,
Gold Key #190, February, 1970
Paul Norris passed away at the age of 93 on November 5, 2007.
He was born in Chicago in 1914. Like most artists, he grew up with a love
of drawing. He attended the Midland Lutheran College in Freemont, Nebraska
in 1934-1935, but gave up further college education to work for an Ohio
newspaper syndicate. When the syndicate folded, he attended the Dayton
Art Institute where he met his future wife, Ann.
He soon found himself drawing his own comic strip, "Scoop Lens," for
the Dayton Daily News. He moved to New York in 1940 where he found work
with various comic book publishers, such as DC Comics, Prize Comics, Fox
Comics, Standard, Dell, and Gold Key. With Mort Wesinger, he co-created
the popular underwater hero, "Aquaman." He also drew several newspaper
comic strips:
"Brick Bradford" (which he drew until 1987 when he retired),
"Jungle Jim" and
"Secret Agent X-9."
From 1948-1949 Paul Norris drew four issues of the Dell four-color "Flash
Gordon" and, later, "Jungle Jim" from 1956-1957. For Gold Key, Norris took
over "Magnus" and "Robot Fighter" as well as that book's backup feature
“Aliens” when Russ Manning left the book, and "Jungle Twins." He replaced
Doug Wildey, who had been drawing the comic adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs'
Tarzan novels, with issue number 188, October, 1969, "Tarzan’s Quest."
He continued drawing the Tarzan adaptations through issue number 206,
February, 1972, "Tarzan and the Lion Man," although issue number 202 was
a reprint of issue number 154 drawn by Russ Manning, and issues 197-201
and 203-205 were new stories, not adaptations, written by Gaylord Du Bois.
Mike Royer initially inked Paul Norris' pencils, but eventually left to
ink for Jack Kirby, after which he began doing his own inking.
While Paul Norris' art was not flamboyant, he had a very pleasant, crisp,
clean style that was enjoyable. It was said of him that he never uttered
an unkind word against anyone, and all who met him came away with the impression
that here, indeed, was a gentle man.
... Robert R. Barrett
Reproduced on
this page are the magazine cover (left) and first page of a six-page Filmfax
interview with Richard A. Lupoff, author of the celebrated critical analysis,
Edgar
Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure.