Sheldon Moldoff was a prolific Batman artist during the 50s and 60s. He worked as a ghost for Bob Kane; this meant that, as long as he kept the arrangement secret, Moldoff would be one of the primary Batman pencillers and be paid regularly (although not especially well, it must be said) for his efforts. Unfortunately, it also meant that all story bylines/credit would go to Bob Kane, with no credit whatsoever going to Moldoff. One look at Moldoffs work, however, reveals that his style is actually quite different from Bob Kanes. Moldoffs drawing style is clean, crisp and illustrative, with a flair for dramatic scenes that really do leap off the page, even all these years later. The Batman stories of the 50s and 60s saw Bats fending off would-be alien invaders and interdimensional interlopers, as well as mad scientists (Professor Milo) and colourful, but largely harmless, incarnations of his classic villains (Moldoff helped to revive The Riddler during this time). Sheldon Moldoff drew these outlandish scenes exceptionally well, always adding an extra layer of depth and detail to his panels. When it was needed, he would draw the individual stalagmites in the Batcave, for example, but when it wasnt, Moldoff would do wonderful pop-art close-ups of The Batman in action, emblazoned against nothing more than a background of bright green, or yellow (this approach was very influential to Grant Morison & Frank Quitelys brilliant Batman & Robin story cycle). Working with various ghost writers, Moldoff co-created a plethora of classic Batman characters, including Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Clayface II, Ace The Bat-Hound, Bat-Mite, Spellbinder, Calendar Man and the original versions of Batgirl and Batwoman. Phew! Today, the cheapest way to get hold of Moldoffs Batman stuff is to pick up a copy of the Batman: R.I.P tie-in The Black Casebook, which is a collection of 50s and 60s stories repeatedly referenced by Grant Morrison during his Batman run. Some of Moldoffs best work is included there, including The Batmen of All Nations, The First Batman, The Rainbow Creature, Robin Dies at Dawn and Batman Meets Bat-Mite. I would say that you can also track down the original Sheldon Moldoff issues too, but I dont want you outbidding me on eBay!
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
