| Jim Mooney | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1919-08-13)August 13, 1919 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 30, 2008(2008-03-30) (aged 88) Florida, U.S. |
| Area | Penciller,Inker |
| Pseudonym | Jay Noel |
Notable works | Action Comics (Tommy Tomorrow,Supergirl) Spectacular Spider-Man Star Spangled Comics (Robin) |
James Noel Mooney[1] (August 13, 1919 – March 30, 2008)[2] was anAmericancomics artist best known for his long tenure atDC Comics and as the signature artist ofSupergirl, as well as aMarvel Comics inker andSpider-Man artist, both during what comics historians and fans call theSilver Age of Comic Books and what is known as theBronze Age of Comic Books. He sometimesinked under thepseudonymJay Noel.[3]
Jim Mooney was born inNew York City and raised inLos Angeles.[4] Friends withpulp-fiction authorHenry Kuttner and Californianscience-fiction fans such asForrest J. Ackerman, he drew the cover for the first issue ofImagination, an Ackermanfanzine that includedRay Bradbury's first published story, "Hollerbochen's Dilemma".[5] Kuttner encouraged the teenaged Mooney to submit art toFarnsworth Wright, the editor of thepulp magazine for which Kuttner was writing,Weird Tales. Mooney's first professional sale was an illustration for one of Kuttner's stories in that magazine.[6] During this period, Mooney also met futurecomic-book editorsMort Weisinger andJulius Schwartz, who had come to the area to meet Kuttner.[7][8]
After attending art school and working as a parking valet and other odd jobs fornightclubs,[9] Mooney went to New York City in 1940 to enter the fledgling comic-book field. Following his first assignment, the new feature "The Moth" inFox Publications'Mystery Men Comics #9–12 (April–July 1940), Mooney worked for thecomic book packagerEisner & Iger, one of the studios that would supply outsourced comics to publishers testing the waters of the newmedium. He left voluntarily after two weeks: "I was just absolutely crestfallen when I looked at some of the guys’ work.Lou Fine was working there,Nick Cardy ... and Eisner himself. I was beginning to feel that I was way, way in beyond my depth...."[9]
Mooney went on staff atFiction House for approximately nine months, working on features including "Camilla" and "Suicide Smith" and becoming friends with colleaguesGeorge Tuska,Ruben Moreira, and Cardy. He began freelancing forTimely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel, working on that company's "animation" line oftalking animal and movie-cartoon tie-in comics.
As Mooney describes his being hired by editor-in-chief and art directorStan Lee:
I met Stan the first time when I was looking for work at Timely. . . . I came in, being somewhat young and cocky at the time, and Stan asked me what I did. I said I penciled; he said, 'What else?' I said I inked. He said, 'What else?' I said, 'Color.' 'Do anything else?' I said, 'Yeah, I letter, too.' He said, 'Do you print the damn books, too?' I guess he was about two or three years my junior at that point. I think I was about 21 or 22.[10]
Mooney also wrote and drew a talking animal feature, "Perky Penguin and Booby Bear", in 1946 and 1947 forTreasure Chest, theCatholic-oriented comic book distributed inparochial schools.[11]
In 1946, Mooney began a 22-year association with the company that would evolve into DC. He began with the seriesBatman[12] as aghost artist for credited artistBob Kane. As Mooney recalled of coming to DC,
[T]he funny animal stuff was no longer in demand, and an awful lot of us were scurrying around looking for work . . . and I heard on the grapevine that they were looking for an artist to do Batman. So I buzzed up there to DC, talked to them and showed them my stuff, and even though they weren't so sure because of my funny-animal background, they gave me a shot at it. I brought the work in, and [editor]Whitney Ellsworth said, 'OK, you're on'. . . . [I]t was ghosting. [Prominent Batman ghost-artist]Dick Sprang [had] taken off and wanted to do something else. So Dick took off for Arizona, and DC was looking for someone to fill in. So, that's where I fit in, and I stayed on Batman for quite a few years. . . .[10]
Writer Bill Finger and Mooney introduced theCatman character inDetective Comics #311 (Jan. 1963).[13] Mooney branched out to the seriesSuperboy, and such features as "Dial H for Hero" inHouse of Mystery,[14] andTommy Tomorrow in bothAction Comics andWorld's Finest Comics. He also contributed toAtlas Comics, the 1950s iteration of Marvel, on at least a handful of 1953-54 issues ofLorna the Jungle Queen.[15]
Most notably, Mooney drew the backup feature "Supergirl" inAction Comics from 1959 to 1968.[15] For much of this run on his signature character, Mooney lived in Los Angeles, managing anantiquarianbook store onHollywood Boulevard and sometimes hiring art students to work in the store andink backgrounds on hispencilled pages.[4] By 1968, he had moved back to New York, where DC, he recalled, was
... getting into the illustrative type of art then, primarilyNeal Adams, and they wanted to go in that direction. Towards the end there I picked up on it and I think my later 'Supergirl' was quite illustrative, but not quite what they wanted. I knew the handwriting was on the wall, so I was looking around.... The reason I hadn't worked at Marvel for all those years was because they didn't pay as well as DC. ... I think at that time [it] was $30 [a page] when I was getting closer to $50 at DC".[9]
