Ramona Fradon

Ramona Fradon (October 2, 1926 – February 24, 2024) had one of the longest careers in the history of American comics — beginning in 1950 and lasting until her retirement announcement in January 2024, just weeks before her death at 97. When she began drawing for DC Comics in the early 1950s, she and Marie Severin were virtually the only two women working professionally in the field. Fradon's warm, expressive style defined Aquaman for a generation, and she co-created both Aqualad and Metamorpho — the latter with writer Bob Haney, a collaboration she described as one of the great creative partnerships of her career. She later drew the long-running newspaper strip Brenda Starr, Reporter, and Plastic Man, Freedom Fighters, and Super Friends for DC. She was still doing commissioned artwork for fans in the final days of her life. Her home of Ulster County, New York — where she passed away — is also where Catskill Comics, the dealer who represented her original art, is based.