Fern Peppe RIP

Fern Peppe, wife of inker and Standard Art Director Mike Peppe, passed away yesterday at the age of 100. I had the good fortune to meet Fern and her daughter Michele years ago while working on a biography of George Tuska. The Tuskas and Peppes were close friends, and George and Mike worked together on several stories for Standard, Dell, DC, and other companies. (Mike famously added Fern’s name to a boat in a Frogmen story he inked for Dell.) Fern was one of the most positive, up beat people I have ever met. Her joyful attitude was infectious. I have long believed that the best part of writing about comics is the people you meet along the way and Fern is the perfect example of that. Like many other people, I was richly blessed to have known Fern and I am so grateful to have been able to call her a friend. May she rest in peace.
(The photo is of Mike and Fern Peppe with Dorothy and George Tuska at Shawnee on the Delaware circa late 1950s or early 1960s.)