| Ken Bald | |
|---|---|
 Bald in 2013 | |
| Born | Kenneth Bruce Bald (1920-08-01)August 1, 1920 New York City, US |
| Died | March 17, 2019(2019-03-17) (aged 98) |
| Area(s) | Penciller, inker |
| Pseudonym | K. Bruce |
| Spouse | Kaye Dowd |
| Children | 5 |
Kenneth Bruce Bald[1] (August 1, 1920 – March 17, 2019)[2] was an Americanillustrator andcomic book artist best known for theDr. Kildare andDark Shadowsnewspapercomic strips. Due to contractual obligations, he is credited as "K. Bruce" on theDark Shadows strip.[1][3]
Ken Bald was born in New York City, and raised in suburbanMount Vernon, New York.[4] Comic-book fan art he drew at age 14 was published inMore Fun Comics #9 (cover-dated April 1936), fromDC Comics precursorNational Allied Publications.[5] Bald attendedPratt Institute inBrooklyn, New York City, for three years,[4] through 1941.[6] At some unknown stage of his career, he also studied at theOntario College of Art, inToronto, Ontario, Canada.[7]
After Pratt, Bald joined theEnglewood, New Jersey, studio ofJack Binder, one of the early comic-book "packagers" who would supply complete comics on demand for publishers entering the newmedium[4] during what became known as theGolden Age of Comic Books. His first known professional comics work, via Binder, was the seven-page story "Justice Laughs Last," starring the super-speedsterHurricane, inCaptain America Comics #7 (Oct. 1941), fromMarvel Comics precursorTimely Comics,[8] Beginning in 1942, Bald, also via Binder, began drawing features including Golden Arrow andBulletman forFawcett Comics.[4]
On December 7, 1942, Bald enlisted in theMarine Corps,[6] serving with the 5th Marine Regiment-1st Marine Division and seeing combat inCape Gloucester,Peleliu, andOkinawa from 1943 to January 1946, rising to the rank of captain.[9][2]
In the 1940s, Bald drew stories of suchsuperheroes as Captain America, theSub-Mariner, theBlonde Phantom, theDestroyer, andMiss America variously through comics cover-dated July 1949. He both wrote and drew a number ofMillie the Model humor stories in the comicsGeorgie andPatsy Walker, and at least drew the teen-humor character Cindy inGeorgie and Judy Comics andJunior Miss.[8]
Bald penciled the first appearance of the Sub-Mariner spin-off characterNamora, in "The Coming of Namora" inMarvel Mystery Comics #82 (May 1947), but it is unclear if he helped create the character; the cover, which was sometimes created first, featured Namora drawn byBob Powell. Similarly, Bald drew Timely's single issue ofThe Witness (Sept. 1948), starring a character co-created by writer-editorStan Lee, but the cover for which was drawn byCharles Nicholas. Bald, with an unidentified writer, co-created the Timely superheroSun Girl, who starred in a three-issue series cover-dated August to December 1948.[8]
His other comic book work included the characterCrime Smasher in Fawcett'sWhiz Comics in the 1940s, and manyanthologicalhorror/suspense stories inAmerican Comics Group'sAdventures into the Unknown,The Clutching Hand,Forbidden Worlds andOut of the Night from 1949 through late 1954. Also for ACG, he co-created the adventure feature Time Travelers inOperation: Peril #1 (Nov. 1950).[8]
From 1947 to 1949, he did advertising art for clients includingAir France,Hertz, andXerox, and illustrations forpulp magazines published byStreet & Smith andMartin Goodman.[7]
In 1957, Bald transitioned tocomic strips, beginning withJudd Saxon – about "an up-and-coming young executive",[10] or "an executive turned detective"[11] written byJerry Brondfield, forKing Features Syndicate.[11]Judd Saxon ended in 1963.
By this time, beginning October 15, 1962,[12] Bald had started drawing his next strip,Dr. Kildare.[10] Bald and writerElliot Caplin produced the daily stripDr. Kildare,[13] based on thetelevision show of that name. A Sunday color strip was added beginning on April 19, 1964.[12] Comics historianMaurice Horn said, "Bald, who modeled the two principals on the actors who played them on television (Richard Chamberlain andRaymond Massey), drew the strip with breezy, self-assured elegance."[12] Bald continued to draw theDr. Kildare strip for 22 years until 1984, long after the 1960s television series had ended.
In 1971, Bald (credited as K. Bruce)[6] created the comic stripDark Shadows based on theDark Shadows TV series, asoap opera featuringJonathan Frid as vampireBarnabas Collins. That strip ended the following year. In addition to drawing comics, Bald also worked as a commercial artist.[11]
With the end of theDr. Kildare strip in 1984,[12][13] Bald retired[11] — althoughGuinness World Records in 2017 declared him the world's oldest comic-book artist and the oldest artist to illustrate a comic-book cover, both at age 96,[14] when he came out of retirement to illustrate a variant cover for Marvel'sContest of Champions #2 (Jan. 2016).[15][16]
In 1941, after graduating fromPratt Institute, Bald moved toEnglewood, New Jersey.[6] He and actress Kaye Dowd, sister of fellow Binder-studio artist Victor Dowd,[9] married on October 30, 1943, and had five children, daughters Karen, Christophea, Victoria and Valerie, and son Kenneth III.[2] By his mid-90s, Bald was residing at Mt. Arlington Senior Living, inMount Arlington, New Jersey.[17] Ken Bald died March 17, 2019, at age 98 and Kaye Dowd Bald died April 18, 2020, at age 96.[18][19]
His papers, including more than 2,900 pieces of original artwork for theJudd Saxon andDr. Kildare comic strips, reside atSyracuse University Libraries Special Collections Research Center.[20] Contrary to his name, he had hair.
I had to sign the strip "K. Bruce." My middle name is Bruce. King Features didn't want me to sign it 'Ken Bald' or whatever I was using onJudd Saxon andDr. Kildare.
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