Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc,rec.arts.comics.dc.universe,rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh
From: [t--g] at [netcom.com] (Tom Galloway)
Subject: In Memory: Curt Swan
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 02:24:45 GMT

Per Johanna's posting on the LSH-L mailing list, it appears that Curt
Swan has died.

Curt Swan was the third "Superman artist", although it'd be appropriate
to say that he shared that title with Kurt Schaffenberger. The first
"Superman artist" was, of course, Joe Shuster. Those who grew up with 
Superman in the 30s and 40s think of a Superman drawn in Shuster's style.

The second "Superman artist" was Wayne Boring. Those who grew up with
Superman in the 50s think of a Superman drawn in the Boring style. 

I grew up in the 60s and 70s. The two "Superman artists" of that period
were Swan and Schaffenberger. However, Schaffenberger tended to draw the
spinoff titles, such as Lois Lane, while Swan tended to draw Superman,
Action, and World's Finest. Thus, for people in my age group, we picture
a Swan Superman with a Schaffenberger Lois and Lana. In particular, a Swan
Superman with Murphy Anderson inks.

In some ways, Swan was also the last "Superman artist". While I'm sure there
are some people out there who when they picture Superman as drawn by such
worthies as Neal Adams, Garcia-Lopez, Byrne, and Jurgens, none of the artists
who have followed Swan either stayed with the character for as long as the
four "Superman artists" or did as long and consistent a run on the character.
No one other than these four have iconified Superman's look for a generation.

Swan can also be considered something of a synthesis of the styles of
Shuster and Boring. While his style was more detailed that Shuster, and in
that area similar to Boring's, it was also simpler and cleaner than Boring's,
more similar to Shuster's. Comparing Swan to many of today's "hot" artists,
I can only wish they would study his work. Clear and easy to follow 
storytelling, with excellent facial expressions and detail without 
extraneous line work. While this take on the character is now out of fashion,
Swan's Superman looked like a noble responsible adult who would serve as
an example.

In addition to being the third "Superman artist", Swan is also the second
Legion of Super-Heroes artist, after Forte. While others have followed Swan
in this role (Cockrum, Grell, and Giffen for example), Swan was the artist
for a key period of Legion history where many concepts and characters 
considered integral to the series were introduced. Note that this required 
different work than Superman; instead of a lead character with a small
supporting cast, the Legion is a huge cast of repeating characters. It is
also set in the future, requiring imagination in portraying backgrounds
and objects. Once again, Swan's clean style and excellent storytelling
worked well in dealing with the large cast and exotic settings.

As I grew up on DCs, particularly the Legion and Superman (I didn't discover
Marvel until I was 10 or so), Swan was probably the artist I saw the most
work by in my childhood. I'll miss his work, although it'll come to mind
whenever I visualize Superman.

tyg   [t--g] at [netcom.com]