Editing Curt Swan (section)

==Biography==

===Early life and career===
Curt Swan was born in [[Minneapolis]]<ref name=Aamodt>{{cite web|url= https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2015/12/minnesotan-curt-swan-helped-create-superman-we-know-today|title= Minnesotan Curt Swan helped create the Superman we know today|first= Britt|last= Aamodt|date= December 1, 2015|work= [[MinnPost]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151212040728/https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2015/12/minnesotan-curt-swan-helped-create-superman-we-know-today|archive-date= December 12, 2015|url-status= dead|df= mdy-all|access-date= July 9, 2017}}</ref> on February 17, 1920,<ref>{{cite web|last=Avila|first=Mike|title=The Enduring Greatness of Curt Swan, the Forever Superman Artist|date=2020-02-18|website=[[Syfy]]|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-enduring-greatness-of-curt-swan-the-forever-superman-artist|accessdate=2024-11-15}}</ref> the youngest of five children. Swan's [[Swedes|Swedish]] grandmother had shortened and Americanized the original family name of Svensson.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Father John Swan worked for the [[Rail transport|railroads]]; mother Leontine Jessie Hanson<ref name="marriage">{{Cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M5-SW2T |title=Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860–1949 – Marriage Certificate between John Swan and Leontine Jessie Hanson on December 5, 1910 |access-date=March 13, 2017 |work=FamilySearch}}</ref> had worked in a local hospital.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eury |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Eury |date=2006 |title=The Krypton Companion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fcm4JrX-F54C&pg=PA58 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |page=58 |isbn=1-893905-61-6}}</ref> As a boy, Swan's given name – Douglas – was shortened to "Doug," and, disliking the phonetic similarity to "Dog," Swan thereafter reversed the order of his given names and went by "Curtis Douglas," rather than "Douglas Curtis."<ref>Swan's former wife Helene, in {{cite book|last = Zeno|first = Eddy.|chapter= Helene Swan|title = Curt Swan A Life in Comics|publisher = [[J. David Spurlock|Vanguard Productions]]|year = 2002|location= Lebanon, New Jersey|page = 56|isbn = 978-1887591393}}</ref>

Having enlisted in Minnesota's National Guard's 135th Regiment, [[34th Infantry Division (United States)|34th Division]] in 1940, Swan was sent to Europe when the "federalized" division was shipped initially to Northern Ireland and Scotland. While his comrades in the 34th eventually went into combat in North Africa and Italy, Swan spent most of World War II working as an artist for the G.I. magazine ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]''. While at ''Stars and Stripes'', Swan met writer [[France Herron]], who eventually directed him to [[DC Comics]].<ref>Zeno "The First Fifteen Years", p. 10</ref>

During this period Swan married the former Helene Brickley, whom he had met at a dance at [[Fort Dix]], [[New Jersey]], and who was stationed near him in Paris in 1944 as a [[Red Cross]] worker; they were married in Paris in April 1945.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hoytfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=564624 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240528090052/https://www.webcitation.org/71npi2WsC?url=http://www.hoytfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi%3Fuser_id=564624 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 28, 2024 |title=In Memory of Helene Rose Swan |publisher=Hoyt Funeral Home |df=mdy-all |access-date=March 3, 2017}}</ref> Shortly after returning to civilian life in 1945, he moved from Minnesota to New Jersey and began working for [[DC Comics]].<ref name="GCD">{{gcdb|type=credit|search=Curt+Swan}}</ref> Apart from a few months of night classes at the [[Pratt Institute]] under the [[G.I. Bill]], Swan was an entirely self-taught artist.<ref>Zeno "The First Fifteen Years", p. 17</ref> After a stint on ''[[Boy Commandos]]'' he began to just pencil pages, leaving the inking to others.{{sfn|Eury|2006|pp=60–61}}

