Illustrator Martin Nodell, who created the Golden Age Green Lantern and the Pillsbury Dough Boy, has passed away. He was 91.
I got to meet Mr. Nodell at a Big Apple Con in 1999, and purchased the Green Lantern t-shirt that I regularly wear from him.
Green Lantern remains my favorite superhero, and although I prefer the Silver Age to present incarnation, that character wouldn’t have existed without the original.
Hell. He was an incredibly sweet guy. He regularly attended conventions until just this past May, the Detroit Comic Con was his last appearance. And just watching him was amazing. He was so humble and just glad to be there. Kind of funny when you look at some of the rockstars in the industry today. It was more than a little angering that such a cornerstone of Golden Age Comics had to be at a little table in artists’ alley at these major conventions when DC should have been continually rolling out the red carpet and thanking this man on a daily basis… but that seems to be unfortunately typical for DC (and Marvel, what they allowed to happen to Dave Cockrum was a travesty).
This is sad. Martin Nodell was a brilliant creator.
He did a signing at a store called Star City Comics in Roanoke, VA about 10 years ago. He was a super nice guy, and I remember his wife being nice too. Rest in peace, Martin.
I got to go to dinner at Lowery’s in Chicago with Mr. Nodell and his lovely wife (and a group of other DC professionals) many, many years ago. He was truly a wonderful, interesting man.
D.
Wow. In the past month, the respective creators of my favorite Marvel and DC character have died.
Rest in peace, Mr. Nodell.