Bill Draut (August 14, 1921–March 3, 1993) was an American

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...

best known for his work at

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 ...

and

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 ...

from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Biography

Bill Draut began his career as an artist in the 1940s by drawing the "Sergeant Stony Craig" comic strip for the

Bell Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

. After service in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he then moved into the comic book industry with his earliest confirmed credit appearing in

' ''Stuntman Comics'' #1 (April–May 1946). He worked with

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 ...

Crestwood Publications Crestwood Publications, also known as Feature Publications, was a magazine publisher that also published comic books from the 1940s through the 1960s. Its title ''Prize Comics'' contained what is considered the first ongoing horror comic-book fea ...

. In 1956, Draut began drawing romance stories for

. He later did extensive work on that publisher's mystery 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 ...

'', '' House of Secrets'', '' The Unexpected'', and ''

Weird War Tales ''Weird War Tales'' is a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September - October 1971 to June 1983. Publication history The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was an an ...

''. In 1966, Draut co-created Bee-Man with writer

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

for Harvey Comics' ''Double-Dare Adventures''. Draut drew ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' #18 (Nov.–Dec. 1968) which was writer

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...

's first Teen Titans story and introduced the character originally called Starfire and later renamed

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

. Draut inked the revival of the

Phantom Stranger The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo (DC Comics), Vertigo imprint. The character ...

in '' Showcase'' #80 (Feb. 1969) and then drew the first four issues of the ''Phantom Stranger'' ongoing series. He and Mark Hanerfeld created

Abel Abel ( ''Hébel'', in pausa ''Hā́ḇel''; ''Hábel''; , ''Hābēl'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within the Abrahamic religions. Born as the second son of Adam and Eve, the first two humans created by God in Judaism, God, he ...

in '' DC Special'' #4 (July–Sept. 1969) and the character soon became the "host" of the '' House of Secrets'' series. Draut was to have drawn the first appearance of Marvel Comics'

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. ...

character but did not complete the assignment. He was a character designer on the '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' animated series for

Sunbow Entertainment Sunbow Entertainment (formerly known as Sunbow Productions until 1995) was an American animation studio and distributor, founded on June 23, 1980, and owned until May 4, 1998, by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York City and in the United State ...

. Draut's final published work in comics was inking

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...

's pencilled artwork in the story "Who Is The Monster?" in '' The Fly'' #3 (Oct. 1983).

Bibliography

Archie Comics

* '' Adventures of the Fly'' #1 (1959) * ''The Fly'' #3 (1983)

Charlton Comics

* ''Cody of the Pony Express'' #8 (1955) * ''Crazy, Man, Crazy'' #v2#2 (1956) * ''Fox Hole'' #5–6 (1955) * ''From Here to Insanity'' #11 (1955) * ''In Love'' #6 (1955) * ''Police Trap'' #5 (1955)

Crestwood Publications/Prize Comics

* ''All for Love'' #1 (1957) * ''

Black Magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

'' #1–4, 6–7, 9, 12–15, 17, 20–24, 32 (1950–1954) * '' Headline Comics'' #27–31, 74–77 (1947–1956) * ''Strange World of Your Dreams'' #1, 3 (1952) * ''Young Brides'' #1 (1952) * '' Young Love'' #1 (1949) * ''

Young Romance ''Young Romance'' is a romantic comic book series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for the Crestwood Publications imprint (trade name), imprint Prize Comics in 1947 in comics, 1947. Generally considered the first Romance comics in the United ...

'' #1 (1947)

DC Comics

* '' DC Special'' #4 (''13 Shock-Ending Stories'') (1969) * '' DC Special Series'' #12 (''Secrets of Haunted House Special'') (1978) * ''Falling in Love'' #8, 10–11, 17, 25–26, 29, 31, 33, 37–38, 48–50, 52–54, 65, 67, 82–83 (1956–1966) * ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

'' #237 (

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

backup story) (1975) * '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion'' #7, 12 (1972–1973) * ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' #62, 71, 75–76, 78, 83 (1978–1979) * ''

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 ...

