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Jim Mooney
Jim Mooney
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James Noel Mooney[1] (August 13, 1919 – March 30, 2008)[2] was an American comics artist best known for his long tenure at DC Comics and as the signature artist of Supergirl, as well as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, both during what comics historians and fans call the Silver Age of Comic Books and what is known as the Bronze Age of Comic Books. He sometimes inked under the pseudonym Jay Noel.[3]

Key Information

Biography

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Mooney's cover for the 1938 fanzine Imagination, containing Ray Bradbury's first published story

Early life and career

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Jim Mooney was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles.[4] Friends with pulp-fiction author Henry Kuttner and Californian science-fiction fans such as Forrest J. Ackerman, he drew the cover for the first issue of Imagination, an Ackerman fanzine that included Ray Bradbury's first published story, "Hollerbochen's Dilemma".[5] Kuttner encouraged the teenaged Mooney to submit art to Farnsworth Wright, the editor of the pulp 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 future comic-book editors Mort Weisinger and Julius 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 for nightclubs,[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" in Fox Publications' Mystery Men Comics #9–12 (April–July 1940), Mooney worked for the comic book packager Eisner & Iger, one of the studios that would supply outsourced comics to publishers testing the waters of the new medium. 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]

Super-Mystery Comics #5 (Ace Magazines, Dec. 1940): Jim Mooney's first professional cover art

Mooney went on staff at Fiction House for approximately nine months, working on features including "Camilla" and "Suicide Smith" and becoming friends with colleagues George Tuska, Ruben Moreira, and Cardy. He began freelancing for Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel, working on that company's "animation" line of talking animal and movie-cartoon tie-in comics.

As Mooney describes his being hired by editor-in-chief and art director Stan 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 for Treasure Chest, the Catholic-oriented comic book distributed in parochial schools.[11]

Supergirl and DC

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In 1946, Mooney began a 22-year association with the company that would evolve into DC. He began with the series Batman[12] as a ghost artist for credited artist Bob 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 the Catman character in Detective Comics #311 (Jan. 1963).[13] Mooney branched out to the series Superboy, and such features as "Dial H for Hero" in House of Mystery,[14] and Tommy Tomorrow in both Action Comics and World's Finest Comics. He also contributed to Atlas Comics, the 1950s iteration of Marvel, on at least a handful of 1953-54 issues of Lorna the Jungle Queen.[15]

Most notably, Mooney drew the backup feature "Supergirl" in Action Comics from 1959 to 1968.[15] For much of this run on his signature character, Mooney lived in Los Angeles, managing an antiquarian book store on Hollywood Boulevard and sometimes hiring art students to work in the store and ink backgrounds on his pencilled pages.[4] By 1968, he had moved back to New York, where DC, he recalled, was

... getting into the illustrative type of art then, primarily Neal 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]

Spider-Man and Marvel

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Jim Mooney drew himself into these three panels from The Spectacular Spider-Man #41 (April 1980).[9]

By now, however, the rates were closer, and Mooney left DC. Marvel editor Stan Lee had him work with The Amazing Spider-Man penciler John Romita. Mooney first worked on Spider-Man by inking The Spectacular Spider-Man magazine's two issues.[16] Mooney would go on to ink a run of Amazing 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 were Randy Robertson as a member of the supporting cast in issue #67 (Dec. 1968)[17] and the Prowler in #78 (Nov. 1969).[18] Mooney also embellished John Buscema's pencils on many issues of The Mighty Thor.[15]

As a penciler, Mooney did several issues of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, as well as Spider-Man stories in Marvel Team-Up, and he both penciled and inked issues of writer Steve Gerber's Man-Thing and the entire 10-issue run of Gerber's cult-hit Omega 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 on Omega the Unknown tenth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".[22] Carrion debuted in The Spectacular Spider-Man #25 (Dec. 1978) by Bill Mantlo and Mooney.[23] Writer Ralph Macchio and Mooney introduced the character Rapier in The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #2 (1980).[24]

Mooney also worked on Marvel-related coloring books, for the child-oriented Spidey Super Stories, and for a Spider-Man feature in a children's-magazine spin-off of the PBS educational series The 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 publisher Martin Goodman's bawdy men'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 brother Larry [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]

Harris, Claypool and DC

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In Florida, Mooney co-created Adventure Publications' Star Rangers with writer Mark Ellis, and worked on Superboy for DC Comics, Anne Rice's The Mummy for Millennium Publications, and the Creepy miniseries for Harris Comics.

