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About the Artist:

Biography:

Harry Lampert

(13 November 1916 - 3 November 2004, USA)

Harry Lampert began his career at age 16, working at the Fleischer studios. There, he inked cartoons with 'Popeye', 'Betty Boop' and 'KoKo the Clown'. He worked as an artist for National (DC) in the 1930s and 1940s. He is best remembered as the creator of 'The Flash', about a college student who, after an accident in a chemical lab, found he had blinding speed and used it to fight crime. The feature first appeared in 1940, and Lampert worked on it for only five episodes. He has also worked on such early DC's titles as 'Red, White and Blue' and 'The King'. While stationed with the U.S. Army in Tampa during World War II, Lampert lifted morale through his 'Droopy the Drew Field Mosquito' cartoons. Other humor comic books he did were 'Cotton Top Katy', 'Winky Blinky' and 'Ton O' Fun'. He was also active as a gag cartoonist. His cartoons appeared in such periodicals as Time, Esquire, The New York Times, Saturday Evening Post and Saturday Review. Lampert was a teacher at the School of Visual Arts, and the founder of Lampert Agency, a New York based advertising firm, whose work included spots for Olympic Airways, Hanes Hosiery, Seagrams, the Netherlands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Harry Lampert retired in 1976. Lampert was a big fan of bridge, and even wrote some books about the game after his retirement.

--Lambiek Comiclopedia

Harry Lampert

Born: November 3, 1916, New York City, New York 
Died: November 13, 2004 (aged 88), Boca Raton, Florida, USA   
Nationality: American   
Area(s): Penciller, Inker, Adman, Bridge Teacher and Writer   
Notable works: The Flash 

Harry Lampert (November 3, 1916 – November 13, 2004) was an American cartoonist and bridge teacher and writer.
Born in New York City, Lampert began cartooning when he was sixteen years old, and worked for the legendary Max Fleischer, inking and helping produce Betty Boop, Popeye, and Koko the Clown cartoons. While stationed at Drew Field in Tampa, FL, he created Droopy the Drew Field Mosquito which ran in the Drew Field Echoes from 1942-1944. He began drawing comic books and he is best known in that field for being the artistic co-creator of the DC Comics superhero The Flash. Created in collaboration with writer Gardner Fox, the hero first appeared in Flash Comics #1 in 1940, but Lampert left "The Flash" after drawing only five stories, gravitating towards his preference for humorous work. (After he discovered his fame in the comics world 50 years later, Lampert observed that he didn't own any " 'original' originals", not even a Flash comic book. "It was too expensive."). He also drew the comic book characters "The King", "Red, White and Blue" and "The Atom". Lampert later went on to draw gag cartoons for TIME, The New York Times, Esquire, and The Saturday Evening Post. He was also an instructor for the New York City School of Visual Arts and founded the Lampert Agency, an advertising company which produced award-winning ads for clients such as Olympic Airways, Seagram, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

After his retirement in 1976, Lampert went on to write many instructional books on contract bridge. A Life Master and bridge teacher licensed by the American Contract Bridge League, Lampert spent years giving classes and working the cruise ship circuit teaching bridge to players In the mid-1990s, Lampert became active in the comic book convention circuit, selling new sketches and autographs and speaking about his famous comic book creation.
Lampert died on November 13, 2004 in Boca Raton, Florida of complications from prostate cancer; he was survived by wife Adele Lampert, daughter Karen Akavan and two grandsons.

Bridge publications
— (1978). Fun Way to Learn Serious Bridge. Roslyn, New York: Hardel Publishing. LCCN 78066744. Second edition 1980, The Fun Way to Serious Bridge; reprinted 1986, Simon & Schuster Fireside Books. LCCN 86-6657.
— (1985). The Fun Way to Advanced Bridge. New York: Simon & Schuster Fireside Books. ISBN 0-671-53066-6. LCCN 84028802.
— (1988). Declarer Play and Opening Leads, a Fun Way Bridge Book. Deerfield, IL: Private.
— (1988). Teacher's Guide for Lesson Plans in Conjunction with Declarer Play and Opening Leads, a Fun Way Bridge Book. Deerfield, IL: Private.
— (2002). Harry's Hands/Over 100 Funway Bridge Hands. Deerfield, IL: Private.
— (2002). The Fun Way to Better Bridge. Louisville, KY: Devyn Press.

