| Martin Nodell | |
|---|---|
 Martin Nodell byMichael Netzer | |
| Born | (1915-11-15)November 15, 1915 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 9, 2006(2006-12-09) (aged 91) Muskego, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Penciller,Inker |
| Pseudonym(s) | Mart Dellon |
Notable works | Golden AgeGreen Lantern (Alan Scott) |
Martin Nodell (/noʊˈdɛl/; November 15, 1915[1] – December 9, 2006)[2] was an Americancartoonist and commercial artist, best known as the creator of theGolden AgesuperheroGreen Lantern. Some of his work appeared under thepen nameMart Dellon.
Born inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, Nodell was the son of Jewish immigrants.[3] He attended theArt Institute of Chicago.[4] When he was 18 years old he moved toNew York City,[5] where he attendedPratt Institute.[4] He worked as an actor in both Chicago and New York, and began his drawing career by selling caricatures for theatrical publicity work before turning full time to comic book art.[5]
Nodell began his illustrating career in 1938, working first as a freelancer. In 1940 he provided some work forSheldon Mayer, an editor atAll-American Publications, one of three companies that ultimately merged to formNational Comics Publications (present-dayDC Comics). Interested in gaining more steady employment, Nodell created designs for a new character that would become the Golden AgeGreen Lantern (Alan Scott). The inspiration came in January 1940 at the 34th Streetsubway station inManhattan.[6] Nodell noticed a trainman waving a lantern along the darkened tracks. He coupled the imagery with elements fromRichard Wagner'soperaticRing cycle[7] as well asChinese folklore andGreek mythology[6] to create the hero.[8]
As Nodell himself described in 2000:
I picked out the name from the train man on the tracks who was waving a lantern, going from red to green. ... Green meant go and I decided that was it. Then I needed a colorful and interesting costume. I was interested in Greek mythology and so the costume took on elements of that. It just all fell into place. When I sent it in, I waited into the second week before I heard the word to come in. I was ushered intoMr. [Max] Gaines office, publisher, and after sitting a long time and flipping through the pages of my presentation, he announced, 'We like it!' And then, 'Get to work!' I did the first five pages of an eight page story, and then they called in Bill Finger to help. We worked on it for seven years.[9]
The first adventure, drawn by Nodell (as Mart Dellon) and written byBill Finger, appeared inAll-American Comics #16 (July 1940). Nodell continued to use the pseudonym through at leastAll Star Comics #2 (Fall 1940).[10] He said in 2000 he had used the pen name since, "Comics were a forbidden literature, culturally unacceptable. It wasn't something you were proud of." Nodell penciled and virtually always self-inked Green Lantern stories inAll-American andAll Star until the character got his own title, the premiere issue cover-dated July 1941. He would continue with it through to #25 (May 1947), very rarely drawing the covers, before being succeeded by a variety of artists includingHoward Purcell,Irwin Hasen, andAlex Toth.
Nodell left All-American in 1947 and joinedTimely Comics, the 1930s–40s forerunner ofMarvel Comics, where he drew postwar stories ofCaptain America, theHuman Torch and theSub-Mariner. His work there was rarely signed, making identification difficult, though comics historians have confirmed that Nodell drew two well-known covers: The first issue ofMarvel Tales, Timely'shorror-comics revamp of the company's flagship seriesMarvel Mystery Comics; and the penultimate issue (#74) of Captain America's book, which for its last two issues became the horror-orientedCaptain America's Weird Tales.
In 1950, Nodell left comics to work in advertising and later joined theLeo Burnett Agency in Chicago as anart director. In 1965, his design team there developed the long-runningflour-company mascot thePillsbury Doughboy.[11]
His only known comics work in the interim are penciling the story "The Glistening Death" in theAvon Comicsone-shotCity of the Living Dead (1952), reprinted two decades later in theSkywald horror-comics magazinePsycho #1 (Jan. 1971); and "Master of the Dead" in Avon'sEerie (1951 series) #14, reprinted in Skywald'sNightmare #1 (Dec. 1970).[10]
In the 1980s, Nodell submitted new work to DC, which led to his being rediscovered by comic fans. His first pieces included a 13-page puzzle-and-activity section inSuper Friends Special #1 (1981), and drawing the Golden AgeHarlequin inWho's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #10 (Dec. 1985).[10] His final two published pieces of Green Lantern art were the 9 page Chapter four featuring Golden AgeAlan Scott Green Lantern in the 50th-anniversary issueGreen Lantern vol. 3, #19 (Dec. 1991)[12] and a one-page illustration of the Alan Scott Green Lantern andSuperman in theone-shotSuperman: The Man of Steel Gallery #1 (Dec. 1995).[13] At 80, Nodell penciled his final comic-book work, the whimsical, 10-pageHarlan Ellison adaptation "Gnomebody", scripted byJohn Ostrander and Ellison and inked byJed Hotchkiss, inDark Horse Comics'Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor Quarterly #1 (Aug. 1996).
Nodell met his future wife, Carrie, atConey Island inBrooklyn,New York, in September 1940.[14] They were married December 1, 1941, and afterward moved toHuntington,Long Island, to move in with Nodell's brother Simon, an engineer atRepublic Aviation. They lived there two years before moving back toBrooklyn,New York City.[14] The couple was living inWest Palm Beach,Florida, by 2000.[6] Nodell died December 9, 2006, in a nursing home inMuskego,Wisconsin, of natural causes, almost one month past his 91st birthday.[2][7] They had two sons: Spencer, who lived inWaukesha, Wisconsin at the time of his father's death, and Mitchell.[15]
Nodell received theInkpot Award in 1986.[16] In 2011, Nodell was nominated as a Judges' Choice forThe Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.[17]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
