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PAUL NORRIS 11/05/07
Jim Whiting and Paul Norris
OCEANSIDE – Paul Norris is still getting fan mail for the comic book
character he created more than 65 years ago.
Reprinted from the April 13, 2007 North County Times
The 92-year-old Oceanside resident created “Aquaman” in 1941 with
DC Comics editor Mort Weisinger, known for his work on Superman.
It was the golden age of comics when Norris was asked to create a
superhuman who lived in the sea.
“I drew up the character, and off he went,” Norris said.
“Aquaman” appeared around the world and developed a following
throughout Europe that still exists today.
Norris has gotten letters from many countries asking about the original
character and his amazing underwater feats.
After launching “Aquaman,” Norris drew and wrote for daily and
Sunday syndicated strips and comic books such as “Tarzan,” “Flash
Gordon,” “Secret Agent X-9,” “Jungle Jim” and “Brick Bradford.”
During World War II, cartooning became his secret weapon, he said.
When one of his comic strips appeared in an Army newspaper, it
caught the attention of a general and Norris was assigned to draw
illustrations for war leaflets that were dropped from aircraft over
Okinawa.
“The leaflets were supposed to entice the enemy to give up,” Norris
said.
When the Japanese surrendered, some had in their possession
leaflets Norris had drawn.
Norris' career in cartooning began when he was a teenager. He drew
political cartoons for the Dayton Daily News supporting Franklin
Roosevelt for president.
It was a career that would continue into Norris' 70s.
“Everyone I know who started cartooning is still possessed by it,” he
said. “You have such a desire to draw and develop a character, it gets
to you.”
In the midst of the Great Depression, Norris attended Midland
Lutheran College in Nebraska. During his two years there in the mid-
1930s, he volunteered as art director for the college yearbook and
came up with the idea of drawing a caricature of each senior.
“It only lasted a year, because after I left, there was no one else to do
it,” Norris said.
Norris left Midland to do six weeks of advance comic strips for a
syndicate that folded just after he finished the work. Later, he
completed his art studies at the Dayton Art Institute School in Ohio,
where he met his wife, Ann, to whom he was married for 61 years.
By 1942, Norris was drawing the newspaper strip “Vic Jordan” for the
New York daily, PM. He worked with Prize Publications creating “Power
Nelson,” “Futureman” and “Yank and Doodle.”
His contract with PM required that he work exclusively for that
publication, which he hadn't realized when he signed up, so he had to
stop working on “Aquaman” about a year after he created it.
But he got other breaks. Norris went on to work for King Features
Syndicate and draw the Sunday feature “Jungle Jim,” by Austin Briggs.
“I was always busy,” Norris said. “I never had a problem working up an
idea.”
In 1952, he took over the science fiction comic strip “Brick Bradford”
from artist Clarence Gray. For 35 years, until he retired in 1987, he
drew the strip, which covered everything from intergalactic wars and
robots to dinosaurs and subatomic worlds.
“It was the easiest thing on Earth to do,” Norris said. “There was no
limitation on the story line. It was a chance to let your mind go wild.”
Norris is proudest of his work on Tarzan comic books.
“I was always fascinated by the character when I was a child, and then I
had a chance to draw it,” he said.
Norris, who has lived in Oceanside for 40 years, deflects attention from
himself as a hometown hero, even though he has many local fans in
the Southern California Cartoonists Society.
“What strikes me most is that he was not only a great comic book artist
but such a gentleman,” said Jim Whiting, founder of the society.
Comic book collector Charlie Roberts said of Norris, “He's a very
positive person and one of the nicest people I know.”
Norris' strips often contained positive messages.
“There was usually a lesson,” he said, “something about going in the
right direction. Maybe I put it in unconsciously.”
Even as a little boy, Norris was drawn to the world of cartooning.
He still has a book of “Bringing up Father” comics his grandparents
gave him when he was 7 years old.
“Cartooning is all I ever really wanted to do,” he said.
OCEANSIDE – Paul Norris is still getting fan mail for the comic book
character he created more than 65 years ago.
Reprinted from the April 13, 2007 North County Times
The 92-year-old Oceanside resident created “Aquaman” in 1941 with
DC Comics editor Mort Weisinger, known for his work on Superman.
