| Author |
|
Chris Opinsky
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 139
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 3:50am | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
Was there any reason for DC to usher him off the Superman line entirely, Post Crisis? Did he want to move on at that time? I recall he did the pencils for Superman when Action Comics was briefly relegated to Weekly format, circa 1988. It would've been neat to see him pencil your plots/scripts for the 2 years or so you worked on Superman.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132329
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 3:55am | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
One of my first questions when I took on the Superman assignment was "What happens to Curt?" "Don't worry," I was told, "Curt will be taken care of." Hm. Sort of like the Mob "takes care" of people?In any case, I spent the next couple of years trying to find work for Curt, and meeting resistance from editors on all sides. Resistance which, alas, grew only worse when he hooked up with an "agent" no one wanted to deal with. A couple of editors even told me so, in so many words. "I'd love to give work to Curt, but I don't want to have to talk to *******." It was a sadly classic example of how this industry does not take care of its own.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Chris Opinsky
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 139
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 4:03am | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
I remember reading an article written by Curt Swan in a Wizard Superman preview magazine from the early 90s. It was mainly a reminiscence of his time with the characters, but he did lament not being able to find work at that time (maybe 1994?), and the difficulty he had with medical coverage as he was no longer on staff. It had started out as a nice memoir and morphed into a sickening dose of reality. These stories of neglected creators are so sad---made all the worse by how terrific his skill level still was for so many years "Post Crisis". The Earth Stealers was great, and the lost opportunities represented by all those years is so disheartening...
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Greg McPhee
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 August 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5065
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 7:21am | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
One of the things I really was sad to lose after the 1986 reboot of Superman was Curt Swan.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Kevin Pierce
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 September 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2010
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 7:43am | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
I grew up reading the Curt Swan Superman, I always loved his artwork
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Rey Madrinan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 865
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 7:54am | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
Curt Swan is and always will by one of my favourite artists ever..this just kind of upsets me.
What about the comic industry makes the companies so willing to discard its talent?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132329
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 7:58am | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
What about the comic industry makes the companies so willing to discard its talent?*** The fans. You've seen how fast they turn, how someone who is "hot" one year can be stone cold the next -- and there is nothing, it seems, that the fans love more than to see the titans of bygone days torn down. How else does Jack Kirby become "Jack the Hack"? How else does Steve Ditko go without work?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Jason Fulton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 3938
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 7:58am | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
One of the coolest convention panels (one of the Motor City Cons) I ever went to involved Curt Swan, Julie Schwartz, and Murphy Anderson. They seemed like great people.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Francesco Vanagolli
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 June 2005
Location: Italy
Posts: 3130
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 8:02am | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
Swan popped up often in the various Superman titles from 1988 to 1996.
Sadly, it wasn't enough: seeing him on a regular title (even a not Superman related one) would have been great.
He has been the supreme Superman Artist (even if my favorite remains JB), and he was really able to adapt his style to the times: look at his Silver Age stories and compare them with Bronze Age ones... He is the same artist, but his style seems more modern. Maybe DC made a mistake leaving him alone in the whole Superman line of comics, because seeing new artists like Adams and Garcia Lopez (who signed several amazing covers) working on the Man of Steel alongside Curt Swan would have been a good thing.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Francesco Vanagolli
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 June 2005
Location: Italy
Posts: 3130
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 8:06am | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
John Byrne:
QUOTE:
| The fans. You've seen how fast they turn, how someone who is "hot" one year can be stone cold the next -- and there is nothing, it seems, that the fans love more than to see the titans of bygone days torn down. How else does Jack Kirby become "Jack the Hack"? How else does Steve Ditko go without work? |
|
|
You know, days ago I thought that, if Jack Kirby were still alive and able to work, "fans" would say "Look at that stupid Kirby, he thinks he can still draw! Go away, former King... there's a retirement castle for you".
Sadness.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Richard Siegel
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 868
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 8:11am | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
Back in the 70-s I once asked Stan Lee how come fan favorite books like Conan by Barry Smith either didnt sell or got cancelled (ie DC's Weird Worlds).
He replied, "Regular comic readers (meaning kids) - not fans - dont care about artists all that much. They want good stories and clear, concise story telling."
Yup. those were the days.
Certainly I was disappointed when I'd buy a comic with a great Swan cover and to see the interior art by someone else. But I wasnt buying the comic for the art, I bought it because it was Superman and once I turned the page, if it was good story, I didn't mind if it was by Geo. Papp or Al Plastino or John Forte but still Curt was the man behind my Superman.
Much like Gil Kane's GL, Carmine's Flash and Dick Sprang`s Batman!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
|
| Posted: 12 June 2006 at 8:19am | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
One online "critic" tried to lay blame for Curt Swan's departure from
Superman on JB. The same kind of guy who worships Alan Moore, quite
accepting of M*****, etc, etc.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Topic Closed)