===Superman===
[[File:Adventure296.png|thumb|left|200px|''[[Adventure Comics]]'' #296 (May 1962), cover art by Swan, inks by [[George Klein (comics)|George Klein]]]]
Initially, Swan drew many different features, including "[[Tommy Tomorrow]]" and "[[Gangbusters]]",<ref name="GCD" /> but slowly he began gravitating towards the [[Superman]] line of books. His first job pencilling the iconic character was for ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'' #51 (March–April 1948).<ref name="Gravett">{{cite web |url= http://www.paulgravett.com/index.php/articles/article/curt_swan/|title= Curt Swan: A Superman Walked Among Us|first= Paul|last= Gravett|author-link = Paul Gravett|year= 2002|publisher= Comic Book Marketplace |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120414122242/http://www.paulgravett.com/index.php/articles/article/curt_swan|archive-date= April 14, 2012|url-status= live|access-date= March 28, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/swan_curt.htm|title= Curt Swan|year= 2012|publisher= [[Lambiek|Lambiek Comiclopedia]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120921224905/http://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/swan_curt.htm|archive-date= September 21, 2012|url-status= live}}</ref> Many comics of the 1940s and 1950s lacked contributor credits, but research shows that Swan began pencilling the ''[[Superboy (comic book)|Superboy]]'' series with its fifth issue in 1949.<ref>Zeno "The First Fifteen Years", p. 13</ref> He drew the first comics meeting of Superman and [[Batman]] in ''Superman'' #76 (May–June 1952).<ref>{{cite book|last= Manning|first= Matthew K.|last2=Dougall|first2=Alastair, ed.|chapter= 1950s|title= Batman: A Visual History|publisher= [[Dorling Kindersley]]|year= 2014|location= London, United Kingdom|page= 50|isbn= 978-1465424563|quote= Batman and Superman finally came face-to-face in this landmark issue that teamed the Dark Knight Detective with the Man of Steel for the very first time in print ... thanks to writer Edmond Hamilton and iconic Superman artist Curt Swan.}}</ref> The two heroes began teaming on a regular basis in ''[[World's Finest Comics]]'' #71 (July–August 1954) in a story which was also drawn by Swan.<ref>Manning "1950s" in Dougall, p. 54: "This issue combined the two super heroes in a new format of 36 pages. The cover story was dedicated to Superman and Batman's adventure, a tale written by Alvin Schwartz and penciled by Curt Swan."</ref> Swan always felt that his breakthrough came when he was assigned the art duties on ''[[Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen]]'', in 1954.<ref name="ReferenceA">Zeno "The First Fifteen Years", p. 16</ref>

Swan didn't take to line editor [[Mort Weisinger]]'s controlling style. Swan discussed this period in an interview: "I was getting terrible migraine headaches and had these verbal battles with Mort. So it was emotional, physical. It just drained me and I thought I'd better get out of here before I go whacko." After leaving comics for the advertising world in 1951, Swan soon returned, for DC's higher paychecks. And as biographer Eddy Zeno notes, "The headaches went away after [Swan] gained Weisinger's respect by standing up to him."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Around 1954, Swan unsuccessfully pitched an original [[comic strip]] for newspaper syndication. Called ''Yellow Hair'', it was about a blond boy raised by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]s.<ref>Zeno, p. 158</ref> A couple of years later, starting with the episode of June 18, 1956, Swan drew the ''Superman'' daily newspaper [[Superman (comic strip)|comic strip]], which he continued on until November 12, 1960.<ref>Zeno "Swan and the Superman Newspaper Strip", p. 46</ref>

