Curt Swan Appreciation

[Utility Belt]

I used to look down on Curt Swan's artwork, especially if the comic had a cover by Garcia-Lopez or Dick Giordano who had a much more dynamic style. But over the years I've come not only to like Curt's art but to deeply admire his storytelling abilties as well as his very unique style. His work can never be confused for anyone else's and that's the mark of a true artist. Mr. Swan deserves much more appreciation, that's for sure.

[CaptChucky]

LUCKY! Did you get anything autographed or any images from him? If so I'm going to either cyber kiss you or cyber punch you depending on how I'm feeling at the moment!

Cyber-punch is me being jealous

No, unfortunately I didn't. We were both doing a signing at a comic book store. But I was definitely playing the role of fanboy there sitting next to a childhood fave. It was interesting to watch him draw. He drew very solid figures.

[glennsim]

I have a lot of respect for him, but like so many others I really preferred the more dynamic artists.

This really hit home when George Perez had to have a sub for one of the early issues of New Teen Titans and DC had Curt Swan fill in. It was...OK...but very disappointing when compared to the issues around it.

I've always said if I win the lottery I'm going to have Perez go back and draw that one issue, if only just for me.

That said, I repeat that I have a lot of respect for Curt Swan, and have no problem declaring him the definitive Superman artist, of the pre-Crisis era at the very least.

[Jon-El]

He didn't have a style that screamed at you like Kirby but he was a good storyteller. He did a good issue of Batman in the 80s featuring an early appearance by Killer Croc that I was impressed with. His later work on Aquaman was excellent. I felt his work got a little stale in the early 80s & welcomed Byrne's art. Dave Hunt & Al Williamson just didn't seem to be the right inkers for him. His 70s stuff is great though! My favorite inker is actually Bob Oksner! Odd choice but he seemed to give the character some additional bulk. His 60s Legion work is good as well. There's an innocence.

Swan is like Aparo in that he worked on a character so long you kind of didn't notice how good he was. Styles are so much different today. Look at the Flash with lightning bolts flying everywhere! Swan was so understated.

[Seven_Ride]

Easily the best Superman artist of all time.

Agreed.

Indeed, the most definitive Superman artist, and one of the finset comic artists, to me he is the top DC Comics artist

Indeed. What is most astounding was his longevity:

Curt Swan drew more interior pages for DC Comics than any other artist. Ever. A record that will probably not be broken, given the number of decades the man worked.

And that was for a stretch of decades where Superman was the # 1 action/adventure character in the world, and he lived primarily in the comics. It's hard to picture a scenario where there could ever be another artist that makes even a remotely sized contribution to Superman.

[Sean Walsh]

I appreciate Curt Swan.

[Oropher]

Yeah, that's what he is to me.
And many say he had no dynamics, but damn it, if you ever read The Sandman Saga where Julie Schwartz and Denny'O'Neil revamped Superman 15 years before the revamp that lasted, and damn it, Curt Swan really put his punch into this Story and showed he was the best there is, and Jack Kirby, i love him, but damn, Curt made his figures look so realistic, his women were beautiful (especially his Wonder Woman) and he was THE man for faces, while Kirby made Steve Rogers and Johnny Storm look like Twins, Kurt gave EVERY Legion member his own unique appearance.
And his career on Supes spawned 5 deacdes, he did his first supes in 49, and then conctributed a bit to the wedding album in the 90s.
His favorite inker was Al Williamson by the way:
For history", Curt said, "Al had a flair that the others didn't have."

His legion http://dc143.4shared.com/img/ViCUD1Q...swan_color.jpg (they even all have unique hairdoos, and this here is the early 60s, nobody else did this at the time)
here are two of my favorite covers by him in precoloured form:
http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/63/curt_swan.jpg (how the buildings are going into the side panels, EG the daily planet sign, or the leftiest building and the rocks signature lines, the ground besides supes cape and the panel right besides, and the landscape and how superman looks, one of my alltime favorite covers).
http://metropolisplus.com/Superman/S...1SwanCover.jpg (this here again, it#s sooo great, the way supes looks down at clark, and clarks sad expression, how superman towers over the cityscapelike a reminder of the legend that superman is there).
http://theages.superman.nu/ProArt/nwfb30th.jpg (nightwing and flamebird, that he drew for a fan, like some recreations covers others do).
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6...wvuyo1_500.jpg (jis aquaman, from 88 i believe, and damn, he still had it, i especially LOVE his JLA down in the Corner, they look a bit like Alex Ross style figures, before he paints them out, especially his Manhunter and Green lantern look awesome).
http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives...erman_swan.gif (this picture of the Superman Family PERFECTLY captures what Silver Sge supes was all about).

