'Flash' comic creator Harry Lampert dies
"Harry Lampert, known worldwide as the creator of the DC Comic hero 'The Flash,' and the author of several popular instructional books about Bridge, died Saturday morning at Boca Raton Community Hospital.
"Lampert, who lived with his wife, Adele, in Deerfield Beach, was suffering from cancer, his family said. He was 88.
"Despite years as a gag cartoonist and then as a bridge aficionado, Lampert will be most remembered by legions of fans for the creation of the 1940s DC comic book 'Flash Comics #1,' which heralded the debut of a college student who, after an accident in a chemical lab, found he had blinding speed and used it to fight crime.
Lampert and writer Gardner Fox collaborated on The Flash before Lampert put ink to paper and made comic book history.
"'He based it on the character in mythology (Hermes) ... the wings on his feet,' said daughter Karen Lampert. 'He had no idea how big it would be.'
"Lampert, who was born Nov. 13, 1916, in New York, began his drawing career at 16, inking cartoons at Fleischer Studios for such popular characters as Popeye, Betty Boop and KoKo the Clown."
