R.I.P. Jim Mooney

[Sir Tim Drake]

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_03_31.html#015013

According to Mark Evanier, Jim Mooney passed away on Sunday at the age of 88. Mr. Mooney was one of the most prolific and reliable artists in the history of American comics.

He lived a long and full life, but his passing is an unfortunate event. May he rest in peace.

[Tetsuo_man]

I really like his work on supergirl and omega the unkonw. but the fact he had such along life is amazing still sad tho.

[dan bailey]

Oh, damn. So sorry to hear it. He was a personal favorite of mine, especially on Supergirl.

[Reptisaurus!]

Yeah. I don't think anybody even came close to touching his Supergirl.

Really sad. I've repeatedly heard he was a hell of a nice guy, and a good human being.

[scratchie]

When I got back into superhero comics a couple years ago, Mooney was one of the artists whose style immediately jumped out at me (like Colan and Kane), even though I hadn't been conscious of it at all as a kid. I have to give him props as one of the few artists working at Marvel in the 70s who was fast/good enough to ink his own work. Love his work on Omega, as Tetsuo mentioned, and pretty much everything he did was solid. I think he was the artist on Man-Thing #22, with that great double-page spread of virtually every character in the Marvel Universe.

[benday-dot]

Everyone has said it, so I'll just echo it. Whenever I am in a little need of some of that good old comic book comfort food it is more often than not to one of the Jim Mooney Supergirl books I have in my collection that I turn. If not Schaffenberg, then the Mooney rendition of the sweetest of DC's Silver Age characters was definitive.

But the man, a formidable talent, was diversely skilled as well. What could be more different from a Supergirl comic than a Gerber Man-Thing issue. But only a week ago, reading a story by that late departed master of the word, I wondered for a moment, having not yet alighted on the credits, what talent was responsible the fine pencilling. It had been awhile since I'd looked at these Man-Things. Well, of course it was Jim Mooney. And there you have it... between great writer and great artist on just this one old comic book another still greater patch of light has gone out in the comic book universe.

RIP, Jim Mooney.

[Cei-U!]

Though I was not a big fan of Mr. Mooney's work (I liked his finishes over Romita and Buscema on Spidey in the '70s and enoyed his pencilling on Ms. Marvel and Marvel Team-Up but was never enamored of his DC work), I respected his talent and work ethic. His passing represents another piece of my childhood irretrievably lost. Rest in peace, Jim.

Cei-U!
I hate these threads! :(

[Graham Vingoe]

jim Mooney was almost certainly the artist who drew me to Supergirl in the early 1970s making him one of my earliest comic memories, and contributed to most of my favourite comics in 1 form or another. he was very underrated and his loss is a great one as far as I'm concerned. good bye Jim

[Buried Alien]

I know of his work mainly from two guest issues he did on Marvel's Moench/Trimpe GODZILLA series during the late 1970s.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Lone Ranger]

This is very sad news.

Jim Mooney was a wonderful artist, but he remained a 'pro's pro', residing at the 2nd tier - just below all of the flashier artists who garner most of fandom's attention.

Mooney may not have been flashy, but he knew how to tell a story. When I think of Mooney, my initial thought is to group him in with his colleagues at DC/National in the 50s. Mooney, along with the likes of Ruben Moeira and Nick Cardy were producing some very nice stories that often rose above the bland script. Again, nothing flashy - just solid craftmanship.

His association with Supergirl is really the highlight of his career - and it's great that so many of the stories have been reprinted.

He did some other great stuff, too. He pencilled my all-time favourite Spider-Man story (ASM #80) and I've been re-reading Omega and I really think he does a great job with some pretty tough material (very talky, lots of cats).

Rest in Peace Mr. Mooney - thanks for everything.

[MichikoS]

Sad news.

One of the things Jim Mooney could do better than just about anybody else during his heyday at DC was to draw young characters that kids could like and identify with. His youngsters seemed so innocent and guileless and sincere. As a kid, I always recognized Mooney's kid characters, with their round eyes and lips curled in a slight smile. They appealed to me, and I was able to lose myself in the story thanks to his effortless panel-to-panel layouts and the evocative facial expressions. He brought this same skill to his inking over others' pencils later in his career. And he could draw anything from horrible monsters to pretty girls with equal facility. He made it all look sooo easy, and natural.

