Writer. Creator. Large mammal.

Shelly Moldoff

I just found out that Shelly Moldoff died on February 29th.Shelly was one of the great comic book artists of the Golden Age. He is did outstanding work on many features, most notably Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and of course, Batman.

Shelly co-created Poison Ivy, Mister Freeze, Clayface, Batgirl, Bat-Mite and Ace the Bat-Hound. Ace the Bat-Hound made his first appearance in Batman #92, 1955. In those simpler times, when I was a little boy who loved dogs and desperately wanted one, the advent of the Bat-Hound was a thrilling development.

Hardly a footnote in the chronicles of Shelly’s outstanding career, but a very big deal to me is the fact that he did the art for my very first published comic book, Adventure Comics #346.

It was an honor, far more than I grasped at the time, at age thirteen, to work with one of the Elder Greats.

I got to know Shelly and his wife, Shirley a bit, mostly at conventions in recent years. Always nice. Always charming.  Always gracious.His passing makes me profoundly sad.

TOMORROW: We press on.

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13 Comments

  1. RE: "Can you tell us a bit about how the process worked for that story? Did you just write a script and send it in? Did you give exact details for each panel? Did you get to look at the artwork before it was published?"

    I didn't know what a script was, or even that there were scripts. I made my story look as much like a comic book as I could. I drew, as best as I could, every panel. I put the copy in captions and balloons, lettered the best I could. Shelly followed my crude drawings pretty faithfully. I wasn't given a chance to see the finished art before publication.

  2. Anonymous

    Wow sorry to hear about Shelly.
    Can you tell us a bit about how the process worked for that story? Did you just write a script and send it in? Did you give exact details for each panel? Did you get to look at the artwork before it was published?
    I wish I had more of a chance to talk to Shelly other than brief I love your artwork conversations at comic cons.

  3. Anonymous

    I was fortunate enough to meet Sheldon at a signing ten years ago at a signing at the store I worked at. He was charming, full of great stories, and cheerfully patient with the inept interviewer that the local tv station sent down.

    To top it all off he took my boss and the other guys who'd worked the day out for dinner after (I was unable to go due to a family commitment). He was a wonderful guy, and I treasure the Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern pictures he sold to me that day, moreso now that I won't ever hear his stories about the industry ever again (his Bob Kane stories were particularly hilarious).

  4. Anonymous

    Shelly was our neighbor and a friend. He as a nice guy, had a wonderful sense of humor, and he will be greatly missed. He had a nice family that was very supportive in his last couple of years, I feel for them.

    Rest in Peace Shelly.

  5. Very nice tribute.

    I had that Batman issue w/ Bathound way back when. That cover sure brings back memories.

    I notice his art on your Legion story is quite good and considerably better looking than his Batman work at that time. I had all those issues he did of Batman from circa 58 til he stopped. He gave us good memories.

  6. Anonymous

    Rest in peace.

    el_caifan

  7. Shelly was an unsung hero of the biz. I'm glad that he lived long enough to be acknowledged for his work because he had a hand in everything. The first ever Flash and Green Lantern covers alone qualify him for greatness. What an amazing artist.

  8. my condolences Jim.
    as more and more of the greats pass away, you become more important.

  9. It's always sad when a great artist is gone, but his legacy will remain.

  10. Mike Flynn

    Naturally, I thought of you as soon as I'd heard this. The good news at times like this is always the wonderful wealth of work that we can continue to enjoy.

  11. A lovely tribute to one of the greats. I'm glad he had a long life, and leaves such a fine legacy.

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