It was the golden age of comics when Norris was asked to create a
superhuman who lived in the sea.
“I drew up the character, and off he went,” Norris said.
“Aquaman” appeared around the world and developed a following
throughout Europe that still exists today.
Norris has gotten letters from many countries asking about the original
character and his amazing underwater feats.
After launching “Aquaman,” Norris drew and wrote for daily and
Sunday syndicated strips and comic books such as “Tarzan,” “Flash
Gordon,” “Secret Agent X-9,” “Jungle Jim” and “Brick Bradford.”
During World War II, cartooning became his secret weapon, he said.
When one of his comic strips appeared in an Army newspaper, it
caught the attention of a general and Norris was assigned to draw
illustrations for war leaflets that were dropped from aircraft over
Okinawa.
“The leaflets were supposed to entice the enemy to give up,” Norris
said.
When the Japanese surrendered, some had in their possession
leaflets Norris had drawn.
Norris' career in cartooning began when he was a teenager. He drew
political cartoons for the Dayton Daily News supporting Franklin
Roosevelt for president.
It was a career that would continue into Norris' 70s.
“Everyone I know who started cartooning is still possessed by it,” he
said. “You have such a desire to draw and develop a character, it gets
to you.”
In the midst of the Great Depression, Norris attended Midland
Lutheran College in Nebraska. During his two years there in the mid-
1930s, he volunteered as art director for the college yearbook and
came up with the idea of drawing a caricature of each senior.
“It only lasted a year, because after I left, there was no one else to do
it,” Norris said.
Norris left Midland to do six weeks of advance comic strips for a
syndicate that folded just after he finished the work. Later, he
completed his art studies at the Dayton Art Institute School in Ohio,
where he met his wife, Ann, to whom he was married for 61 years.
By 1942, Norris was drawing the newspaper strip “Vic Jordan” for the
New York daily, PM. He worked with Prize Publications creating “Power
Nelson,” “Futureman” and “Yank and Doodle.”
His contract with PM required that he work exclusively for that
publication, which he hadn't realized when he signed up, so he had to
stop working on “Aquaman” about a year after he created it.
But he got other breaks. Norris went on to work for King Features
Syndicate and draw the Sunday feature “Jungle Jim,” by Austin Briggs.
“I was always busy,” Norris said. “I never had a problem working up an
idea.”
In 1952, he took over the science fiction comic strip “Brick Bradford”
from artist Clarence Gray. For 35 years, until he retired in 1987, he
drew the strip, which covered everything from intergalactic wars and
robots to dinosaurs and subatomic worlds.
“It was the easiest thing on Earth to do,” Norris said. “There was no
limitation on the story line. It was a chance to let your mind go wild.”
Norris is proudest of his work on Tarzan comic books.
“I was always fascinated by the character when I was a child, and then I
had a chance to draw it,” he said.
Norris, who has lived in Oceanside for 40 years, deflects attention from
himself as a hometown hero, even though he has many local fans in
the Southern California Cartoonists Society.
“What strikes me most is that he was not only a great comic book artist
but such a gentleman,” said Jim Whiting, founder of the society.
Comic book collector Charlie Roberts said of Norris, “He's a very
positive person and one of the nicest people I know.”
Norris' strips often contained positive messages.
“There was usually a lesson,” he said, “something about going in the
right direction. Maybe I put it in unconsciously.”
Even as a little boy, Norris was drawn to the world of cartooning.
He still has a book of “Bringing up Father” comics his grandparents
gave him when he was 7 years old.
“Cartooning is all I ever really wanted to do,” he said.
