EXTRACTS: Illustrators Crime Comics Special © 2020 Book Palace Books (144 pages in full edition)

144 Fred Guardineer - Comic Book Pioneer! C R I M E D O E S N O T P A Y Illustration by Peter Richardson Fred Guardineer is one of th great unsung artists of the golden age of US comics. Possessed of matinee idol good looks and a solid work ethic, he had grown up in a comparatively comfortable environment in Hastings-on-Hudson in upstate New York, where neighbours included Frank Moser, owner of the Terrytoons animation studio. His parents encouraged his artistic endeavours and he enrolled at Syracuse University to study illustration. Upon graduation, he was rewarded with a trip to Europe in the summer of 1935, visiting England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Lapland, France and more. Returning home in October, he and his parents set off for New York, where they had sourced some relatively cheap accommodation. The accommodation in question was a rooming house, with an elevator taking Fred, his parents and Fred’s luggage to the fourth floor where the relatively spartan room he was going to occupy awaited him—washing facilities at the end of the corridor. Tearful goodbyes and parting words of encouragement, and Fred was on his own, with his portfolio and a list of contacts. After a few weeks of pavement-pounding, his break came when he hooked up with an old fraternity pal who had graduated from Syracuse some four years earlier. Tom Lovell was one of the premier pulp artists—his work appearing everywhere. He invited Fred around for dinner and gave him some advice as to who to see, not least of which was the editor at Street and Smith publishing. The upshot of it was that before long he was producing interior art for pulp features such as The Shadow . The Street and Smith connection was prestigious enough to open more doors for him and before long Fred was one of National Periodical Publications (shortly to become DC Comics ) go-to artists, which is where he first hooked up with the visionary editor Vin Sullivan. Fred was working in-house and would frequently be the guy that opened the door to such visitors as Superman ’s creators Siegel and Schuster, as well as to Bob Kane and his mother at the time that young Bob was involved in the contractual negotiations for Batman . Fred’s art was always classy, with splash pages that had a ring of Hollywood noir about them, as in the example above. His contacts with his favourite editors, Vin Sullivan and Charles Biro, helped ensure that he continued to be kept busy with assignments throughout the rest of the 1940s and early ‘50s. His highest profile work was on Durango Kid , which was published by Vin Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises , along with occasional spots in Biro’s Crime Does Not Pay comic. The Durango Kid eventually hung up his spurs in 1955, and with an overall slump in demand for comic books, Guardineer took up work with the US post office. He kept his hand in with his art by contributing wildlife illustrations to The Long Island Fisherman . as well as becoming an active member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. It was Mad magazine editor Jerry DeFuccio who eventually tracked Guardineer down, and effectively reconnected him to a fan-base he was unaware of. He had the pleasure of working on commissions recreating some of his most memorable covers for a variety of fans who paid him handsomely for his efforts. His last public outing in the arena of comic-book fans was an appearance at the 1998 San Diego Comic-Con, where he regaled the audience with memories of the early years in comic publishing. He passed away some four years later, just shy of his 90th birthday, one of the grand old men of comics history, whose artwork had shaped the fantasies of generations of adventure-hungry children. ●