By now, however, the rates were closer, and Mooney left DC. Marvel editorStan Lee had him work withThe Amazing Spider-ManpencilerJohn Romita. Mooney first worked on Spider-Man by inkingThe Spectacular Spider-Man magazine's two issues.[16] Mooney would go on to ink a run ofAmazing Spider-Man (#65, 67-88; Oct. 1968, Dec. 1968 - Sept. 1970), which he recalled as "finalising it over John’s layouts".[9] Among the new characters introduced during Mooney's run on the title wereRandy Robertson as a member of the supporting cast in issue #67 (Dec. 1968)[17] and theProwler in #78 (Nov. 1969).[18] Mooney also embellishedJohn Buscema's pencils on many issues ofThe Mighty Thor.[15]
As a penciler, Mooney did several issues ofPeter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, as well as Spider-Man stories inMarvel Team-Up, and he both penciled and inked issues of writerSteve Gerber'sMan-Thing and the entire 10-issue run of Gerber's cult-hitOmega the Unknown,[19][20] among many other titles. Mooney named his collaborations with Gerber as being among his personal favorites.[21] In 2010,Comics Bulletin ranked Gerber and Mooney's run onOmega the Unknown tenth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".[22]Carrion debuted inThe Spectacular Spider-Man #25 (Dec. 1978) byBill Mantlo and Mooney.[23] WriterRalph Macchio and Mooney introduced the character Rapier inThe Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #2 (1980).[24]
Mooney also worked on Marvel-relatedcoloring books, for the child-orientedSpidey Super Stories, and for a Spider-Man feature in a children's-magazine spin-off of thePBS educational seriesThe Electric Company, which included segments featuring Spider-Man.[15] On the other end of the spectrum, he drew in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Marvel publisherMartin Goodman's bawdymen's-adventure magazines comics feature entitled "Pussycat. The feature appeared in "Men's Annual," "Male Annual" and "Stag" magazines. A one shot reprint of those stories appeared in 1968's "The Adventures of Pussycat": "Stan [Lee] wrote the first one I did, and then his brotherLarry [Lieber] wrote the ones that came later".[10]Stan Lee was not the editor of this reprint, Goodman's son Chip was.
In 1975, Mooney, wanting to move to Florida, negotiated a 10-year contract with Marvel to supply artwork from there. "It was a good deal. The money wasn't too great, but I was paid every couple of weeks, I had insurance, and I had a lot of security that most freelancers never had".[10] That same year, Mooney and his wife, Anne, had a daughter, Nolle.[25]
In Florida, Mooney co-created Adventure Publications'Star Rangers with writerMark Ellis, and worked onSuperboy forDC Comics,Anne Rice's The Mummy forMillennium Publications, and theCreepyminiseries forHarris Comics.
When Harris editorRichard Howell left to co-foundClaypool Comics in 1993, Mooney produced many stories for the 166-issue run ofElvira, Mistress of the Dark and became the regular inker on writerPeter David'sSoulsearchers and Company, over the pencils ofAmanda Conner, Neil Vokes,John Heebink, andDave Cockrum. Mooney also inked four covers of Howell'sDeadbeats series. He continued to work for Claypool until July 2006 when the company announced that the print end of its published line would cease. Mooney's other later work included the sole issue of writerMark Evanier'sFlaxen, over Howell pencils; and a retro "Lady Supreme" story forAwesome Entertainment.[15]
In 1996, Mooney was one of the many creators who contributed to theSuperman: The Wedding Album one-shot wherein the title character marriedLois Lane.[26]
Throughout his later years, Mooney kept busy creating commissioned art pieces for fans.[15]
His wife Anne died in 2005.[4] Mooney died March 30, 2008, in Florida after an extended illness.[4]
Comics work (pencils or inking) includes:
Thanks to the imagination of artists like Dick Sprang and Jim Mooney, Gotham City seemed to be full of giant props that Batman utilized whenever possible to fight his villains.
Writer Dave Wood and artist Jim Mooney put young Robby Reed in touch with the mysterious H-Dial.
Drawn by Romita and Jim Mooney, the mammoth 52-page lead story focused on corrupt politician Richard Raleigh's plot to terrorize the city.
In March [1976], a new super hero series began calledOmega the Unknown, created by writers Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes and artist Jim Mooney. The title character was an alien humanoid, who rarely spoke and served as protector to an eerily precocious young boy.
I loved working with Steve Gerber andOmega to a certain extent, too, butMan-Thing was one of my very favorites.
Media related toJim Mooney at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by | "Supergirl" feature inAction Comics artist 1959–1968 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | The Amazing Spider-Man artist 1968–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Man-Thing artist 1975-1980 | Succeeded by |