| Obit by Mark Evanier Paul Norris, who co-created the comic book character Aquaman, and who produced the Brick Bradford newspaper strip for a little over 35 years, died about four hours ago at the age of 93. He'd had a series of strokes in the last few months and had just been hospitalized for his most recent. Paul was born April 26, 1914 in Greenville, Ohio. He studied at Midland Lutheran College and at the Dayton Art Institute before landing a job as an illustrator and cartoonist for the Dayton Daily News in 1936. Three years later, he assembled a portfolio of his best work and took it to New York in search of better prospects, which turned out to be comic books. No one, not even Paul, was ever certain what his first job was in that medium but by 1940, he was drawing for Prize Publications, where he launched several of their star strips — Yank and Doodle, Power Nelson and Futureman. A year later, he was at DC Comics where his most memorable assignment was Aquaman, which he and editor-writer Mort Weisinger created. (DC now puts a "created by Paul Norris" credit on all Aquaman comics. The absence of Weisinger's name is apparently a legal problem on DC's end, not a case of Norris squeezing out his former collaborator.) Paul also worked on, among others, the Sandman in Adventure Comics. He was the artist who revamped the character from his old costume — a business suit and a device that looked like a gas mask — and turned him, at editorial insistence, into a Batman knock-off. When Norris left the strip, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took it over. During this period, Paul also worked on the Vic Jordan newspaper strip for the New York Daily PM. Paul then spent some years in the Army. Upon his return, his main work was with the King Features Syndicate, initially as a kind of troubleshooter. Whenever one of their adventure strips was behind or in need of a temporary artist, they'd have Paul Norris draw some weeks of it. This included stints on Flash Gordon and Secret Agent X-9. In 1948, he took over the Jungle Jim Sunday feature for a few years when Austin Briggs gave it up and in 1952, he took over Brick Bradford from Clarence Gray. Paul wrote and drew Brick Bradford until the strip ended on April 25, 1987. During all that time, he never missed a deadline or even came close to being late. That would be remarkable enough if that's all he did but beginning in 1947, he also worked for Western Publishing Company, beginning with comic books based on the newspaper strips he was ghosting. Eventually, he became a mainstay of Western's Los Angeles office, drawing westerns and TV-based comics. Many fans recalled his work in the sixties and seventies on Tarzan of the Apes and Magnus, Robot Fighter, as well as a short-lived book he drew called The Jungle Twins. He also occasionally dabbled in funny animals such as Woodsy Owl and illustrated childrens' books for the firm. late. He was afraid of it not being early. late. He was afraid of it not being early. For several years, we were honored to have Paul as a guest on the annual Golden Age Panel at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. He'd come to the con for just one day...and we'd schedule the panel for that day, whatever day he could make it, just so we'd have him on it. His last appearance on one was in 1999, I believe. He was supposed to be on the panel in 2000 but he drove to the convention that day, couldn't find a parking space and wound up going home without going in. He only called me about eleven times to apologize...and every year after that, he'd phone a few weeks before the con to say he was sorry but his health would not allow him to attend. 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. In 1995, Paul insisted on doing a favor for me and I asked him to do a drawing of Aquaman. He said it was the first he'd done of the character in more than fifty years and I don't know how many, if any, he did after that one. It's up atop this obit. I just wanted to share it with you because it will always remind me of that lovely, wonderful man. Mark Evanier __._,_.___ |
PAUL NORRIS REMEMBERED
By Charlie Roberts
Paul Norris, 93, passed away Monday night November 5 at 10:30 PM at
Tri-City Medical Center near his home in Oceanside, Ca. Paul's sons Reed
and Mike were at his bedside.
Paul was born in Greenville Ohio in 1914. He grew up with a love of
cartooning and acting, and attended Midland Lutheran College in Fremont,
Nebraska from 1934-1935, leaving in his Sophomore year to work for a
small newspaper syndicate in Ohio which eventually folded. Finding himself
out of college and out of work Paul began attending the Dayton Art Institute,
where he met and began dating his future bride Ann who coincidentally
worked in an Ohio department store with Milton Caniff's mother. Paul married
Ann, his wife of 61 years, in 1939 and also had early success with the comic
strip "Scoop Lens" in The "Dayton Daily News" newspaper the same year. He
headed for the bright lights of New York City in 1940, landing a job at PRIZE
COMICS where he created "Power Nelson", " Futureman", and "Yank and
Doodle". By 1941 he was at DC COMICS working for Mort Weisinger and
Whitney Ellsworth . He created "Aquaman", whose f irst appearance was in
"More Fun" # 73 in November 1941. During this period Paul was also under
contract working for the newspaper "PM" on the "Vic Jordan" comic strip,
which he also created.
Paul was drafted in 1943, and wound up doing cartoon propaganda leaflets
for the Allied effort which were dropped on Okinawa leading to the surrender
of many Japanese.