When Harris editor Richard Howell left to co-found Claypool Comics in 1993, Mooney produced many stories for the 166-issue run of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and became the regular inker on writer Peter David's Soulsearchers and Company, over the pencils of Amanda Conner, Neil Vokes, John Heebink, and Dave Cockrum. Mooney also inked four covers of Howell's Deadbeats 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 writer Mark Evanier's Flaxen, over Howell pencils; and a retro "Lady Supreme" story for Awesome Entertainment.[15]

In 1996, Mooney was one of the many creators who contributed to the Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot wherein the title character married Lois Lane.[26]

Commissions, Retirement, and Death

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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]

Bibliography

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Jim Mooney was an American comic book artist known for his prolific career spanning the Golden Age through the modern era, including a signature 22-year tenure at DC Comics highlighted by his long-running work on Supergirl and later contributions as an inker at Marvel Comics on titles such as The Amazing Spider-Man. Born on August 13, 1919, Mooney grew up in California and began his artistic career in the 1930s by submitting illustrations to science fiction pulp magazines like Weird Tales before entering the comic book industry in 1940. He worked at the Eisner-Iger shop, contributed to Fiction House titles, and freelanced funny animal stories for Timely Comics (the precursor to Marvel) under Stan Lee, with whom he developed a lifelong friendship. In 1946, Mooney began a long association with DC Comics, where he penciled features including Batman, Superboy, Tommy Tomorrow, and Dial H for Hero while living in Los Angeles and managing an antiquarian bookstore. His most prominent assignment was drawing the Supergirl backup feature in Action Comics from 1959 to 1968, a period that defined his DC legacy despite his later reflections on its repetitive nature. Seeking greater creative freedom, Mooney transitioned to Marvel in the late 1960s, initially inking John Romita on The Amazing Spider-Man and John Buscema on The Mighty Thor before penciling series such as Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man and Man-Thing. He also produced Spider-Man material for children's publications and coloring books, and in his later years contributed to titles including Elvira for Claypool Comics and Soulsearchers and Company. Mooney relocated to Florida in 1975 and continued working into the 1990s until his death on March 30, 2008.

Early life and beginnings

Birth and childhood

James Noel Mooney was born on August 13, 1919, in New York City, New York. He spent his early childhood there before relocating to Los Angeles, where he was raised. As a teenager in Los Angeles, Mooney became active in the local science-fiction community as a member of the Science Fiction League, which held informal meetings at Clifton’s Cafeteria featuring guest speakers. He developed close friendships with pulp-fiction author Henry Kuttner and California science-fiction fans including Forrest J. Ackerman, who was around 19 or 20 years old when Mooney was about 17. Encouraged by Kuttner, who recognized Mooney's interest in drawing, he submitted artwork to Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright around age 17, with some pieces accepted. In January 1938, Mooney drew the cover for the first issue of the fanzine Imagination, which included Ray Bradbury's first published story, "Hollerbochen's Dilemma."

Art education and early influences

Jim Mooney attended art school in Hollywood during his youth in Los Angeles, where he received formal artistic training. He supported himself through various odd jobs, including serving as a parking valet and handling menial positions such as check rooms at nightclubs. During this California period, Mooney developed friendships with science fiction writer Henry Kuttner and prominent fan Forrest J. Ackerman. Kuttner, who contributed to the pulp magazine Weird Tales, recognized Mooney's drawing talent and encouraged him to submit artwork to editor Farnsworth Wright, suggesting it might illustrate one of his stories. As a teenager, Mooney achieved his first professional sale with an interior illustration for Kuttner's short story "World's End," published in the February 1938 issue of Weird Tales. This marked his entry into paid illustration work within the science fiction pulp scene. Mooney also met future comic book editors Mort Weisinger and Julius Schwartz during their visit to California to see Kuttner, getting to know them well before pursuing opportunities in New York. These early connections and experiences in the pulp and fan communities shaped his path toward a professional career in illustration.

Entry into comics

Move to New York and first assignments

In 1940, Jim Mooney moved to New York City to enter the emerging comic book industry. Having previously contributed illustrations to pulp magazines including Weird Tales while living in California, he sought professional opportunities in the new medium of comics. His first assignment was penciling the superhero feature "The Moth," which debuted in Fox Publications' Mystery Men Comics #9 (April 1940) and continued through #12 (July 1940). The character, an early costumed hero capable of flight via moth-like wings, appeared in four stories before being discontinued. Mooney then briefly joined the Eisner & Iger studio, a key comic book packaging operation, but left voluntarily after two weeks.

Work at early publishers

After his initial assignments in New York, Jim Mooney held a staff position in the Fiction House bullpen for about seven or eight months in the early 1940s. During this period, he drew the jungle-adventure feature "Camilla" and the aviation/war strip "Suicide Smith." He formed friendships with fellow artists George Tuska, Ruben Moreira, and Nick Cardy while working there. Mooney subsequently freelanced for Timely Comics during the 1940s, producing talking-animal features and movie-cartoon tie-in comics, including animated material related to Terrytoons in collaboration with Stan Lee. In 1946–1947, as demand for funny-animal comics declined after the war, he wrote and drew "Perky Penguin and Booby Bear" for Treasure Chest, a Catholic-oriented comic book series distributed in parochial schools.

