Creator Profile: Dick Ayers

Dick Ayers worked in comic books and cartoons, and is widely regarded for his tenure inking Jack Kirby’s pencils in the 1950s and 1960s.

A World War II veteran himself, he illustrated a 10-year run on Marvel’s Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos and co-created the original Ghost Rider for Magazine Enterprises.

According to his website, Ayers published Radio Ray, his first comic strip, in the military newspaper Radio Post in 1942 while serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Afterward, his first attempt to break into the general comics field was a submission to Western Publishing’s Dell Comics imprint.

After getting his start in the Golden Age, he worked throughout the 1950s, including launching Ghost Rider. He also drew for Charlton Comics, including for the horror comic The Thing and the satirical series Eh!.

That era also saw his first work inking Jack Kirby. He worked steadily in comics in the 1960s and ‘70s, and continued to work into the 2000s, including illustrating his autobiography. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2007.

“Dick Ayers was one of the last of the greats, that select group of talented individuals whose contributions laid the foundation for the creative enterprise that is today’s comic book industry,” Steve Geppi, Diamond Comic Distributors President and CEO, said when Ayers died in 2014. “Everyone who made his acquaintance knew him to be a gentleman as well as the editor’s best friend at deadline time. While for many he was synonymous with Jack Kirby, whose work he inked so beautifully, he was a superb storyteller in his own rite.”