Ray Moore (comics)

Infobox Comics creator


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birthname = Raymond S. Moore
birthdate = 1905
location = Montgomery City
deathdate = January 13, 1984
deathplace = Manchester, New York
nationality = American
area = Artist
alias =
notable works = The Phantom
awards =

Raymond S. Moore, better known as Ray Moore, was the co-creator, together with Lee Falk, and first artist on what would grow to become the world's most popular adventure comic strip, "The Phantom", which started in 1936. Moore had previously worked as Phil Davis' assistant on the Lee Falk-created "Mandrake the Magician" comic strip, which was why he was thought to be a suitable choice to draw Falk's new creation.

Life and career

Little is known about Ray's personal life, but he was born in Oklahoma, most likely in 1905, and he lived most of his life in Missouri until his death in 1984, together with his wife, Claire Moore. He was the son of a jeweler, and originally intended to become an engineer, before he realised that he could live off his job as an artist.

Moore started drawing The Phantom in 1936, after creator Falk realised he would not have the time to do the artwork in the strip himself. He had previously worked as an assistant on Falk's other strip, "Mandrake the Magician".

Ray was involved in an accident during his career as a pilot in World War II, which made him unable to keep on drawing The Phantom, therefore leaving work on the strip to his assistant Wilson McCoy.

Ray Moore had a moody and mysterious drawing style, with a style of shadowing which suited the mysterious Phantom character. However, he slightly changed his style later on, focusing less on the dark atmosphere he had become known for, in advantage of a more realistic style, with more details and a less moody style of drawing.

Lee Falk always claimed that Moore was the best artist on the Phantom, because of his talent for drawing beautiful looking girls. It was this talent that led Falk to creating many crime corporations only consisting of women, like the infamous "Sky Band".

Moore is known by fans to be as mysterious as the Phantom character he co-created. Only two photos of him was known to exist for until a year ago, both sideways. His face was therefor quite unknown to the world. Now it has appeared one new from 1929 with an up front motiv! And if he on a rare occasion did an interview, he seldom mentioned his private life.

Ray Moore died in 1984 of natural causes. He was survived by his wife, Claire, who passed away in 2005.

List of the Daily strip stories drawn by Ray Moore

*1 The Singh Brotherhood
*2 The Sky Band
*3 The Diamond Hunters
*4 Little Tommy
*5 The Prisoner of the Himalayas
*6 Adventure in Algiers
*7 The Shark's Nest
*8 Fishers of Pearls
*9 The Slave Traders
*10 The Mysterious Girl
*11 The Golden Circle
*12 The Seahorse
*13 The Game of Alvar
*14 Diana Aviatrix
*15 The Phantom's Treasure
*16 The Phantom Goes to War

All of these stories have been reprinted, in Australia by Frew, and in the United States by Pacific Comics Club or Comics Revue magazine.

List of Sunday strip stories drawn by Ray Moore

*1 The League of Lost Men
*2 The Precious Cargo of Colonel Winn
*3 The Fire Goddess
*4 The Beachcomber
*5 The Saboteurs
*6 The Return of the Sky Band
*7 The Impostor
*8 Castle in the Clouds

Trivia

*Moore would sometimes use his wife Claire as a model when drawing the Phantom's girlfriend, Diana Palmer.
*The idea of the Phantom's pet wolf Devil is believed to have come from Ray Moore's lifelong pleasure of drawing wolves.
*In Paramount Pictures' The Phantom movie adaptation, starring Billy Zane, the butler of the Palmer-family is called "Falkmoore", a reference to Lee Falk and Ray Moore.

External links

* [http://edrhoades.com/phantom/claire_moore.htm Interview with Ray Moore's widow]
* [http://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/moore_r.htm Moore's profile at Lambiek.net]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E2DF1E38F934A25752C0A962948260 Obituary from New York Times, Jan. 17, 1984]