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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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OP
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6 |
Comics 101- Career comics artist Jim Mooney, whose body of work spanned an astonishing six decades, passed away last Sunday in Florida at the age of 88.
Mooney, who worked primarily for DC and Marvel for most of his career, had a light, appealing style that belied much of the solid draftsmanship behind it. It's the kind of work that looks simple and easy, but in fact takes a lifetime to master.
Mooney began his career at Fox and Fiction House in the 1940s before settling in for a long spell at Timely doing funny-animal comics. In the 1946 Mooney began finding work at DC on features like TOMMY TOMORROW and the Superman Batman team-ups in WORLD'S FINEST, but is probably best known for his wonderfully charming Supergirl run in the pages of ACTION COMICS, which defined the character for a generation of readers.
When changing styles in the late '60s led to his getting less work at DC, Mooney called up his old Timely boss Stan Lee, who welcomed back to what had since become the hottest publisher in comics, Marvel. Mooney immediately found all the work he could handle on Marvel's trademark character Spider-Man, first finishing John Romita's art, and later penciling the webslinger's adventures himself in titles like PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN and MARVEL TEAM-UP. Mooney also formed a productive working relationship at Marvel with writer Steve Gerber, the two collaborating on such titles as MAN-THING and OMEGA THE UNKNOWN.
Thanks to Mooney's reliability and consistently solid quality of work, Marvel and Mooney signed a 10-year contract in 1975, with the artist supplying work steadily from his home in Florida.
When his contract with Marvel expired, Jim Mooney remained in semi-retirement for the rest of his life, occasionally taking freelance jobs and commissioned work from fans who'd grown up on his stories, and making the rounds at comic conventions. In an industry which has seen too many artists and writers unjustly end their careers unappreciated and undercompensated, it's a comfort to least to look at an example like Jim Mooney, who was able to enjoy both a lengthy career and a retirement that allowed him a measure of gratitude and acclaim.
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 47,810 Likes: 2
Hip To Be Square 15000+ posts
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Hip To Be Square 15000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 47,810 Likes: 2 |
Pajamas blah blah blah....
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,153
Unbreakable 3000+ posts
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Unbreakable 3000+ posts
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,153 |
I recognise the name, but I'm not sure if I've seen his art.
"Batman is only meaningful as an answer to a world which in its basics is chaotic and in the hands of the wrong people, where no justice can be found. I think it's very suitable to our perception of the world's condition today... Batman embodies the will to resist evil" -Frank Miller
"Conan, what's the meaning of life?"
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!"
-Conan the Barbarian
"Well, yeah."
-Jason E. Perkins
"If I had a dime for every time Pariah was right about something I'd owe twenty cents."
-Ultimate Jaburg53
"Fair enough. I defer to your expertise."
-Prometheus
Rack MisterJLA!
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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OP
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6 |
Click on the link and there's a fair amount of his art from Supergirl displayed. I had forgotten about all the work he did for Marvel, however.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 25,051 Likes: 31
brutally Kamphausened 15000+ posts
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brutally Kamphausened 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 25,051 Likes: 31 |
I knew Mooney in the 70s and 80s period as an inker, primarily on the Spiderman titles.
I especially remember him for inking some of my favorite Roger Stern/John Romita Jr. issues of AMAZING SPIDERMAN 224-250. Mooney inked 225-233, if I recall.
And SPECTACULAR SPIDERMAN 49 and 50, that also sport Frank Miller covers.
Mooney was one of the major inkers of that period for Marvel, along with Vince Colletta, Frank Springer, Joe Sinnott and Frank Giacoia. Silver Age inkers who produced a large volume of work well into the 1980s.
I recall an interview of Mooney in COMIC BOOK ARTIST about 10 years ago, where he said he could have stayed longer but was made to feel unwelcome by Jim Shooter, and opted to retire rather than stay where he was not appreciated.
Oddly, Mooney was a local to Florida, but I've never seen him at conventions.
Some other locals to Florida include Dick Giordano, George Perez, Bob Layton, Bob McLeod, Mike Zeck, John Beatty, and Marc Sylvestri, golden age Hawkman artist Sheldon Moldoff, and golden age Green Lantern artist Martin Nodell.
Other former Florida residents included Will Eisner (R.I.P.) and E.C. horror artist Graham Ingels (R.I.P.)
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
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Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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OP
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6 |
Has anyone else noticed that rex is rapidly becoming Pariah x2? He hates everything and everyone.
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 61
professional zapper of dragons and rescuer of fair maidens 25+ posts
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professional zapper of dragons and rescuer of fair maidens 25+ posts
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 61 |
A relative's friend met him just a year ago on a flight to Florida and got his autograph for me. Truly a sad day but at least he had 88 years.
I used to roam the world fighting monsters and sleeping in mud. Now look at me, living in a castle, sleeping in a bed. Aren't I sweet? Yuck!
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 19,438 Likes: 8
brother from another mother 15000+ posts
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brother from another mother 15000+ posts
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 19,438 Likes: 8 |
  Meh. It's not the worst art I've seen. To me a lot of that old art looks the same.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 25,051 Likes: 31
brutally Kamphausened 15000+ posts
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brutally Kamphausened 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 25,051 Likes: 31 |
The PETER PARKER # 50 cover is by Miller/Rubenstein (not Mooney). You can see where it's signed by the UPC code in the lower left. Issues 50 and 51, like I said earlier, are a great Stern/Romita Jr/Mooney 2-part story, and 51 likewise has a nice Miller/Rubinstein cover.  (click to see enlargement)I love Miller's Spiderman covers, all collected in the COMPLETE FRANK MILLER SPIDERMAN hardcover, along with Miller interior stories from SPIDERMAN ANNUALs 14 and 15, MARVEL TEAM-UP 100, and a few others. Back on topic, here's the aforementioned interview with Jim Mooney from COMIC BOOK ARTIST, that covers pretty much his entire career, with some nice anecdotes about the Marvel and DC offices. I didn't know he was a BATMAN artist, back in the Dick Sprang era !
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734
Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
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Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734 |
Wonder Boy can easily tell the difference between Mooney's PETER, and Miller's PETER....
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