know there are books out there on the subject of inking with a pen, but I can't think of any off hand that I can recommend. I remember reading Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptil about 40 years ago, but I couldn't say whether or not that would help you learn how to ink comics. I learned by doing etchings and engraving in college, and by studying line weights, textures and spotting black areas by the top comic artists. I also asked them questions at conventions, but I'm mostly self taught. Look at artists who know how to do all of that like Alex Toth, Mort Meskin, Will Eisner, and Hal Foster, among others.

Inking isn't enough if you don't learn how to draw the structure of forms first. The best way to learn structure is draw real things: people, house interiors and exteriors, trees, rocks, buildings, etc. I'm always thinking structure and form when I do complete art or finished art.

The bottom line is that too many people ignore is that understanding real objects in the real world is the best way to learn how to cartoon/illustrate them.

 

[anotherbob]

Sorry to hear that, Jim. I don't read comics but it's always sad when someone talented dies.

I thought about you the other day, Jim. I've been watching old David Letterman interviews and an interview with a dude called Harvey Pekar came into my recommendations. To be honest I wouldn't have watched it because i'd never heard of him but the title for the video was "Harvey Pekar's On-Air Implosion" which sounded interesting. Apparently, Pekar published a comic for years that was based on his life as a file clark. It was a hilarious car crash interview and Dave seemed to be getting genuinely annoyed, which made it even funnier. Pekar seemed like a really interesting and funny character so I watched a few interviews he'd done with Letterman over the years. I saw that there's a movie based on his life called "American Splendor" which gets good reviews and is now on my watch list.

Anyway, probably gone a bit off topic here. It's just when he started talking about his comic book I thought to myself "I bet Jim knows this dude".

Link to the interview:

great movie great comic. And keep an eye out for the best ad of all times (on a billboard) in the movie. It's a real ad by the way.

 

[anotherbob]

Harvey and I were acquaintances because we spent a little time together at San Diego cons, but I didn't know him well enough to say that we were friends. I saw him on Letterman a few times, too, and thought Letterman would get annoyed by Harvey. I though that was dumb of Letterman.

In the 1980s and early 90s, I ran a comic book shop, and always had copies of American Splendor for sale. My favorite stories in them were drawn by Robert Crumb. There was a sense of honesty about life in those stories that you didn't often see in comics. I never did get to see the movie.

watch it asap. Finding out you've never watched that is like finding out that you've never smoked a commonly lauded blend. It just makes no sense.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Harvey and I were acquaintances because we spent a little time together at San Diego cons, but I didn't know him well enough to say that we were friends. I saw him on Letterman a few times, too, and thought Letterman would get annoyed by Harvey. I though that was dumb of Letterman.

In the 1980s and early 90s, I ran a comic book shop, and always had copies of American Splendor for sale. My favorite stories in them were drawn by Robert Crumb. There was a sense of honesty about life in those stories that you didn't often see in comics. I never did get to see the movie.

Letterman changed his mind after Harvey's death.

"[Pekar] was anti-establishment in a way that you don’t see guys like that anymore. And that used to really upset me, because I just thought ‘Come on Harvey, don’t do this to us, just play the game, blah blah blah blah.’ Now, jeez, I wish I could have had Harvey on every night.”

 

[Daddypants]

@JimInks, I have drawn and painted since a very small child but stopped in high school because I had “to get a real job.” Now that I am older and have made a living doing other things, I have returned to drawing. I was always self taught and have been learning pen and ink. I love it but the “happy accidents” are few and far between. Mainly it’s just accidents. lol.

 

[JimInks]

@JimInks, I have drawn and painted since a very small child but stopped in high school because I had “to get a real job.” Now that I am older and have made a living doing other things, I have returned to drawing. I was always self taught and have been learning pen and ink. I love it but the “happy accidents” are few and far between. Mainly it’s just accidents. lol.

I know the feeling. I always say your first 10,000 drawings are inferior to what can or should be done.

 

[huntertrw]

My condolences on the passing of your friend, Ms. Fradon.

My favorite stories in them were drawn by Robert Crumb.

Ah, another fan of Mr. Crumb! I love his drawings, most of his stories, and his music, too...



Here's Mr. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders: