|
MARTIN NODELL
ALL AMERICAN
“And I shall shed my light over dark evil,
For the dark things cannot stand the light,
The light of the Green Lantern!”
(The original Green Lantern oath penned by
Green Lantern
writer Bill Finger for All-American Comics #16, July, 1940.)
Once there were giants roaming the
Earth. Giants with a blank white void in front of them and nothing
but their own imaginations to fill the space. I mean, think about
it, in today’s market if you wanted to create an action hero you
would have thousands of examples to draw ideas from. When Marty
Nodell set out to create a “superhero” he had only Superman, Batman,
and maybe a handful more as examples of the genre. Of course you
could look at the forefathers of the superheroes, the comic strip
adventure heroes such as Flash Gordon and the Phantom or pulp action
stars such as Doc Savage or the Shadow. You could certainly draw
energy from them. I wonder if the “man of bronze” with his “fortress
of solitude” provided any inspiration …
Yeah.
Yet, Marty Nodell created something entirely new in contrast to
everything else out there. You could even argue that the Green
Lantern carried more originality than Superman or Batman. Certainly
Nodell would not have created the character if not for Superman, but
the comparison pretty much ends with the bright “four-colored”
clothing, necessary to stand out in print. If Superman was Doc
Savage with super powers and Batman was Dracula with money and a
slightly sweeter disposition---what was Green Lantern?
Well, point being (and sure, I’ve already overstated the message)
Green Lantern was pure and original imagination at its best, a
genuine star of the golden era of comic books and perhaps a character
that should have received more attention. Wouldn’t Green Lantern
have made a great radio program? Couldn’t Sam Rami make a kickass
multi-million dollar super-film out of the Green Lantern mythology?
Okay, for the moment, let’s set G.L. aside and look at the larger
picture. Marty Nodell was not just an artist who happened to create
one of the most cherished comic book characters of all time. Uh
huh. He, Marty Nodell, was …
… the
… creator
… of
POPPIN’ FRESH the PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY!
How cool is that???
I have a Doughboy represented in the sacred cabinet of
mystic toys on Mystery Island. Gotta love the Poppin’ Fresh.
Anyway, I’ll tell you something else really cool about Marty Nodell,
besides being the creator of two immortal American icons, Marty was a
hell of a nice guy. I met him a few times when I was in the process
of opening my first comic book store and bought a few Alan Scott
drawings from the master himself. He was always with his super-nice
wife, Carrie (who always wore a custom-made Green Lantern ring), at
the comic book conventions and always gave freely of his time to talk
with the fans while maintaining a really positive attitude. This is
worth mentioning as not all comic artists are that approachable or
that kind. You can certainly receive the opposite reaction from some
insecure artist penning something that looks like Conan the Barbarian
drawn by a monkey smoking crack from his asshole.
Well, that’s it folks. But please, remember the Marty Nodells of the
world, cuz you know what? The giants are almost all gone from this
Earth.
Bradley Mason Hamlin, 12.14.06
|
