Sunday, March 28, 2010
Episode #118: MegaCon 2010 Day 2: Part I: The DC Nation Panel!
Note: This is the second of three blog posts about MegaCon, 2010, but the audio podcast on MegaCon will be a single episode. I attended MegaCon, as I said in the Day 1 post, with Jeffrey Taylor O'Brien. To read his coverage of MegaCon, click on the following links:
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/news/2010-news/2010-news-comic.php?topic=2010-news-comic/0313
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/news/2010-news/2010-news-comic.php?topic=2010-news-comic/0314
http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7687
To see more of my photos from MegaCon 2010, click on the following link to go to my facebook MegaCon 2010 photo album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033083&id=1239968992&l=c6f45bc404.
Jeffrey and I got a little bit of a late start Saturday morning. We got to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida near the end of the Marvel panel, which I had originally wanted to attend. According to the MegaCon program, the sceduled panelists were Mike Choi, Sonia Oback, Casey Jones, Mike McKone, Greg Land, Paul Peltier, Nelson DeCastro and Dexter Vines. When we got to the panel, there were only three panelists, one of whom I would later learn was Grag Land, when I walked by his table.
Afterwards, Jeffrey and I went our separate ways in the convention hall. I went searching for a local comic book writer I had friended on facebook, who was in Artist Alley, Wayne Cordova. He is an associate pastor of Crosspoint Church in Spring Hill, Florida. He was at MegaCon to promote two comics, one of which was M.I.M.E.S. (Mobile Initiative for Muting Evil Syndicates). The artist, Harold Jennett, was not there. I bought a copy and Wayne autographed it. We had a nice conversation about comic books, podcasting , school and church. His wife coaches math teachers at a school around Spring Hill, and my wife is a secretary with the Exceptional Student Education department at our local school board. To learn more about M.I.M.E.S. go to http://mimescomic.com/.
Jeffrey and I met for the DC Nation panel, composed of Dan Didio, Jimmy Palmiotti, Ethan Van Sciver and Tony Bedard. As the discussion got started, Dan Didio invited a couple, dressed as Green Lantern and Black Canary, to join them on the panel. After receiving some congratulations from the audience about his promotion to co-publisher, Didio joked, "Everything you like about DC, give the credit to Jim Lee; everything you don't like about DC, I'm responsible." He then mentioned that this was his first DC Nation panel, and first comic book convention, since August of 2009.
Among the topics Didio mentioned was that Superman would be appearing in his regular titles soon. The breakout Batman characters of the past year was Red Robin /Tim Drake and Damian. Grant Morrison would be writing Batman And Robin for the forseeable future. Dan also mentioned that he thought writer James Robinson pulled off a well written story with Justice League: Cry For Justice. Though the ending was shocking, it was not gratuitous, and would lead to some big changes for Green Lantern.
Ethan Van Sciver said that the conclusion of Flash: Rebirth would lead into future stories and a broader epic for The Flash.
Tony Bedard, writer of the Great 10, said that he developed the characters so that, after the end of their mini-series, other creators would be able to use them elsewhere in the DC Universe.
Jimmy Palmiotti said that what drew him to Power Girl was her voice and personality. He said that he doesn't find that every character has a distinctive voice, but she did. He also said that comic book fans help determine what makes it, what doesn't, what sells.
Dan Didio commented on the Legion Of Super-Heroes. He said that one of the problems with the Legion was the generational aspect of the DC Universe; it fractures the audience. The favorite era for a comic book reader is usually their first exposure to a comic book title. Dan said that one of the goals of DC is to find one strong interpretation and stick with it, without alienating fans of various eras. He also mentioned other characters. Static, from Milestone Comics, will be a member of Teen Titans, and a Batman Beyond series would be upcoming.
Dan had a few comments about J. Michael Strazinski. He loved JMS on Brave And The Bold. Those were great stories with emotional impact. Superman happens to be JMS's favorite character, and Dan said that he has a perspective on the Man Of Steel that is 180 degrees from where he is now, but is still true to the character.
On Birds Of Prey, Dan said that writer Gail Simone and artist Ed Benes wanted to return to the title, and that is why DC is bringing it back.
Tony Bedard said that in order to get new people coming to comic books, as Geoff Johns said, the goal is to make comics the most popular modern myth. Didio expanded that thought further. He said that it was not just DC's job, but the job of all comic book publishers, to raise the public consciousness of comic books.
Someone in the audience asked a question about new cross-company crossovers, which were popular in the 1970's. Didio said it was possible, but at the moment DC was concentrating on its own characters.
Dan Didio then had a series of announcements about various series. David Finch would draw the cover for Batman #700, and would be the regular cover artist for Action Comics. Action's creative team would be writer Mark Guggenheim and artist Pete Woods. Paul Levitz would take over Adventure Comics and Legion Of Super-Heroes. On a related note Dan asked Legion fans to send postcards to DC's offices if they wanted Legion flight rings with the new upcoming Legion Of Super-Heroes #1. DC's Free Comic Book Day issues for 2010 will be War Of The Supermen #0 and Brightest Day #0. Brightest Day will carry a lower price point. Blackest Night #8 will carry the cover price of $3.99, and have a fold-out cover. A new Who's Who will be published, drawn by core DC artists and freelancers. The next DC animated DVD movie, after Crisis On 2 Earths, will be Under The Hood. After that, there has been nothing definite to announce yet.
Ethan Van Sciver announced that his new project would be a creator owned series published through Wildstorm and written by Gail Simone.
An audience member had a question about how the second features would be collected. Dan Didio said that if it was related to the first feature, they would be created together, but if not, it would be collected in a separate edition.
Another question was about superhero novels. Dan Didio said that those were handled by a separate group in the company and licensed out. He closed the panel by answering a question about Grant Morrison's mulitverse, saying it was moving forward. Several Earth-2 stories are forthcoming. If there were to be any Elsworlds stories, this is how they will be handled.
Next: MegaCon 2010 Day 2: Part II!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Episode #118: MegaCon 2010: Day 1!
Note: While this blog post is the first of three on MegaCon, the podcast episode on MegaCon itself will be a single episode.
I first attended MegaCon in Orlando, Florida in 2005, as one of my son's birthday presents, as both were around the end of February that year. We did it again in 2006, both times only on Satuday, but have not been back since. I had the opportunity to go this year because Jeffrey Taylor O'Brien, of the Superman Homepage website, was going to attend in order to accept an award for the website. We had friended each other on facebook after the podcast he co-hosts with Michael Bailey, From Crisis To Crisis, began. We later began working on a comic book project that I'll be able to discuss at a later date. On Sunday afternoon, March 14, 2010, he accepted the award for the best comic book fan website award from Project Fanboy http://www.projectfanboy.com/. The whole award ceremony can be seen here: http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7698.
To read Jeffrey's coverage of MegaCon 2010 on the Superman Homepage website, click on the following links:
http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7673
http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7675
http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7687.
These links also contain some of the pictures I took at MegaCon.
My convention experience actually started Thursday night, when my wife Cynthia and I drove to the Orlando Internaional Airport (OIA), to pick Jeffrey up. He stayed at our home that weekend, and it was a pleasure to finally meet him in person, and enjoy his delicious cooking.We went to the orange County Convention Center first thing Friday morining and bought our three-day passes. We avoided the long line inside by going to an outside booth (a tip for those who don't buy their tickets in advance).
When we first entered the hall, the Ghostbusters ambulance sat in front of the hall entrance, followed by the Flintstonemobile and a new stlye VW Beetle stylized as Pokemon. To show my age, the one that grabbed my attention was the Flintstone car.
The first panel we went to was The Power Of Plot, hosted by writers Glenda Finkelstein and Kimberly Raiser, both of whom I was not familiar with. I had forgotten to bring my notepad with me, so I took notes on the back of the convention program. The two panelists had some good pointers that I'll share with anyone interested in writing. The first thing they mentioned was how inportant it was to know the ending of the story before halfway through writing the story, or the ending could fall apart. It's important to know where you're going, but still allow yourself to be surprised. Sometimes the story, or its characters, will lead you down a path you didn't expect and improve the tale. How to begin a story is to draw in the readers. Engage them from the first paragraph. It isn't always necessary to explain a character's background. Use conflict to develop his or her background. Also, don't have too many characters. It will bog down the story. Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Always provide clues in the plot, especially in the mystery genre, that point to the conclusion, even if the readers don't always pick up on them before they get to the end. Always give readers characters to care about. Noone enjoys unsympathetic characters. Conflict in a story is not necessarily good vs. evil, but some disagreement between characters that is resolved by the end. Finally, when writing, write for yourself. If you enjoy what you're writing, then that emotion will flow to your readers, and they will enjoy your stories also.
After that panel Jeffrey and I wandered through the main hall separately. The convention wasn't as heavily attended that day, as it would be on Saturday. My main focus that day was to meet Billy Tucci and buy a copy of the hardcover edition of his book Sgt. Rock: The Lost Batallion for my son. The story placed DC's iconic WWII character and Easy Company in the middle of the historic Lost Batallion battle of that war. I had earlier interviewed Billy back in episode #97: http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/2009/10/Episode_97_An_Interview_With_Billy_Tucci-252208.html. When I introduced myself he got up from his chair and gave me a hug. He gave me a warm welcome and it was the highlight of the convention for me. he autographed not only the copy of the book I purchased, but my copy of Jonah Hex #53, May 2010, which he drew. As he did in all of the copies of his Sgt. Rock book he autographed, he drew a very nice Sgt. Rock sketch, and signed it, "To Will - War Is Hell. Billy Tucci." To look at it. it's hard to believe that it took only a few minutes to draw.
Another artist I wanted to meet was Central Florida artist Derek Fish, who I first met at the 24-Hour Comic Book Day event at Acme Comics back in October of 2009. He was in Artist Alley doing sketches and selling his new comic book The Wellkeeper, issues #0 and #1, on which he served as writer, artist, cover colorist and letterer. Back in October I sat next to him and watched him ink the pages of a future issue. I reviewed his comic book on My Pull List Issue #83 http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/2010/03/issue-83-megacon-2010.html.
I also had a few books signed by Marv Wolfman, Jimmy Palmiotti, Jamal Igle, Darwyn Cooke and Laura Martin.
I asked Marv Wolfman if he worked with Curt Swan, and he said that he did many times. He described Curt as a perfect gentleman. When I asked him if he had a favorite among the many stories he wrote he said that it would be the tribute story to Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in Action Comics. He didn't remember the issue number, and as I wracked my brain tothink if I had read it, he mentioned that it was drawn by the late Gil Kane. That was the clue I needed and I recalled the cover, even though I didn't know the issue number either. (Looking through my collection, it's Action Comics #554.)
As Laura Martin signed my copies of Planetary vol. I and issue #27, I asked her how she came to be the colorist for the Planetary series. She informed me that she had been the colorist for artist John Cassaday on his Image series Desperado, and he like her work and told her that he and writer Warren Ellis were looking for a permanent colorist for Planetary. So she walked right into it. I asked her if she has met Warren Ellis in person, and she said that he has. Laura also said that, while Warren cultivates an internet persona (that I'll describe as a sharp tounged curmudgeon), in person he is a gentleman. But we love you anyway, Mr. Ellis.
As I waited in line for Darwyn Cooke to sign my copies of The New Frontier trade paperbacks and DVD, someone brought him a box of "Handerpants" and said Jimmy Palmiotti told him to bring them to him. Darwyn opened the box and put them on. They were white fingerless gloves that look like whitey tighties for the hands. Jimmy sat at a table on the other end of the section from Darwyn. My friend Marc of Acme Comics later told me that he was at the same bar as Darwyn and Jimmy, and Darwyn talked about how weird, but how comfortable the gloves were on his hands.