'' #213 (1979) * '' Girls' Love Stories'' #49, 51, 59, 64, 66, 69, 73, 79, 83, 86, 89, 91, 98, 100, 122, 142, 147, 149–150, 154, 156–157, 162 (1957–1971) * ''

Girls' Romances ''Girls' Romances'' is a romance comic Comics anthology, anthology published by DC Comics in the United States. Debuting with a Feb.,/Mar. 1950 cover-date, it ran for 160 issues, ending with the Oct. 1971 issue (the final issue came out on Octob ...

'' #44, 48, 53, 60, 64–67, 69, 71, 74, 81, 85–87, 90, 95 (1957–1963) * ''

Heart Throbs ''Heart Throbs'' was a romance comic published by Quality Comics and DC Comics from 1949 to 1972. Quality published the book from 1949–1957, when it was acquired by DC. Most issues featured a number of short comics stories, as well advice co ...

'' #47 (1957) * ''

'' #177, 191, 193, 251–255, 257, 265, 273 (1968–1979) * '' House of Secrets'' #81, 83, 86, 88, 92, 96, 127–128, 133, 139, 141–143, 146–147, 149 (1969–1978) * '' Kong the Untamed'' #5 (1976) * '' Leave It to Binky'' #71 (1970) * ''

'' vol. 2 #1–4, 32 (1969–1974) * '' Plop!'' #3, 6, 15, 19 (1974–1976) * '' Secret Hearts'' #38, 40, 45–46, 56, 58, 104, 145 (1957–1970) * '' Secrets of Haunted House'' #2, 5 (1975–1976) * ''

Secrets of Sinister House ''Secrets of Sinister House'' was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1972-1974, a companion to '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion''. Both series were originally inspired by the successful ABC soap opera ''D ...

'' #6, 14 (1972–1973) * '' Sgt. Rock'' #305 (1977) * '' Showcase'' #80 (Phantom Stranger); #104 ( O.S.S. Spies at War) (1969–1978) * '' Star Spangled War Stories'' #195 (1976) * ''

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 ...

starring the

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...

'' #213–215 (1975–1976) * ''

The Superman Family ''The Superman Family'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1974 to 1982 featuring supporting characters in the ''Superman'' comics. The term "Superman Family" is often used to refer to the extended cast of characters of c ...

'' #184 (1977) * ''

Super-Team Family ''Super-Team Family'' is a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 that lasted for 15 issues. It included a mix of original and reprinted stories. Publication history ''Super-Team Family'' began publication with an O ...

'' #2, 12 (1975–1977) * '' Tales of Ghost Castle'' #3 (1975) * '' Tales of the Unexpected'' #2 (1956) * ''

'' #18 (1968) * '' The Unexpected'' #109–111, 140, 146, 162, 189, 190 (1968–1979) * '' Unknown Soldier'' #217 (1978) * '' Weird Mystery Tales'' #4, 22 (1973–1975) * ''

'' #30–32, 36, 39–40, 43, 48–49, 51, 55–58, 69 (1974–1978) * '' Weird Western Tales'' #15, 36 (1972–1976) * ''

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the ser ...

'' #6–7 (1977) * '' The Witching Hour'' #7, 83 (1970–1978) * '' Young Love'' #125–126 (1977) * ''

'' #125, 156 (1963–1968)

Marvel Comics

* ''

Journey into Mystery ''Journey into Mystery'' is an American comic book series initially published by Atlas Comics, then by its successor, Marvel Comics. Initially a horror comics anthology, it changed to giant-monster and science fiction stories in the late 1950s ...

'' #40 (1956) * ''Spellbound'' #29 (1956) * ''Strange Stories of Suspense'' #11 (1956) * ''Western Outlaws'' #16 (1956)

References

External links

*
Bill Draut
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Draut, Bill 1921 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American artists American animators American comics artists United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Comics inkers DC Comics people Golden Age comics creators Silver Age comics creators United States Marines Marvel Comics people