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Post by chadwilliam on Jun 21, 2017 13:31:07 GMT -5
Something you might also want to consider regarding Curt Swan's place in the Superman titles following the Crisis is the fact that sometime during the mid-80's, Wayne Boring made a return to the character after sitting the 1970's out. In addition to drawing several Superman back-up features in the pages of Action Comics (this would have been around 1985 or so), he also most notably penciled the first issue of Roy Thomas' new Secret Origins title (with a recreation of Superman's first adventures in Action Comics) in 1986. Kurt Schaffenberger had also been doing work on Superman just prior to Crisis in Action as well (though he had remained active on the character during the 70's and 80's, at least in part, on the Superman Family and Superboy titles).
Boring passed away in 1987 so it's impossible to say whether or not he would have been offered more work following the Crisis and I don't know if Schaffenberger was forced out or simply chose to retire since he would have been 65/66 when Crisis hit. I kind of get the sense that in the two years or so prior to Crisis, the Superman offices knew they'd be closing up shop to make way for the new guys and may have decided to concentrate less on being trendy and more on doing what they could for those who had similarly been shunted off to the side. Some of this too may have been a generosity of spirit - if Boring was ill, DC might have wanted to give him work to help pay the bills.
Of course, while this might provide some insight into how DC regarded their classic artists, like you I'm confused by the claim that Swan went from managing a regular workload right up to Crisis to only being able to manage two pages a week (eight a month) for Action Comics Weekly. Maybe at the age of 65/66 he took up a second job working on a construction site or something and simply didn't have as much time to draw, I don't know.
One other thing: over in the Batman offices, Doug Moench lost his job writing for Batman during the Crisis and yet returned for a second run in 1992. I've often wondered if this was due to Denny O Neil regretting Moench losing his job back in 1986 and deciding to rehire him to redress what he perceived as a wrong. If that's the case, then it suggests that sometimes decisions such as who works where might honestly be made out of consideration of "what do I think the right to do is" as opposed to "what am I legally obligated to do/what will bump sales this month".
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Post by shaxper on Jun 21, 2017 13:41:12 GMT -5
Of course, while this might provide some insight into how DC regarded their classic artists, like you I'm confused by the claim that Swan went from managing a regular workload right up to Crisis to only being able to manage two pages a week (eight a month) for Action Comics Weekly. Maybe at the age of 65/66 he took up a second job working on a construction site or something and simply didn't have as much time to draw, I don't know. It also doesn't jibe with his comment about wanting more work nor with his working for Penthouse around this time as well. Thus my new theory/unsubstantiated guess that Swan's lawyer had DC on breach of contract and worked out an arrangement where they had to give him two pages each week, and they chose not to offer him more than the minimum. Helps to explain why Carlin (who generally seems so supportive of folks) offers no praise for Swan during Curt Swan Month nor in response to the glowing fan letters those issues receive. |
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Post by shaxper on Jun 21, 2017 15:06:04 GMT -5
World's Finest #3  "Worlds At War" writer: Dave Gibbons pencils: Steve Rude inks: Karl Kesel colors" Steve Oliff letters: Bill Oakley editor: Mike Carlin assoc. editor: Jonathan Peterson grade: D (Click for my reviews of Part One and Part Two) I'd love to say that this final installment put to bed my earlier impressions of this work, but it instead validated them, revealing an ill considered story that will likely never be acknowledged in real continuity, in which the characters act contrary to their natures, that is salvaged only by Steve Rude's stunning Fleischer-inspired artwork:   the plot laboring excessively to hit us over the head with the idea that, post Dark Knight Over Metropolis, Batman and Superman are now unlikely allies:   It's a message The Superman Office needed to hit hard if they wanted Superman back at the #1 spot along with Batman, but it also gets quite tedious as the story progresses. And really, how do you make Luthor and Joker having an all-out war across Metropolis and Gotham, the people so disgusted that they riot against them, uninteresting? Somehow, Gibbons did. Maybe it was just how forced the whole thing felt -- like someone as brilliantly calculating as Luthor never would have done half the things he did here that resulted in this, and like how ridiculous it is that something this large and devastating isn't going to get mentioned in any Superman or Batman book next month. This all just felt like a tedious exercise in storytelling that gave Steve Rude a chance to wow us with his art. IMPORTANT DETAILS:Unless we're going to learn in the next regular Superman issue that nearly all of Luthor's facilities and resources were just obliterated, Metropolis' nuclear power plant reactor just got launched into the sun, and all of Metropolis now wants Luthor dead, I doubt any of this is going to count towards continuity. Plot synopsis: Luthor and Joker both unleash plans at the same time to destroy all of each other's property and resources at midnight on New Year's Eve, Gotham and Metropolis turn against them, and Batman and Superman save the day but are not able to provide proof to bring them to justice. Luthor and Joker part with a pact of nonaggression, but they are not friends. |
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Post by shaxper on Jun 21, 2017 20:08:10 GMT -5
Superman #48  "The Sinbad Contract, Part One" writer: Bill Messner-Loebs pencils: Curt Swan inks: Dennis Janke letters: Bill Oakley colors: Glenn Whitmore assoc. editor: Jonathan Peterson editor: Mike Carlin grade: B+ If you've been following all the research and speculation I've been doing on Curt Swan's involvement with The Superman Office here, here, and here, then you understand that "Curt Swan Month," in which he penciled Superboy #8 and all three Superman titles for October 1990, was likely the recipient of 44 weeks worth of work on Swan's part in order to generate the artwork for those four issues. This explains why this issue is written by a guest writer and makes no references to current Superman continuity until the final page (which I'm assuming Swan did last) -- the penciling was done so far in advance that Carlin couldn't possibly know what character arcs would be where by the time this saw print. The story in this issue is suprisingly good. Nearly three decades before Kamala Khan, we have a sympathetic view of an Islamic immigrant family, their child learning he has powers as a result of a massive event that triggered super powers in ordinary people everywhere (NICE tie-in to Invasion there, by the way). I really respect this sympathetic and humanizing view towards a group that was nearly as mistrusted in 1990 as it's been post-2001:  It's also impressive to see the story reaching all the way back to Wolfman's run on Adventures of Superman waaaay back in 1987, where he had Superman exploring the ethics of interfering with the Quraci dictatorship and ultimately making the error of unilaterally attacking its military. The family in this story has a deep memory of that event and interprets it as Superman being anti-Quraci, an understandable take on the event if the military leader Superman was opposing was the one who liberated Qurac from a monarch who they believe was far worse. It also creates a parallel to the real world, in which families like the Nassurs often feel they must maintain a healthy mistrust of the police and other law enforcement. And then we got to this moment:  which felt like it was directly lifted from the Action Comics Weekly Superman feature:  leaving me to speculate that Swan had a uncredited role in co-plotting both stories. I now suspect this anti-Islamaphobic message is more his than it was Messner-Loeb's nor Sterns', and it's a very welcome one, regardless of who conceived it. All those nice things being said, there are some truly dumb aspects to this issue, from the total lack of classified information at Lexcorp  (as well as the stupidity of Davood's sister), to Superman reflecting that this ambush  was somehow "one of the weirdest nights of my life. Everything happened so quickly." I'm a little lost on what made that more shocking than any of well over 100 monthly adventures he's now had in the Post-Crisis. IMPORTANT DETAILS: - On that final page, clearly written more recently than the rest, we learn that Luthor is dying from the Kryptonite radiation that claimed his hand. As stated before, we had Luthor outright stating in Superman #1 that his scientists had repeatedly tested the Kryptonite for radiation and found it harmless, but whatever... - 1st appearance of Davood Nassur, a Muslim Quraci boy who is displaying telekenetic super abilities in the wake of Invasion. MINOR DETAILS: Wait a second. Is this: supposed to be John Byrne???  If so, that casts some doubt on Byrne's assertion that he was Swan's selfless protector at DC during his tenure there. Plot synopsis: Davood Nassur is displaying minor telekenetic abilities in the wake of Invasion. While visiting his sister who is working the graveyard shift at Lexcorp, the two fall into the middle of an intricate plot that leaves Davood in the possession of a belt that amplifies his powers to true super-human levels. He avoids the villains pursuing him and, mistrusting Superman's intentions, take him down too. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor has found out he is dying of Kryptonite poisoning and begins planning a final revenge against Superman.
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Post by Chris on Jun 21, 2017 23:55:35 GMT -5
Shaxper is finally back to reviewing superman. About time.  On the topic of how much art Curt Swan was producing the the late 80's and 90's...forgive me if I repeat things that have already been covered, I'm writing this disjointedly as I remember things as I go. After being taken off the Superman books, Swan was assigned to M.A.S.K. almost immediately. I don't know how long he stayed on that book, but I believe it was at least 3 or 4 issues, maybe more. Kurt Schaffenberger inked at least one issue, which I just found out about today double-checking some of this online. In 1987, Swan drew the comics adaptation of the movie Superman IV. Swan's Superman work in 1988 has been discussed above. Following that, Swan drew a 5-issue Aquaman series in 1989, and a few bits for Superman here and there. Those were mostly parts of stories, not entire issues, such as the artist jam on Action Comics Annual #2. He also drew two stories that appeared in Secret Origins (#46, I believe). The first was the origin of the Justice League of America's headquarters, the second was the origin of the Legion of Super-Heroes' headquarters. I miss those wild themed issues of Secret Origins. Most of Swan's 1990 Superman work has already been detailed above. But as for SuperBOY... Swan worked on issue #9 the TV-related Superboy comic for Curt Swan month. The story was a 2-parter, so Swan drew #10 as well (the second one was billed as "Curt Swan Month: Extra" if I recall right). I assumed at the time that the next issue would bring back regular artist Jim Mooney, another classic artist who wasn't popping up much by then. Swan drew #11, to my surprise, as well as several issues after that. Reportedly, Mooney has been ill and Swan was covering for him. Mooney eventually did another issue or two, but then Swan took over again until the book was cancelled a few months later at the beginning of 1992. So... Curt Swan may not have been able to match his output in previous years, but it seems unlikely that he was limited to 2 pages a week, at least not for health or age reasons, by the start of 1992. I don't know what Swan's propduction was like after that, however. Over the next few years, Swan worked on various things. I seem to remember something called Big Bang Comics, although I could have the name wrong. I never saw it, I found out about it in Eddy Zeno's book about Swan, "A Life In Comics." The book also has an interview with Jerry Ordway, who talked about Swan drawing Captain Marvel for Ordway's Power Of Shazam book around 1995. There was a 3-part Superman story that was published across the Superman line, a span of 3 weeks, shortly before Swan's death. How long it took Swan to draw theese, I don't know. In Eddy Zeno's book, someone is interviewed who said that Swan had asked to be released from his exclusive contract with DC to pursue more work, and that it kind of backfired on him. I think it was one of Swan's children who said that. Take all this with salt, because I'm going off memory here - I can't find my copy of the book. As for Kurt Schaffenberger, I know he worked on a few Superman stories after the revamp. Action Comics #600, for example. He also worked on Hero Hotline as an inker in the late 80s. I seem to recall he did a few other things as well, but I can't be sure of that. DC published a brief piece on Schaffenberger in their Direct Currents promotional booklets. You can read it at comicbookdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/DC-Direct-Currents-13-January-1989-Page-7.jpgFull Direct Currents booklet at www.comicbookdaily.com/collecting-community/bound-together/time-capsule-dc-direct-currents-13-january-1989/#lightbox-gallery-bNBU/0/ |
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Post by shaxper on Jun 22, 2017 6:34:43 GMT -5
Most of Swan's 1990 Superman work has already been detailed above. But as for SuperBOY... Swan worked on issue #9 the TV-related Superboy comic for Curt Swan month. The story was a 2-parter, so Swan drew #10 as well (the second one was billed as "Curt Swan Month: Extra" if I recall right). I assumed at the time that the next issue would bring back regular artist Jim Mooney, another classic artist who wasn't popping up much by then. Swan drew #11, to my surprise, as well as several issues after that. Reportedly, Mooney has been ill and Swan was covering for him. Mooney eventually did another issue or two, but then Swan took over again until the book was cancelled a few months later at the beginning of 1992. Fascinating. Thanks for this! Yes. I'm starting to lean towards believing this limit was contractual rather than physical. That still begs the question as to why DC was keeping him on as a full employee with benefits and yet limiting him to 2 pages per week when he was clearly asking for more. I still think there's a legal matter involved in all of this, somehow. He also said as much himself in his interview with Wizard Magazine, yeah. Not the backfiring part, mind you. |
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Post by MDG on Jun 22, 2017 7:34:31 GMT -5
... After being taken off the Superman books, Swan was assigned to M.A.S.K. almost immediately. I don't know how long he stayed on that book, but I believe it was at least 3 or 4 issues, maybe more. Kurt Schaffenberger inked at least one issue, which I just found out about today double-checking some of this online. One thing to remember about these licensed books is that their production was subsidized by the toy company, which, I believe, is why things like Super Powers, He-Man, etc., went to Swan, Kirby, Infantino--DC could pay them better and, for the most part, they didn't have to worry about pleasing the fans. |
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Post by shaxper on Jun 22, 2017 7:43:42 GMT -5
Adventures of Superman #471  "The Sinbad Contract, Part Two" writer: Bill Messner-Loebs pencils: Curt Swan inks: Dennis Janke letters: Bill Oakley colors: Glenn Whitmore assoc. editor: Jon Peterson editor: Mike Carlin grade: B The second part of "The Sinbad Contract" progresses a lot like the first: powerful message about racial and religious tension in our society  and some pretty careless scripting, providing truly stupid moments in an otherwise sound premise. But what interests me most about this issue is page 6:  A pretty powerful moment, reminding us that Lex is dying. And yet it reaffirms my point that these issues were penciled far in advance, one final page added to each issue to make them appear current. Just look at Lex one page earlier:  ...or throughout the rest of this issue:   This is not a man who is in pain or even marginally worried about dying. Heck, he's smiling throughout most of the issue. Sure, maybe he's putting up a front, but we even get an entire page where we get to see his private thoughts, and they're only of the mission at hand:  Page 6 is the only page of this story that seems to know Luthor is dying. It was clearly penciled after everything else and inserted into the story in hindsight. I'm glad it's there though, as the other 21 pages present a Luthor who is painfully over-simplified and devoid of any complexity whatsoever. As for the story itself, there are really only two memorable take-aways for me: 1. Watching Luthor intentionally use racism to turn the police against Sinbad  and adding, "Still, he was CRAZED. I tell you! INSANE! He threatened to blow up bridges and schools and factories all over the city." 2. The fact that Davood never once refers to himself as "Sinbad". That's a name Luthor gives him. Not a bad story, even with its flaws, and I respect the intent behind it immensely. IMPORTANT DETAILS:- First mention of "The D.M.T." MINOR DETAILS: - Nevermind the fact that burglars happen to be breaking into Davood's father's grocery store at exactly the same moment that Davood is revealing his enhanced powers to his family. If the entire point was to protect his father, don't throw them through the window, dummy. That's going to cost a fortune to repair. Plot synopsis: After demonstrating his new powers by taking down some robbers infiltrating his father's store, Davood and his sister decide to attempt to return the belt that is enhancing his powers to Luthor. Luthor believes he has caught them in a trap, but it turns out the belt they were returning was a decoy so that they could first determine if Luthor was work trusting. Davood roughs him up and then escapes with his sister, prompting Luthor to call Maggie Sawyer and concoct a false terrorist profile on Davood. Davood rescues a criminal involved in the previous night's attack before another villain from the "DMT" can kill him and hands him off to Superman, and Superman tries to seek out Davood in his neighborhood, only to be confronted by Quraci Americans who believe he is against them. Also, Luthor is still dying from Kryptonite radiation. |
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Post by shaxper on Jun 22, 2017 8:37:27 GMT -5
Action Comics #658  "The Sinbad Contract, Part Three" writer: Bill Messner-Loebs pencils: Curt Swan inks: Dennis Janke letters: Bill Oakley colors: Glenn Whitmore assoc. editor: Jonathan Peterson editor: Mike Carlin Grade: B+ That unique balance of critical social message and sloppy plotting come together once more in this issue as we see how easy it is to manipulate the media and popular culture through fear. I love how the media tacks on Davood having "known radical ties" which ends up being an outright falsehood, as well as Luthor's quote about how, "...once you know what the people fear, you can easily control." And yet, few of Luthor's nor the "D.M.T."'s actions make much sense in this issue. Why does Luthor give up when he does? He easily could have manipulated the media to continue seeing Davood as a villain who was trying to stop Superman from saving Metropolis. And why does The D.M.T. attempt to kill Superman while Davood is still wearing the belt when the original agreement was that:  And, by the way, had this story been written and penciled after the Kryptonite Radiation revelation had happened, there's no way a Lex Luthor with this kind of motivation:  (from Superman #48) would outsource the killing of Superman. More proof that the pages concerning the Kryptonite poisoning were added after these stories were already complete. You know, in all my talk of Curt Swan recently, it occurs to me that I haven't once commented on the man's actual work, and that's a sad omission. I really do enjoy Swan's artwork, and he certainly gives it his all in this issue, able to give us awe-inspiring pages like these:  while still maintaining a Silver Age charm that absolutely works in all its hokiness by the end:  I'd still take a Kerry Gammill over a Curt Swan on a modern-age Superman story any day, but there is a timeless quality to Swan's work, inter-spliced with some truly meticulous stuff that holds its own in the Modern Age. IMPORTANT DETAILS:- Davood is now (mostly) depowered. He has still never assumed ownership of the name "Sinbad". - I believe this is our first look at "Henry," Clark Kent's Middle-East informant:  As this story wasn't written by a regular creative team, who's to say if we'll ever see "Henry" again?
MINOR DETAILS:- Luthor isn't the kind of guy to let a grudge go. He knows where the Nassur family lives. Is he really not going to arrange an "accident" once the media frenzy has died down? Plot synopsis: Luthor makes a deal with The D.M.T. -- if he gives them the belt back, they will use a flying saucer left over from Invasion to kill Superman, Luthor has a bunch of Sinbad impersonators running around town, blowing things up in order to turn the media against him, Clark rescues the Nassur family from fake police officers employed by Luthor, Davood tries to make a public statement but is interrupted by the flying saucer's arrival, Superman takes it down, but Davood prevents its exploding from killing all of Metropolis, destroying the belt that gave him powers in the process. Luthor issues a fake explanation that takes all the blame off of him and makes one of his assistants the fall-person. Davood is cleared of blame and, powerless, can presumably live a normal life once again. |
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Post by MDG on Jun 22, 2017 9:32:30 GMT -5
I think I was buying Superman around this time 'cause Loebs, but they didn't make that much of an impression. The art was part of the reason--looking at it now it's like what some artist at a con said when we were talking about Gray Morrow: "It's really well-drawn, but it's dull--it's like watching television."
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Post by zaku on Jun 23, 2017 12:09:39 GMT -5
Didn't Swan draw some pages for Penthouse Comix because DC wasn't giving him enough work to do? I'd heard that too. Maybe that was '86 or '87, when he wasn't doing as much for DC. Another possibility is that it wasn't that Curt couldn't draw more than two pages. If there was a legal matter involved (and Byrne indicates Swan had a lawyer in regular contact with DC) then maybe 2 pages per week was the legal minimum DC had to assign him or something. In my own mind, I imagine he had some document indicating he had a job at DC for life, and then DC fired him due to low sales (not a fireable offence), Swan got the lawyer, the lawyer told DC they had to keep him working full time or there'd be a lawsuit, and they agreed upon giving him two pages a week, which would constitute "full time" and allow him to receive benefits. Just a theory. All I can prove is that he had a lawyer and was producing two pages per week. The good Brian Cronin said that he drew the pages in the 1995, but he didn't add any other detail www.cbr.com/comic-book-legends-revealed-447/ |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 23, 2017 20:02:45 GMT -5
World's Finest #3  "Worlds At War" writer: Dave Gibbons pencils: Steve Rude inks: Karl Kesel colors" Steve Oliff letters: Bill Oakley editor: Mike Carlin assoc. editor: Jonathan Peterson grade: D (Click for my reviews of Part One and Part Two) I'd love to say that this final installment put to bed my earlier impressions of this work, but it instead validated them, revealing an ill considered story that will likely never be acknowledged in real continuity, in which the characters act contrary to their natures, that is salvaged only by Steve Rude's stunning Fleischer-inspired artwork:   the plot laboring excessively to hit us over the head with the idea that, post Dark Knight Over Metropolis, Batman and Superman are now unlikely allies:   It's a message The Superman Office needed to hit hard if they wanted Superman back at the #1 spot along with Batman, but it also gets quite tedious as the story progresses. And really, how do you make Luthor and Joker having an all-out war across Metropolis and Gotham, the people so disgusted that they riot against them, uninteresting? Somehow, Gibbons did. Maybe it was just how forced the whole thing felt -- like someone as brilliantly calculating as Luthor never would have done half the things he did here that resulted in this, and like how ridiculous it is that something this large and devastating isn't going to get mentioned in any Superman or Batman book next month. This all just felt like a tedious exercise in storytelling that gave Steve Rude a chance to wow us with his art. IMPORTANT DETAILS:Unless we're going to learn in the next regular Superman issue that nearly all of Luthor's facilities and resources were just obliterated, Metropolis' nuclear power plant reactor just got launched into the sun, and all of Metropolis now wants Luthor dead, I doubt any of this is going to count towards continuity. Plot synopsis: Luthor and Joker both unleash plans at the same time to destroy all of each other's property and resources at midnight on New Year's Eve, Gotham and Metropolis turn against them, and Batman and Superman save the day but are not able to provide proof to bring them to justice. Luthor and Joker part with a pact of nonaggression, but they are not friends. The Rude Dude's glorious art is definitely the only reason to pay these issues any mind. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 12, 2018 23:19:42 GMT -5
I'm very happy to announce that this thread is finally restored!
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Post by Chris on Jan 12, 2018 23:51:50 GMT -5
I'm very happy to announce that this thread is finally restored! Huh? Oh yeah, whatever. I'll give it a look sometime, maybe. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 13, 2018 0:15:35 GMT -5
Huh? Oh yeah, whatever. I'll give it a look sometime, maybe.  |
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