Jeffrey and I met again to attend the DC Comics panel. On the panel were: Dan Didio, Tony Bedard, Rob Hunter, Mark McKenna, Stephane Roux, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Amanda Conner. Unfortunately, I din't have any room on the program to take any notes, but you can read Jeffrey's fine coverage of that panel at: http://supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=7673. The biggest announcement that I remember from that panel was the now familiar announcement, to Power Girl fans, that Amanda Conner was leaving the book after issue twelve, and co-writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray were leaving with her. The reason she gave was simply exhuastion. She had not had any time off, and ws working extremely long hours to keep the book on schedule. While I don't read Power Girl, only for budgetary reasons, I do enjoy Amanda's art style.
That pretty much summed up the day. We also took pictures of various cosplayers in attendance. there were several Supermen, including a Black Lantern Superman, several Supergirls, at least one Wonder Women, and my favorite, Saturn Girl of the Legion Of Super-Heroes. She was the first Legionairre I can remember seeing in the three years I've been to MegaCon.
On our way home Jeffrey and I stopped at the grocery store to get a few things. He seasoned the salmon my wife had bought, steamed asparagus, boiled potatoes, and made a lemon cream sauce to go with the salmon. It was a delicious dinner, and a hint of what we would enjoy Sunday evening when Jeffrey would cook the entire dinner for us. But that's another post.
To see more of my pictures from MegaCon, click on this link to my megaCon 2010 facebook photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033083&id=1239968992&l=c6f45bc404.
Next: MegaCon 2010: Day 2!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Episode #117: Superman At 50 In Time Magazine!
Continuing a look at DC's 75th birthday, this week we look at Superman as he appeared on the cover of Time Magazine for the week of March 14, 1988, in a cover drawn by then Superman writer/artist John Byrne. The cover can be seen at this link: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19880314,00.html, and the article can be read at this link: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,966978,00.html. In this episode I'll outline the contents of the article.
It begins with the famous Nietzsche quote, Behold I teach you the superman, and then quotes Superman writer and co-creator Jerry Siegel conceiving a character like Samson, Hercules and every other strong man he'd ever heard of into one man, only more so.
The article then reviews some of the familiar touchstones of Superman's creation: Siegel conceiving of a villainous Superman, reinvented as a hero, collaborating with friend and artist Joe Shuster on a comic strip, the eventual sale to Detective Comics and launch of Action Comics. The article noted that the first issue was worth around $35,000. In recent weeks, here in 2010, a copy sold for over $1,000,000.
In 1988, and still today,Superman is an institution, even if not as many people read his exploits as did in 1988, or before. The article noted that Superman had run continuously in comic books, and 250 newspapers in a comic strip (as Siegel and Shuster first envisioned), a radio show that lasted 13 years, a number of cartoon series (not including Superman: The Animated Series, which would run for three seasons later in the next decade), two 15 chapter movie serials, a TV series of just over 100 episodes, a Broadway musical and five movies. That didn't include decades of merchandising.
David Newman was quoted as saying that Superman was an American myth, as King Arthur was to England. John Byrne, who the article noted was worn in Great Britian, called the Man of Steel the ultimate success story, a foriegner who came to the states and became more successful than he could have been anywhere else. Science fiction writer Harlan Ellson was noted for stating that there are probably only five fictional characters known around the world: Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Mickey Mouse, Robin Hood and Superman.
The article noted that the week the issue of Time appeared on the newsstands was not Superman's 50th birthday. Even though the Man of Steel's birthday is celebrated on Leap Day, February 29th, the month of April 1938 was when Superman was born on the first issue of Action, dated June 1928.
To commemorate Superman's golden birthday, CBS broadcast a Superman special and DC Comics threw a big party. The Smithsonian Institute held a Superman exhibit that would run until June, and Metropolis, Illinois was refurbishing its Superman statue. In Superman's real birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio, a Superman fan club called the Neverending Battle planned its own Superman exhibit and ticker-tape parade. I don't know if they were able to put it together.
The article also mentioned the book Superman At 50: The Persistence Of A Legend, edited by Dennis Dooley and Gary Engle, published by Octavia Press (which was the subject of episode #9 of this podcast). A number of features in the book were mentioned in the article, including the identity of Lois Lane's inspiration, Lois Amster, A Glenville High School classmate of Jerry and Joe's.
Superman's co-creators did not take part in the Superman festivities. Both were 73 in 1988, and lived in retirement near each other. Both had health problems, Joe was legally blind and Jerry suffered heart issues. Superman's creators would both be gone before another decade had passed. Their legal troubles over Superman's copyright was briefly reviewed.
The article noted Superman gave birth to an army of brightly clad imitators. Looking back, it seemed the Drepression strengthened the idea that anyone could make it, noted cartoonist Jules Feiffer. But the article also asked how Superman has lasted beyond the Depression and WWII. Its answers were that Superman was orphaned, like the characters Huck Finn and Little Orphan Annie. He was a foreigner who came to a land built by foreigners. He was one of the good guys, and Superman's violence was never cruel. He used his powers to deflect violence as much as possible.
Also noted were the religious connotations in the Superman story. Catholic priest and novelist Andrew Greeley compared Superman to angels. Others compared his kryptonian name, Kal-El, to the Hebrew syllables meaning "all that God is". Greek and Norse mythology also had stories of gods who dwelled on Earth as men.To me, the closest religious parallel to Superman would be the story of the infant Moses, who was found and raised in the home of Pharoah's daughter.
Christopher Reeve also noted how, on a secular level, Superman was special. He was quoted talking about terminally ill children whose last request was to talk to him, and passed away knowing that someone of Superman's qualities existed. He said that was why he cold never be silly when protraying Superman. He took him seriously, and that is probably why he was the best actor who played the Man of Steel to date.
The Time article noted how Superman has changed and adapted according to the media he appeared in. "Look! Up in the sky!" and kryptonite first appeared on the radio show. The article also mentioned that the Man of Steel evolved as America changed during WWII. Clark took his physical exam for the draft, and was declared 4-F because he accidentally read the eye chart in the next room with his x-ray vision. Superman fought the war on the home front, catching saboteurs. After the war Superman's powers grew as readers seemed to wanted more pizazz.
Superman's history on film was reviewed, from Kirk Alyn's serials, with an animated flying Superman, to George Reeve's flying Superman had better effects, but were not the level of the '70's movies. And, as Alyn noted, his muscles were real under the "S".
The article noted the storm of Dr. Wertham's campaign against comic books. Superman weathered that storm but was more threatened by the changing attitudes of youth during the 1960's, with the Vietnam War and civil rights. Superman began to be seen as out of touch by some. Then the popularity of nostalgia arose, and Superman was revived, most notably, by Superman: The Movie which premiered in 1978.
Lois Lane has transformed over the decades to match the times, the article noted. While she was a pioneering role model, there were real-life female reporters who filled Lois' shoes, Anne O'Hare McCormick, Martha Gelhorn, Dorothy Thomson, Dorothy Kilgallen and others. Lois even broke off romantic notions toward Supeman in the early 1980's.
The article ended with the biggest changes in Superman, helmed by John Byrne. His idea was to bring down Superman's powers so he isn't as omnipotent. At the time the article appeared, Byrne's revamped Superman had doubled sales to over 200,000 copies, a level the best selling comics in 2010 rearely reach. The last sentence hoped Superman would reach 100. In a few years he will reach 75, so it looks like there's a good chance he will. The biggest threat to Superman now doesn't come from kryptonite, but from the neverending legal battle between the heirs of his creator and his publisher. Will the heirs win the fight, but leave the publisher that has provided decades of Superman stories? Or can both sides come to some licensing agreement similar to the ones with the heirs of the creators of Batman and Wonder Woman. The Man of Steel also faces a bigger scientific challenge than Luthor and Brainiac combined, with the rise of digital publishing. Will DC Comics, and the comic book industry in general, learn the lessons of the music industry and find a way to survive and thrive in this digital age? It's a neverending story indeed.
Next week: MegaCon 2010!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
It begins with the famous Nietzsche quote, Behold I teach you the superman, and then quotes Superman writer and co-creator Jerry Siegel conceiving a character like Samson, Hercules and every other strong man he'd ever heard of into one man, only more so.
The article then reviews some of the familiar touchstones of Superman's creation: Siegel conceiving of a villainous Superman, reinvented as a hero, collaborating with friend and artist Joe Shuster on a comic strip, the eventual sale to Detective Comics and launch of Action Comics. The article noted that the first issue was worth around $35,000. In recent weeks, here in 2010, a copy sold for over $1,000,000.
In 1988, and still today,Superman is an institution, even if not as many people read his exploits as did in 1988, or before. The article noted that Superman had run continuously in comic books, and 250 newspapers in a comic strip (as Siegel and Shuster first envisioned), a radio show that lasted 13 years, a number of cartoon series (not including Superman: The Animated Series, which would run for three seasons later in the next decade), two 15 chapter movie serials, a TV series of just over 100 episodes, a Broadway musical and five movies. That didn't include decades of merchandising.
David Newman was quoted as saying that Superman was an American myth, as King Arthur was to England. John Byrne, who the article noted was worn in Great Britian, called the Man of Steel the ultimate success story, a foriegner who came to the states and became more successful than he could have been anywhere else. Science fiction writer Harlan Ellson was noted for stating that there are probably only five fictional characters known around the world: Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Mickey Mouse, Robin Hood and Superman.
The article noted that the week the issue of Time appeared on the newsstands was not Superman's 50th birthday. Even though the Man of Steel's birthday is celebrated on Leap Day, February 29th, the month of April 1938 was when Superman was born on the first issue of Action, dated June 1928.
To commemorate Superman's golden birthday, CBS broadcast a Superman special and DC Comics threw a big party. The Smithsonian Institute held a Superman exhibit that would run until June, and Metropolis, Illinois was refurbishing its Superman statue. In Superman's real birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio, a Superman fan club called the Neverending Battle planned its own Superman exhibit and ticker-tape parade. I don't know if they were able to put it together.
The article also mentioned the book Superman At 50: The Persistence Of A Legend, edited by Dennis Dooley and Gary Engle, published by Octavia Press (which was the subject of episode #9 of this podcast). A number of features in the book were mentioned in the article, including the identity of Lois Lane's inspiration, Lois Amster, A Glenville High School classmate of Jerry and Joe's.
Superman's co-creators did not take part in the Superman festivities. Both were 73 in 1988, and lived in retirement near each other. Both had health problems, Joe was legally blind and Jerry suffered heart issues. Superman's creators would both be gone before another decade had passed. Their legal troubles over Superman's copyright was briefly reviewed.
The article noted Superman gave birth to an army of brightly clad imitators. Looking back, it seemed the Drepression strengthened the idea that anyone could make it, noted cartoonist Jules Feiffer. But the article also asked how Superman has lasted beyond the Depression and WWII. Its answers were that Superman was orphaned, like the characters Huck Finn and Little Orphan Annie. He was a foreigner who came to a land built by foreigners. He was one of the good guys, and Superman's violence was never cruel. He used his powers to deflect violence as much as possible.
Also noted were the religious connotations in the Superman story. Catholic priest and novelist Andrew Greeley compared Superman to angels. Others compared his kryptonian name, Kal-El, to the Hebrew syllables meaning "all that God is". Greek and Norse mythology also had stories of gods who dwelled on Earth as men.To me, the closest religious parallel to Superman would be the story of the infant Moses, who was found and raised in the home of Pharoah's daughter.
Christopher Reeve also noted how, on a secular level, Superman was special. He was quoted talking about terminally ill children whose last request was to talk to him, and passed away knowing that someone of Superman's qualities existed. He said that was why he cold never be silly when protraying Superman. He took him seriously, and that is probably why he was the best actor who played the Man of Steel to date.
The Time article noted how Superman has changed and adapted according to the media he appeared in. "Look! Up in the sky!" and kryptonite first appeared on the radio show. The article also mentioned that the Man of Steel evolved as America changed during WWII. Clark took his physical exam for the draft, and was declared 4-F because he accidentally read the eye chart in the next room with his x-ray vision. Superman fought the war on the home front, catching saboteurs. After the war Superman's powers grew as readers seemed to wanted more pizazz.
Superman's history on film was reviewed, from Kirk Alyn's serials, with an animated flying Superman, to George Reeve's flying Superman had better effects, but were not the level of the '70's movies. And, as Alyn noted, his muscles were real under the "S".
The article noted the storm of Dr. Wertham's campaign against comic books. Superman weathered that storm but was more threatened by the changing attitudes of youth during the 1960's, with the Vietnam War and civil rights. Superman began to be seen as out of touch by some. Then the popularity of nostalgia arose, and Superman was revived, most notably, by Superman: The Movie which premiered in 1978.
Lois Lane has transformed over the decades to match the times, the article noted. While she was a pioneering role model, there were real-life female reporters who filled Lois' shoes, Anne O'Hare McCormick, Martha Gelhorn, Dorothy Thomson, Dorothy Kilgallen and others. Lois even broke off romantic notions toward Supeman in the early 1980's.
The article ended with the biggest changes in Superman, helmed by John Byrne. His idea was to bring down Superman's powers so he isn't as omnipotent. At the time the article appeared, Byrne's revamped Superman had doubled sales to over 200,000 copies, a level the best selling comics in 2010 rearely reach. The last sentence hoped Superman would reach 100. In a few years he will reach 75, so it looks like there's a good chance he will. The biggest threat to Superman now doesn't come from kryptonite, but from the neverending legal battle between the heirs of his creator and his publisher. Will the heirs win the fight, but leave the publisher that has provided decades of Superman stories? Or can both sides come to some licensing agreement similar to the ones with the heirs of the creators of Batman and Wonder Woman. The Man of Steel also faces a bigger scientific challenge than Luthor and Brainiac combined, with the rise of digital publishing. Will DC Comics, and the comic book industry in general, learn the lessons of the music industry and find a way to survive and thrive in this digital age? It's a neverending story indeed.
Next week: MegaCon 2010!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Episode #116: Happy Birthday, Irwin Donenfeld!
This episode is almost a week late. I apologize, but I was working on a project and trying to get it done by this past weekend. While I didn't siucceed, I did make progress, and should be able to discuss it in the near future. Meanwhile I want to catch up on the podcast, and this week will be a double feature as a result. Also, this upcoming weekend, March 12 - 14, 2010, will be MegaCon in Orlando, Fl, http://megaconvention.com/, and I will be attending all three days for the first time. I went there in 2005 and 2006, but only on Saturday.
Irwin Donenfeld was born on March 1, 1926, and died on November 29, 2004 (one day after what would have been my mother's 66th birthday). His parents were Harry and Gussie Donenfeld. Harry was one of the founders of DC Comics. Refer back to episodes 94, 95 and 108 about the key founders of DC, and episode 113, which contains a story Irwin told of his son and Curt Swan. A lot of the information about Irwin comes from Gerard Jones' book Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters And The Birth Of The Comic Book, with some other info from Mark Evanier's website about Irwin's passing, http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2004_12_01.html.
He had one sibling, his sister Sonia, born in 1928 and known as Peachy. His godfather came from his father's mob ties in Prohibition, being none other than mob boss Frank Costello himself. Irwin had a sad childhood in some respects because he did not have a close relationship with his dad. Harry spent most of his time, apart from business, with his mistress Sunny Palin. Irwin once remarked that his father had a wife and mistress, and cheated on both. He also remembered his parents arguing over Harry's philanderings.
As a boy Irwin had a closer relationship with his father's chauffeur, Frank Moschello. Frank had been a street kid and booze-runner, and had taken the fall for one of Harry's rackets, and was given a job for life as a reward. While his father would leave after a couple of innings, Frank would stay and watch all of Irwin's Little League games, and talk baseball with him on the drive home. At night, Frank would drive Harry to all of the night clubs. Irwin described Frank as more of a father than Harry was. But, like any son, Irwin still had an admiration for his biological father, desribing him as a real dynamo. Other than baseball, Irwin's other interest was in boxing.
As a teen, Irwin got an after-school job at Independent News, which was owned by his father and Jack Liebowitz, who mentored Irwin in his usual gruff manner. Irwin would even see his father's mistress at the after-hours gin rummy games Harry and Jack would have with Independent News' other executive Paul Sampliner. Sunny would be a part of the card games as well. Irwin described her as slightly overdressed, and a little taller than his father. He knew that she was more a part of his father's life than he was.
At the age of 18, Irwin joined the Army and entered pilot training, but never faced combat. He remained at Keesler Army Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for the duration of his enlistment. Harry visited his son once when Irwin was about to fight for the base championship. Irwin told his father he couldn't arrange a dinner with the base officers when Harry asked. A few days later Irwin was ordered to report to the Colnel's office. While he wondered what he had done wrong, his father appeared, having somehow arranged an Army limo from the train station, and dinner with the officers. Decades later, Irwin marveled at how his father could make everyone like him.
After his Army service, Irwin graduated from Bates College in 1948, and began working at DC Comics. He would work his way through the company. Irwin would work in the production department, readying the pages for printing. Jack Liebowitz would also assign Irwin to take over his father's duties in distribution. As Irwin became an adult himself, and entered his father's world, Harry Donenfeld was retreating. The years of hard living, and the pressures of a wife and mistress, were beginning to take its toll. Plus, Jack Liebowitz may have wanted Harry to fade into the background, and take his old mob history with him.
Irwin would eventually become head of the editorial department. He would leave the daily realationships with writers and artists to the individual editors. His concentration was gathering sales information from Accounting, studying trends, and deciding what boosted sales. Irwin's concentration was on the covers. He left the editors to worry about the content, and tried to figure out what on the covers would hook readers, from colors to dinosaurs or apes. Eventually, he put a limit on how many times apes could appear on the cover. One of his more infamous ideas was the checkerboard that appeared on DC titles in the mid-1960's (I remember them from my own childhood).
Irwin was involved in the development of the DC title Showcase, during a time when the comic book publisher struggled to stay in business. The title would play a key role in the birth of the silver age of comic books, giving birth to, among others, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Lois Lane's own title. Around 1964, Irwin signed a distribution deal with a small publisher who had gotten the rights to publish a fan magazine about a British music group. It was published soon after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the group's name was, of course, The Beatles. As part of management, Irwin held the company view of the ongoing legal battle with Jerry Siegel over the rights to Superman.
In 1967, DC Comics was bought by Steve Ross, who owned Kinney Services. Irwin left the company in 1968. He felt promises were made to him that were not kept. He left the comic book industry entirely, bought a marina in Westport, Connecticut, and published a boating magazine. Irwin and his wife, who I could find no information on, had six children, Rita Lynn (a real estate agent who died on November 24, 1990 in Kissimmee, Florida), Amy, Mimi, Ben, Harry and Luke. Luke was the son I mentioned in episode #113, the Curt Swan Toast, about the sketch he received from the Superman artist.
Next episode Superman On The Cover Of Time Magazine!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Irwin Donenfeld was born on March 1, 1926, and died on November 29, 2004 (one day after what would have been my mother's 66th birthday). His parents were Harry and Gussie Donenfeld. Harry was one of the founders of DC Comics. Refer back to episodes 94, 95 and 108 about the key founders of DC, and episode 113, which contains a story Irwin told of his son and Curt Swan. A lot of the information about Irwin comes from Gerard Jones' book Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters And The Birth Of The Comic Book, with some other info from Mark Evanier's website about Irwin's passing, http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2004_12_01.html.
He had one sibling, his sister Sonia, born in 1928 and known as Peachy. His godfather came from his father's mob ties in Prohibition, being none other than mob boss Frank Costello himself. Irwin had a sad childhood in some respects because he did not have a close relationship with his dad. Harry spent most of his time, apart from business, with his mistress Sunny Palin. Irwin once remarked that his father had a wife and mistress, and cheated on both. He also remembered his parents arguing over Harry's philanderings.
As a boy Irwin had a closer relationship with his father's chauffeur, Frank Moschello. Frank had been a street kid and booze-runner, and had taken the fall for one of Harry's rackets, and was given a job for life as a reward. While his father would leave after a couple of innings, Frank would stay and watch all of Irwin's Little League games, and talk baseball with him on the drive home. At night, Frank would drive Harry to all of the night clubs. Irwin described Frank as more of a father than Harry was. But, like any son, Irwin still had an admiration for his biological father, desribing him as a real dynamo. Other than baseball, Irwin's other interest was in boxing.
As a teen, Irwin got an after-school job at Independent News, which was owned by his father and Jack Liebowitz, who mentored Irwin in his usual gruff manner. Irwin would even see his father's mistress at the after-hours gin rummy games Harry and Jack would have with Independent News' other executive Paul Sampliner. Sunny would be a part of the card games as well. Irwin described her as slightly overdressed, and a little taller than his father. He knew that she was more a part of his father's life than he was.
At the age of 18, Irwin joined the Army and entered pilot training, but never faced combat. He remained at Keesler Army Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for the duration of his enlistment. Harry visited his son once when Irwin was about to fight for the base championship. Irwin told his father he couldn't arrange a dinner with the base officers when Harry asked. A few days later Irwin was ordered to report to the Colnel's office. While he wondered what he had done wrong, his father appeared, having somehow arranged an Army limo from the train station, and dinner with the officers. Decades later, Irwin marveled at how his father could make everyone like him.
After his Army service, Irwin graduated from Bates College in 1948, and began working at DC Comics. He would work his way through the company. Irwin would work in the production department, readying the pages for printing. Jack Liebowitz would also assign Irwin to take over his father's duties in distribution. As Irwin became an adult himself, and entered his father's world, Harry Donenfeld was retreating. The years of hard living, and the pressures of a wife and mistress, were beginning to take its toll. Plus, Jack Liebowitz may have wanted Harry to fade into the background, and take his old mob history with him.
Irwin would eventually become head of the editorial department. He would leave the daily realationships with writers and artists to the individual editors. His concentration was gathering sales information from Accounting, studying trends, and deciding what boosted sales. Irwin's concentration was on the covers. He left the editors to worry about the content, and tried to figure out what on the covers would hook readers, from colors to dinosaurs or apes. Eventually, he put a limit on how many times apes could appear on the cover. One of his more infamous ideas was the checkerboard that appeared on DC titles in the mid-1960's (I remember them from my own childhood).
Irwin was involved in the development of the DC title Showcase, during a time when the comic book publisher struggled to stay in business. The title would play a key role in the birth of the silver age of comic books, giving birth to, among others, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Lois Lane's own title. Around 1964, Irwin signed a distribution deal with a small publisher who had gotten the rights to publish a fan magazine about a British music group. It was published soon after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the group's name was, of course, The Beatles. As part of management, Irwin held the company view of the ongoing legal battle with Jerry Siegel over the rights to Superman.
In 1967, DC Comics was bought by Steve Ross, who owned Kinney Services. Irwin left the company in 1968. He felt promises were made to him that were not kept. He left the comic book industry entirely, bought a marina in Westport, Connecticut, and published a boating magazine. Irwin and his wife, who I could find no information on, had six children, Rita Lynn (a real estate agent who died on November 24, 1990 in Kissimmee, Florida), Amy, Mimi, Ben, Harry and Luke. Luke was the son I mentioned in episode #113, the Curt Swan Toast, about the sketch he received from the Superman artist.
Next episode Superman On The Cover Of Time Magazine!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Episode #115: The Legion Of Super-Heroes!
As DC Comics celebrates its 75th anniversary, I want to take the opportunity, as often as I can, to highlight aspects of that history as it affects Superman. According to Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics at http://dcindexes.com/, the Legion of Super-Heroes first appeared in Adventure Comics #247, April 1958, and, according to Mike's website, was published around February 27, 1958 (about 2 years and 7 months before I was born). In that story three super powered teens travel from the future and visit Superboy, inviting him to join their super hero club. They engage in some initiation hazing before Superboy is admitted. Superboy and the Legion would be intertwined for the next 30 years, and Superman would even sometimes visit the adult Legion. In this episode I will give a general overview of the history of the Legion, and won't really touch on many plot points.
The Legion was not an immediate hit. The next Legion story would not be published until about a year and a half later, in Adventure Comics#267, Decenber 1959, October 29, 1959. Future Legion stories would be printed sporadically in issues of Adventure, Superboy and Action until it became the title feature with Adventure Comics #300, September 1962, published around July 26, 1962. Legion popularity steadily grew, and its fans, although perhaps not the largest comic book fan base, became among the most avid and dedicated in comic books. It is often said that comic book fans of teen groups usually fall into two camps, the Legion and the X-Men. While I like the X-Men, especially the earliest Lee and Kirby X-stories, I guess you can chalk me up as a Legion fan. And that is only from a small handfull of Legion stories I managed to read growing up, and I'll mention a few of them in this episode.
One criticism about the Legion is that there are too many characters. My response to that is, isn't the same true about the X-Men? I'm not knocking the X-Men, but with the Legion, yeah, there are a lot of characters, but at least there is only one comic book title to keep track of. The X-Men have about as many titles as there are mutants. That's an exaggeration, but it takes a lot more money to keep up with the X-Men titles than it does with the Legion. But there is a lot to enjoy with both groups.
The first Legion story I have any memory of reading was the fourth Legion story, The Army Of Living Kryptonite Men from Superboy #86, January 1961, published around January 31, 1961. I obviously didn't read it when it was first published. I don't remember how I got a copy of it around the time I was learning to read. The young Lex Luthor invented a machine that could cause chunks of kryptonite to group together in a human shape to battle Superboy, who was rescued by Lightning Lad.
Adventure Comics would establish the classic era of the Legion, with the inverted rocket shaped clubhouse, rotating Legion leadership, Legion tryouts and eventually the Legion of Substitute Heroes. The first legion story I remember my Dad buying me was Adventure Comics #372, September 1968, published around July 30, 1968. The story in that issue was School Of Super-Villains, written by Jim Shooter, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Jack Abel. I saw it at a drugstore in Ocala, Florida, where I lived for a few years. What made me ask my Dad to buy it was the Neal Adams cover, showing Superboy turned into glass and being shattered by a sledgehammer. In the story Colossal Boy had been kicked out of the Legion in part one the previous issue, and joined a school for super-villains.
Legion fandom has produced a number of comic book professionals who have made major contributions to Legion lore. The first was Jim Shooter, who began his comic book career around the age of 14 writing for the Legion, beginning with Adventure Comics #346, July 1966, May 26, 1966. He would be the regular Legion writer through Adventure #384, January 1970. His final Legion story of the 1970's would be in Superboy #209, June 1975. He created the characters Karate Kid, Princess Projectra, Shadow Lass and the Adult Legion. He also introduced the Legion villains Fatal Five, Dark Circle and Mordru. He also wrote the story of the first Legion death, who stayed dead, Ferro Lad in Adventure Comics #353, February 1967, December 27, 1966, when he sacrificed himself to destroy the Sun Eater.
Other creators who added to Legion history were writer Carey Bates, who wrote the story in which Bouncing Boy married Duo Damsel in Superboy Starring The Legion Of Super-Heroes #200, Jan./Feb. 1974, October 18, 1973, drawn by Dave Cockrum. He would draw the Legion from Superboy #184, April 1972 through Superboy #202. Mike Grell inked Dave Cockrum's last story and would become the regular Legion penciller with issue 203, August 1974, the story which told the death of Invisible Kid. He would draw the Legion uninterrupted through Superboy #235, January 1978. This era of the Legion, between Cockrum and Grell, is sometimes called the Legion's disco era because of the haristyles, bell bottoms, and skimpier outfits.
The second Legion wedding would occur in Superboy #236 & 237, March & April 1978, when Saturn Girl married Lightning Lad.
With issue #261, March 1980, Superboy would be dropped from the title and it became the Legion Of Super-Heroes. It would be renamed again, as Tales Of The Legion Of Super-Heroes with issue #314, August 1984 and run through issue #354, December 1987.
During this time other Legion fans became professionals. Paul Levitz, who was involved with comic book fanzines, and wrote and published the fanzine The Comics Reader, wrote his first Legion story with Superboy #225, March 1977, And Who Shall Lead Them? His first Legion run would end with issue#251, May 1979. He would return to the Legion with The Legion Of Super-Heroes #284, February 1982. The title would be renamed Tales of The Legion Of Super-Heroes with issue #314, August 1984. That same month a new Legion Of Super-Heroes title would begin with issue #1 (volume 3 of the Legion). This would be during the early days of the Direct Market, which is the dominant distribution system for comic books today. This new Legion title would be called the Baxter run because of the type of upgraded paper stock used for this edition, which carried a cover price of $1.25. Tales was the newsstand edition and sold for 75 cents, and would eventually become a reprint title of old Legion stories.
It was during the "Baxter Legion" era, when John Byrne began his revamp of Superman with his Man Of Steel mini-series in 1986. Byrne's Superman was never a superhero as a youth, which contradicted with 25 years of Legion continuity. DC handled this conflict in several ways. Legion #'s 37 and 38 tied in to the Superman titles in a Superboy storyline. It established the Pocket Universe, fabricated by the Time Trapper, where the Legion was "actually" visiting this Superboy all these years. The Pocket Universe Superboy sacrificed himself in Legion #38 in a battle against the Time Trapper. Looking back, it seems to me that the Legion began to lose its way, which would not become evident until recent years with a number of reboots. The highlight of the "Baxter" Legion would be the storyline The Great Darkness Saga, which pitted the Legion against Darkseid in issues 287, 290-294 and Legion Of Super-Heroes Annual #3. The Baxter Legion title ended with issue #63, the end of The Magic Wars storyline, and marked Paul Levitz's last Legion story for many years.
The biggest change to the Legion happened with a new Legion Of Super-Heroes title, Novermber 1989, September 12, 1989 (2 weeks before my 29th birthday). This was the first Legion run where I followed it monthly. This fourth volume began five years after the Magic Wars. The United Planets had entered a dark era, with some member planets going to war, and EarthGov and the UP had a very srained relationship. The Legion had been forced to disband for some years, and the Legionnaires scattered to their home planets. Keith Giffen was the plotter and penciller, and husband and wife Tom and Mary Bierbaum wrote each issue.They got their start through The Legion Outpost fan club and Interlac, the Legion amateur press association (APA). It would eventually be revealed that EarthGov had been controlled by the alien race the Dominators.
It was during this time that DC editors decided to erase all mention of Superboy from Legion continuity. In issue 5 Mon-El destroyed the Time Trapper, which created an alternate timeline where Mordru ruled the UP. Glorith would take the Time Trapper's place in an attempt to usurp Mordru, and the timeline would be restored. Mon-El, called Valor in the 20th Centruy, would take Superboy's place as the Legion's inspiration, and be responsible for liberating Dominators' human captives, who had been the subject of genetic experiments. Valor would carry them to various worlds, and their descendants would become the United Planets, and be the source of the Legionairres' powers. During this time a duplicate Legion, first referred to as Batch SW6, also appeared. At first thought of as Legion clones created by the Dominators, they were established as temporal duplicates of the Legion in suspended animation found by the Dominators. These new Legionnaires would appear in their own title in Legionnaires #1, August 1993. Earth would be destroyed in Legion issue #38, December 1992.
With the Zero Hour crossover in 1994, 26 years of Legion continuity would come to an end, in Legion Of Super-Heroes #61 and Legionnaires #18, September 1994. After both Legion and Legionnaires had an issue #0, the new continuity began with Legion #62 and Legionnaires #19. New members of Legionnaires were XS, Barry Allen's granddaughter, Kenetix, whose power was telekenesis, and Gates, a teleporting insectoid. This era is referred to as the "Archie Legion" because the stories were a little more lighthearted at first. My last Legion issues for a few years were Legionnaires #78 and Legion Of Super-Heroes, December 1999. The last issues of these series were Legion #125 and Legionnaires #81, March 2000. With the UP near collapse, a group of Legionnaires disappeed in a space rift.
The twelve issue Legion Lost mini-series, May 2000 - April 2001, chronicled these Legionnaires difficult journey back home. Legion Worlds, June - November 2001, a six issue mini-series chronicled the UP during these Legionnaire's absences.
A new Legion #1 premiered with the December 2001 issue. this series was known for the post-Crisis Superboy, Conner Kent, and a 21st Century Superman clone, were members, and Lex Luthor was an honorary member. I began re-reading this title with issue #19, June 2003, when I began reading comic again with a new local comic book store opening. This Legion series would end with issue #38, October 2004.
What would be called a "3-boot" Legion with another new Legion Of Super-Heroes, volume 5, would begin with #1, March 2005. Writer Mark Waid and artist Barry Kitson began this series. This Legion was different from any other version of the Legion. It was more of a youth movement than an organization. In a very conformist society this Legion was a reform movement. There were some interesting twists with some of the Legionnaires' powers in this Legion. Colossal Boy came from a race of giants who could shrink to human size, Chameleon Boy was known as the androgynous creature Chameleon, Phantom Girl existed in two dimensions at once, and would talk to people in both dimensions at the same time.
Tony Bedard would become the write with issue #31. Waid may have left because of some conflicts with Legion continuity in the JLA/JSA story The Lightning Saga in Justice League Of America 8-10, April-June 2007 and Justice Society Of America 5-6, June-July 2007. This story would involve the Legionnaires Starman (the original version), Dream Girl, Wildfire, Karate Kid, Timber Wolf, Sensor Girl, Dawnstar and Brainiac 5. Jim Shooter would return to the Legion with issue #37. These stories were okay, but I did not like Princess, or Queen Projectra, becoming a villain after the destruction of her world. This series would end with issue #50.
The traditional Legion began to return with the Superman And The Legion Of Super-Heroes story in Action Comics 858 - 863, late Decmber 2007 - May 2008. The verious versions of the Legion joined forces with the Final Crisis: Legion Of 3 Worlds 1-5, October 2008 - September 2009, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by George Perez. The Legion would return to the new Adventure Comics #1/504, October 2009, August 12, 2009, as a back-up feature. while I have enjoyed these issues, I feel the Legion is too big to serve as a short feature in the back of a comic book. Geoff Johns and Gary Franks returned the Clark Kent Superboy to Legion continuity in the first two issues of Superman: Secret Origin, November and December 2009. Legion members have been involved in the 21st Century, in the Superman titles with the World Of New Krypton and World Against Superman storylines. Starman has been a member of the Justice Society in JSA in the last few years.
In upcoming stories, Adventure Comics will carry the Brainiac And The Legion Of-Super-Heroes story, involving the Legionnaires in the 21st and 31st Centuries, and General Lane's Human Defense Corps. Paul Levitz is scheduled to return to the Legion with yet another new series in May 2010. I will be reading it starting with the first issue.
I want to end this episode about the Legion with a look at two institutions of Legion fandom, The Legion Outpost and Interlac, the bi-monthly Legion Amateur Press Association (APA).
The Legion Outpost was both the name of the Legion letters page and the official newsletter of the Legion Fan Club, which published ten issues from 1972 - 1981. The fanclub arose after 1970, when Legion lost its spot in Adventure Comics to Supergirl. Mort Weisinger, editor of Legion as well as the Superman titles, had retired, and no editor at DC seemed interested in the Legion. The Legion was relegated to the back of Action Comics or the occasional Superboy title. Mike Flynn, a 13 year old Bronx resident, wrote a letter that was published in Superboy #182. He invited Legion fans to send him postcards with their information, along with their favorite Legionnaire, with the intent to form a Legion fan club, and show enough interest for DC Comics to give the Legion its own title. The first , 14 page, issue of The Legion Outpost was published as a newsletter. Harry Broertjos, a Northwestern University journalism student, became editor with the second issue. DC staff members contributed, including editor Murray Boltinoff, writer Cary Bates artist Dave Cockrum and others. In issue #8 Jime Shooter was interviewd, and he revealed he originally left the Legion after an disagreement with editor Mort Weisinger. Other comics pros itnerviewed included Mort Weisinger, Mike Barr and Len Wein. A book, Best Of The Legion Outpost, was published by TwoMorrows publsihing in November 2004, and is still in print.
