It is with sadness that I read Mark Evanier’s reporting that Paul Norris, Aquaman‘s designer and first illustrator, has died at the age of 93.
Evanier noted that:
I think I oughta point out that he was the last of the great creators of Golden Age DC super-heroes. The guys who created Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are all gone…and now we’ve lost the guy who designed and first drew Aquaman.
Norris, as mentioned was Aquaman’s co-creator, but he also worked on the Sandman feature whilst Simon and Kirby were otherwise occupied. He and writing partner Mort Weisinger were responsible for the Sandman’s shift into the pure super-hero and they created his side-kick, Sandy Hawkes, the current JSA’s Sandman.
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Gosh..this is sad. I’m going to respect Aquaman as a character a little more now. Are Martian Manhunter’s creators still living?
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like they are. The Martian Manhunter is normally listed as being created by writer Joe Samachson and artist Joe Certa. Samachson departed pretty soon afterwards (or by other accounts may not have even been involved) and was replace by Jack Miller for the rest of his Silver Age run. Samachson died sometime around 1980 and I think Certa died a few years later. I’ve seen a quote by Neal Adams saying that Miller was deceased, but I can’t find an actual date.
A lost of DC first generation Silver Age creators were hold overs from the Golden Age so it isn’t surprising that we’ve lost a lot of them as well.
Oh. Thanx.