here are pics of him drawing supermans faces, while most Artists had about 3 different Emotions, just like Kirby, like i said, he never was good at the faces,
http://sandboxworld.com/wp-content/u...expression.jpg
http://theages.superman.nu/Creators/manyfaces.jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/c...tion333-14.jpg

his girls: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgsap0h7sz1qbujox.jpg
his wonder woman: http://cdn.comicartfans.com/Images/C...urt%20Swan.jpg
THIS is not dynamic???

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr....sh1G0Zz3Z5k%3D

or this: http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr....BslqdLXlz4M%3D

And i've read that many times Lee tried to get him over to marvel, but Curt was never even considering because that would have meant leaving Superman, and we all know how Kirbys Superman loooked, like a Marvel, and damn, i can only imagine how awesome Curts Marvels would have looked, his Captain America for example could have been as iconic as his Superman.

And unlike Kirby he never hit rockbottom, he nevr lost his punch as a artists, from his first superman story to his last, he really had it always, while Kirby burned out after the 60s and early 70s ImO.

And i'm only 19 right now, and since i'm from germany i started my comic fandom with Disney Comics (they are much much much more popular in Europe than Super-heroes), for me Curt is for DC what Carl barks is for Disney Comics, and for the end here is a comment by Denny that sums it up perfectly:

Denny'O'Neil, who worked with Adams, whom many here seem to like more than Curt because of his covers, denny had this to say: "Swan was the best, a quiet man and not much noticed and consequently underrated because he never caused a fuss; he simply delivered anything an editor asked for, met any challenge and did it with the reliability of the tides."

some other quotes:
Critic Arlen Schumer praises Swan's ability to depict "the spectrum of human emotion, from agony to anger, mournful to mirthful."
As characterized by critic Paul Gravett, Swan's Superman made ". . . Krypton's last son in exile, the alien in our midst, into someone like us, who would think and feel as well as act, who was approachable, big-hearted, considerate, maybe physically superpowerful yet gentle, noble yet subtly tragic."
In a similar vein, Swan biographer Eddy Zeno calls Swan "the Norman Rockwell of . . . comics."
And that he really was, he had the Rockwellian Americana in every picture he ever drew of Smallville, another reason why i love him, what he draws is the America kids from other countrys have in mind when thikning of little American towns.

Alan Moore is another big fan of him, i don't have the quote right now, but Whatever happend to the Man really IS one of Curts best ever pencilling Jobs.
You also see him in dave Gibbons Watchmen series, how Nite Owl looks like Clark Kent where Dave uses the gentle noble sadness Swans Superman always had to him despite being the most powerfull being in the Universe, that sense of loneliness, Dave really brought that into his Nite Owl, and Dr Metropolis has also kind of Superman loook to him).

Alan also talked about how sad he was whem realizing that Curt had so many ideas about how those characters live and what they do but never was given a chance to bring them into the Story, if they would have let him do that i think he would have made an even bigger impact on Supes, much like Barks had on Donald and Scrooge and also the nephews.

And he's Zack Snyders favorite Superman artist by the way, and Jerry Seinfeld is like on Drugs with his Superman.

And a last cookie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QamRgSZnJYg
Curt actually drawing a bit of Supes and Clark in this Film documentary.
This is for me like finally seeing a close-up of george harrison playing a solo in the let it be film, seeing my favorite of all time do what he does best in close-up.

hIs longtime writer Elliot S! maggin: We were both philosophical products of the message we spent a career delivering to the hero-worshippers of the world. We both believed in truth, justice and the American way: a personal torah. It was good finally to learn that we had so much in common when finally we gave each other the space to reveal it.

Wallace harrington (superman film crew):
When it came time for Warner Brothers to do a decent film of Superman, it was Swan's figure that Christopher Reeve emulated. It was that grace, that strength, that humanity that Swan brought to the character. When asked whether he had a 'model' for his Superman, he said that he was a combination of many things. Part Johnny Weismuller, part Raymond "Rip" Kirby and part George Reeves, 'although I didn't want him to look exactly like Reeves, even though I got a profile or two correct. . . . I drew him to look like a nice guy, someone you'd want on your side.' . . . When Clark looked at you and winked, it was as if he were letting you in on the big joke that no one in the story could see except you and him. Swan made Superman come to life for the reader

Also Alan Moore:
Also Alan: I'd like to have asked him how much [Swan] identified with Superman, how much of himself he put in there. I feel that he probably did on some private level; that there was some sort of a moral strength that he aspired to, that he drew into those figures. Something almost indefinable, but some essence of himself.

and this leads me to a comment Curt once said about his career:

"I get more enjoyment out of seeing a young one's smiling face staring into a comic book that I drew than I could possibly get out of having all of the money, praise and accolades in the world."