Interlac is the bi-monthly amateur press association (APA). In the years before internet forums, it was the first APA devoted to the Legion. It got its name from the language of the United Planets. It was founded by Rick Morissey in June of 1976 with fifteen founding members. Among its members were Tom Bierbaum and Mary Gilmore, who met throught the APA. They would eventually marry and become Legion writers. Eight of the fifteen founders are still involved, four continuously through its history. Membership is limited to 50, but people can sign up for a waiting list. The leader serves as a central mailer, collecting submissions by members, making copies, collating, and mailing the finished issues to its members. Notable members of Interlac have included Jim Shooter, one of the founders, Dave Cockrum, Colleen Doran, Paul Levitz and Mark Waid.
With the new Legion Of Super-Heroes title, and with the young Clark Kent / Superboy restored to Legion continuity, I hope that the Legion will once again return to its place as one of the top series in DC Comics.
Wikipedia served as a foundation of information, along with http://dcindexes.com/. Information about The Legion Outpost came from the website http://www.comicsbulletin.com/soapbox/110019003313118.htm. Other Legion websites are:
http://adventure247.blogspot.com/ The Legion Omnicon named after a 31st century version of an iPad.
http://legionabstract.blogspot.com/
http://www.legiononline.net/
There are several podcasts devoted the Legion of Super-Heroes:
The Legion Of Substitute Podcasters http://legionofsubstitutepodcasters.com/
Super Future Friends http://superfuturefriends.blogspot.com/
LotsaLegion http://lotsalegion.libsyn.com/ (last new episode on September 12, 2009)
Next episode: Happy Birthday, Irwin Donenfeld! (And before I forget, Happy Birthday, Superman!)
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
The Legion was not an immediate hit. The next Legion story would not be published until about a year and a half later, in Adventure Comics#267, Decenber 1959, October 29, 1959. Future Legion stories would be printed sporadically in issues of Adventure, Superboy and Action until it became the title feature with Adventure Comics #300, September 1962, published around July 26, 1962. Legion popularity steadily grew, and its fans, although perhaps not the largest comic book fan base, became among the most avid and dedicated in comic books. It is often said that comic book fans of teen groups usually fall into two camps, the Legion and the X-Men. While I like the X-Men, especially the earliest Lee and Kirby X-stories, I guess you can chalk me up as a Legion fan. And that is only from a small handfull of Legion stories I managed to read growing up, and I'll mention a few of them in this episode.
One criticism about the Legion is that there are too many characters. My response to that is, isn't the same true about the X-Men? I'm not knocking the X-Men, but with the Legion, yeah, there are a lot of characters, but at least there is only one comic book title to keep track of. The X-Men have about as many titles as there are mutants. That's an exaggeration, but it takes a lot more money to keep up with the X-Men titles than it does with the Legion. But there is a lot to enjoy with both groups.
The first Legion story I have any memory of reading was the fourth Legion story, The Army Of Living Kryptonite Men from Superboy #86, January 1961, published around January 31, 1961. I obviously didn't read it when it was first published. I don't remember how I got a copy of it around the time I was learning to read. The young Lex Luthor invented a machine that could cause chunks of kryptonite to group together in a human shape to battle Superboy, who was rescued by Lightning Lad.
Adventure Comics would establish the classic era of the Legion, with the inverted rocket shaped clubhouse, rotating Legion leadership, Legion tryouts and eventually the Legion of Substitute Heroes. The first legion story I remember my Dad buying me was Adventure Comics #372, September 1968, published around July 30, 1968. The story in that issue was School Of Super-Villains, written by Jim Shooter, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Jack Abel. I saw it at a drugstore in Ocala, Florida, where I lived for a few years. What made me ask my Dad to buy it was the Neal Adams cover, showing Superboy turned into glass and being shattered by a sledgehammer. In the story Colossal Boy had been kicked out of the Legion in part one the previous issue, and joined a school for super-villains.
Legion fandom has produced a number of comic book professionals who have made major contributions to Legion lore. The first was Jim Shooter, who began his comic book career around the age of 14 writing for the Legion, beginning with Adventure Comics #346, July 1966, May 26, 1966. He would be the regular Legion writer through Adventure #384, January 1970. His final Legion story of the 1970's would be in Superboy #209, June 1975. He created the characters Karate Kid, Princess Projectra, Shadow Lass and the Adult Legion. He also introduced the Legion villains Fatal Five, Dark Circle and Mordru. He also wrote the story of the first Legion death, who stayed dead, Ferro Lad in Adventure Comics #353, February 1967, December 27, 1966, when he sacrificed himself to destroy the Sun Eater.
Other creators who added to Legion history were writer Carey Bates, who wrote the story in which Bouncing Boy married Duo Damsel in Superboy Starring The Legion Of Super-Heroes #200, Jan./Feb. 1974, October 18, 1973, drawn by Dave Cockrum. He would draw the Legion from Superboy #184, April 1972 through Superboy #202. Mike Grell inked Dave Cockrum's last story and would become the regular Legion penciller with issue 203, August 1974, the story which told the death of Invisible Kid. He would draw the Legion uninterrupted through Superboy #235, January 1978. This era of the Legion, between Cockrum and Grell, is sometimes called the Legion's disco era because of the haristyles, bell bottoms, and skimpier outfits.
The second Legion wedding would occur in Superboy #236 & 237, March & April 1978, when Saturn Girl married Lightning Lad.
With issue #261, March 1980, Superboy would be dropped from the title and it became the Legion Of Super-Heroes. It would be renamed again, as Tales Of The Legion Of Super-Heroes with issue #314, August 1984 and run through issue #354, December 1987.
During this time other Legion fans became professionals. Paul Levitz, who was involved with comic book fanzines, and wrote and published the fanzine The Comics Reader, wrote his first Legion story with Superboy #225, March 1977, And Who Shall Lead Them? His first Legion run would end with issue#251, May 1979. He would return to the Legion with The Legion Of Super-Heroes #284, February 1982. The title would be renamed Tales of The Legion Of Super-Heroes with issue #314, August 1984. That same month a new Legion Of Super-Heroes title would begin with issue #1 (volume 3 of the Legion). This would be during the early days of the Direct Market, which is the dominant distribution system for comic books today. This new Legion title would be called the Baxter run because of the type of upgraded paper stock used for this edition, which carried a cover price of $1.25. Tales was the newsstand edition and sold for 75 cents, and would eventually become a reprint title of old Legion stories.
It was during the "Baxter Legion" era, when John Byrne began his revamp of Superman with his Man Of Steel mini-series in 1986. Byrne's Superman was never a superhero as a youth, which contradicted with 25 years of Legion continuity. DC handled this conflict in several ways. Legion #'s 37 and 38 tied in to the Superman titles in a Superboy storyline. It established the Pocket Universe, fabricated by the Time Trapper, where the Legion was "actually" visiting this Superboy all these years. The Pocket Universe Superboy sacrificed himself in Legion #38 in a battle against the Time Trapper. Looking back, it seems to me that the Legion began to lose its way, which would not become evident until recent years with a number of reboots. The highlight of the "Baxter" Legion would be the storyline The Great Darkness Saga, which pitted the Legion against Darkseid in issues 287, 290-294 and Legion Of Super-Heroes Annual #3. The Baxter Legion title ended with issue #63, the end of The Magic Wars storyline, and marked Paul Levitz's last Legion story for many years.
The biggest change to the Legion happened with a new Legion Of Super-Heroes title, Novermber 1989, September 12, 1989 (2 weeks before my 29th birthday). This was the first Legion run where I followed it monthly. This fourth volume began five years after the Magic Wars. The United Planets had entered a dark era, with some member planets going to war, and EarthGov and the UP had a very srained relationship. The Legion had been forced to disband for some years, and the Legionnaires scattered to their home planets. Keith Giffen was the plotter and penciller, and husband and wife Tom and Mary Bierbaum wrote each issue.They got their start through The Legion Outpost fan club and Interlac, the Legion amateur press association (APA). It would eventually be revealed that EarthGov had been controlled by the alien race the Dominators.
It was during this time that DC editors decided to erase all mention of Superboy from Legion continuity. In issue 5 Mon-El destroyed the Time Trapper, which created an alternate timeline where Mordru ruled the UP. Glorith would take the Time Trapper's place in an attempt to usurp Mordru, and the timeline would be restored. Mon-El, called Valor in the 20th Centruy, would take Superboy's place as the Legion's inspiration, and be responsible for liberating Dominators' human captives, who had been the subject of genetic experiments. Valor would carry them to various worlds, and their descendants would become the United Planets, and be the source of the Legionairres' powers. During this time a duplicate Legion, first referred to as Batch SW6, also appeared. At first thought of as Legion clones created by the Dominators, they were established as temporal duplicates of the Legion in suspended animation found by the Dominators. These new Legionnaires would appear in their own title in Legionnaires #1, August 1993. Earth would be destroyed in Legion issue #38, December 1992.
With the Zero Hour crossover in 1994, 26 years of Legion continuity would come to an end, in Legion Of Super-Heroes #61 and Legionnaires #18, September 1994. After both Legion and Legionnaires had an issue #0, the new continuity began with Legion #62 and Legionnaires #19. New members of Legionnaires were XS, Barry Allen's granddaughter, Kenetix, whose power was telekenesis, and Gates, a teleporting insectoid. This era is referred to as the "Archie Legion" because the stories were a little more lighthearted at first. My last Legion issues for a few years were Legionnaires #78 and Legion Of Super-Heroes, December 1999. The last issues of these series were Legion #125 and Legionnaires #81, March 2000. With the UP near collapse, a group of Legionnaires disappeed in a space rift.
The twelve issue Legion Lost mini-series, May 2000 - April 2001, chronicled these Legionnaires difficult journey back home. Legion Worlds, June - November 2001, a six issue mini-series chronicled the UP during these Legionnaire's absences.
A new Legion #1 premiered with the December 2001 issue. this series was known for the post-Crisis Superboy, Conner Kent, and a 21st Century Superman clone, were members, and Lex Luthor was an honorary member. I began re-reading this title with issue #19, June 2003, when I began reading comic again with a new local comic book store opening. This Legion series would end with issue #38, October 2004.
What would be called a "3-boot" Legion with another new Legion Of Super-Heroes, volume 5, would begin with #1, March 2005. Writer Mark Waid and artist Barry Kitson began this series. This Legion was different from any other version of the Legion. It was more of a youth movement than an organization. In a very conformist society this Legion was a reform movement. There were some interesting twists with some of the Legionnaires' powers in this Legion. Colossal Boy came from a race of giants who could shrink to human size, Chameleon Boy was known as the androgynous creature Chameleon, Phantom Girl existed in two dimensions at once, and would talk to people in both dimensions at the same time.
Tony Bedard would become the write with issue #31. Waid may have left because of some conflicts with Legion continuity in the JLA/JSA story The Lightning Saga in Justice League Of America 8-10, April-June 2007 and Justice Society Of America 5-6, June-July 2007. This story would involve the Legionnaires Starman (the original version), Dream Girl, Wildfire, Karate Kid, Timber Wolf, Sensor Girl, Dawnstar and Brainiac 5. Jim Shooter would return to the Legion with issue #37. These stories were okay, but I did not like Princess, or Queen Projectra, becoming a villain after the destruction of her world. This series would end with issue #50.
The traditional Legion began to return with the Superman And The Legion Of Super-Heroes story in Action Comics 858 - 863, late Decmber 2007 - May 2008. The verious versions of the Legion joined forces with the Final Crisis: Legion Of 3 Worlds 1-5, October 2008 - September 2009, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by George Perez. The Legion would return to the new Adventure Comics #1/504, October 2009, August 12, 2009, as a back-up feature. while I have enjoyed these issues, I feel the Legion is too big to serve as a short feature in the back of a comic book. Geoff Johns and Gary Franks returned the Clark Kent Superboy to Legion continuity in the first two issues of Superman: Secret Origin, November and December 2009. Legion members have been involved in the 21st Century, in the Superman titles with the World Of New Krypton and World Against Superman storylines. Starman has been a member of the Justice Society in JSA in the last few years.
