Warren Kremer
Encyclopedia
Warren Kremer was an American
comics
writer and artist best known for his creation of the Harvey Comics
characters Richie Rich, Hot Stuff the Little Devil
and Stumbo the Giant
. His style is known for big, bold composition
s, and a keen sense of contrast
and color
.
's Flash Gordon
and Hal Foster's Prince Valiant
among his influences.
He attended the High School of Music and Art and graduated from the School of Industrial Art in New York City
. Kremer then did layout, lettering, and illustrations for pulp
and aviation magazines for ten years. He gradually took on more comics work in Ace Publications, his first title being Hap Hazard. He married that title's letterer
, Grace. Due to a hernia
, Kremer did not serve in World War II
.
was frustrated by the poor design of most comics at the time. He watched animated films and wanted to know why his comics couldn't look as good. So Kremer was brought on board to bring an animation design to comics. Kremer improved the layout of the panels, creating a much greater depth of field. His characters were better constructed, which added mass and allowed the books to look more "real". Eventually, Kremer's influence was felt throughout the entire comic book industry.
Kremer created or defined many of the most well known Harvey characters, including Casper the Ghost
, Hot Stuff
, Joe Palooka
, Little Audrey
, Little Max, Richie Rich
, and Stumbo the Giant
. Kremer also excelled at realistic treatments, producing top-quality work for Harvey's romance, war, and horror genre titles. He was the top artist at Harvey, where he worked for 35 years mostly as an art editor.
In addition to his regular pencilling, Kremer contributed animation storyboard
s, pencilled, inked
and coloured
most of the thousands of covers for every one of Harvey's humour titles. According to Sid Jacobson, Kremer could produce eight pages of interior pencils a day at his most productive. Artists in the Harvey humor department were instructed to emulate Kremer's style as closely as they could.
' Star Comics
line, including Count Duckula
, Ewoks, Planet Terry
, Royal Roy
, and Top Dog.
In 1989, a stroke
left him paralyzed on his left side, which included his drawing hand
. He attempted to use his right hand, but was so discouraged with the results that he stopped drawing altogether.
Kremer lived in Bloomfield, N.J.
, and died in a hospital Glen Ridge, N.J.
following a short illness. He was survived by his wife, Grace, two sons, Richard W. (after whom Richie Rich was named) and Peter R.; two daughters, Maryanne Kremer-Ames and Suzanne Petrozzino; a sister, Anita Sudol; and two grandchildren.
remarked upon a visit Kremer made to the Marvel Comics bullpen, "They don't know it, but this is the best artist who ever walked through these doors." Animator Martin Taras
said, "You know, if Warren went into animation, we'd all have to leave our jobs!"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
writer and artist best known for his creation of the Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
characters Richie Rich, Hot Stuff the Little Devil
Hot Stuff the Little Devil
Hot Stuff the Little Devil is a comic book character who first appeared in Hot Stuff #1, published by Harvey Comics in October 1957. The character didn't first appear as a back-up feature in another book or receive a trial run in Harvey Hits...
and Stumbo the Giant
Stumbo the Giant
Stumbo the Giant is a fictional Harvey Comics character. He lives right next to Tiny Town, and everyone in Tiny Town loves him, despite his tendencies to keep them awake with his loud snoring, or to shake up the town with his laughter or by accidentally stomping or falling on the ground. However,...
. His style is known for big, bold composition
Composition (visual arts)
In the visual arts – in particular painting, graphic design, photography and sculpture – composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art or a photograph, as distinct from the subject of a work...
s, and a keen sense of contrast
Contrast (vision)
Contrast is the difference in visual properties that makes an object distinguishable from other objects and the background. In visual perception of the real world, contrast is determined by the difference in the color and brightness of the object and other objects within the same field of view...
and color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
.
Childhood and early career
Kremer was born in the Bronx, the son of a sign painter. He counted Alex RaymondAlex Raymond
Alexander Gillespie "Alex" Raymond was an American cartoonist, best known for creating Flash Gordon for King Features in 1934...
's Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip 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 adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
and Hal Foster's Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips...
among his influences.
He attended the High School of Music and Art and graduated from the School of Industrial Art in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Kremer then did layout, lettering, and illustrations for pulp
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
and aviation magazines for ten years. He gradually took on more comics work in Ace Publications, his first title being Hap Hazard. He married that title's letterer
Letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comic's "display lettering": the story title lettering and...
, Grace. Due to a hernia
Hernia
A hernia is the protrusion of an organ or the fascia of an organ through the wall of the cavity that normally contains it. A hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach protrudes into the mediastinum through the esophageal opening in the diaphragm....