SUPERMAN could not have said it better.

R.I.P Curt Swan, Greatest Comic Book Artists ever

And it was a drag they just fired him from Superman series after the crisis, that was so mean, poor Curt, never left for marvel and they kick his ass.

[Mayowa]

^ Hey now. Few people in this world appreciate the greatness of Mr. Swan more than I, but you needn't rip on Kirby to prop him up. Swan's art more than speaks for itself. Both were amazing artists in radically different - I'd say, largely complementary - ways.

[Oropher]

I know, i love him, but i just think he's a bit overrated.
especially in the human figures department, i just recently read trough jimmy olsen showcase, and since that really is not an action packed series, you really see curt work a lot with the faces and expressions here, also body language.

And Ray Burnley is not on my top 5 list of Curts inkers, and still i can't get enough of this series, it's cool to see how Curt at the beginning kinda seems to try a bit to make Supes look like Borings version (wich is understandable, since 54 was his first year of working fulltime on Supes) but shortly after the chest gets thinner and the face begins to change.

One of my favorite Moments was a scene where Clark and Jimmy go to Smallville for a Superboy celebration, and then they meet the parents of one of Clarks old school friends and that reminds Clark of his own parents, so they go to the graves of ma and pa kent, jimmy says he will leave Clark alone, it's just one panel, but in that one panel he perfectly shows Clarks feelings, even Jimmy really looks like he just said i'll leave you alone with your thoughts for a moment, and Clarks face, he looks sad and thoughtfull (not tortured, like many artists faces of sadness looked like ImO) at the same time, reflecting on how nobody could have had better foster parents.
And that all in one 1/6 of a page panel.
Binder and swan really were a great team, i love those Olsens, like the guy who just recently had the action comics back-up with jimmy said:

If you can't enjoy a single Jimmy Olsen story, the little 7 year-old in you is dead.

[Hamdinger]

Hey I agree with Oropher on his Swan appreciation but people seem to ignore Swan completely and praise Kirby's work as that of a flawless God. So I get where Oropher is coming from. Comparing the two as far as flat our drawing ability I think Curt Swan was on par with the King in that regard in the very least.

However that being said I love Kirby though, and what really made him the best was his ability to draw dynamic action and more importantly his seemingly limitless imagination and creativity! Kirby co-created and created many of the designs that Marvel still uses and bases their updated looks off of today. Kurt Swan was a hell of an illustrator and he would have been great at Marvel and beloved by fans however he would have been another John Buscema, wonderfully talented but now rarely mentioned despite his talent. And despite his flaws in his stylized figure drawing that showed up in his later years Kirby did more than draw the Marvel universe, he helped create it! Hail to the King!

But let's not derail this thread too much from Kurt Swan. Great post Oropher!

[Oropher]

Yeah, i definitely know where you're coming from.
Kirby did a lot of writing actually with Lee.
I really think the marvel way would have been perfect for Curt, you know what Alan Moore once said:
i can't find the damn quote, so here is mine:
Alan also talked about how sad he was whem realizing that Curt had so many ideas about how those characters live and what they do but never was given a chance to bring them into the Story (he also said how sad he found that, which means i guess Alan thought that Curt could have given a lot to Superman story-wise, i think i once read Curt suggested something to that old asshole Mort and Mort told him he should keep his nose out of the writing stuff), if they would have let him do that i think he would have made an even bigger impact on Supes, much like Barks had on Donald and Scrooge and also the nephews.

[jsf]

Easily the best Superman artist of all time.

This. Repeated over and over.

[Lexrules]

This. Repeated over and over.

Something we all pretty much agree on.

[It's Superman]

Curt Swan's the definitive Superman artist.

[BBally]

I've said many times that Curt Swan's Bronze Age Superman is the definitive look for the character in my opinion, he had a powerful presence without the need to look overly muscular. People say of how artists today try to draw Superman to look like Christopher Reeve however Reeve looked pretty close to a Curt Swan-ish Superman during that time.