Henry C. Kiefer

Henry C. Kiefer (April 15, 1890 – May 10, 1957)[2] was an American artist from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Best remembered for his contributions to the long-running comic book series Classics Illustrated,[3] Kiefer was a prolific artist who drew features for just about every publisher of his era.

Kiefer trained with the Atelier Julian in Paris.[2] His first professional work was as an illustrator in the pulp magazine industry.[2]

By 1935, he was working in the burgeoning comics field, for a variety of studios and packagers, including the Chesler Studio (1937–c. 1940), the Iger Shop (c. 1939–c. 1953), the Sangor Studio (1942–1948), and Funnies Inc. (c. 1943–1955). During the period 1939–c. 1953, Kiefer rented workspace at Majestic Studios, while also occasionally doing work for them.[4]

He began with art in features for National Comics Publications (DC Comics), Centaur Publications, and Fox Feature Syndicate. By the early 1940s he was illustrating comics features for Fiction House, Harvey Comics, Quality Comics, Novelty Press, and Parents Magazine Press. For Fiction House, he drew Wambi in Jungle Comics from 1940 to 1948. In 1940–1941, Kiefer drew the feature Spurt Hammond, human defender of the Planet Venus, for Fiction House's Planet Comics.[5][6]

In the period 1947–1953, Kiefer was the main artist for many issues of Classic Comics and Classics Illustrated, and his work came to define the "look" of the series. For Classic Comics, he illustrated the second cover for The Prince and the Pauper, issue #29, cover for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, issue #33, and the first Classics Illustrated issue, The Last Days of Pompeii, issue #35. For Classics Illustrated, he drew the majority of at least 20 issues from the series, including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and A Christmas Carol.

In the period 1949–1953, Kiefer worked for Youthful on a number of different Western comics titles. In the period 1951–1955, Kiefer worked for Trojan Magazines on such titles as Beware, Attack!, Crime Smashers, and Western Crime Busters.

Kiefer signed his work with a variety of aliases and signatures, including "de Kerosett," "H. C. K.," "H. C. Kiefer," "HC Kiefer," "HCK," "Henry Calr Kiefer," "Henry Carl Kiefer," "Kark Kief," and "Roy L. Smith." He was related to fellow comics artist A. D. Kiefer.[4]

Kiefer died in 1957 at age 67.[2]