Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 2

gasp65

« Master of puppets, I’m pulling your strings /
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams /
Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing /
Just call my name ’cause I’ll hear you scream /
Master, master! » — Metallica

I’ve never been a Jim Mooney (1919-2008) fan, though he’s undeniably had a long and respectable career as a penciller (Tommy Tomorrow, Supergirl, Dial H for Hero, Omega the Unknown) and inker (Spiderman, Thor… and countless others). I’ve always found his work a bit stodgy and lightweight.

As these things usually go, however, if you keep an open mind, you’re bound to come up with exceptions, and here’s one.

While Atlas’ pre-Code horror comics were generally saddled with indifferent or nonsensical writing, the artwork on offer was often surprisingly wild. I mean… they even got straight-laced Joe Sinnott to go downright weird on a couple of occasions.

Here’s a short story that’s compellingly sombre, sinister and paranoid, and Mooney perfectly conveys its oppressive mood.

The ending is daft… and at the same time, inspired lunacy that takes it to another level.
While I’m drawing from a 1974 reprint, here’s the cover from its original publication, Spellbound no. 13 (March 1953, Atlas); cover pencilled and inked by Carl Burgos, colours by Stan Goldberg.
Working in the Goodman Family salt mines (in this case, the Humorama line of ‘girlie’ digests, at ten bucks a cartoon, writing included), Mooney was probably more in his element, nimbly bridging the cartoonish and more academic semi-realism, not a common skill!

-RG

7 thoughts on “Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 2”

  1. nealumphred's avatar nealumphred October 2, 2023 / 02:16

    I am not a fan of either Mooney or Burgos but that’s a mighty fine cover for Spellbound #13 by the latter and an equally fine piece of “good girl” cartoon art by the former. Thanks for showing me that both men were better artists than I gave them credit for.

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    • gasp65's avatar gasp65 October 3, 2023 / 22:18

      Happy to oblige, Neal! I suppose I’m also showing myself to keep an eye out for the better work of people I’d be inclined to dismiss. Tough business!

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  2. Ellen's avatar Ellen October 2, 2023 / 21:53

    It’s nice to see Mooney being an artist. I mainly knew his work through Supergirl, which was less than glorious. He must have had half-a-dozen rubber stamps for some of her poses. Annoyed me no end.

    But there’s no accounting for taste. I liked most of John Forte’s stories, stiff though he was. Nor is there much accounting for editors. I once saw an absolutely beautiful page of pencils by Ross Andru, but they’d lost most of their glory once inked by Mike Esposito. Those two should never have been teamed up. And my opinion flops around like a fish when I think of Mike Sekowski. So I’m fickle. It happens to fans.

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    • gasp65's avatar gasp65 October 3, 2023 / 18:38

      Thanks for dropping in, Ellen!

      Yeah, Mooney couldn’t have been that motivated on Supergirl, but then he probably threw his hands up and just reused the poses that tinpot tyrant Weisinger approved of.

      I got a chuckle out of your Andru / Esposito quip — just a few days ago, I was telling a friend (a big Andru fan) about the time I realised that much of what I found unpleasant in Andru’s work was really Esposito’s contribution. I’ve got an early Sekowski lined up for this countdown — we’ll have to see on which side your opinion lands!

      As for fickleness, I worry about people who like anything and everything by a given artist. Far better — and more stimulating! — to be more discerning and less of a unconditional fanzombie. So be fickle and be proud! 😉

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    • gasp65's avatar gasp65 October 5, 2023 / 22:23

      I wouldn’t wish to alarm you, Eva… but there’s more of the stuff on the way! 😉

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