After the war Paul went to work for King Features Syndicate . He did the art
chores on " Jungle Jim" and Secret Agent X-9", and also did "Flash Gordon",
"Tarzan", and "The Jungle Twins" for DELL Comics. Clarence Grey retired,
and Paul took over the "Brick Bradford " comic strip which he drew for 35
years between 1952 and 1987. The last daily strip ran on April 25, 1987 and
Paul retired with it .
Paul and Ann moved to Oceanside, California in 1967 . In 1986 he, along
with cartoonists Jim Whiting, Brad Anderson, Sherm Goodrich and writer Lyle
Swiger organized the "Southern California Cartoonist's Society" (SCCS) .
The group, now led by Karyl Miller, brings together San Diego County
cartoonists and writers for informal monthly meetings. Past Presidents have
included Jim Whiting, Janet Williams, Matt Lorentz, and Dean LeCrone.
David Siegel, San Diego Comic-Con Golden Age Panel organizer, was
responsible for getting Paul to the 1993 Comic-Con where he won the
prestigious Inkpot Award. Midland College honored Paul on February 10,
2006 and the "S.C.C.S." celebrated his 93rd birthday with a large party on
April 26, 2007.
It's been my great pleasure to have shared many weekly lunches and
monthly dinners with Paul Norris and friends over the last six years. I can't
recall him ever saying an unkind word about anyone. The phrase
"Gentleman's Gentleman" surely applied with Paul. A true Class Act with a
smile and a gentle laugh, Paul was easy to be friends with and he will be
greatly missed.
We will be having a Celebration of Paul Norris' life and
art next Wednesday November 14 at 6 PM at Paul's
favorite meeting place, "Grandma's Hilltop Cafe"
restaurant just off El Camino Real at 639 Vista Bella in
Oceanside, Ca. Paul's son Reed will be setting up a
major exhibit honoring Paul . Please stop by if you're in
the area.
By Charlie Roberts
Paul Norris, 93, passed away Monday night November 5 at 10:30 PM at
Tri-City Medical Center near his home in Oceanside, Ca. Paul's sons Reed
and Mike were at his bedside.
Paul was born in Greenville Ohio in 1914. He grew up with a love of
cartooning and acting, and attended Midland Lutheran College in Fremont,
Nebraska from 1934-1935, leaving in his Sophomore year to work for a
small newspaper syndicate in Ohio which eventually folded. Finding himself
out of college and out of work Paul began attending the Dayton Art Institute,
where he met and began dating his future bride Ann who coincidentally
worked in an Ohio department store with Milton Caniff's mother. Paul married
Ann, his wife of 61 years, in 1939 and also had early success with the comic
strip "Scoop Lens" in The "Dayton Daily News" newspaper the same year. He
headed for the bright lights of New York City in 1940, landing a job at PRIZE
COMICS where he created "Power Nelson", " Futureman", and "Yank and
Doodle". By 1941 he was at DC COMICS working for Mort Weisinger and
Whitney Ellsworth . He created "Aquaman", whose f irst appearance was in
"More Fun" # 73 in November 1941. During this period Paul was also under
contract working for the newspaper "PM" on the "Vic Jordan" comic strip,
which he also created.
Paul was drafted in 1943, and wound up doing cartoon propaganda leaflets
for the Allied effort which were dropped on Okinawa leading to the surrender
of many Japanese.
After the war Paul went to work for King Features Syndicate . He did the art
chores on " Jungle Jim" and Secret Agent X-9", and also did "Flash Gordon",
"Tarzan", and "The Jungle Twins" for DELL Comics. Clarence Grey retired,
and Paul took over the "Brick Bradford " comic strip which he drew for 35
years between 1952 and 1987. The last daily strip ran on April 25, 1987 and
Paul retired with it .
Paul and Ann moved to Oceanside, California in 1967 . In 1986 he, along
with cartoonists Jim Whiting, Brad Anderson, Sherm Goodrich and writer Lyle
Swiger organized the "Southern California Cartoonist's Society" (SCCS) .
The group, now led by Karyl Miller, brings together San Diego County
cartoonists and writers for informal monthly meetings. Past Presidents have
included Jim Whiting, Janet Williams, Matt Lorentz, and Dean LeCrone.