Michi

[Roquefort Raider]

I used to think I disliked the art of Jim Mooney. Then I read the Essential Marvel Horror book, and saw Mr. Mooney's truly excellent work on Son of Satan. I was especially impressed because by then Jim must by then have been in the latter years of his career and it would have been understandable for him to sort of coast it. But far from it, he produced pages what must be (in my opinion) among the best he ever drew. I'm sorry he passed away, and hope he enjoyed a long and happy retirement.

[MDG]

When I started collecting comics in the late 70s, one of the first things I went after was the Dial H series in House of Mystery, and that--along with Supergirl--is my favorite stuff by Mooney.

Although I never sought him out specifically, I have four original pieces by him on my collection. He was a real pro, and apparently had been working on a commission as late as this weekend.

[Stephane Garrelie]

Very sad news. He was one of the artists trough whose art i discovered Spider-Man. (The others being Ross Andru & Sal Buscema).

He will be missed.
RIP.

[Slam_Bradley]

Mooney, to me, was the epitome of the yeoman comic book artist. He wasn't flashy. He wasn't a "fan favorite." What he was was a reliable artist who could tell a solid story and get it to the printer on time. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

R.I.P. Mr. Mooney.

[DocL]

Sad loss. One of the mainstays of my childhood growing up in the early 60's. Loved his artwork, especially his run on Supergirl.

[johanskull]

Jim Mooney gave many a generation a clean representation of solid comic book art. I enjoyed his work in Supergirl, Man-Thing, early Son of Satan and various Spider-man titles, plus those fill-in issues for just about every other title Marvel or DC had.

A professional to the end.

Thanks for the great images, Jim.

[jam]

Loved his work.

Obviously he will be best remembered for his work as the definitive Supergirl artist, but can I give out some love for his work on Tommy Tomorrow! I'd love a collection of that!

[icctrombone]

One of the nicest things anyone could ever say about an artist is that he brought smiles to peoples faces. He sure did.

[berk]

I only know his Marvel work from the 70s - Gerber's & Skrenes's Omega the Unknown, for example. Always liked his solid, no frills style, though. Like Sal Buscema on the Gerber Defenders, it made for a nice counter-balance between the art and the writing.

[Slam_Bradley]

I've been re-reading Alan Moore's run on Supreme of late. Mr. Mooney inked some of Rick Veitch's comic within a comic stories. Great stuff.

[Rob Allen]

Tony Isabella posted this on his message board today:


[Tom Batiuk, my friend, my neighbor, my occasional employer, and a Pulitzer-nominated cartoonist asked me to send this note around.]

I was saddened to hear about Jim Mooney's passing. About a year ago, Tony Isabella wrote a sweet little Funky Winkerbean Sunday featuring my characters as Superman and Supergirl. He suggested I contact Jim to actually draw the Superman characters. I did and found him to be one of the nicest and genuine individuals you'd want to encounter. He
agreed to do the Sunday and did a wonderful job. The strip will run Sunday April 13th and quite possibly could be Jim's last published work. If so, I feel privileged to have been a small part of it.

Tom Batiuk

[scratchie]

That's awesome. I have no idea if either of my local papers even runs Funky Winkerbean anymore, but I think I'm going to have to track that down.

[berk]

When I got back into superhero comics a couple years ago, Mooney was one of the artists whose style immediately jumped out at me (like Colan and Kane), even though I hadn't been conscious of it at all as a kid. I have to give him props as one of the few artists working at Marvel in the 70s who was fast/good enough to ink his own work. Love his work on Omega, as Tetsuo mentioned, and pretty much everything he did was solid. I think he was the artist on Man-Thing #22, with that great double-page spread of virtually every character in the Marvel Universe.IIRC Mooney did a pretty long run with Gerber on the Man-Thing series. I remember that issue in particular, too, though. Still one of my all-time favourite stories.