IN PART, FROM WIKIPEDIA:
James Noel Mooney (August 13, 1919 – March 30, 2008) 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.
Supergirl and DC
Most notably, Mooney drew the backup feature
"Supergirl" in Action Comics from 1959 to 1968. 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. By 1968, he
had moved back to New York.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Jim drew 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".
Spider-Man and Marvel
Mooney first worked on Spider-Man by inking The Spectacular
Spider-Man magazine's two issues. Mooney would go on to ink a run of Amazing
Spider-Man (#65, 67-88; Oct. 1968, Dec. 1968 - Sept. 1970). Mooney also embellished John Buscema's
pencils on many issues of The Mighty Thor.
As a penciler, Mooney did several issues of Peter Parker, the
Spectacular Spider-Man, as well as Spider-Man stories.
Harris, Claypool and DC
In 1975, Jim moved to Florida, having negotiated a 10-year
contract with Marvel to supply artwork from there. When Harris Comics 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. He continued to work for Claypool until July
2006 when the company announced that the print end of its published line would
cease.
As I understand it, during his “retirement” days at least, he
lived on a houseboat in Port Salerno while continuing to do freelance art of
the many characters from his comic book days. A few years back I acquired a number of Jim
Mooney signed comics and art from one of his clients. Some of the art pieces are original and some are copies. As a freelancer, Jim would send copies to
prospective buyers, who could then commission an original of the copied art. Jim certainly took liberties with the art
(going back to his men’s comic days), with risqué versions of the characters. He’d also personalize famous characters for
the prospective buyer. Jim Mooney died March 30, 2008, in Florida
after an extended illness
PLEASE NOTE: I am not a comic expert. I do not authenticate signatures or grade
comic books. I simply try to offer an
honest evaluation of the condition of the item.
I know where it came from, so while I am confident it is authentic,
IT HAS NOT BEEN AUTHENTICATED BY A PROFESSIONAL.