The comic book world lost a true titan last month with the passing of Ramona Fradon, an artist who devoted decades of her illustrious career to shaping the DC Universe—from Saturday morning Super Friends, to the depths of Atlantis, to stranger heroes than anyone had yet imagined. Fradon maintained a sharp wit, steady hand and inventive eye for 97 years, passing on just six weeks after her much-belated retirement. What she left behind is an indelible legacy to which DC will be indebted forever. To illustrate, as it were, here are a few of the characters we wouldn’t have without her.
 

Aqualad

Aquaman may have debuted in More Fun Comics back in 1941, but he didn’t really become the Aquaman we know today until the 1950s. Simply known until then as “Aquaman,” with little provided backstory or personal motivation, it was Ramona Fradon who oversaw the character’s evolution through the Silver Age until he ascended from a mere backup feature to a founder of the Justice League of America. A major part of that was giving Aquaman his own sidekick—the violet-eyed Aqualad, whose fear of the ocean he overcame with the help of a firm but caring mentor. Like Aquaman carving his reputation with the Justice League, Ramona Fradon’s Aqualad would go on to become one of the founding members of the Teen Titans.
 

Tom Curry and Atlanna

Our entire conception of who Aquaman is as a character comes from an origin story by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon in 1959’s Adventure Comics #260, in the story “How Aquaman Got His Powers!” It’s here we first discover lighthouse keeper Thomas Curry and Atlanna, his sea-crossed Atlantean lover, from whose union Arthur Curry is born. It’s from Atlanna that Arthur receives his destiny to become king of the seas, a change of mission which would redefine him from maritime crimefighter to depth-dwelling regent. Decades later, these parental bonds would form the narrative backbone of both live action Aquaman films, continuing Fradon’s legacy into the present.
 

Topo

Storm the seahorse, Tusky the walrus, Fluke the dolphin… Aquaman has no shortage of memorable animal companions from across media. But the first and best of these recurring sea friends was Topo the octopus, debuting early in Fradon’s Aquaman tenure in 1956’s Adventure Comics #229. With no shortage of uses for the intelligence, camouflage, flexibility and many suckered limbs that an octopus offers, Topo was a living utility belt all on his own in Aquaman’s early adventures. Appearing in multiple incarnations—from Aqualad’s humanoid pal in the Young Justice animated series to an enormous, Lovecraftian horror at Arthur’s command in the New 52—the most memorable recent incarnation of Topo is as the drum-playing scene stealer of James Wan’s Aquaman movies.
 

Aquagirl

In addition to his sidekick, parents and best animal friend, Ramona Fradon also gave us Aquaman’s first love, Lisa Morel, the first Aquagirl. Lisa appeared only once in 1959’s Adventure Comics #266, but her momentary presence in Aquaman’s life and tragic story would find echoes later in his career with Queen Mera. Think of her, if you will, as the Lana to Mera’s Lois. Or, perhaps more on the nose, his Lori Lemaris.
 

Metamorpho

If Ramona Fradon is best known for her hand in any single DC character, it might be Rex Mason, whose fractured, frenetic design she concocted as anything but your typical superhero. With an asymmetric style unheard of among the superhero set, Metamorpho instantly stood out in any lineup of The Brave and the Bold you could muster. Visually, Metamorpho’s design reflected his slipping grasp on humanity, communicating a tragic figure who may seek to use his powers for good while he has them but ultimately return to normalcy.
 

Simon and Sapphire Stagg

When you’re writing a story set in the DC Universe and you need a bullheaded, vindictive, egotistical business tycoon who will cut any throat to improve his bottom line, you ask for Lex Luthor. But when you can’t get him, you get Simon Stagg. Unlike Luthor, what sets Stagg apart is his demonic design, his tufts of bone white hair sticking out from either side like horns, impressing that as Rex deals with him, he deals with the devil himself. And deal he must to maintain the heart of his true love: Sapphire Stagg, the boss’s daughter, who’s often the only grounding force in Metamorpho’s life as the man he was literally vaporizes away. Together, this father and daughter duo represents all the bitterness and all the sweetness humanity has to offer.
 

Java

The best thing about Metamorpho comics is Metamorpho. You can’t beat that design and its ability to shapeshift through the elements to meet any situation. But the second-best thing about Metamorpho comics is Java. Java is Simon Stagg’s #1 henchman, and he’s also a prehistoric caveman who was frozen in time and resurrected in the present day, and he’s in love with Sapphire Stagg. If there’s anything that could make a feature like Metamorpho more delightful, it’s that for some reason, inexplicably, there’s always a caveman hanging around. Forever the Otis to Stagg’s Luthor, Java’s moment in the sun finally arrives in the 2018 series The Terrifics. We’ll spare you the specifics because it’s worth discovering for yourself.
 

The Global Guardians

Just a month after the Super Friends animated series was expanding the boundaries of what heroes can look like with the introduction of Black Vulcan and Apache Chief, Ramona Fradon and E. Nelson Bridwell were taking that concept to the next level in their tie-in comic series. Debuting in the Super Friends comics, it was Fradon who first designed the entire lineup of the Global Guardians, one of the first international teams of heroes in the DC Universe. By this time, comics had long embraced the Justice League of America, but left the rest of the world unknown. Some of the first DC Super Heroes from Australia, Venezuela, South Africa, Brazil, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Japan, Israel, Taiwan, New Zealand and Germany were all created for this series. Just as Fradon took us to the oceans, these legacies would have a far-reaching impact for the scope of the DCU, expanding our lens from America to the entire planet. Perhaps none more so than…
 

Fire

Once known as the “Green Fury,” Beatriz da Costa is a standout icon among the Global Guardians not just as a representative of comics’ large Brazilian fanbase, but as a hero who has weathered multiple reinventions through many iterations. It’s through Fire and her counterpart, the second Ice, that Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis’ Justice League International mark themselves as the Global Guardians’ successors, forming a partnership which has lasted to this day. Of all Fradon’s characters, it’s Fire alone who can claim to be a headliner in 2024.
 

Uranium

Metamorpho wasn’t Fradon’s only collaboration with Bob Haney. She also worked with him on several Metal Men stories in The Brave and the Bold, including the introduction of one of their most interesting enemies. In The Brave and the Bold #55, we’re introduced to Will Magnus’ first Metal Man, the highly radioactive and temperamental Uranium. When Uranium is reactivated, it’s only with the timely intervention of the Atom that the defective and destructive Metal Man is put back in his place.
 

Time Commander

As a saga told amongst eras of history, there’s no shortage of time travel villains in the DC Universe. But one of the best and most underrated is Haney and Fradon’s Time Commander, who debuted in the very first team-up between Batman and Green Lantern outside of their capacity as Justice Leaguers. Armed with an hourglass which allows him to move freely through the fourth dimension, Time Commander would go on to oppose the future-based Team Titans, memorably scatter the Justice League across eras in 2009’s Justice League of America 80-Page Giant, and even battle the Super Sons as one of the Forgotten Villains.
 

Human Flying Fish

I mean, what more is there to say?
 

Carrot-Man

This. This is what more there is to say. A perfect Plastic Man villain design, Ramona. No notes.
 

Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Community as HubCityQuestion.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.