| Kerry Drake | |
|---|---|
 Color guide for Alfred Andriola's Kerry Drake (June 1, 1975) | |
| Author(s) | Allen Saunders (1943–c. 1970, uncredited) Alfred Andriola (c. 1970–1983) |
| Illustrator(s) | Alfred Andriola (1943–1983) Hy Eisman (1957–1960, uncredited) Jerry Robinson (uncredited) Fran Matera (1943–1983, uncredited) Sururi Gümen (c. 1953–1976, uncredited; 1976–1983, credited) |
| Current status/schedule | Daily and Sunday; concluded |
| Launch date | October 4, 1943 |
| End date | June 26, 1983 |
| Syndicate(s) | Publishers Syndicate (1943–1967) Publishers-Hall Syndicate |
| Genre(s) | adventure, detective, adults |
Kerry Drake is the title of a comic strip created for Publishers Syndicate by Alfred Andriola as artist and Allen Saunders as uncredited writer. It debuted on Monday, October 4, 1943, replacing Norman Marsh's Dan Dunn, and was syndicated continuously through June 26, 1983.[1]
According to Saunders, Dan Dunn rivaled Dick Tracy in pioneering themes and techniques of the American detective comic—until 1942 when Marsh had an argument with Publishers Syndicate and "stormed out." The syndicate then had Saunders (as writer and the syndicate's comics editor) and artist Andriola take over the abandoned newspaper strip and subsequently replace it in 1943 with a new detective strip, Kerry Drake.[2]
Among Andriola's many assistants or ghosts over the years, specifically in drawing, were artists Hy Eisman, Jerry Robinson, Fran Matera and most notably Sururi Gümen, the last of whom worked on the strip for 30 years and shared credit with Andriola from 1976 to 1983.[3] Eisman has said he ghosted the strip from 1957 to 1960.[4]
- ^ Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 224. ISBN 9780472117567.
- ^ Saunders, Allen. 1983-6. Autobiography "Playwright for Paper Actors," Nemo, the Classic Comics Library, no. 4-7, 9, 10, 14, 18, 19.
- ^ Kerry Drake at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015.
- ^ "A Profile of Hy Eisman, Hogan's Alley #15". Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.