Francis Edward Herron (July 23, 1917 – September 2, 1966) was an American

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

writer and editor active in the 1940s–1960s, mainly for

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. He is credited with co-creating Captain Marvel Jr. and the

Red Skull The Red Skull is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by France Herron, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon, the character first appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 (March 1941), in ...

, as well as such characters as Cave Carson,

Nighthawk The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, which is a grouping of 92 species of medium-sized birds with long wings and short bills specialized for eating insects. The nighthawk's ...

, and

Mr. Scarlet Mr. Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid are two duo fictional comic book superheroes connected to each other, and first introduced in ''Wow Comics''. The superheroes were originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. The original Mist ...

and Pinky the Whiz Kid. Herron spent the bulk of his time in the comics industry writing for such characters as

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

, and the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

character

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Native Americans in the United States, Indian peoples and nations of North America, traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. Etymology The name comes from Powhatan langu ...

Biography

Early life and career

Herron was born in 1917 in Ohio farm country. Claiming to be of partial

Cherokee descent Individuals with some degree of documented Cherokee descent who do not meet the criteria for Cherokee tribal citizenship may describe themselves as "being of Cherokee descent" or as "being a Cherokee descendant". These terms are also used by non-Na ...

, he grew up in West Virginia. Herron got his start in comics while still a teenager, with the

Harry "A" Chesler Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ)Harry Chesler
at ...

"packaging" studio in 1937, writing and editing for such Centaur Comics' titles as ''Star Comics'' and ''Star Ranger Funnies''. In 1939, Herron joined Fox Features Syndicate, where he first met

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books ...

and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

. In 1940–1941, Simon and Kirby hired Herron to write stories for their new creation

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

, published by the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

forerunner

Timely Comics Timely Comics was the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely P ...

. Herron and artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby co-created the

in ''

Captain America Comics ''Captain America Comics'' is a comic book series featuring the superhero character Captain America. The series was originally published by Timely Comics from 1941 to 1950, with a brief revival by Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics in 1954. Pub ...

'' #1 (Mar. 1941). Beginning in 1940 and continuing throughout the decade, Herron wrote various features for the publisher

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...

. From 1942 to 1944, Herron wrote the ''

Captain Midnight ''Captain Midnight'' (later rebranded on television as ''Jet Jackson, Flying Commando'') is an American adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. The character's popularity throughout the 1940s and into the mid-19 ...

'' strip for the

Chicago Sun Syndicate The Field Newspaper Syndicate was a syndication service based in Chicago that operated independently from 1941 to 1984, for a good time under the name the Chicago Sun-Times Syndicate. The service was founded by Marshall Field III and was part of ...

Fawcett Comics

Herron joined

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

in 1940, eventually becoming the company's executive editor by 1942. With artist Mac Raboy, he created Captain Marvel Jr. in ''

Whiz Comics ''Whiz Comics'' is an anthology comic book series that was published by former American comic book publishing company, Fawcett Publications between February 1940 until June 1953. It is widely known for being the comic run in which hugely popular ...

'' #25 (Dec. 1941), and with Jack Kirby he created

in ''

Wow Comics ''Wow Comics'' is an monthly Golden Age comic book anthology series that was published by Fawcett Comics from winter 1940 to August 1948. From issue #9 to #58, the book's cover features were the solo adventures of Fawcett's Mary Marvel character. ...

'' #1 (Winter 1940–1941) and Pinky the Whiz Kid in ''Wow Comics'' #4 (Spring 1942). It was in the Mr. Scarlet story in ''Wow Comics'' #1 that the name "

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

" first appeared in the comics. Comics historian

Greg Theakston Greg Allen Theakston (November 21, 1953 – April 22, 2019) was an Americans, American comics artist and illustrator who worked for numerous publishers. He is known for his independent publications as a comics historian under his Pure Imagin ...

notes that this pre-dates its name as such in

' ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' #4. During this period, Herron wrote for such Fawcett titles as ''

Captain Marvel Adventures ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' is a long running comic book anthology series that was published by Fawcett Comics, starring Captain Marvel during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Publication history The series was the first solo series starring th ...

'' and ''Captain Marvel Jr.''.

World War II

Herron joined the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in 1942, where he wrote for the military newspaper '' Stars and Stripes'' during his tour of duty. While at ''Stars and Stripes'', Herron met artist

Curt Swan Douglas Curtis Swan (February 17, 1920 – June 17, 1996) was an American comics artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans call the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 195 ...

