Norris, Paul

Paul Norris (1914-2007) was an American cartoonist who co-created the superhero Aquaman and drew the comic strip Brick Bradford .

Paul Norris was born April 26, 1914 in Greenville, Ohio. After briefly working as a card writer for the J.C. Penny Co, Norris, at the suggestion of his cousin, who was a professor of journalism at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska, moved to Fremont, Nebraska in 1934 to attend Midland Lutheran. Norris served as the college yearbook art director and drew caricatures of every graduating senior. However, Norris left college and returned to Ohio to work on the proposed syndicated comic strip Hobo Cupboard but the strip was never published.

Norris took a job in a machinery factory in Dayton, Ohio and finished his studies at night at the Dayton Art Institute. He then went on to work for the Dayton Daily News where he drew a photography themed comic, Scoop Lens for their supplement Camerica . At the suggestion of Milton Caniff, in 1940 Norris moved to New York City where he worked for comic book companies Prize Publications and National and co-created the character Aquaman. Norris’ first experience drawing a newspaper strip came when he took over Vic Jordan for the New York Daily PM in 1941.

Norris worked as an Army artist during WWII and drew propaganda materials dropped on Japanese civilians. Norris was transferred to the psychological warfare division of the Tenth Army where he worked with a Japanese POW to ensure the accuracy of the material in propaganda leaflets and increase their effectiveness.

After the war, Norris began working the for King Features Syndicate where he worked on comic books and drew the strip Secret Agent X-9 until transitioning to the Jungle Jim Sunday strip in 1948. In 1954 Norris took over the science fiction strip Brick Bradford from artist Clarence Gray which continued until April 25, 1987.

In 2006, Midland Lutheran College hosted an exhibit of original Norris cartoons. Paul Norris retired in 1988 and died November 11, 2007.

From the guide to the Paul Norris Papers., 1939-1968., 1955-1962., (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)