SUPERMAN, BARTMAN and the Enduring Inspiration of CURT SWAN
A MORRISON MONDAYS (early) birthday tribute! By BILL MORRISON Tomorrow, Feb. 17, is the birthdate of the artist who was most identified with Superman during the Silver-Age of comics, Curt Swan. As a DC Comics-loving kid in the Swingin’ ’60s, Curt’s covers for Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Superman, World’s Finest, and Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen jumped out at me from the spinner rack of our local bookstore in Lincoln Park, Michigan, and much of my weekly allowance of a dollar was spent on those books (especially when there were no new Batman comics on sale!) One memorable cover for me was the one he drew in 1967 for Superman #201, inked by George Klein. With so many great Swan covers to choose from, it’s hard to say which one is my favorite, but this one stands out for me. Back in 1993 when Steve Vance, Cindy Vance, Matt Groening, and I were launching Bongo Comics, I was asked to come up with an image for an ashcan-size comic that would reprint our Bartman story from the pre-Bongo Simpsons Comics and Stories #1. The mini-comic, Bartman and Radioactive Man, was to be a promotional insert in an issue of Hero Illustrated magazine. In this story, Bartman doesn’t team up with Radioactive Man, but the Irradiated Crusader is there in a big way, as inspiration for the fledgling hero. So, I wanted to draw a cover that featured Radioactive Man prominently without showing the two characters interacting. Without much pondering that I can recall, Mr. Swan’s Superman #201 cover with its large hero figure looming in the background came to mind. The story we were reprinting, “Lo, there shall come a Bartman,” was, as the title suggests, an origin story, and not about Bartman giving up on being a superhero. (That would come later in Bartman #4, when I paid homage to John Romita’s iconic Amazing Spider-Man #50 cover.) No, Bartman was just getting started, but I decided to ignore the concept of a hero calling it quits, and embrace the cover’s design. It was, I felt, the perfect solution for what I wanted to communicate. With this finished cover, along with my original pencils, I celebrate the greatness of Curt Swan and thank him for many years of artistic inspiration. — Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a...
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