Fred Guardineer (born October 3, 1913, Albany, New York; died 2002) was an American illustrator and comic book writer-artist best known for his work in the 1930s and 1940s during what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books, and for his 1950s art on the Werstern comic-book series The Durango Kid. A pionner of the medium itself, Guardineer contributed a feature to the seminal Action Comics #1, the comic book that introduced Superman. October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Location in Albany County and the State of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York County Albany Founded 1614 Incorporated 1686  - Mayor Gerald D. Jennings Area    - City 56. ... NY redirects here. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... An illustrator is a graphic artist who specializes in enhancing written text by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Look up artist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Superman, catalyst of the Golden Age: Superman #14 (Feb. ... Western fiction is a genre of literature that is typically set in any of the American states west of the Mississippi River and between the years of approximately 1860 and 1900. ... Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. ... Cover of Action Comics #1, which featured the debut of Superman. ... Superman is a fictional character and one of the most famous and popular comic book superheroes of all time. ...

Biography

Early life and career

Action Comics #8 (Jan. 1939), Guardineer's first comic-book cover

Fred Guardineer broke into the fledgling field of comic books with DC Comics' landmark [[omnibus (media)|omnibus) title Action Comics #1 (June 1938), writing, drawing, and lettering the 12-page magician-hero feature "Zatara", which ran through 1951. Guardineer also drew and possibly wrote the adventure feature "Pep Morgan", which also debuted in that comic and on which he sometimes later used the pseudonym "Gene Baxter". Other early features include "Speed Saunders, Ace Investigator" in Detective Comics. DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... In comic books, the letterer is the person who draws the letters in the word balloons, draws in sound effects and usually designs a books logo. ... Look up magician in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Giovanni Zatara is a fictional character in the DC Universe. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... Cover of Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). ...

Guardineer's work appeared primarily in DC Comics titles, though he branched out to draw as well for Centaur Publications; for Quality Comics, where he created the character Blue Tracer; and Columbia Comics, where he worked with the former DC editor, Vin Sullivan, who had edited Action Comics. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Crack Comics #1 (May, 1940), featuring the Clock, previously introduced as the first masked comic book superhero. ... Blue Tracer Blue Tracer is a golden age of comics superhero who was created by Fred Guardineer and published by Quality Comics. ... Vincent Vin Sullivan (died on February 3, 1999) is an early comic book editor, artist, and publisher. ...

Magazine Enterprises

Guardineer followed Sullivan to the editor's next venture, the comic-book company Magazine Enterprises, which Sullivan founded. There from 1949-1955, Guardineer drew writer Gardner Fox's Old West masked-crimefighter series The Durango Kid. Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and childrens comics, with virtually no superheroes. ... Gardner Francis Fox (May 20, 1911, Brooklyn, New York – December 24, 1986) was an American writer best known for writing comic books and co-creating numerous comics characters, especially for DC Comics. ... Great Basin region, typical American West The Western United States has played a significant role in history and fiction. ...

Personal

Guardineer married Ruth Ball in 1938. The couple lived in Long Island, New York, where in addition to his illustrating Guardineer worked 20 years with the U.S. Postal Service, beginning circa 1955. This article is about Long Island in New York State. ... A USPS Truck at Night A U.S. Post Office sign The United States Postal Service (USPS) is the United States government organization responsible for providing postal service in the United States and is generally referred to as the post office. ...

Quotes

Ron Goulart: "He was a true nonpareil, an artist whose style was unmistakably his own.... His style was almost fully formed from the start. He seems always to have thought in terms of the entire page, never the individual panel. Each of hispages is a thoughfully designed whole, giving the impression sometimes that Guardineer is arranging a series of similar snapshots into an attracdtive overall pattern, a personal design that will both tell the story clearly and be pleasing to the eye...."^[1] Ron Goulart (born 1933) is an American pop-culture historian and mystery, fantasy, and science fiction author. ...

Footnotes

References

• Grand Comics Database: Fred Guardineer credits
• Black, Bill. "Fred Guardineer: The M.E. Years", Alter Ego #10 (Sept. 2001), p. 15
• Ibid., Fred Guardineer interview, pp. 16-18