DC Comics tenure

Ghost work on Batman and Superboy

Jim Mooney began his 22-year association with DC Comics in 1946, when he started ghosting Batman stories for credited creator Bob Kane after prominent Batman ghost artist Dick Sprang reduced his output and shifted focus to other pursuits. As Mooney later recalled, he learned that Sprang "had taken off to, evidently, do his own thing out in the Far West, and he wasn’t producing as much and they needed somebody to try out for Batman." He submitted art samples to DC editor Whitney Ellsworth and secured the assignment, aided by his prior experience drawing the Batman-like character The Moth at Fox Comics in 1940. Mooney found the Batman work restrictive because it required mimicking Kane's style, which he did not particularly enjoy. His early Batman ghost contributions included the interior pencils and inks for Batman #38 (December 1946/January 1947), noted as his first work on the feature. These uncredited stories were signed solely with Bob Kane's byline, in keeping with the standard practice for Kane's Batman output at the time. Mooney also provided ghost art for the Superboy series during the same early period of his DC tenure. Additionally, he illustrated numerous Robin solo backup stories in Star Spangled Comics, contributing to issues #74, 76–95, and 97–130 from 1947 to 1952. These features often required Mooney to work in a style consistent with the Batman family aesthetic, building on his ghosting experience.

Supergirl feature

Jim Mooney is best known for his extensive work as the primary artist on the Supergirl backup feature in Action Comics, which he illustrated from 1959 to 1968. He took over the feature shortly after Supergirl's debut and provided pencils and inks for her stories across numerous issues, starting with Action Comics #253 (cover-dated June 1959) and continuing until 1968, with some gaps in between. This nine-year run made Mooney the signature visual interpreter of the character during the Silver Age. During much of this period, Mooney resided in Los Angeles and managed an antiquarian bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard. He frequently drew his comic pages at the store during quieter hours and hired young art students to help with shop duties, sometimes assigning them to ink background details on his Supergirl artwork. In the late 1960s, Mooney's style on the feature became more illustrative in response to DC Comics' evolving artistic direction, which was influenced by Neal Adams and emphasized greater detail and dynamism. He experimented with this approach in some later Supergirl stories, reflecting the company's broader push away from the simpler house style that had previously defined the Superman family titles. This shift coincided with the end of his long tenure on the character.

Other DC contributions

Mooney contributed to a variety of other DC features during his long association with the publisher from 1946 to 1968. He illustrated the science-fiction adventures of Tommy Tomorrow in Action Comics, including stories such as the one in issue #247 which highlighted his skill with alien designs, and later continued the feature as a back-up in World's Finest Comics. He also penciled the Dial H for Hero series in House of Mystery, a feature centered on a magical dial that allowed protagonists to temporarily become various superheroes. In addition, Mooney co-created the villain Catman with writer Bill Finger; the character debuted in Detective Comics #311 (January 1963). By 1968, editorial differences arose when DC editor Mort Weisinger pushed for a fresher, more modern artistic style on Superman-related titles, leading to a quarrel that prompted Mooney's departure from the company. He subsequently moved to Marvel Comics, attracted in part by improving page rates there.

Marvel Comics period

Transition and inking on Spider-Man

In 1968, Jim Mooney departed DC Comics after experiencing difficulties in his working relationships with some staff members there. He directly contacted Stan Lee seeking opportunities at Marvel Comics, where Lee promptly assigned him to ink The Amazing Spider-Man to support penciller John Romita Sr. Mooney's primary contribution during this early Marvel period was a lengthy inking stint on The Amazing Spider-Man, covering issues #65, #67–88 from 1968 to 1970, most often finishing over John Romita Sr.'s pencils or layouts. His inks appeared across various stories in this run, helping maintain the series' visual continuity amid shifting production demands. During this assignment, Mooney inked key issues that introduced new supporting characters to the Spider-Man mythos, including Randy Robertson (son of Daily Bugle city editor Robbie Robertson) in issue #67 (December 1968) and the Prowler (Hobie Brown) in issue #78 (November 1969). These additions enriched Peter Parker's civilian world while Mooney's detailed inking complemented the evolving art style on the title.

