(Source: www.newsfromme.com)
Martin Nodell, who created the Green Lantern and helped create the Pillsbury Doughboy, died last Saturday in a Muskego, Wisonsin nursing home. He was 91.
Nodell was born November 15, 1915 in Philadelphia. He learned his craft at Chicago's Art Institute, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the Pratt Institute in New York. He started working as a freelance artist in 1938. After being regularly stiffed by the independent companies, Nodell went to the largest publisher, DC Comics, and asked for work. Nodell was directed to a DC affiliate, All American.
Despite some work from All American, Nodell's luck didn't change until 1940 when Sheldon Mayer, the company's senior editor, suggested that Nodell try and come up with his own character. Seeing a subway conductor waving a lantern with a green light inspired Nodell to create the now classic comic hero, Green Lantern. A few days later, Nodell brought his ideas and sketches to Mayer.
"I thought the publisher would let me down easy," recounts Nodell. "(Mayer) said, 'We like it. Get to work.'"
Mayer also brought in legendary comics writer Bill Finger to help with the story, which was attributed to "Bill Finger and Mart Dellon." The first Green Lantern comic book came out in July of 1940 and was an immediate hit.
When asked about the pseudonym one time, Nodell responded, "A lot of us did that back then. We thought of comics as a way to earn money before we moved on to real illustration work. If you used a fake name, you could disavow the work. Now, of course, I don't want to."
Nodell worked for DC until 1947, when he switched to Timely (later Marvel), where he worked on such classic characters as Capt. America, the Human Torch and Sub Mariner. During that time, he also did animation in training films for several industrial firms. In 1950, seeing a declining interest in super-hero comics, he went to work in the advertising industry, which paid better and more regularly.
In 1965, Nodell became the Art Director for the Leo Burnett Agency, where he helped develop the Pillsbury Doughboy. From 1970 to 1978, Nodell jumped to newspaper advertising in Chicago. His last job was with the Palm Beach Post from 1979 to 1983.
The 1980's comic revival brought Nodell out of obscurity, and he began regularly appearing on the comic convention circuit, signing autographs and promoting works that he was previously willing to disavow.
In in April of 2004, Nodell's wife Carrie died and, as longtime friend and interviewer Mark Evanier noted, "life was rough for Marty after that. They had been married for 63 years."
Nodell is survived by his two sons Spencer and Mitchell, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. People are asked to give donations in Marty's name to The Hero Initiative, an organization devoted to helping comic book professionals in need.
Here's a great tribute to Marty Nodell from Something Positive's R.K. Milholland. The message at the bottom reads: "DC Comics - please do something nice for Nodell. You owe him something nice."