, who later became the definitive

artist. According to Swan, it was Herron who first directed him to

DC Comics

Herron began writing for

in 1945, initially on

stories in ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' and ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

''. Herron was Green Arrow's lead writer throughout the 1950s, staying with the character until 1963. Other superhero titles Herron worked on included ''

'', which he wrote many stories for throughout the 1950s, and ''

Challengers of the Unknown The Challengers of the Unknown is a fictional group of adventurers appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The quartet of adventurers explored paranormal occurrences while facing several fantastic menaces. The characters' provenance is ...

'', which Herron was the lead writer for from 1959 until 1966. He wrote a number of

and Robin stories for ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' and ''

'' in the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. Herron was one of the lead writers on Batman during the overhaul of the character and the introduction of his "New Look." Throughout the 1950s and the 1960s, Herron partnered with artist Fred Ray as the creative team on DC's ''

'' and the Tomahawk stories which appeared in ''

'' during this period. In the mid-1950s, Herron wrote the features

Pow Wow Smith Ohiyesa "Pow Wow" Smith is a fictional Western comics, Western hero published by DC Comics. Created by writer Donald Clough Cameron, Don Cameron and penciler Carmine Infantino, he is a Sioux who is the sheriff of the small Western town of Elkhor ...

and

for DC's ''

Western Comics Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic bo ...

'' omnibus; he continued to write spot stories for the title until 1961. Herron wrote

mystery comics Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

titles including ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...

'', ''

Mystery in Space ''Mystery in Space'' is the name of two science fiction American comic book series published by DC Comics, and of a standalone Vertigo anthology released in 2012. The first series ran for 110 issues from 1951 to 1966, with a further seven issues ...

'', ''

Strange Adventures ''Strange Adventures'' is a series of American comic books published by DC Comics, the first of which was August–September 1950, according to the cover date, and published continuously until November 1973. Original series ''Strange Adventure ...

'', and '' Tales of the Unexpected''. From 1953 to 1959, he wrote many stories for such DC

war comics War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II. History American war comics Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began inc ...

as ''

All-American Men of War ''Men of War'' is the name of several American comic book series published by DC Comics. For the most part, the series was a war comics anthology featuring fictional stories about the American military during World War II. The original series, ...

'', '' Our Army at War'', '' Our Fighting Forces'', and ''

Star Spangled War Stories ''Star Spangled War Stories'' is the title of a comics anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed characters and stories. Among the features published in this series were writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti's ...

''; returning to such work in 1963–1964. With artist

Dick Sprang Richard W. Sprang (July 28, 1915 – May 10, 2000)Richard Sprang
United States

...

, Herron co-created

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

in ''

'' #184 (June 1952) and the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh in ''

'' #113 (Aug. 1958). Artist

Lee Elias Lee Elias (May 21, 1920 – April 8, 1998) was a British- American comics artist. He was best known for his work on the '' Black Cat'' comic book published by Harvey Comics in the 1940s. Biography Emigrating to the United States from Manches ...

and Herron co-created the

Clock King The Clock King is the name of three supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first Clock King debuted in ''World's Finest Comics'' #111 (August 1960), and was created by France Herron and Lee Elias. The Clock ...

in ''

'' #111 (Aug. 1960). With artist

Bruno Premiani Giordano Bruno Premiani (; January 4, 1907 – August 17, 1984
at the

, Herron co-created Cave Carson in ''

The Brave and the Bold ''The Brave and the Bold'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983. It was followed by a reprint miniseries in 1988, two original miniseries in 1991 and 1999, and was revived as an ongoing anthology ...

'' #31 (Aug. 1960).

Harvey Comics

In 1966 Herron moved to

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

, hired by his old associate

. During that year, Herron was the lead writer for the publisher's short-lived Harvey Thriller superhero line, working on characters such as Dynamite Joe, Glowing Gladiator, Jack Q. Frost, and Lone Tiger, in the titles ''Robot Parade'' and '' Spyman''.

Syndicated newspaper strips

In addition to his work in the comic book field, Herron wrote syndicated

newspaper comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

s for Columbia Features. Beginning in 1955, he wrote the daily strips '' Davy Crockett, Frontiersman'' and ''

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Principality of Montenegro, Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a ...

''—staying on the ''Davy Crocket'' strip until 1959, when he became the writer of the ''

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...

'' and ''

Rip Tide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal f ...

'' strips, which he wrote until his death in 1966.

Death

Herron died from cancer in September 1966.

Bibliography

Centaur Publications

* ''The

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'' #3 (1941) * ''Detective Eye'' #2 (1940) * '' Masked Marvel'' #3 (1940)

DC Comics

* ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...