Penciling key series

Jim Mooney assumed significant penciling responsibilities at Marvel Comics during the mid-1970s, following his earlier inking work. He provided both pencils and inks for the complete 10-issue run of Omega the Unknown (1976–1977), working with writers Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes on the series that introduced the enigmatic alien hero Omega and the troubled youth James-Michael Starling. Mooney maintained long stints as penciler and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man and Man-Thing. In The Spectacular Spider-Man, he co-created the villain Carrion, a decaying clone with lethal powers, in issue #25 (December 1978), scripted by Bill Mantlo. He also co-introduced the sword-wielding villain Rapier in The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #2 (1980), written by Ralph Macchio. Mooney additionally supplied inks over John Buscema's pencils on multiple issues of The Mighty Thor and contributed artwork to Marvel Team-Up. These assignments highlighted his versatility in handling dynamic action sequences and character designs across various Marvel titles.

Long-term contract and Florida relocation

In 1975, Jim Mooney decided to move to Florida and approached Marvel's management to discuss arrangements for continuing his artwork production remotely. He suggested a contract that would secure his position, and the company agreed to the proposal. Mooney relocated to Florida that same year under the terms of this agreement. The contract ran from 1975 to 1985, lasting approximately 10 years, and provided bi-weekly payments, health insurance, and a significant degree of job security that was unusual for freelance comic book artists at the time. Mooney described the deal as comparable to being an in-office employee, calling it "a good deal" despite noting that the pay itself was not particularly high. In return, he was generally required to accept whatever assignments Marvel sent, even if some were less preferable to him. This long-term arrangement enabled Mooney to continue producing work for Marvel with steady assignments while residing in Florida.

Later career

Independent and small-press projects

After his Marvel tenure, Jim Mooney increasingly focused on independent and small-press publishers for his comic work. In 1987, he co-created the science fiction series Star Rangers with writer Mark Ellis at Adventure Publications, where he provided the artwork for the title. He later illustrated Anne Rice's The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned for Millennium Publications, contributing layouts and pencils to several issues of the adaptation. Mooney also drew stories for the Creepy limited series published by Harris Comics in 1992. Beginning in 1993, Mooney developed an extensive relationship with Claypool Comics, contributing significantly to several of the publisher's titles. He penciled numerous stories across many issues of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, showcasing his work in the horror-humor genre. As a regular inker on Peter David's Soulsearchers and Company, Mooney added depth and solidity to the black-and-white artwork, particularly in the series' early runs. He also inked the single issue of Mark Evanier's Flaxen for Claypool and provided cover art for issues of Deadbeats. In 1996, Mooney returned briefly to DC Comics to contribute artwork to the oversized special Superman: The Wedding Album, which featured a large ensemble of creators celebrating the character's marriage. These projects marked Mooney's sustained activity in independent comics during his later years.

Commissioned art and final contributions

In his later years, Jim Mooney increasingly devoted his time to creating commissioned artwork for fans, often featuring characters from his most celebrated work such as Supergirl. As of a 2007 interview conducted when he was 88 years old, he continued to receive and fulfill commission requests at a rate of one to two per month, though age-related physical limitations had reduced his output and capacity for larger projects. Many of these commissions depicted Supergirl in various costumes, reflecting the enduring fan interest in his signature character despite her reduced prominence in mainstream comics at the time. Among his final published contributions, Mooney provided inks for a retro-style Lady Supreme (also known as Suprema) flashback story in Supreme #46, published by Awesome Entertainment. This work fit within the series' homage to Silver Age aesthetics, with Mooney's inks applied over Rick Veitch's pencils for a sequence evoking classic comic storytelling. Mooney also maintained a long-running association with Claypool Comics, where he contributed pencils to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and served as a regular inker on Soulsearchers and Company. He continued contributing to these series until the publisher announced in July 2006 that it would cease its print line due to distribution challenges, with final issues shipping in early 2007. These efforts represented some of his last ongoing professional engagements in comic book production before his death in 2008.

Personal life

Family and residences

Jim Mooney was married to Anne Mooney until her death in 2005 following a prolonged illness. In 1975, the couple had a daughter named Nolle. While living in Los Angeles during the 1960s, Mooney managed an antiquarian bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1975, he moved to Florida with Anne under a long-term contract arrangement that allowed him to relocate while continuing his work. He resided in Florida thereafter until his death in 2008.

Death and legacy

Passing

Jim Mooney died on March 30, 2008, in Florida at the age of 88 after an extended illness. His health had been in decline for some time, particularly following the death of his wife Anne in 2005.

Recognition in the comics industry

Jim Mooney received the Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International in 1996 in recognition of his contributions to the worlds of comics and related fields. He was widely regarded as the signature artist of Supergirl during the Silver Age of comics, with fans and historians frequently describing him as the definitive or greatest artist to have illustrated the character. Mooney enjoyed a long tenure in the industry spanning over 50 years, beginning in the early 1940s and extending into the 2000s through his reliable and versatile work as a penciller and inker. Following his death in 2008, numerous tributes from colleagues and fans emphasized his prolific output, dependability, and personal warmth, often describing him as one of the nicest and most modest gentlemen in comics.

References

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