David Siegel, San Diego Comic-Con Golden Age Panel organizer, was
responsible for getting Paul to the 1993 Comic-Con where he won the
prestigious Inkpot Award. Midland College honored Paul on February 10,
2006 and the "S.C.C.S." celebrated his 93rd birthday with a large party on
April 26, 2007.
It's been my great pleasure to have shared many weekly lunches and
monthly dinners with Paul Norris and friends over the last six years. I can't
recall him ever saying an unkind word about anyone. The phrase
"Gentleman's Gentleman" surely applied with Paul. A true Class Act with a
smile and a gentle laugh, Paul was easy to be friends with and he will be
greatly missed.
We will be having a Celebration of Paul Norris' life and
art next Wednesday November 14 at 6 PM at Paul's
favorite meeting place, "Grandma's Hilltop Cafe"
restaurant just off El Camino Real at 639 Vista Bella in
Oceanside, Ca. Paul's son Reed will be setting up a
major exhibit honoring Paul . Please stop by if you're in
the area.
Paul Norris, Dead at 93 by Rick Marschall
fewer people die at age 93 than almost any other age. To be recent
health challenges. On the other hand, if you think about it, fewer
people die at age 93 than almost any other serious, the reason all of
Paul’s friends and acquaintances were shocked is because Paul
grew gray, and he lost a step or two… but he simply didn’t grow old;
and neither did he ever lose the youthfulness – that sparkle – that
was always his. A rare sort of friendliness.
friendliness.
He made us feel younger, just being around him, and the day Paul
died is the first day he ever made us sad.
+ + +
A lot of the headlines identified Paul as creator of “Aquaman,” but I
never identified him that way. When I was a kid I never read or liked
superhero comics. Heck, when I was editor at Marvel Comics, I still
didn’t read or like superhero comics.
I was newspaper strip fan. Brick Bradford ran in my local newspaper,
The Record, in northern New Jersey. I was young, only 12 I think,
when I met Paul Norris. I knew Al Smith, who lived in the next town,
went to our church, and drew Mutt and Jeff. He told me about two
other cartoonists nearby: Vern Greene who drew Bringing Up
Father; and Paul Norris.
I idolized the cartoonists I met back then… and I still idolize the
cartoonists I know today. Cartoonists are a breed apart. From my
dad’s old books on cartoons I liked the work of Frederick Opper
most of all: his Happy Hooligan was fantastic, outrageous, hilarious.
I stunk at math, so I didn’t know how impossible it was for him to be
alive, but when I was a kid I thought if he were alive, he probably
lived in a mansion if not a palace, attended by servants in green-
and-yellow knee breeches. He’d just have to be royalty. That’s
before I knew cartoonists preferred saloons to palaces. Today, golf
courses.
Anyway, I soon met cartoonists like Rube Goldberg and Harry
Hershfield. Legends. So, picture them, and picture Al Smith. White-
haired, he joined the New York World in the 1920s. He smoked
cigars. He lived on a hill in a large Victorian house. I could ask him
about George Herriman! He drew Mutt and Jeff, the first-ever daily
strip. Which had started in 19-oh-freakin-7!
Picture Vern Greene, the second cartoonist I ever met. He lived in
Wyckoff, New Jersey, on a six-acre horse farm. His studio was in a
reconverted corner of the barn. He would have me over on Saturday
afternoons to [air-quote ] “help him sort his collection” – old issues of
Cartoons Magazine and Cupples and Leon reprint books. Piles of
originals by George McManus and Cliff Sterrett (Vern had ghosted
Polly and Her Pals) – but I soon realized what he took most pleasure
in was talking cartoons and letting me watch him draw, and ask
questions. Wow. And he drew Jiggs and Maggie, which began in 19-
freakin-13.
Neither of these studios was in a mansion or palace, but these
cartoonists were certainly set apart. By the way, I still stink at math,
and only recently realized that Frederick Opper would have had to
have been about 105 years old when I had those fantasies.
However, when I met Paul Norris, he was in his 40s, I was a young
boy, and I nervously called him on the advice of Al Smith.
+ + +
The warmest voice and friendliest words I ever heard were on the
other end of the phone. It was like I had known him all of my short
life. He beat me to the punch: “You’ve done drawings? You want to
be a cartoonist? Why don’t you come over to my house some
Saturday afternoon?”
