Martin Nodell

Martin Nodell (November 15, 1915Comics Buyers Guide #1636 (December 2007) p. 135–December 9, 2006) was an American cartoonist and commercial artist, best known as the creator of the Golden Age superhero Green Lantern. Some of his work appeared under the pen name "Mart Dellon."

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nodell was the son of Jewish immigrants. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago. at the Lambiek Comiclopedia. 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. He moved to New York City in the 1930s, where he attended Pratt Institute.

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, one of three companies that ultimately merged to form the present-day DC Comics. Interested in gaining more steady employment, Nodell created designs for a new character that would become the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott). The inspiration came in January 1940 at the 34th Street subway station in Manhattan, while he was on his way home to......
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