SHELDON MOLDOFF: THE GOLDEN AGE OF BATMAN

 

On March 5^th of this week, I read an article about Sheldon Moldoff who was one of the artists for Batman in the 1950’s and 1960’s died last week. I felt compelled to post something about him on The Dark Knight News because well…his work has been marked as the Golden and Silver Age of Batman. Also, Moldoff is a New Yorker that pretty summed it up for me (a New Yorker as well) to make a post about him in his memory.

I found out that he was responsible for the co-creation of Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Ace The Bathound. Ace The Bathound…the 60’s were a trip and a half to make such a side kick.  He penciled in the most zany stories of Batman in the 60’s, in which my father is still to this day a fan of those zany stories. My father told me that Batman never really used to be this “dark.” Of course, Batman was not. I mean most of the comic book readers back then were children and some were teenagers as well.  Dark themes were not the “it” in  the 60’s, instead it was all about good vs. evil and how Batman will always triumph over his adversaries. This is why most of the fans are even into Batman because it shows a normal man putting on a mask to fight for justice in the world. Unlike, Superman who inherits his powers and runs around in the red and blue body suit. Batman has to rely on his wits, his gadgets, and the luck of fate to survive a blow to the chest. So…thanks Sheldon Moldoff for starting us off on the most memorable characters no matter how trippy they were, for penciling/illustrating in the work for Bob Kane, and for giving us the best Batman you could. You will always be part of the Batman Universe.

 

Source- ComicBook Resources

-Kristina