Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow Jim Mooney, R.I.P.

According to Mark Evanier's blog , Jim Mooney passed away yesterday at the age of 88. For those that don't recognize the name, Jim was the fourth person to ever draw the Legion of Super-Heroes, behind Al Plastino, Curt Swan (covers) and George Papp. If DC's Legion Archives Vol. 1 can be trusted, that means that Al drew the first story, George drew the second, and Jim drew the third. Every Legionnaire that appeared for the first time in a Supergirl story was designed by Jim, and off the top of my head, that includes Brainiac 5, Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl, Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Bouncing Boy, Colossal Boy, and Chameleon Boy. He played a major role in defining the look of the Silver Age Legion.

On a personal note, he was the first person that I interviewed for The Legion Companion almost six years ago to the month. I ran into him on eBay, and after I figured out that it was really him and not just someone selling his artwork, I hit him up for an interview and he agreed. He couldn't have been nicer, and I couldn't have picked someone better to break me in. I remember being very conscious of the fact that he was 82 at the time, and was glad that someone would get him on the record about his Legion days while he was still around. I even got him to sign a copy of the book for me in San Diego in 2006, so that was nice.

Jim kept doing commissions until... well, I don't know if he ever stopped, and they were all great, too. You'd never guess that an eighty-odd year old man drew them. They looked like someone had them in a drawer since the '70s, and I mean that in the best possible way.

This leaves Al Plastino, Jim Shooter, and Cary Bates as the only Weisinger-era Legion creators left. Hopefully, it'll be a long time before someone has to write something about them.

This is sad news. May he rest in peace.

If he drew the third appearance, doesn't that make him responsible for the classic Adventure Era costumes of the founders?

Rest in peace.

That was George Papp, in their second appearance.

So we have Jim to thank for the green kid (and others). May he still be doing commissions on the other side.

Another great one leaves us. But we'll have his work always and pass it on to others so he's never forgotten. May he rest in peace.

That means I read his stories for the first time when he was about 83. to that type of eternity.

RIP Jim.

RIP Mr Mooney, you will be missed.

Condolences to his family. He will be greatly missed.

That Colossal Boy space-ranger outfit was a big fave of mine as a youngster, reading reprints of the ADV era stuff. Thanks for pointing out the outits he designed! One could consider him a 60s era Dave Cockrum for the Legion.

I think I want to reread the archives now...

. . . and Invisible Kid!

Godspeed, Mr. Mooney and thank you for all your contributions to the Legion and Supergirl.

I can't believe it. I planned to ask him for a Supergirl or Ms. Marvel commission.

I'm really, really sorry to hear that. Not only he was a gifted artist, but I heard he was a great guy too.

Me sad. Me want to read my Legion Archives again .

I know that he worked on Supergirl for a long time and remember his work on Spiderman as well, but where can one go to find more about the late Mr. Mooney?

The classic Legion-era characters and costumes were such an integral part to their identity when I was growing up that it's easy to forget that they were designed by a very real and very specific artist. Somehow, I never associate Jim Mooney with the Legion (Supergirl was more of his calling card).

This makes me all the more grateful to Glen for snagging that interview with Jim for Legion Companion. It ensures that Jim's role in the development of the Legion will never be forgotten.

I was lucky to get Jim on the record as the designer of most of the Silver Age costumes, as I was with Al Plastino as the designer of the original costumes of the three founders, even if he didn't remember doing it! It would've been nice if someone had asked George Papp about his Legion costume designs (the traditional Silver Age costumes of the three founders, plus Star Boy and Mon-El), but I don't know of anyone who interviewed him about anything.

Ironically, Curt Swan, who is so closely associated with the Silver Age Legion, only designed one character: Ultra Boy. That's if the fans who created Shadow Lass and Chemical King included sketches of those characters when they submitted them to DC; otherwise, they might have been his designs.

As far as the rest of the Silver Age Legion goes, outside of Ferro Lad, Projectra, and Karate Kid (Jim Shooter), Matter-Eater Lad, Light Lass, Element Lad, Dream Girl, and Timber Wolf were all designed by John Forte, as were the entire Legion of Substitute Heroes.

I hate to have heard this about Mr. Mooney. I was just thinking a few weeks ago that he should have been a part of the 50th anniversary in some way as he did leave an imprint on the book. I hope they acknowledge him somewhere in the near future.

Mooney also designed the Dominators didn't he?
i liked his Legion work and his Supergirl work.
as for Shadow Lass and Chemical King... weren't they designed by Jim Shooter, who did breakdowns for his scripts that were then interpreted by Swan?

Shadow Lass and Chemical King were both created and designed by two fans working together: George Vincent and Mike Rickford. They submitted the characters to Mort Weisinger, and they first appeared as statues of dead Legionnaires on the cover of the first Adult Legion story. That's what Weisinger did: whenever he needed disposable characters (dead Legionnaires that hadn't been introduced yet, Legion rejects, Substitute Legionnaires) he used suggestions from fans. That's where the entire Legion of Substitute Heroes came from, including Polar Boy, who eventually went on to join the Legion himself. Shooter then introduced the characters because there was an expectation that they would join the Legion.

The Dominators were created by Jim Shooter, as were the Controllers, in his illustrated scripts.

thanks for the clarification!
i never knew that shady and condo were created by fans.