In upcoming stories, Adventure Comics will carry the Brainiac And The Legion Of-Super-Heroes story, involving the Legionnaires in the 21st and 31st Centuries, and General Lane's Human Defense Corps. Paul Levitz is scheduled to return to the Legion with yet another new series in May 2010. I will be reading it starting with the first issue.
I want to end this episode about the Legion with a look at two institutions of Legion fandom, The Legion Outpost and Interlac, the bi-monthly Legion Amateur Press Association (APA).
The Legion Outpost was both the name of the Legion letters page and the official newsletter of the Legion Fan Club, which published ten issues from 1972 - 1981. The fanclub arose after 1970, when Legion lost its spot in Adventure Comics to Supergirl. Mort Weisinger, editor of Legion as well as the Superman titles, had retired, and no editor at DC seemed interested in the Legion. The Legion was relegated to the back of Action Comics or the occasional Superboy title. Mike Flynn, a 13 year old Bronx resident, wrote a letter that was published in Superboy #182. He invited Legion fans to send him postcards with their information, along with their favorite Legionnaire, with the intent to form a Legion fan club, and show enough interest for DC Comics to give the Legion its own title. The first , 14 page, issue of The Legion Outpost was published as a newsletter. Harry Broertjos, a Northwestern University journalism student, became editor with the second issue. DC staff members contributed, including editor Murray Boltinoff, writer Cary Bates artist Dave Cockrum and others. In issue #8 Jime Shooter was interviewd, and he revealed he originally left the Legion after an disagreement with editor Mort Weisinger. Other comics pros itnerviewed included Mort Weisinger, Mike Barr and Len Wein. A book, Best Of The Legion Outpost, was published by TwoMorrows publsihing in November 2004, and is still in print.
Interlac is the bi-monthly amateur press association (APA). In the years before internet forums, it was the first APA devoted to the Legion. It got its name from the language of the United Planets. It was founded by Rick Morissey in June of 1976 with fifteen founding members. Among its members were Tom Bierbaum and Mary Gilmore, who met throught the APA. They would eventually marry and become Legion writers. Eight of the fifteen founders are still involved, four continuously through its history. Membership is limited to 50, but people can sign up for a waiting list. The leader serves as a central mailer, collecting submissions by members, making copies, collating, and mailing the finished issues to its members. Notable members of Interlac have included Jim Shooter, one of the founders, Dave Cockrum, Colleen Doran, Paul Levitz and Mark Waid.
With the new Legion Of Super-Heroes title, and with the young Clark Kent / Superboy restored to Legion continuity, I hope that the Legion will once again return to its place as one of the top series in DC Comics.
Wikipedia served as a foundation of information, along with http://dcindexes.com/. Information about The Legion Outpost came from the website http://www.comicsbulletin.com/soapbox/110019003313118.htm. Other Legion websites are:
http://adventure247.blogspot.com/ The Legion Omnicon named after a 31st century version of an iPad.
http://legionabstract.blogspot.com/
http://www.legiononline.net/
There are several podcasts devoted the Legion of Super-Heroes:
The Legion Of Substitute Podcasters http://legionofsubstitutepodcasters.com/
Super Future Friends http://superfuturefriends.blogspot.com/
LotsaLegion http://lotsalegion.libsyn.com/ (last new episode on September 12, 2009)
Next episode: Happy Birthday, Irwin Donenfeld! (And before I forget, Happy Birthday, Superman!)
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Episode #114: Clark Kent's Forgotten Girlfriend!
This episode is a little late for Valentine's Day. I should have scehduled it last week, and the Curt Swan tribute episode for this one, but I got my dates mixed up. Better late than never, but not when it comes to giving my wife something for Valentine's Day. The featured story of this episode was the second story of Superman #165, November 1963, published around September 19, 1963. It contained 32 pages and had the cover price of 12 cents. Mort Wiesinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein.
The first story of the issue was Beauty And The Super Beast, reprinted in the trade paperback Showcase Presents: Superman vol. IV, and was written by Robert Bernstein, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. It began with Lana Lang covering the excavation of Circe's tomb (a Greek mythological figure who turned some of Odysseus' friends into swine with a magic drink). while Lois Lane became the first woman in space in a Mercury style space capsule called Lady Planet. Superman hit a meteor that threatened to collide with Lady Planet, but for some reason his punch was only strong enough to deflect it, not destroy it. Lana is at Circe's tomb as it was opened, a glass coffin which contained her perfectly preserved body. When the coffin was opened Circe revived. She had only been asleep, imprisoned by an ancient magician. After Lana mentioned Superman, Circe swore revenge on the Man of Steel for spurning her advances when he visited the past.
At Superman's appearance at an auditorium, Circe transformed Superman's head first into a lion, then a mouse. She relnted and returned him to normal when he asked her to let him fulfill a promise to excavate the foundation to a new city hall. Circe commanded him to walk to the site as a common man, then climb a crane to dive into the ground. He does and pushed a plug of bedrock the size of the intended foundation into space. After Superman again spurned her proposal she ordered him to juggle upside down. While he juggled he used the balls to disarm a mini-tank that attempted to rob a bank. Circe gave up her attempts to force Superman into matrimony and returned to the past. The scene was viewed by the Superman Revenge Squad orbiting Earth in their spaceship. They returned to their headquarters to face the consequences for their failure.
Superman viewed their departure with his telescopic vision as he flew over Metroipolis. He met Circe outside the city. She was actually Saturn Woman, accompanied by her pet Protty II. In a flashback, Superman noticed he was weaker when he hit the meteor, but his powers returned when he flew upside down. Using his telescopic vision and his super hearing, the Man of Steel eavesdropped on the Superman Revenge Squad, learning that they had zapped him with a counter energy ray, which had caused his weakness. Superman used his super ventriloquism to tell Krypto to travel to the 30th century and get Saturn Woman's help. (If we could harness Superman's super-ventriloquism it would transform the communications industry.) Superman deduced that he could keep his superpowers when he remained upsdie down. She disguised herself as Circe, and Proty II transformed itself to the lion and mouse heads over Superman's face. The crew of the Superman Revenge Squad was demoted to the Krypto Revenge Squad.
The main feature of this episode was The Sweetheart Superman Forgot, written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Al Plastino. It was reprinted in the trade paperbacks Superman In The Sixties and Showcase Presents: Superman vol. IV. The story began when Clark read on the news teletype machine that an unknown object was on a collision course for a satellite. Superman caught it just in time and threw it toward the sun, but not before being exposed to some red kryptonite on the object. After he flew back into the atmosphere he was mysteriously compelled to remove his Superman uniform and hide it and his Clark Kent identification. (Let's hope noone found the stash, or Clark and Superman would probably never be able to explain the coincidence away.)
Clark walked along the road, and the final effect of the red kryptonite was amnesia. He walked to a barn and asked for a drink of water. A beautiful blonde gave the amnesiac Clark a drink of warm milk, then he fainted. Her father put Clark in a bed to recover from what he suspected as sunstroke. Clark dreamed he was dressed as a theater usher who flew after a dragon that jumped out of a movie screen. When he awoke Digby Selwyn and his daughter Sally introduced themselves to the amnesiac Clark, who blurted out his name as Jim White (unknowingly mentioning the names of his closest friends, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White). Their butler assisted "Jim" with using an electric razor (since as Superman he never needed to shave, at least in the silver age).
The Selwyn's showed Jim around their property on horseback. They found a pitchfork stuck in the ground near some dynamite at the site of an underground waterpipe installation, as a thunderstorm approached. Jim lassoed the ptichfork with a rope and dragged it to a safe distance away before the pitchfork was struck by lightning. That night Jim was plagued by another nightmare about being chased by red and green rocks (red and green kryptonite). The next day Jim was given a job at the family timber company, working for a man named Bart. He yelled at Jim for releasing a deer caught in one of Bart's mink traps. Sally rode a horse by at that moment and told Bart to remove his traps. Bart then ordered Jim to ride a log down the river to a nearby mill. He then caused the log to roll, sending Jim into the river. As Sally helped Jim out of the water, Bart asked her to be his date at that evening's dance. She declined, saying that Jim was his date. Jim said he didn't know how to dance, but Sally told him she would teach him that afternoon.
That night Jim and Sally won the dance contest, so she must have actually taught him how to dance that afternoon. Afterwards they kissed passionately, but Jim didn't feel he deserved to ask her to marry him. Sally told him she would never forget that kiss. Sally showed Jim her father's land, and mentioned that when he retired her father would need somone like Jim to run things. Jim wanted to build his own future and decided to enter the rodeo to win the $5,000.00 prize for being able to ride the bucking bronco Black Terror.
The next day a man put some "loco weed" in Black Terror's feed, which would drive the horse wild when he was ridden. Jim was throw off the horse and landed on his back. He was taken to the hospital, where doctors told him he might be crippled for life. After he was released Sally took him to her father's home. In his wheelchair Jim told her to forget about him, but Sally said she wanted to marry him. She knew of a doctor in Europe who might be able to operate and restore the use of his legs. Bart eavesdropped on the conversation.
Jim wheeled himself to a secluded spot to think and was met by Bart, who mocked Jim. Jim wheeled himself to the cliff edge overlooking a river. Bart rolled a fair sized boulder down the hill to scare Jim, but the rock knocked Jim out of his wheelchair into the river to drown. Bart made a quick exit. Sally was overcome with grief and vowed to never love again.
Clark awoke in a glass booth underwater. He had been found by Aquaman, who brought him to Lori to care for until he revived. With his memories returned he retrieved his Superman uniform and Clark Kent identification and returned to the Daily Planet offices. A female reproter for a school newspaper asked Lois Lane if Superman would ever marry, and Lois doubted it. Clark doubted that a woman would ever marry him for himself, without knowing he was really Superman. Apparently he had no memory of his time as Jim White, even as Sally continued to grieve over her lost love.
This was one of the more tragic Superman love stories, but we should have known it couldn't last. After all, her initials weren't L. L.
Next Episode: The Legion Of Super-Heroes!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
The first story of the issue was Beauty And The Super Beast, reprinted in the trade paperback Showcase Presents: Superman vol. IV, and was written by Robert Bernstein, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by George Klein. It began with Lana Lang covering the excavation of Circe's tomb (a Greek mythological figure who turned some of Odysseus' friends into swine with a magic drink). while Lois Lane became the first woman in space in a Mercury style space capsule called Lady Planet. Superman hit a meteor that threatened to collide with Lady Planet, but for some reason his punch was only strong enough to deflect it, not destroy it. Lana is at Circe's tomb as it was opened, a glass coffin which contained her perfectly preserved body. When the coffin was opened Circe revived. She had only been asleep, imprisoned by an ancient magician. After Lana mentioned Superman, Circe swore revenge on the Man of Steel for spurning her advances when he visited the past.
At Superman's appearance at an auditorium, Circe transformed Superman's head first into a lion, then a mouse. She relnted and returned him to normal when he asked her to let him fulfill a promise to excavate the foundation to a new city hall. Circe commanded him to walk to the site as a common man, then climb a crane to dive into the ground. He does and pushed a plug of bedrock the size of the intended foundation into space. After Superman again spurned her proposal she ordered him to juggle upside down. While he juggled he used the balls to disarm a mini-tank that attempted to rob a bank. Circe gave up her attempts to force Superman into matrimony and returned to the past. The scene was viewed by the Superman Revenge Squad orbiting Earth in their spaceship. They returned to their headquarters to face the consequences for their failure.
Superman viewed their departure with his telescopic vision as he flew over Metroipolis. He met Circe outside the city. She was actually Saturn Woman, accompanied by her pet Protty II. In a flashback, Superman noticed he was weaker when he hit the meteor, but his powers returned when he flew upside down. Using his telescopic vision and his super hearing, the Man of Steel eavesdropped on the Superman Revenge Squad, learning that they had zapped him with a counter energy ray, which had caused his weakness. Superman used his super ventriloquism to tell Krypto to travel to the 30th century and get Saturn Woman's help. (If we could harness Superman's super-ventriloquism it would transform the communications industry.) Superman deduced that he could keep his superpowers when he remained upsdie down. She disguised herself as Circe, and Proty II transformed itself to the lion and mouse heads over Superman's face. The crew of the Superman Revenge Squad was demoted to the Krypto Revenge Squad.
