“Shelly” Moldoff: 1920 – 2012
One of the last of the Golden Age greats, artist Sheldon “Shelly” Moldoff, died today at the age of 91.
Best known for his work on the Batman titles between 1953 and 1967, Shelly first visualized such canonical characters as the original Batwoman, the original Bat-Girl, Bat-Mite, Clayface (Matt Hagen), Poison Ivy, and Ace the Bat Hound.
Shelly was a major contributor the DC / AA Comics lines, starting with the sports cartoon “Odds ‘N Ends” published in Action Comics #1. He took over Hawkman shortly after its creation. He also drew Blackhawk, the Black Pirate, Space Ranger, the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Batman and Robin team-ups in World’s Finest, an occasional Superman story, Gang Busters, a multitude of Jack Schiff’s public service pages during the 1950s, and the covers for the first appearances of The Flash (Flash Comics #1) and Green Lantern (All-American Comics #16).
During his long and bountiful career, Shelly also drew Kid Eternity for Quality Comics, Big Boy and many other commercial comics, and was one of the earliest contributors to EC Comics.
On a personal note, I had the privilege of hosting Shelly on many comics convention panels and always found him to be an affable, well-informed contributor. He honored my late wife on her 44th birthday with a beautiful recreation of the All-American #16 cover, which featured Linda’s favorite character.
Funeral services will be Tuesday at Kraeer funeral home, 1655 University Drive, Coral Springs Florida.
According to his funeral home obituary, he died Wednesday. http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary-print.aspx?n=Sheldon-Moldoff&lc=7089&pid=156243153&mid=5018020
I stand corrected. I was trying to get confirmation and I used only one source, one that was evidently incorrect.