Pamphlets
"Introduction to Defensive Play" (Devyn, 1989), Future Champions no. 10. OCLC 30309406

References
"Harry Lampert: United States Social Security Death Index". FamilySearch (familysearch.org). Citing US SSA Death Master File. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
"The Flash Creator Harry Lampert Dies". Patricia Sullivan. The Washington Post. November 14, 2004; Page C10. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
So stated on the front and back covers of his book The Fun Way to Advanced Bridge.

External links
Appearance on San Diego Comicon panel, 2000 (video)
Biography at Lambiek Comiclopedia
Droopy the Drew Field Mosquito (scroll down) with gallery at Comics Collection, University of Florida
Harry Lampert at Library of Congress Authorities, with 3 catalog records

--Wiki

'The Flash' Creator Harry Lampert Dies

By Patricia Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, November 14, 2004; Page C10

Harry Lampert, 88, the artist who first drew the DC Comics hero The Flash and author of four books on bridge, died of a cerebral hemorrhage Nov. 13 at Boca Raton Community Hospital in Florida. He lived in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Mr. Lampert, a New York City native, was inking cartoons at Fleischer studios in New York when he drew the initial "The Flash" in 1940. He received $10 for each of the 15 pages in the comic book.

By 1995, the first "Flash" comic was selling for $40,000. But Mr. Lampert had moved on after only a few episodes and didn't keep his original work.
He spent his life as a cartoonist, drawing "The King" and "Red, White and Blue," selling gag cartoons, teaching cartooning at the New York School of Visual Arts and eventually founding an advertising company. The ad firm did well and won industry awards, and its clients included Olympic Airways, Hanes Hosiery, Seagrams, the Netherlands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

After retiring in 1976, Mr. Lampert turned his hobby of contract bridge into a career, writing about and teaching bridge and lecturing on the game aboard many cruise ships.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Adele Lampert of Deerfield Beach; a daughter, Karen Akavan of Plainview, N.Y.; and two grandsons.
It wasn't until the 1990s that an acquaintance told Mr. Lampert that he was famous among comic book collectors, who avidly sought pristine copies of the first-edition comic he drew.

"I made it my business the next year to go to San Diego for the comic book convention," he told his nephew, Eugene L. Meyer, a Washington Post reporter who wrote about Mr. Lampert in 1996. "There I was hailed. I couldn't believe it. I was on this panel. People were coming up to me for autographs!"
A DC Comics representative didn't seek his signature but rather his Social Security number. A few weeks later, Mr. Lampert received checks of $1,600 and $5,000 in the mail from the comic book giant, which published a newer version of "The Flash."

Mr. Lambert [sic], noting the prices being offered for the first "Flash," immediately made plans to start drawing original re-creations of his work, which he sold at conventions for hundreds of dollars. But as to the "original" originals, he told The Washington Post: "Isn't it terrible? I don't have any work I've done. I didn't buy a 'Flash.' It was too expensive."

"The Flash"

Publication history

Golden Age

The Flash first appeared in the Golden Age Flash Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), from All-American Publications, one of three companies that would eventually merge to form DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, this Flash was Jay Garrick, a college student who gained his speed through the inhalation of hard water vapors. When re-introduced in the 1960s Garrick's origin was modified slightly, gaining his powers through exposure to heavy water.

Jay Garrick was a popular character in the 1940s, supporting both Flash Comics and All-Flash Quarterly (later published bi-monthly as simply All-Flash); co-starring in Comic Cavalcade; and being a charter member of the Justice Society of America, the first superhero team, whose adventures ran in All Star Comics. With superheroes' post-war decline in popularity, Flash Comics was canceled with issue #104 (1949) which featured an Evil version of the Flash called the Rival. The Justice Society's final Golden Age story ran in All Star Comics #57 (1951; the title itself continued, as All Star Western).

--Wiki