Back in the mid-1960s, the last week of every month (either on the last Tuesday or Thursday, I don’t remember which) I would head to the local liquor store to pick up three comic books: Detective Comics (Batman), Adventure Comics (Legion of Super-Heroes) and Action Comics (Superman and Supergirl).
Action Comics would have one Superman story, usually drawn by Al Plastino and one Supergirl story, always drawn by Jim Mooney. The Supergirl story would take up about 8-10 pages, whereas the Superman story would take up about 12-15 pages.
The Supergirl stories back then, usually because of the number of pages assigned to them, tended to be two-parter stories with a cliff-hanger at the end of the first part. They were well-written and well-drawn. Jim Mooney’s work complimented Supergirl very nicely. To me, Mooney was to Supergirl as Curt Swan was to Superman. Both were equally definitive to those characters.
The only thing that bothered me about Mooney’s work was that he drew the oddest-looking "S" shields on Supergirl and Superman. But the rest of his art was superb.
Jim Mooney passed away yesterday. He lived a long life as he was born in 1919. Up until the last few years when his health started to fail, he remained active and appeared at comic book conventions.
The thought occurred to me that nobody will really remember today’s crop of comic book artists (with very few exceptions) as they do the ones from the Golden Age and Silver Age of comics.
Mooney stacks up right with the greats of the the Silver Age: Jack Kirby, John Romita, Curt Swan, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, et al.
It is sad to lose people whose work we grew up with, at least we still have our old issues to pull out on occasion and savor those pages all over again.
In 1932 a new horror movie was put into production to capitalize on the success of Frankenstein, and its star Boris Karloff. The initial idea was to produce a film based on the real life exploits of the French mystic Cagliostro, who claimed that he had lived for several generations. This idea was soon dropped for a screenplay that was penned by Nina Wilcox Putman that featured the resurrected corpse of an ancient Egyptian prince. One has to remember that Tutankhamen’s tomb had just recently been discovered and there was a national obsession with Egyptology. Universal felt that the combination of Karloff and this topical theme would guarantee a hit, and they were right. 
Cast alongside Karloff as the female lead was the uniquely beautiful Broadway actress Zita Johann. Johann however was not the studios first choice to play Princess Anck-es-en-Amon and her modern reincarnated counterpart Helen Grosvenor. Originally Katherine Hepburn was offered the role, but prior obligations kept her out of the picture. This may have come to director Karl Freund’s dismay. Johann would argue with her director over how scenes were to be shot constantly during filming. Freund in turn would do everything he could to make the actress uncomfortable. It has often been noted that he made her stand on the set for days so that her dress wouldn’t get creased. On the last day of shooting Johann was sent onto a stage with live lions while Freund stayed behind a protective barrier. Probably adding more insult to injury was the fact that the scene, along with several others that showed Helen Grosvenor’s past lives, was cut from the film. It is probably for these reasons that Johann often referred to the director as “the monster.” It should also be noted that the hypnotic actress had more than a passing fancy for the occult, which seemed to come through in her performance. In this way she was the perfect counter balance to the macabre Karloff.
The Mummy would return ten years later in the form of an Egyptian priest named Ardath Bay (an anagram for Death by Ra). Bay instructs another research team where the remains of his love could be discovered and then disappears again. Once the remains had been exhumed and put on display in the Cairo Museum, Bay would again appear ready to bring back the soul of Anck-es-en-Amon. It soon becomes apparent however that the princess’s soul has moved on and is now inside the young socialite Helen Grosvenor. Bay’s only chance to be reunited with her now is to mummify her and bring her back with the same spell that resurrected him. In the films climax the archaeologists discover Bay’s true identity and his evil intentions just in time to burn the sacred scroll turning the Mummy to dust.
The Mummy will always remain a true monster classic. Once again Karloff delivers a stellar performance behind the incredible makeup of Jack Pierce. Look closely at the face of Ardath Bay, his skin looks amazingly like a mixture of flesh and bandages. Zita Johann is hypnotic as Helen Grosvenor (Amon) and the rest of the cast turn in memorable performances. Though most of the script may be “borrowed” it isn’t a distraction from making the film enjoyable. Just more proof that it is always better to go with a tried and true formula if it works properly with the theme. At least that is what Hollywood has been trying to convince moviegoers of for decades. Yet maybe this isn’t the place for me to get too preachy. Even though the Mummy may not be “original” it is a classic that is not to be missed.
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KH - You have worked on all six, Star Wars films, (three being special editions) what was it like to be part of the greatest movie franchise of all time?
