A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: 13 bits of Bat-trivia that will open your eyes…
By PETER BOSCH
The late Sheldon “Shelly” Moldoff had an amazing career in comics — drawing Hawkman in the Golden Age, as well the first Kid Eternity story, Moon Girl for EC, and much more. But he is best known now for being Bob Kane’s ghost artist on Batman stories for many years.
For his birthday (he was born April 14, 1920), here is a Bat-tery of 13 trivia details about Moldoff’s time in Gotham — which was far more impactful than he’s usually given credit for.
(All of the below were pencilled and inked by Moldoff, unless noted.)
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1. He drew the Batman family pin-up for the back cover of Batman Annual #2 (Winter, 1961):
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2. Moldoff did backgrounds and lettering for Kane while he was still a teenager, including these two famous pages from Detective Comics #33 (Nov. 1939):
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3. He did hundreds of covers for Batman, including this classic — Detective Comics #235 (Sept. 1956):
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4. Moldoff co-created (with writer Dave Wood) the villainous Mr. Zero, later known as Mr. Freeze, in Batman #121 (Feb. 1959). Charles Paris did the inks:
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5. He designed the look of Batwoman, Bat-Mite, and Ace, the Bat-Hound (gathered here on the cover of Batman #133, August 1960):
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6. Bat-Girl, introduced here in Batman #139 (Apr. 1961), was also designed by Moldoff:
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7. Batman #156 (June 1963) may well be the most memorable Bat-cover of the entire Silver Age. Charles Paris inks:
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8. In Detective Comics #328 (June 1964), Moldoff drew the “death of Alfred” story, with Joe Giella inking. Bill Finger, script:
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9. Batman #171 (May 1965) had Moldoff drawing the first Silver Age appearance of the Riddler. Joe Giella inks and Gardner Fox script:
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10. Batman #181 (June 1966) featured Moldoff drawing the debut of Poison Ivy. Joe Giella inks, and Robert Kanigher script:
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11. Moldoff was the first artist on the Batman With Robin the Boy Wonder daily and Sunday newspaper strip that started in 1966:
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12. Moldoff took several Mr. District Attorney covers he drew and reworked them for Detective Comics:
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13. Sheldon Moldoff and Sheldon Mayer were two different people. While Moldoff did draw Batman as Bat-Baby (Batman #147, May 1962), he was not the creator and artist of Sugar and Spike:
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MORE
— 13 COVERS: A Soaring SHELDON MOLDOFF Birthday Celebration: HAWKMAN. Click here.
— 13 COVERS: A Soaring SHELDON MOLDOFF Birthday Celebration: DETECTIVE COMICS. Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, has just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.