The main feature of this episode was The Sweetheart Superman Forgot, written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Al Plastino. It was reprinted in the trade paperbacks Superman In The Sixties and Showcase Presents: Superman vol. IV. The story began when Clark read on the news teletype machine that an unknown object was on a collision course for a satellite. Superman caught it just in time and threw it toward the sun, but not before being exposed to some red kryptonite on the object. After he flew back into the atmosphere he was mysteriously compelled to remove his Superman uniform and hide it and his Clark Kent identification. (Let's hope noone found the stash, or Clark and Superman would probably never be able to explain the coincidence away.)
Clark walked along the road, and the final effect of the red kryptonite was amnesia. He walked to a barn and asked for a drink of water. A beautiful blonde gave the amnesiac Clark a drink of warm milk, then he fainted. Her father put Clark in a bed to recover from what he suspected as sunstroke. Clark dreamed he was dressed as a theater usher who flew after a dragon that jumped out of a movie screen. When he awoke Digby Selwyn and his daughter Sally introduced themselves to the amnesiac Clark, who blurted out his name as Jim White (unknowingly mentioning the names of his closest friends, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White). Their butler assisted "Jim" with using an electric razor (since as Superman he never needed to shave, at least in the silver age).
The Selwyn's showed Jim around their property on horseback. They found a pitchfork stuck in the ground near some dynamite at the site of an underground waterpipe installation, as a thunderstorm approached. Jim lassoed the ptichfork with a rope and dragged it to a safe distance away before the pitchfork was struck by lightning. That night Jim was plagued by another nightmare about being chased by red and green rocks (red and green kryptonite). The next day Jim was given a job at the family timber company, working for a man named Bart. He yelled at Jim for releasing a deer caught in one of Bart's mink traps. Sally rode a horse by at that moment and told Bart to remove his traps. Bart then ordered Jim to ride a log down the river to a nearby mill. He then caused the log to roll, sending Jim into the river. As Sally helped Jim out of the water, Bart asked her to be his date at that evening's dance. She declined, saying that Jim was his date. Jim said he didn't know how to dance, but Sally told him she would teach him that afternoon.
That night Jim and Sally won the dance contest, so she must have actually taught him how to dance that afternoon. Afterwards they kissed passionately, but Jim didn't feel he deserved to ask her to marry him. Sally told him she would never forget that kiss. Sally showed Jim her father's land, and mentioned that when he retired her father would need somone like Jim to run things. Jim wanted to build his own future and decided to enter the rodeo to win the $5,000.00 prize for being able to ride the bucking bronco Black Terror.
The next day a man put some "loco weed" in Black Terror's feed, which would drive the horse wild when he was ridden. Jim was throw off the horse and landed on his back. He was taken to the hospital, where doctors told him he might be crippled for life. After he was released Sally took him to her father's home. In his wheelchair Jim told her to forget about him, but Sally said she wanted to marry him. She knew of a doctor in Europe who might be able to operate and restore the use of his legs. Bart eavesdropped on the conversation.
Jim wheeled himself to a secluded spot to think and was met by Bart, who mocked Jim. Jim wheeled himself to the cliff edge overlooking a river. Bart rolled a fair sized boulder down the hill to scare Jim, but the rock knocked Jim out of his wheelchair into the river to drown. Bart made a quick exit. Sally was overcome with grief and vowed to never love again.
Clark awoke in a glass booth underwater. He had been found by Aquaman, who brought him to Lori to care for until he revived. With his memories returned he retrieved his Superman uniform and Clark Kent identification and returned to the Daily Planet offices. A female reproter for a school newspaper asked Lois Lane if Superman would ever marry, and Lois doubted it. Clark doubted that a woman would ever marry him for himself, without knowing he was really Superman. Apparently he had no memory of his time as Jim White, even as Sally continued to grieve over her lost love.
This was one of the more tragic Superman love stories, but we should have known it couldn't last. After all, her initials weren't L. L.
Next Episode: The Legion Of Super-Heroes!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Episode #113: A Curt Swan Toast!
Curt Swan's birthday was February 17, 1920. To commemorate his birthday this year I decided to give a toast to Mr. Swan, through the words of some of his peers in the comic book industry , as recorded in Eddy Zeno's book, Curt Swan: A Life In Comics. It was published by Vanguard Productions in November 2002. I featured this book on episode #52. In that episode I gave an overview of the contents but did not go into many specifics of the boigraphy. On future episodes around Curt Swan's birthday, I would like to interview some comic book pros who worked with Curt. This year I did not have the time to set up and record an interview, so I decided to settle for an imaginary banquet in Curt's honor using the words of some comic pros as told in Eddy Zeno's book.
I want to begin with the famous comic strip artist Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey, Hi & Lois and other strips. He considered Curt one of his closest friends and they knew each other for over 40 years. According to Mort, they met around 1955 through their mutual friend, cartoonist John Fischetti. What Mort admired most about Curt's art style was his realistic anatomy. Mort called Curt's Man of Steel, "the best anatomically correct Superman."
Next to the podium is Murphy Anderson, one of Curt Swan's most popular inkers. Murphy enjoyed Curt's sense of humor. They became friends at the DC Comics offices during the late 1950's - early 1960's, although they rearely socialized much outside the office. Murphy's favorite project that he and Curt collaborated on was the Superman origin story published in one of DC's oversized Treasury Editions (which I have a copy of in DC's Collector's Edition Superman #C-31). It was laid out by Carmine Infantino, and Curt did the finished pencils.
Carmine Infantino also mentioned the same Superman origin story as his personal favorite, and considered himself fortunate to layout the art for Curt Swan. Carmine described Curt as a very under-rated artist.
Following Carmine was Julius Schwartz. Ever the editor, the first thing he mentioned about Curt Swan was that he never missed a deadline. Julie, as his friends called him, attended a number of comic book conventions with Curt later in the artists life. Curt enjoyed the interaction with his fans during this period of his life, but not the lack of work. Julie wished that Curt could have seen Jerry Sienfeld tell Larry King, when he promoted his then upcoming American Express commercials with Superman, that he insisted that the Man of Steel be the Curt Swan Superman. He was familiar with Curt after many years at the DC Comics offices, but did not really get to know Curt until he became editor of the Superman titles. When Curt would go to the offices to deliver the finished pencilled art for a story, he and Julius would chat, and Julius would have both a check and a new script ready for Curt. Julie noted that Curt appreciated this, as Julie's best friend Mort Weisinger would at times make Curt wait while he finished editing a script. Schwartz noted that Mort could be tough on his "slaves", as Mort called the talent that worked for him. Julie also had an anecdote about Superman scripter Eliot S! Maggin, who would go on a tangent in his scripts, telling jokes, etc. Curt would comlain that when he finished reading the script for a certain panel, that he would sometimes forget what he was supposed to draw. Julie also shared an anecdote about Murphy Anderson. Murphy never appeared in public without a coat and tie to a comic book convention, even for breakfast. At a small show Julie forbade Murphy from wearing a coat and tie. Murphy appeared in a windbreaker.
Next up was Sheldon Moldoff, who inked Curt Swan's pencils during the 1960's. Editor Mort Weisinger liked his inks, so Sheldon inked many Superman, World's Finest and Legion Of Super-Heroes stories. Sheldon said that Curt liked his inking as well, because they kept the same "feeling" that Curt put into his pencils. Sheldon felt that other inkers made the Man of Steel their Superman, not a Curt Swan Superman.
After Sheldon, Elliot S! Maggin elaborated on the story Julius told about his scripts. Elliot was thrilled with the first of his stories that he ever saw drawn, Must There Be A Superman from Superman #247, January 1972, by Curt Swan. He was chagrined to learn that Curt Swan didn't like him - or so Elliot was told. He noted that in the early 1970's, divide and conquer was a respected management technique by the more conservative editors of DC Comics. At that time, Elliot described himself as still a kid, so he would folow rabbit trails in his scripts: write at length aobut scenes, characters and motivations, or tell jokes. He also noted that Curt Swan was a mature adult who didn't have time for sophomoric humor. The story goes that one day Curt brought in the pencilled pages of the latest story and told Julie that he would "throttle" Elliot if he didn't stop the "elaborate digressions". With Elliot being a young, rookie comic book writer, Julie jumped on it and Elliot would be reminded, at times, that Curt didn't like him. For 15 years Elliot wrote stories that Curt illustrated, but they rarely met. Whenver they were in DC's offices, Elliot usually found somewhere else to be; he didn't want to give Curt another reason to "throttle" him. Elliot and Curt would not really get together until the mid-1980's, at a comic book convention in central New York state. Elliot had avoided Curt at the convention until after breakfast Sunday morning. Curt approached Elliot and asked, "Can I interest you in a little libation?" Elliot described himself as a sucker for anyone who knew how to use the language. They talked until dusk about everything, and Elliot found that they had a lot in common. Their three favorite subjects were Superman, Julie Schwartz and politics. They both believed in Truth, Justice & The American Way. Elliot described Curt's politics as to his own left on the political spectrum. Curt and Elliot spent a lot of time together, many times over beer and scotch, and good naturedly ribbed Julie for keeping them at odds all those years. Elliot summed up his thoughts about Curt Swan by describing him as a good man whom he wished he had known better.
Next at the podium was Len Wein, who, last year lost his home to a fire. Len started off by describing Curt Swan as the most humanistic artist he ever worked with. Curt was the best at portraying people interacting naturally. He could not think of a single time he was unhappy with how Curt rendered what Len envisioned. Most of the scripts Len wrote for Curt were "full" script, with a few "Marvel style" (Len noted that Marvel did not invent the "plot" style, which started in the 1940's, but was its most famouse practicioner.) Personally, Len preferred working "Marvel" style because he felt that gave the best collaboration with the artist. The only drawback with that writing style is when he was not sure how the artist would interpret his plot. That was never a concern with an artist of Curt Swan's experience. Len's first Superman story was Danger - Monster At Work for Superman #246, December 1971. In that story he introduced the people who lived in Clark Kent's apartment building. Len also described inker Murphy Anderson and penciller Curt Swan as an unbeatable team. He also said that he learned more about story structure and storytelling from Julius Schwartz than any other editor. Len reminisced that he would go to the DC Comics offices more than other freelancers because he enjoyed the interaction, and used those trips as motivation to get his work done. Curt would appear every few weeks to deliver his latest pencilled story and pick up the next script. Len said he and Curt had a long term, on and off relationship, and that Curt Swan was a very friendly, open guy. He also said that Julie would tell the story that Curt Swan drew to get money to go golfing.
Irwin Donenfeld, who became DC's editorial director, spoke next. We might have to thank Irwin for being partially responsible for the reprint editions of DC stories we have today. Irwin told how, as part of the art department, he would make negatives of the finished pages to send to the engravers. When he found out that the engravers would rinse the solution off of the negatives for the silver content, he made them return all of the negatives to the art department. Irwin was Curt's boss for many years, but shared a personal anecdote.Curt made an appearance at the school Irwin's son attended. Curt would draw art that would be raffled off and the proceeds given to a local charity. Irwin's son Luke had a ticket and desperately wanted to win. When he didn't, Luke was almost unconsolable. While Luke's mom wanted Luke to learn to be a better sport about it, Irwin decided that this time his son didn't have to lose. After the event Irwin spoke with Curt, who promised Luke that he would draw something for him. Luke received a watercolor Superman drawing, on which Curt wrote, "To Luke, with best wishes, Curt Swan, 11/79." Another unnamed artist at the event also drew sometihing for Luke. As Editorial Director, Irwin oversaw the editors and didn't have a lot of contact with the artists, but knew Curt Swan well. One time Curt entered Irwin's office, and mentioned that he had not had a raise for several years. Irwin took care of it, since he was the boss. Irwin noted that Mort Weisinger was Curt's imediate boss, and Irwin also noted that noone liked Mort, who was not popular with the creators who worked for him. Irwin was another person who admired Curt for his business-like demeanor about his work, who met his deadlines and was on time for his appointments.
