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Moth (character)

comics character

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 20, 2025
Entity authorityQ7752402
Source-derived summary

The Moth is the name of two American comic-book superhero characters. The first was created by artist Jim Mooney and an unknown writer for Fox Feature Syndicate in 1940, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. The second was created by writer-artist Steve Rude in 1998 for Dark Horse Comics.

Fox Feature Syndicate

One of the first comic-book superheroes, the Moth was created by artist Jim Mooney and an unknown writer using the joint pseudonym "Norton Kingsley", which at least once was rendered as "Norman Kingsley". The character — a superhero whose sole apparent superpower, flight, was never explained as either natural or as an ability built into his costume — debuted in comic-book publisher Fox Feature Syndicate's Mystery Men Comics #9 (cover-dated April 1940), during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.

According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "he fights a life-draining mad scientist, the Weather Kings (who use weather control machines in an attempt to take over the United States), a Dr. Frankenstein-like grave-robbing mad scientist, and others".

The Moth starred in four stories, drawn either all by Mooney or with the second drawn by Greg Chapian, both using the Kingsley pseudonym. The feature ended with Mystery Men Comics #12 (July 1940).

Dark Horse Comics

Publication history

The Moth (real name Jack Mahoney) is a fictional superhero published by Dark Horse Comics.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Moth (character)” as comics character. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1940, 1998—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Moth, character and comics can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as comics character. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 20, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7752402. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1940 and 1998.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Moth (character)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.