13 TIMES Infantino, Swan, Kubert and MORE taught you how to draw your fave superheroes…
By PETER BOSCH
I was looking through an older DC comic a short while ago and it had one of those “How to Draw…” features that we saw initially appearing in The Flash Annual #1 (1963), with Carmine Infantino giving instructions for aspiring comic book illustrators. Remember those? It put me in mind of Curt Swan showing us how to draw Superman, as well. I thought it might be fun to look back at those and other artists’ how-to pages.
Below, you have what is a DC art school in just one column, with your teachers being some of the greatest comics illustrators of all time: Infantino, Swan, Gil Kane, Joe Kubert, C.C. Beck, Kurt Schaffenberger, and Sergio Aragones.
And, as a BONUS, while we wait for the DC Comics Style Guide, at the bottom are three pages of model sheets by Swan for Jimmy Olsen, Ma and Pa Kent, and Krypto, plus Lois Lane by Kurt Schaffenbeger.
Now, sharpen your pencils. Class is in session!
The Flash Annual #1 (1963) – art by Carmine Infantino
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-25 (1974) – art by Infantino
The Amazing World of Superman, Metropolis Edition (1973) – art by Curt Swan
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-31 (Oct.-Nov. 1975) – art by Swan
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-38 (Oct.-Nov. 1975) – art by Swan
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-21 (1973) – art by C.C. Beck
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-21 (1973) – art by Beck
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-35 (Apr.-May 1975) – art by Kurt Schaffenberger
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-22 (1973) – art by Joe Kubert
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-29 (1974) – art by Kubert
Faux Green Lantern Annual #1 (1998) – art by Gil Kane
Faux Green Lantern Annual #1 (1998) – art by Kane
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-23 (1973) – art by Sergio Aragones
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BONUS!
The Superman Family #164 (Apr.-May 1974) – art by Swan
The Superman Family #164 (Apr.-May 1974) – art by Swan
The Superman Family #164 (Apr.-May 1974) – art by Schaffenberger (Lois Lane) and Swan (Krypto)
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MORE
— A Mighty 60th ANNIVERSARY Salute to DC’s 80 PAGE GIANT. Click here.
— HI, KIDS! Dig This Ginchy TEEN TITANS 60th Anniversary Celebration. Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. He is currently at work on a sequel, about movie comics. Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.
July 13, 2024
Ahh! Dan! You just hit out of the ballpark with this one! I remember these how-to-draw-superhero-lessons from my childhood. I loved these segments and always looked forward to them when buying Treasury / Limited Collector Editions–they certainly spurred my interest in drawing, esp. the action-oriented or heroic human figure.
The eye-opening learning and visual experience absorbed here in my kiddy days was how you could render things that are fairly detailed or complex in form by first seeing them in much more simplified schematic shapes–which fascinated me. In my later years as a teen and early adult, and as an art major, I discovered the books of Burne Hogarth whose dynamic sense of heads and human figures further aided the drawing skills.
As these lessons were all featured in Treasury/ Limited Collector Editions, the ones I still esp. remember, even if I no longer have them (but I still have all the Hogarth books), were the Superman from Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-31 (Oct.-Nov. 1975) and the Captain Marvel / Shazam from Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-35 (Apr.-May 1975). I just soaked these up.
I cannot thank you enough, Dan. This was just a wonderful post.
July 13, 2024
Don’t thank me! It was all Peter Bosch’s idea and execution!
July 13, 2024
Darn! I’m usually more careful checking the by-line ( I ran with the “posted by Dan Greenfield”). Thank you, thank you Mr. Bosch for the fantastic trip down the artistic memory lane. Wonderful stuff.
July 13, 2024
Dan is our Editor in Residence or is it excellence? Let’s just say both!
July 13, 2024
Hi Buck,
Happy to concur on the “both” option for Dan. But there needs to be a way to make the actual authors of posts more obvious (IMO).
“Posted by Dan Greenfield” is at the top of the page in a rather large font. “By Peter Bosch” is below the first illustration in a more reduced font. So, it seems the former is being given the greater primacy–esp. as it is always present with the article’s title and subtitle (“Class in Session: The DC Comics School of Art is Now Open” and “13 times Infantino, Swan, Kubert and MORE taught you how to draw your fave superheroes…”).
Shouldn’t the post’s actual author get the notice here as united with the article’s title and subtitle? The actual designing of the page makes it easy to conclude, IMO, that Dan authored this. Maybe reverse this: Make “by Peter Bosch” the large font name as sandwiched in between the article’s title and subtitle. And then below the first illustration a reduced font by-line “posted by Dan Greenfield.”
This is further compounded by the issue that “posted” sometimes can be synonymous with “written by” or “authored by” (as in the case of myself here)–hence my attribution error which I’ve done more than once. Here “posted” most literally means “posted” as in “submitted it to the web”. But this is less obvious (to me) with Dan’s name in a large font surrounded by the title and subtitle of the article. Here “posted” suggests “authored”.
Otherwise, I will try to be more and extra observant in the future–though with the current design layout, misattributions are likely to happen again. Thanks guys! Love the site! And I love the posts.
July 13, 2024
Think of it like “STAN LEE Presents…” JUST KIDDING! It’s a valid point and why I don’t put my own byline on stories. No byline = me. Byline = whoever wrote it. The issue is with the site’s physical structure: Posted by John Doe would mean John Doe has their own sign-in. In other circumstances that would be fine but in this case, I physically produce every story. All the writers send me the material and I edit and arrange it, so there’s a consistent feel. It also alleviates them from the grunt work. But I’ll certainly consider bigger bylines. I want to make sure everyone gets the proper credit!
July 14, 2024
Hi, William. Thank you for series of posts. First, I am glad you thought so much of my piece. Your feeling for it means a lot.
As to the subject of billing, as it were, I have no objection to my name being larger as I put a lot of work into each article but I also consider it an honor to write for 13th Dimension. And 13th Dimension is Dan’s baby. Every day, he manages to add two or three articles from contributors like me. Every day. That’s a lot of work. I’ve never managed a website with all the technical things that go into it, and I’m not sure I would ever want to do so. I am a writer. It’s what I do. I leave it up to Dan to make a column out of the article and images and video clips I send him — and he does. I am satisfied with his name appearing where it is. (Of course, if he wants to have an animated image of a plane flying in a banner with my name on it and “The Star-Spangled Banner” playing, I’d probably be okay with that.)
Dan, keep up the great, great work!
July 14, 2024
Thanks, Peter! I was just singing your praises yesterday!
July 13, 2024
Schaffenberger was always my favorite; the guy I wished I could draw like! In spite of having cartoons in the school paper I draw like a drunk college kid copying “The Wizard of Id” very badly! I remember a lot of these “How To” pages, even in the reprints! Thanks for the memories!
July 13, 2024
Excellent post. These comics pre-date the period I spent collecting so seeing them here for the first time is a joy. Thank you.
July 13, 2024
Great post ! Fun stuff.
July 14, 2024
I remember a lot of these. The ones I most practiced on were the Tarzan pages from Joe Kubert and C.C. Beck’s Captain and Mary Marvel. Lots of fun!
July 25, 2024
Oh man I sent away for that Limited Collectors’ Edition and loved drawing that haunted house! Might be the first time I learned about inking then erasing pencils too.