Curt Swan’s Post-Crisis Superman
The greatest Superman artist was born 105 years ago today. When I was a kid, Swan was the “Pre-Crisis” Superman artist. I don’t believe we were calling it the bronze age at the time. It wasn’t the Superman I knew well, but I was always intrigued at the incredible unbridled imagination of the time. Less triangle era soap opera and more crazy ideas. The more I was exposed to those books the more Swan’s Superman became the Superman in my imagination. His work on the character spanned eras!
When DC wanted to revamp the Superman books; Swan got the short end of the stick. But Swan wasn’t completely absent from those days. Here is my rundown of some Post-Crisis Curt Swan highlights.
The first story that comes to mind is his run on Action Comics while it was weekly in 1988. During this weekly era the book was an anthology with the Superman stories being two page spreads, almost like Sunday comic strips. Swan even gets to draw Darkseid for this story. I’ve included some shots here comparing the original newsprint to the trade paperback reprint. The reprint has brighter colors, but there is something about the quality of the newsprint that makes the pages feel more alive. Like film grain.
The trade collecting this story is titled “The Power Within” which also collects the three issue story “The Sinbad Contract”: Superman #48, Adventures of Superman #471, and Action Comics #658. I’m lucky enough to own an original page from this issue of Action Comics! At the time these books were hyped as being part of Curt Swan Month! Well deserved if you ask me.
The fourth issue of Curt Swan Month was Superboy: The Comic Book #9. This was the Superboy book that was connected to the television show; so not related to ongoing Superman continuity at the time (when there was no Superboy). Curt did a bunch of these Superboy issues including 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, and the special issue. I wonder if these books should be considered in continuity with Superman ’78. Would be great companion pieces to his adaptations of Superman III and IV.
Around the same time as the weekly stories, DC published the prestige format issue “The Earth Stealers”. Written by John Byrne, so it’s definitely part of the post-crisis continuity. This is a highlight of the era and some of the best coloring Swan ever got. DC knew what it had with ads for the book pitching it as “The Ultimate Superman Team” for their in-house ads.
DC was also smart enough to include Swan in big anniversary issues. His story from Action Comics #600 tied in to the Mike Mignola illustrated Return to Krypton, both of which should not be missed. His pages a few years later in Action Comics #650 show that he was still at the top of his game at almost 70 years old. He could fit in with the current top of the business with no problem. Jumping forward to Action Comics #1,000 DC repurposed some art from Superman The Secret Years issue 2 to give us a brand new Curt Swan story. If any creator after Siegel and Shuster belonged in Action #1,000 it was Swan.
Want to see how Swan stacks up with the next generation? His work on Superman #35 is a perfect illustration. The book tells two simultaneous stories with top of each page by Swan and the bottom by Kerry Gammill. I truly think they could’ve kept Swan on the books more regularly into the 90s.
DC wasn’t going to let Superman get engaged or married without Swan being there. He contributed to the engagement issue, Superman #50, and the Wedding Album—sadly published after his death in 1996. This wasn’t the first Superman & Lois wedding by Swan as he did the famous Action Comics 484 for Superman’s 40th anniversary.
No Swan on the Death of Superman you say? It was old hat to Swan who did the Death of Superman 30 years prior in Superman 149. Written by Siegel himself.
Want to see more of his original pages? Art dealer Romitaman has some great pages on their website.
For further reading check out the Superman Homepage biography of Swan.
Happy birthday, Curt Swan. Thank you for your decades long contributions to the Man of Steel!