Kurt Kaisar was born in Montigny-les-Metz in France. He attended the School of Fine Arts in Munich, and began his career as an international journalist for the German Ulman News Agency. In the mid-1930s, he moved to Italy, where he focused on a career in comics. He changed his name to Kurt Caesar, and started signing his pages with "Caesar Away", "Jack Away" or "Avai". A pilot himself, he specialized in aviation comics, but he has also done naval, science fiction, historical and western comics. Caesar was very good at desiging machines and aircrafts - that's why he enjoyed drawing war stories.
His first strip was 'I Due Tamburini', followed by 'I Trei Porcellini', which appeared in Il Vittorioso. Between 1938 and 1943, he drew 'Romano il Legionario' in that same magazine. This series, about an Italian pilot during the Spanish Civil War, became Caesar's most famous piece. During this period, Caesar drew another aviation comic, 'Dino e Dario, Eroi dell'Aria', which featured the American military pilot Will Sparrow. A third aviation comic of the time was 'I Moschietteri del Aeroporto Z', that was published in Paperino in 1937. This series was also published in France in L'As and Spirou. Caesar's work was also featured in Mondadori's Topolino magazine as well as in L'Aventureux.
He drew a great many covers for Urania, a monthly science fiction magazine.
Text (c) Lambiek
