'Mysta of the Moon' (Planet Comics #40).
Fran Hopper was one of the few female artists active during the Golden Age of American comic books in the 1940s. She mainly worked through Robert Iger's studio on Fiction House features. Among her series were 'Gale Allen and the Girl Squadron' (1944) and 'Jane Martin' (1946-1947). Hopper also continued other artists' features like 'Patsy Walker', 'Mysta of the Moon' (1945-1947) and 'Camilla' (1945-1947).
Early life and career
Fran Hopper was born in 1922 as Frances R. Deitrick in the U.S. state Maryland. She spent most of her childhood in New Jersey, however. Deitrick was one of several female comic book artists entering the field during the early 1940s. By 1942, the US had joined World War II, and many male authors were drafted. Packager Jerry Iger and his editor Ruth Roche thus hired Deitrick and other women such as Ruth Atkinson, Lily Renée and Marcia Snyder to fill their places. Iger's studio produced complete comic books for publishers like Fiction House. Deitrick's first known contribution appeared in Planet Comics #23 of March 1943. She started signing her work Fran Hopper after marrying Dr. John B. Hopper II in 1944.
'Yank Aces of World War II - Lt. Kenneth A. Walsh' (Wings Comics #43).
Early comics
Hopper's first contributions to the comic industry were two installments in the science fiction feature 'Norge Benson' in Planet Comics. She moved on to draw the humor feature 'Private Elmer Pippin and the Colonel's Daughter' (1943-1944) and the adventure series 'Glory Forbes' (1945-1946) in Ranger Comics. She also drew educational features like the biographical 'Yank Aces of World War II' (1944) in Wing Comics and 'African Wild Life' (1944-1945) and 'Jungle Facts' (1945) in Jungle Comics.
Gale Allen
In the 1940s, Fiction House often assigned its female artists to draw features with female heroines. Hopper therefore stepped in with the science fiction adventure comic 'Gale Allen and the Girl Squadron' (1944) in Planet Comics.
Mysta of the Moon
Hopper gained more attention with the sci-fi feature 'Mysta of the Moon' (the repository of the sum of all human knowledge) in Planet Comics, originally drawn by Joe Doolin, whom she succeeded from July 1945 to July 1947.
Camilla
In Jungle Comics, Hopper assumed the art duties of the jungle adventure feature 'Camilla' from October 1945 until August 1947. The character was created by Charles A. Winter in 1940 and since then drawn by several of Iger's crew. 'Camilla' was yet another jungle princess character inspired by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger's 'Sheena, Queen of the Jungle' (1937).
Jane Martin
Hopper's final Fiction House feature was the espionage series 'Jane Martin' for Wings Comics, which ran from March 1946 until August 1947.
'Jane Martin' (Wings Comics #73).
Patsy Walker
Hopper additionally worked for Timely Comics's Ruth Atkinson on some of the early installments of the teen humor feature 'Patsy Walker' in the mid-1940s.
Final years, death and legacy
After World War II, several female comic artists gradually left the U.S. comic industry. Hopper retired in mid-1947. By the 1950s, the only women working on mainstream comic books in the following decade were Ramona Fradon and Marie Severin. In the following decades, the Hopper family lived in the New Jersey towns of Mendham and Chester, where they raised and showed Arabian horses. They moved to Thornton, New Hampshire, in 1974 and then finally, in 2006, to a retirement home in Whiting, New Jersey.
Comic artist and historian Trina Robbins tracked Fran Hopper down and visited her in her retirement home. This led to a revival in interest in Hopper's career. Hopper was one of the Golden Age women featured in Robbins' anthology 'Babes In Arms: Women in the Comics During World War Two' (2017), along with Barbara Hall, Jill Elgin and Lily Renée. Fran Hopper passed away in New Jersey on 29 November 2017, at the age of 95.
'Camilla' (Jungle Comics #81).