Next was Mark Waid, who admired Curt's ability to draw an "alien powerhouse" from deep in outer space and give him humanity. Curt Swan's Superman was a warm and gentle savior without sacrificing his grandeur and power. Mark compared Curt Swan and Christopher Reeve's abilities to protray Superman as a friend. He also noted that he learned professionalism from Curt, in an industry that was often lacking. One of Mark's highlights as editor of Secret Origins was to give Superman work post-Superman. Curt never missed a deadline, even though Mark realized that Curt sometimes pulled all-nighters to help turn around a book quickly. Curt never cheated, perfectly rendering the script in every panel. To Mark, there was no such thing as bad Curt Swan art. Many inkers lined up for the opportunity to ink Curt Swan's art even at this late stage of his career. Once, Curt mentioned to Mark that one of the best inking jobs on his pencilled art was by a then young artist Eric Shanower on the one issue special The Legend Of Aquaman It was one of the jobs over his long career that he was most proud of. While Mark felt that Murphy Anderson's inks over Curt's pencils added a dynamic power to them, his favorite Swan inker was George Klein.
The final speaker tonight was Joe Kubert, whose career has spanned the entire history of comic book history. Since Curt lived in Conneticutt and Joe in New Jersey, the two only met at the DC Comics offices to deliver art. Joe considered Curt the nicest guy he knew. What set Curt Swan above a lot of comic book artists was that many learned how to draw from other comic book artists, while Curt learned from classic illustration and life drawing. Joe noted that Curt Swan was generous with advice to other comic book artists when they asked him. Curt was just as accepting of advice that was given him. Back in the 1970's some DC editors felt that the Superman stories could use a more dynamic panel layout. It fell to Joe's unenviable task to talk to Curt about it. Curt was very open to suggestion and wasn't above learning from others. But Joe went out of his way to make sure this sotry did not detract from what Curt Swan brought to comics.
I want to thank everyone who listened to this imaginary toast to Curt Swan. There were more comic book pros who spoke about Curt Swan, but it will have to wait for another special occasion. Or, better yet, read Eddy Zeno's book, Curt Swan: A Life In Comics for yourself, which would be the best anyway.
Next episode: Clark Kent's Forgotten Girlfriend!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com .
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
I want to begin with the famous comic strip artist Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey, Hi & Lois and other strips. He considered Curt one of his closest friends and they knew each other for over 40 years. According to Mort, they met around 1955 through their mutual friend, cartoonist John Fischetti. What Mort admired most about Curt's art style was his realistic anatomy. Mort called Curt's Man of Steel, "the best anatomically correct Superman."
Next to the podium is Murphy Anderson, one of Curt Swan's most popular inkers. Murphy enjoyed Curt's sense of humor. They became friends at the DC Comics offices during the late 1950's - early 1960's, although they rearely socialized much outside the office. Murphy's favorite project that he and Curt collaborated on was the Superman origin story published in one of DC's oversized Treasury Editions (which I have a copy of in DC's Collector's Edition Superman #C-31). It was laid out by Carmine Infantino, and Curt did the finished pencils.
Carmine Infantino also mentioned the same Superman origin story as his personal favorite, and considered himself fortunate to layout the art for Curt Swan. Carmine described Curt as a very under-rated artist.
Following Carmine was Julius Schwartz. Ever the editor, the first thing he mentioned about Curt Swan was that he never missed a deadline. Julie, as his friends called him, attended a number of comic book conventions with Curt later in the artists life. Curt enjoyed the interaction with his fans during this period of his life, but not the lack of work. Julie wished that Curt could have seen Jerry Sienfeld tell Larry King, when he promoted his then upcoming American Express commercials with Superman, that he insisted that the Man of Steel be the Curt Swan Superman. He was familiar with Curt after many years at the DC Comics offices, but did not really get to know Curt until he became editor of the Superman titles. When Curt would go to the offices to deliver the finished pencilled art for a story, he and Julius would chat, and Julius would have both a check and a new script ready for Curt. Julie noted that Curt appreciated this, as Julie's best friend Mort Weisinger would at times make Curt wait while he finished editing a script. Schwartz noted that Mort could be tough on his "slaves", as Mort called the talent that worked for him. Julie also had an anecdote about Superman scripter Eliot S! Maggin, who would go on a tangent in his scripts, telling jokes, etc. Curt would comlain that when he finished reading the script for a certain panel, that he would sometimes forget what he was supposed to draw. Julie also shared an anecdote about Murphy Anderson. Murphy never appeared in public without a coat and tie to a comic book convention, even for breakfast. At a small show Julie forbade Murphy from wearing a coat and tie. Murphy appeared in a windbreaker.
Next up was Sheldon Moldoff, who inked Curt Swan's pencils during the 1960's. Editor Mort Weisinger liked his inks, so Sheldon inked many Superman, World's Finest and Legion Of Super-Heroes stories. Sheldon said that Curt liked his inking as well, because they kept the same "feeling" that Curt put into his pencils. Sheldon felt that other inkers made the Man of Steel their Superman, not a Curt Swan Superman.
After Sheldon, Elliot S! Maggin elaborated on the story Julius told about his scripts. Elliot was thrilled with the first of his stories that he ever saw drawn, Must There Be A Superman from Superman #247, January 1972, by Curt Swan. He was chagrined to learn that Curt Swan didn't like him - or so Elliot was told. He noted that in the early 1970's, divide and conquer was a respected management technique by the more conservative editors of DC Comics. At that time, Elliot described himself as still a kid, so he would folow rabbit trails in his scripts: write at length aobut scenes, characters and motivations, or tell jokes. He also noted that Curt Swan was a mature adult who didn't have time for sophomoric humor. The story goes that one day Curt brought in the pencilled pages of the latest story and told Julie that he would "throttle" Elliot if he didn't stop the "elaborate digressions". With Elliot being a young, rookie comic book writer, Julie jumped on it and Elliot would be reminded, at times, that Curt didn't like him. For 15 years Elliot wrote stories that Curt illustrated, but they rarely met. Whenver they were in DC's offices, Elliot usually found somewhere else to be; he didn't want to give Curt another reason to "throttle" him. Elliot and Curt would not really get together until the mid-1980's, at a comic book convention in central New York state. Elliot had avoided Curt at the convention until after breakfast Sunday morning. Curt approached Elliot and asked, "Can I interest you in a little libation?" Elliot described himself as a sucker for anyone who knew how to use the language. They talked until dusk about everything, and Elliot found that they had a lot in common. Their three favorite subjects were Superman, Julie Schwartz and politics. They both believed in Truth, Justice & The American Way. Elliot described Curt's politics as to his own left on the political spectrum. Curt and Elliot spent a lot of time together, many times over beer and scotch, and good naturedly ribbed Julie for keeping them at odds all those years. Elliot summed up his thoughts about Curt Swan by describing him as a good man whom he wished he had known better.
Next at the podium was Len Wein, who, last year lost his home to a fire. Len started off by describing Curt Swan as the most humanistic artist he ever worked with. Curt was the best at portraying people interacting naturally. He could not think of a single time he was unhappy with how Curt rendered what Len envisioned. Most of the scripts Len wrote for Curt were "full" script, with a few "Marvel style" (Len noted that Marvel did not invent the "plot" style, which started in the 1940's, but was its most famouse practicioner.) Personally, Len preferred working "Marvel" style because he felt that gave the best collaboration with the artist. The only drawback with that writing style is when he was not sure how the artist would interpret his plot. That was never a concern with an artist of Curt Swan's experience. Len's first Superman story was Danger - Monster At Work for Superman #246, December 1971. In that story he introduced the people who lived in Clark Kent's apartment building. Len also described inker Murphy Anderson and penciller Curt Swan as an unbeatable team. He also said that he learned more about story structure and storytelling from Julius Schwartz than any other editor. Len reminisced that he would go to the DC Comics offices more than other freelancers because he enjoyed the interaction, and used those trips as motivation to get his work done. Curt would appear every few weeks to deliver his latest pencilled story and pick up the next script. Len said he and Curt had a long term, on and off relationship, and that Curt Swan was a very friendly, open guy. He also said that Julie would tell the story that Curt Swan drew to get money to go golfing.
Irwin Donenfeld, who became DC's editorial director, spoke next. We might have to thank Irwin for being partially responsible for the reprint editions of DC stories we have today. Irwin told how, as part of the art department, he would make negatives of the finished pages to send to the engravers. When he found out that the engravers would rinse the solution off of the negatives for the silver content, he made them return all of the negatives to the art department. Irwin was Curt's boss for many years, but shared a personal anecdote.Curt made an appearance at the school Irwin's son attended. Curt would draw art that would be raffled off and the proceeds given to a local charity. Irwin's son Luke had a ticket and desperately wanted to win. When he didn't, Luke was almost unconsolable. While Luke's mom wanted Luke to learn to be a better sport about it, Irwin decided that this time his son didn't have to lose. After the event Irwin spoke with Curt, who promised Luke that he would draw something for him. Luke received a watercolor Superman drawing, on which Curt wrote, "To Luke, with best wishes, Curt Swan, 11/79." Another unnamed artist at the event also drew sometihing for Luke. As Editorial Director, Irwin oversaw the editors and didn't have a lot of contact with the artists, but knew Curt Swan well. One time Curt entered Irwin's office, and mentioned that he had not had a raise for several years. Irwin took care of it, since he was the boss. Irwin noted that Mort Weisinger was Curt's imediate boss, and Irwin also noted that noone liked Mort, who was not popular with the creators who worked for him. Irwin was another person who admired Curt for his business-like demeanor about his work, who met his deadlines and was on time for his appointments.
Next was Mark Waid, who admired Curt's ability to draw an "alien powerhouse" from deep in outer space and give him humanity. Curt Swan's Superman was a warm and gentle savior without sacrificing his grandeur and power. Mark compared Curt Swan and Christopher Reeve's abilities to protray Superman as a friend. He also noted that he learned professionalism from Curt, in an industry that was often lacking. One of Mark's highlights as editor of Secret Origins was to give Superman work post-Superman. Curt never missed a deadline, even though Mark realized that Curt sometimes pulled all-nighters to help turn around a book quickly. Curt never cheated, perfectly rendering the script in every panel. To Mark, there was no such thing as bad Curt Swan art. Many inkers lined up for the opportunity to ink Curt Swan's art even at this late stage of his career. Once, Curt mentioned to Mark that one of the best inking jobs on his pencilled art was by a then young artist Eric Shanower on the one issue special The Legend Of Aquaman It was one of the jobs over his long career that he was most proud of. While Mark felt that Murphy Anderson's inks over Curt's pencils added a dynamic power to them, his favorite Swan inker was George Klein.
The final speaker tonight was Joe Kubert, whose career has spanned the entire history of comic book history. Since Curt lived in Conneticutt and Joe in New Jersey, the two only met at the DC Comics offices to deliver art. Joe considered Curt the nicest guy he knew. What set Curt Swan above a lot of comic book artists was that many learned how to draw from other comic book artists, while Curt learned from classic illustration and life drawing. Joe noted that Curt Swan was generous with advice to other comic book artists when they asked him. Curt was just as accepting of advice that was given him. Back in the 1970's some DC editors felt that the Superman stories could use a more dynamic panel layout. It fell to Joe's unenviable task to talk to Curt about it. Curt was very open to suggestion and wasn't above learning from others. But Joe went out of his way to make sure this sotry did not detract from what Curt Swan brought to comics.
I want to thank everyone who listened to this imaginary toast to Curt Swan. There were more comic book pros who spoke about Curt Swan, but it will have to wait for another special occasion. Or, better yet, read Eddy Zeno's book, Curt Swan: A Life In Comics for yourself, which would be the best anyway.
Next episode: Clark Kent's Forgotten Girlfriend!
Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.
Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/.
Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/ . Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com .
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
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