.gif)
Ray Moore (comics)
Encyclopedia
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
, and first artist on what would grow to become the world's most popular adventure comic strip, The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
, which started in 1936. Moore had previously worked as Phil Davis
Phil Davis (cartoonist)
Philip Davis , better known as Phil Davis, was an American artist who illustrated Mandrake the Magician, written by Lee Falk. Davis was born in St. Louis, Missouri....
' assistant on the Lee Falk-created Mandrake the Magician
Mandrake the Magician
Mandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk , which began June 11, 1934. Phil Davis soon took over as the strip's illustrator, while Falk continued to script. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate.Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964,...
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 Montgomery City, MissouriMontgomery City, Missouri
Montgomery City is a city in Montgomery County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,442 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County.-Geography:Montgomery City is located at...
, in 1905, and he lived most of his life in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
until his death in 1984, together with his wife, Claire Moore. He was the son of a jeweler & clock maker, and originally intended to become an engineer (at the request of his father), 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
Mandrake the Magician
Mandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk , which began June 11, 1934. Phil Davis soon took over as the strip's illustrator, while Falk continued to script. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate.Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964,...
.
Ray was involved in an accident during his career as a pilot in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, which made him unable to keep on drawing The Phantom, therefore leaving work on the strip to his assistant Wilson McCoy
Wilson McCoy
Wilson McCoy was an American illustrator and painter best known as the second artist on the The Phantom comic strip.Wilson McCoy is well known for his unique, naive style of drawing...
.
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. Prior to 2011, only two photos of him were known to exist, both sideways. His face was therefore quite unknown to the world. And if he on a rare occasion did an interview, he seldom mentioned his private life. In July 2011, in appreciation for Phantom Fans worldwide and in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Phantom Comic Strip, his great niece Gina Moore Reiners made public a series of Moore Family photographs ranging from Ray Moore's childhood to adulthood.
Ray Moore died in 1984 of natural causes. He was survived by his wife, Claire, who died in 2005; Mary Adelia Moore (now deceased); his younger brother, David Yerly Moore Jr.; his nephew, John Alt Moore; and his great nieces, Maria Moore Zeig and Gina Moore Reiners. 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) of woodland which Claire and Ray owned in Des Peres, Missouri was donated to the Department of Conservation and named "The Phantom Forest".
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 and his love of dogs.
In Paramount Pictures' The Phantom film adaptation, starring Billy Zane
Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...
, the butler of the Palmer-family is called "Falkmoore", a reference to Lee Falk and Ray Moore.
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
Comics Revue
Comics Revue is a bi-monthly small press comic book published by Manuscript Press and edited by Rick Norwood. Don Markstein edited the publication from 1984 to 1987 and 1992 to 1996....
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