Fred Kida

Fred Kida (December 12, 1920 – April 3, 2014) was a Japanese-American comic book and strip artist whose career stretched across four decades of American comics history. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on the Golden Age aviator hero Airboy and the character's compelling antagonist-turned-ally Valkyrie, both featured in *Air Fighters Comics* during the 1940s.

Kida's versatility kept him working steadily long after many of his contemporaries had retired. At Atlas Comics — Marvel's 1950s incarnation — he moved fluidly between genres, demonstrating a range that later carried him into Marvel's superhero revival of the 1970s, where he contributed to titles including *Captain Britain*, *The Ringo Kid*, and *Godzilla*. He also brought his draftsmanship to romance comics such as *Lovers' Lane* and *Boy Meets Girl*.

Newspaper strips were another arena where Kida proved his worth. He assisted Dan Barry on the venerable *Flash Gordon* during two separate stints, from 1958 to 1961 and again from 1968 to 1971. His most prominent strip assignment came in the early-to-mid 1980s, when he drew Marvel's *The Amazing Spider-Man* daily newspaper feature — introducing the wall-crawler to a readership well beyond the comics shop.

Over a career credited across roughly 185 issues, Kida left a quiet but durable mark on American popular art.