, Kremer did not serve in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Harvey Comics (1948–1982)
Steve Mufatti, a friend and colleague of Kremer's, had a part in getting him work at Harvey Comics, starting with freelance work in 1948. Harvey editor Sid JacobsonSid Jacobson
Sid Jacobson is an American writer, having worked in the fields of children's comic books, popular music, fiction, biography, and non-fiction comics. He was managing editor and editor in chief for Harvey Comics, where he created the comics Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, and Casper the Friendly Ghost...
was frustrated by the poor design of most comics at the time. He watched animated films and wanted to know why his comics couldn't look as good. So Kremer was brought on board to bring an animation design to comics. Kremer improved the layout of the panels, creating a much greater depth of field. His characters were better constructed, which added mass and allowed the books to look more "real". Eventually, Kremer's influence was felt throughout the entire comic book industry.
Kremer created or defined many of the most well known Harvey characters, including Casper the Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable...
, Hot Stuff
Hot Stuff the Little Devil
Hot Stuff the Little Devil is a comic book character who first appeared in Hot Stuff #1, published by Harvey Comics in October 1957. The character didn't first appear as a back-up feature in another book or receive a trial run in Harvey Hits...
, Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher in 1921. The strip debuted in 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers....
, Little Audrey
Little Audrey
Little Audrey is a fictional character, appearing in Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios cartoons from 1947 to 1958. She is considered a variation of the better-known Little Lulu, devised after Paramount decided not to renew the license on Marjorie Henderson Buell's comic strip character...
, Little Max, Richie Rich
Richie Rich
Richard "Richie" Rich, Jr. is a fictional character that debuted in Harvey Comics' Little Dot #1, cover-dated September 1953. Dubbed "the poor little rich boy", Richie is the only child of fantastically wealthy parents and is the world's richest kid. He lives and works in an expensive mansion and...
, and Stumbo the Giant
Stumbo the Giant
Stumbo the Giant is a fictional Harvey Comics character. He lives right next to Tiny Town, and everyone in Tiny Town loves him, despite his tendencies to keep them awake with his loud snoring, or to shake up the town with his laughter or by accidentally stomping or falling on the ground. However,...
. Kremer also excelled at realistic treatments, producing top-quality work for Harvey's romance, war, and horror genre titles. He was the top artist at Harvey, where he worked for 35 years mostly as an art editor.
In addition to his regular pencilling, Kremer contributed animation storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
s, pencilled, inked
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
and coloured
Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates...
most of the thousands of covers for every one of Harvey's humour titles. According to Sid Jacobson, Kremer could produce eight pages of interior pencils a day at his most productive. Artists in the Harvey humor department were instructed to emulate Kremer's style as closely as they could.
Later career (1983–2003)
After Harvey ended publication in 1982, Kremer created and/or drew several characters for Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Star Comics
Star Comics
Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and continued to publish comic books until early 1988. Titles published by the imprint were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys...
line, including Count Duckula
Count Duckula
Count Duckula is a British animated television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall, and a spin-off from DangerMouse, a show in which the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain. The series first aired on September 6, 1988 and was produced by Thames Television for 3 seasons and...
, Ewoks, Planet Terry
Planet Terry
Planet Terry was an American science fiction comic book aimed at young children. Published by Star Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, the title lasted 12 issues, from April 1985 to March 1986...
, Royal Roy
Royal Roy
Royal Roy: A Prince of a Boy was a short-lived bimonthly comic book title from the Marvel Comics younger readers' imprint Star Comics, created by Lennie Herman and Warren Kremer.-Publication history:...
, and Top Dog.
In 1989, a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
left him paralyzed on his left side, which included his drawing hand
Left-handed
Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...
. He attempted to use his right hand, but was so discouraged with the results that he stopped drawing altogether.
Kremer lived in Bloomfield, N.J.
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 47,315. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District.-History:...
, and died in a hospital Glen Ridge, N.J.
Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,527. In 2010, Glen Ridge was ranked as the 38th Best Place to live by New Jersey Monthly magazine....
following a short illness. He was survived by his wife, Grace, two sons, Richard W. (after whom Richie Rich was named) and Peter R.; two daughters, Maryanne Kremer-Ames and Suzanne Petrozzino; a sister, Anita Sudol; and two grandchildren.
Legacy
Artist Marie SeverinMarie Severin
Marie Severin is an American comic book artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics....
remarked upon a visit Kremer made to the Marvel Comics bullpen, "They don't know it, but this is the best artist who ever walked through these doors." Animator Martin Taras
Martin Taras
Martin B. Taras was an American cartoonist who mostly tenured at Famous Studios, the New York-based animation division of Paramount Pictures....
said, "You know, if Warren went into animation, we'd all have to leave our jobs!"