I was so young I still needed my father to drive me. Paul lived in
Hillsdale, NJ, about half an hour away. He drew Brick Bradford, which
had started in 1933… but was about the future! Not guys with
sideburns and white gloves, or spats and canes; but rocket ships
and space-travel, when astronauts were in the headlines every day!
Was this going to be a studio in a palace or castle? A huge Victorian
house on a hilltop? A cartoon library magically plopped in the middle
of a horse ranch? Anything romantic like those Valhalas?
The address checked out: we pulled into the driveway of a suburban
house like our own. Right out of Norman Rockwell. Not big, not small.
Middle America. A ‘50s TV dad met me at the door. Paul was out of
Central Casting – just more handsome, more friendly, more sincere
even, than Ozzie Nelson or Donna Reed’s husband. He had mowed
his lawn before lunch, he explained, and offered me milk and some
pie or cake. He asked me more questions than I could get out to ask
him. A professional cartoonist was asking me about cartoons and
drawing! He was so interested in my interest. Amazing. I felt like I had
found an instant best friend.
By and by he asked me if I wanted to go down to “the factory” –
where he drew Brick Bradford – and, well, Yes.
There in suburban Hillsdale, New Jersey, I finally met a cartoonist
even more set apart than the pros I had met already… in a better
way. And I was in a cartooning palace. But this royalty wore a flannel
shirt, rolled up at the sleeves. His throne room of a studio was a
family room, and his attendants were a washing machine, a dryer,
and some random laundry, for which he apologized but didn’t have
to. This couldn’t have been better for me to see – a professional
cartoonist’s life in an environment that I already knew: my own
environment.
The universe spun around us that afternoon as Paul Norris showed
young Rick Marschall how he penciled and inked, his methods of
laying out a strip, and talked about the life of a cartoonist. He pulled
out not one, but two originals – so I could have all the major
characters represented – and signed them to me.
+ + +
Two years ago I took the opportunity to drive up the coast, to this
very restaurant, to see Paul Norris. We lived pretty close to each
other again. Years ago, we had lived half an hour apart. Now I live
half an hour from Paul’s college, Midland Lutheran. Forget the
arithmetic, forget the few miles or many years – I was astonished
that Paul remembered that afternoon with a young enthusiast so
long ago.
Paul Norris was a terrific cartoonist, versatile, competent, always
ahead of deadline, devoted to his craft. It’s possible, some might
say, that there were better cartoonists. But I’ll tell you this: there
never was a better man who was a cartoonist than Paul Norris.
He’s in a real mansion now… and guess how I picture it.
fewer people die at age 93 than almost any other age. To be recent
health challenges. On the other hand, if you think about it, fewer
people die at age 93 than almost any other serious, the reason all of
Paul’s friends and acquaintances were shocked is because Paul
grew gray, and he lost a step or two… but he simply didn’t grow old;
and neither did he ever lose the youthfulness – that sparkle – that
was always his. A rare sort of friendliness.
friendliness.
He made us feel younger, just being around him, and the day Paul
died is the first day he ever made us sad.
+ + +
A lot of the headlines identified Paul as creator of “Aquaman,” but I
never identified him that way. When I was a kid I never read or liked
superhero comics. Heck, when I was editor at Marvel Comics, I still
didn’t read or like superhero comics.
I was newspaper strip fan. Brick Bradford ran in my local newspaper,
The Record, in northern New Jersey. I was young, only 12 I think,
when I met Paul Norris. I knew Al Smith, who lived in the next town,
went to our church, and drew Mutt and Jeff. He told me about two
other cartoonists nearby: Vern Greene who drew Bringing Up
Father; and Paul Norris.
I idolized the cartoonists I met back then… and I still idolize the
cartoonists I know today. Cartoonists are a breed apart. From my
dad’s old books on cartoons I liked the work of Frederick Opper
most of all: his Happy Hooligan was fantastic, outrageous, hilarious.
I stunk at math, so I didn’t know how impossible it was for him to be
alive, but when I was a kid I thought if he were alive, he probably
lived in a mansion if not a palace, attended by servants in green-
and-yellow knee breeches. He’d just have to be royalty. That’s
before I knew cartoonists preferred saloons to palaces. Today, golf
courses.
