Martin Nodell (; November 15, 1915 – December 9, 2006) was an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and commercial artist, best known as the creator of the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

. Some of his work appeared under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Mart Dellon.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Nodell was the son of Jewish immigrants. He attended the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

.Martin Nodell
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ). His son Boris Kousemaker has been the owner since 2007. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Ke ...

. This source says Nodell also attended the "Chicago Academy of Art", but no school of that name exists, and the Chicago Academy for the Arts was not founded until 1981. When he was 18 years old he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he attended

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

. 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.

National Comics Publications

Nodell began his illustrating career in 1938, working first as a freelancer. In 1940 he provided some work for Sheldon Mayer, an editor at

All-American Publications All-American Publications, Inc.The name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includinat Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on April 15, 2012. was one of two American comic book companies that merged to fo ...

, one of three companies that ultimately merged to form

National Comics Publications National Comics Publications (NCP; later known as National Periodical Publications Inc. or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was origin ...

(present-day

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

). Interested in gaining more steady employment, Nodell created designs for a new character that would become the Golden Age

(

Alan Scott Alan Ladd Wellington Scott is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and the first character to bear the name Green Lantern. He fights evil with the aid of his mystical ring, which grants him a variety of powers. H ...

). The inspiration came in January 1940 at the 34th Street subway station in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Nodell noticed a trainman waving a lantern along the darkened tracks. He coupled the imagery with elements from

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic Ring cycle as well as Chinese folklore and

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

to create the hero. Additional, June 5, 2011. As Nodell himself described in 2000: The first adventure, drawn by Nodell (as Mart Dellon) and written by

Bill Finger Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – ) was an American comic book writer who co-created the DC Comics character Batman with Bob Kane. Despite making major (sometimes, signature) contributions as an innovative writer, visionary mythos/world ...

, appeared in '' All-American Comics'' #16 (July 1940). Nodell continued to use the pseudonym through at least ''

All Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'' #2 (Fall 1940).Martin Nodell
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

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 in ''All-American'' and ''All 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 including

Howard Purcell Howard Purcell (November 10, 1918 – April 24, 1981)Howard Purcell
at the Social S ...

Irwin Hasen Irwin Hasen (; July 8, 1918 – March 13, 2015) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator (with Gus Edson) of the ''Dondi'' comic strip. He also had a significant run on DC Comics' original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, in the 1940s as we ...

, and

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (; June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera through ...

Timely Comics

Nodell left All-American in 1947 and joined

Timely Comics Timely Comics was the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely P ...

, the 1930s–40s forerunner of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, where he drew postwar stories of

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

, the

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and ar ...

and the Sub-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 of '' Marvel Tales'', Timely's horror-comics revamp of the company's flagship series '' Marvel Mystery Comics''; and the penultimate issue (#74) of Captain America's book, which for its last two issues became the horror-oriented '' Captain America's Weird Tales''.

Post-1950s career

In 1950, Nodell left comics to work in advertising and later joined the Leo Burnett Agency in Chicago as an

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

. In 1965, his design team there developed the long-running

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

-company mascot the Pillsbury Doughboy. His only known comics work in the interim are penciling the story "The Glistening Death" in the Avon Comics one-shot ''City of the Living Dead'' (1952), reprinted two decades later in the Skywald horror-comics magazine ''Psycho'' #1 (Jan. 1971); and "Master of the Dead" in Avon's ''Eerie'' (1951 series) #14, reprinted in Skywald's ''Nightmare'' #1 (Dec. 1970). 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 in '' Super Friends Special'' #1 (1981), and drawing the Golden Age

Harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

in '' Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' #10 (Dec. 1985). His final two published pieces of Green Lantern art were the 9 page Chapter four featuring Golden Age

Green Lantern in the 50th-anniversary issue ''Green Lantern'' vol. 3, #19 (Dec. 1991) and a one-page illustration of the Alan Scott Green Lantern and

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

in the one-shot ''Superman: The Man of Steel Gallery'' #1 (Dec. 1995). At 80, Nodell penciled his final comic-book work, the whimsical, 10-page

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published wo ...

adaptation "Gnomebody", scripted by John Ostrander and Ellison and inked by Jed Hotchkiss, in

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

' ''Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor Quarterly'' #1 (Aug. 1996).

Personal life

Nodell met his future wife, Carrie, at

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, in September 1940.Dionisio, 2000
p. B9 of print version
They were married December 1, 1941, and afterward moved to Huntington,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, to move in with Nodell's brother Simon, an engineer at

Republic Aviation The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, New York, on Long Island, New York, Long Island. Originally known as the Seversky Aircraft Company, the company was responsible for the design and produ ...

. They lived there two years before moving back to

. The couple was living in

West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, by 2000. Nodell died December 9, 2006, in a nursing home in Muskego,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, of natural causes, almost one month past his 91st birthday. They had two sons: Spencer, who lived in

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 71,158 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River adjacent to th ...

at the time of his father's death, and Mitchell.

Awards

Nodell received the

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

in 1986. In 2011, Nodell was nominated as a Judges' Choice for The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame..

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nodell, Martin 1915 births 2006 deaths American comics artists Artists from Philadelphia Pratt Institute alumni Pseudonymous comics artists School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees Jewish American comics artists Golden Age comics creators Inkpot Award winners Jews from Pennsylvania