'' #128–130, 137, 145, 147 (

Vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

) (1949–1950) * ''

'' #118, 152, 174–175, 221, 248, 256 (

) (1947–1959) * ''

'' #7, 9, 11, 13–17, 20–25, 27–29, 41, 47–48, 51–52, 54, 57, 68–69, 71, 103 (1953–1964) * ''

All-Star Western ''All-Star Western'' is the name of three American comic book series published by DC Comics, each a Western fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters and anthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 t ...

'' #73–75, 80–89, 91, 93, 96, 99 (1953–1958) * ''

'' #86, 105, 113, 164–166, 168–169, 174 (1954–1965) * ''

Big Town ''Big Town'' is a popular long-running radio drama featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had p ...

'' #1–2, 24–27, 31–32, 40 (1951–1956) * '' Blackhawk'' #181, 196, 200, 212, 218–221, 223–227 (1963–1966) * ''

Boy Commandos Boy Commandos is a fictional organization from DC Comics first appearing in ''Detective Comics'' #64 (June 1942) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. They are a combination of "kid gang" characters, an international cast of young boys fighting Nazis — ...

'' #11, 20, 22, 24–25, 29, 32, 34–35 (1945–1949) * ''

'' #1 (Golden Gladiator); #31–33 ( Cave Carson) (1955–1960) * ''

'' #11, 14, 29, 34, 37–38, 40–43, 47, 50, 52–54 (1959–1967) * ''

Danger Trail King Faraday is a fictional secret agent featured in DC Comics. Faraday first appeared in ''Danger Trail'' #1 (August 1950), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino. Faraday's last appearance in the 1950s was in ''World's Finest C ...

'' #1–2 (1950) * ''

'' #184, 208–209 (1952–1954) * ''

G.I. Combat ''G.I. Combat'' is an American comics anthology featuring war comics, war stories. It was published from 1952 until 1956 by Quality Comics, followed by DC Comics until its final issue in 1987. In 2012 it was briefly revived. Publication histor ...

'' #47, 49–53, 59, 72, 103 (1957–1963) * ''

Hopalong Cassidy Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He wa ...

'' #97–111, 113, 115–116, 118, 122 (1955–1957) * '' House of Secrets'' #19, 59 (1959–1963) * ''

My Greatest Adventure ''My Greatest Adventure'' is a DC Comics comic book that began in 1955 and is best known for introducing the superhero team Doom Patrol. Publication history The title was originally an anthology series with first-person narratives. The series ...

'' #61, 70, 76 (1961–1963) * ''

'' #23–24, 27, 32, 36, 38, 41–42 (1954–1958) * '' Our Army at War'' #16–17, 20, 22, 24–32, 35–39, 41–43, 57, 61, 63–65, 67–69, 74–75, 134, 138 (1953–1964) * '' Our Fighting Forces'' #1–5, 15, 18, 23–25, 27–32, 37–38, 83 (1954–1964) * '' Robin Hood Tales'' #12–13 (1957–1958) * '' Sea Devils'' #12–15 (1963–1964) * '' Star-Spangled Comics'' #60, 123–126, 128 (1946–1952) * ''

'' #14–25, 27–28, 30–37, 39–42, 45–46, 51, 58–59, 62–64, 67, 74 (1953–1958) * ''

'' #49, 51, 53, 59–61, 78–79, 81–84, 87–89, 154, 157, 160–163, 182, 189 (1954–1966) * ''

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

'' #1, 22 (1949–1952) * ''

'' #98 (1955) * '' Tales of the Unexpected'' #13, 84, 103 (1957–1967) * ''

'' #81, 83–103, 106–108, 111, 118–119 (1962–1968) * ''

'' #43–60 (1954–1956) * ''

'' #28–29, 36, 71–72, 91, 95, 97–98, 100–102, 104–112, 114–116, 120, 124–125, 129, 131–134, 136, 138 (Green Arrow); #39 (Boy Commandos); #72, 79 (Tomahawk); #126, 129 (

and

) (1947–1963)

Fawcett Comics

* ''

'' #25 (1941) * ''

'' #1 (1940)

Harvey Comics

* ''Double-Dare Adventures'' #1–2 (1966–1967) * '' Spyman'' #2–3 (1966–1967)

Timely Comics

* ''

'' #1, 7 (1941) * ''

Mystic Comics ''Mystic Comics'' is the name of three comic book series published by the company that eventually became Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans a ...

'' #2 (1940)

References

External links

* * *
France Herron
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
France Edward Herron
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Herron, France 1917 births 1966 deaths American comics writers United States Army personnel of World War II American people who self-identify as being of Cherokee descent Burials at Long Island National Cemetery American comic book editors DC Comics people Golden Age comics creators Silver Age comics creators United States Army soldiers