Anyway, I soon met cartoonists like Rube Goldberg and Harry
Hershfield. Legends. So, picture them, and picture Al Smith. White-
haired, he joined the New York World in the 1920s. He smoked
cigars. He lived on a hill in a large Victorian house. I could ask him
about George Herriman! He drew Mutt and Jeff, the first-ever daily
strip. Which had started in 19-oh-freakin-7!
Picture Vern Greene, the second cartoonist I ever met. He lived in
Wyckoff, New Jersey, on a six-acre horse farm. His studio was in a
reconverted corner of the barn. He would have me over on Saturday
afternoons to [air-quote ] “help him sort his collection” – old issues of
Cartoons Magazine and Cupples and Leon reprint books. Piles of
originals by George McManus and Cliff Sterrett (Vern had ghosted
Polly and Her Pals) – but I soon realized what he took most pleasure
in was talking cartoons and letting me watch him draw, and ask
questions. Wow. And he drew Jiggs and Maggie, which began in 19-
freakin-13.
Neither of these studios was in a mansion or palace, but these
cartoonists were certainly set apart. By the way, I still stink at math,
and only recently realized that Frederick Opper would have had to
have been about 105 years old when I had those fantasies.
However, when I met Paul Norris, he was in his 40s, I was a young
boy, and I nervously called him on the advice of Al Smith.
+ + +
The warmest voice and friendliest words I ever heard were on the
other end of the phone. It was like I had known him all of my short
life. He beat me to the punch: “You’ve done drawings? You want to
be a cartoonist? Why don’t you come over to my house some
Saturday afternoon?”
I was so young I still needed my father to drive me. Paul lived in
Hillsdale, NJ, about half an hour away. He drew Brick Bradford, which
had started in 1933… but was about the future! Not guys with
sideburns and white gloves, or spats and canes; but rocket ships
and space-travel, when astronauts were in the headlines every day!
Was this going to be a studio in a palace or castle? A huge Victorian
house on a hilltop? A cartoon library magically plopped in the middle
of a horse ranch? Anything romantic like those Valhalas?
The address checked out: we pulled into the driveway of a suburban
house like our own. Right out of Norman Rockwell. Not big, not small.
Middle America. A ‘50s TV dad met me at the door. Paul was out of
Central Casting – just more handsome, more friendly, more sincere
even, than Ozzie Nelson or Donna Reed’s husband. He had mowed
his lawn before lunch, he explained, and offered me milk and some
pie or cake. He asked me more questions than I could get out to ask
him. A professional cartoonist was asking me about cartoons and
drawing! He was so interested in my interest. Amazing. I felt like I had
found an instant best friend.
By and by he asked me if I wanted to go down to “the factory” –
where he drew Brick Bradford – and, well, Yes.
There in suburban Hillsdale, New Jersey, I finally met a cartoonist
even more set apart than the pros I had met already… in a better
way. And I was in a cartooning palace. But this royalty wore a flannel
shirt, rolled up at the sleeves. His throne room of a studio was a
family room, and his attendants were a washing machine, a dryer,
and some random laundry, for which he apologized but didn’t have
to. This couldn’t have been better for me to see – a professional
cartoonist’s life in an environment that I already knew: my own
environment.
The universe spun around us that afternoon as Paul Norris showed
young Rick Marschall how he penciled and inked, his methods of
laying out a strip, and talked about the life of a cartoonist. He pulled
out not one, but two originals – so I could have all the major
characters represented – and signed them to me.
+ + +
Two years ago I took the opportunity to drive up the coast, to this
very restaurant, to see Paul Norris. We lived pretty close to each
other again. Years ago, we had lived half an hour apart. Now I live
half an hour from Paul’s college, Midland Lutheran. Forget the
arithmetic, forget the few miles or many years – I was astonished
that Paul remembered that afternoon with a young enthusiast so
long ago.
Paul Norris was a terrific cartoonist, versatile, competent, always
ahead of deadline, devoted to his craft. It’s possible, some might
say, that there were better cartoonists. But I’ll tell you this: there
never was a better man who was a cartoonist than Paul Norris.
He’s in a real mansion now… and guess how I picture it.