In the view of comics historian [[Les Daniels]], Swan became the definitive artist of Superman in the early 1960s with a "new look" to the character that replaced [[Wayne Boring]]'s version.<ref>{{cite book|last = Daniels|first = Les|author-link = Les Daniels|chapter= The Superman Family Strength in Numbers|title = DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes|publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company|Bulfinch Press]]|year = 1995|location= New York, New York|page = 118|isbn = 0821220764|quote= By 1961, Swan's new look would replace Wayne Boring's patriarchal version. Swan's Superman became definitive, and ultimately he would draw, as he says, 'more Superman stories than anybody else.'}}</ref> The [[Composite Superman]] was co-created by Swan and [[Edmond Hamilton]] in ''World's Finest Comics'' #142 (June 1964).<ref>[[Matt Forbeck|Forbeck, Matt]] "1960s" in Dougall, p. 84: "In this tale from Edmond Hamilton and Curt Swan, an angry janitor received the powers of the entire Legion of Super-Heroes."</ref> Swan and writer [[Jim Shooter]] crafted the story "Superman's Race with the Flash!" in ''Superman'' #199 (August 1967) which featured the first race between the [[Barry Allen|Flash]] and Superman, two characters known for their [[Speedster (fiction)|super-speed powers]].<ref>{{cite book|last=McAvennie|first= Michael|last2=Dolan|first2=Hannah, ed.|chapter= 1960s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page= 124 |quote = Since the dawn of comics' Silver Age, readers have asked 'Who's faster: Superman or the Flash?' Writer Jim Shooter and artist Curt Swan tried answering that question when the Man of Steel and the Fastest Man Alive agreed to the U.N.'s request to race each other for charity.}}</ref> Over the years, Swan was a remarkably consistent and prolific artist, often illustrating two or more titles per month. Swan remained as artist of ''Superman'' when [[Julius Schwartz]] became the editor of the title with issue #233 (January 1971), and writer [[Denny O'Neil]] streamlined the Superman mythos, starting with the elimination of [[Kryptonite]].<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 144 "New editor Julius Schwartz, new scripter Denny O'Neil, and regular artist Curt Swan removed the Man of Steel's greatest weakness from the face of the Earth."</ref> Among Swan's contributions to the Superman mythos, he and writer [[Cary Bates]] co-created the [[supervillain]]s [[Terra-Man]]<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 150: "Scripter Cary Bates and artist Curt Swan chose an inopportune time for Superman to meet Terra-Man, a [[Spaghetti Western|Spaghetti Western-garbed]] menace who rode a winged horse and wielded lethal alien weaponry."</ref> and the 1970s version of the [[Toyman#Jack Nimball|Toyman]]<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 158: "Writer Cary Bates and artist Curt Swan gave Superman all the 'fun' he could handle with the savvy new Toyman in ''Action Comics'' #432."</ref> as well as the [[superhero]] [[Vartox]].<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 161: "Fans of John Boorman's 1974 sci-fi film ''Zardoz'', starring Sean Connery in revealing red spandex, could appreciate writer Cary Bates and artist Curt Swan's inspiration for Vartox of Valeron."</ref> Writer [[Martin Pasko]] and Swan created the [[Carl Draper|Master Jailer]] character in ''Superman'' #331 (January 1979).<ref>McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 180: "Writer Martin Pasko and artist Curt Swan introduced ... the Master Jailer."</ref>

===Later life and career===
[[File:Superman423.jpg|thumb|200px|Swan's cover for ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'' #423 (Sept. 1986), the first half of "[[Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?]]"]]
After DC's 1985 12-issue [[Limited series (comics)|limited series]] ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'' and with the impending 1986 revision of Superman by writer/artist [[John Byrne (comics)|John Byrne]], Swan was released from his duties on the Superman comics. Critic Wallace Harrington summed up Swan's dismissal this way:

{{blockquote|... the most striking thing that DC did was to completely turn their back on the one man that had defined Superman for three decades ... They closed the door and turned out the lights on the creator that had defined their whole line. With no real thanks, no pomp nor circumstance, DC simply relieved Curt of his artistic duties on Superman. Curt Swan who had drawn Superman in ''Action'', ''Lois Lane'', ''Jimmy Olsen'', ''Superman'', and ''World's Finest'', and drew Superboy in ''Adventure Comics'', who was the quintessential Superman artist of the 1960s, '70s and '80s. He became just another victim of the 1980s implosion. Gone.<ref>Harrington, Wallace. [http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics.php?topic=creators/c-creators-swan "Commentary: A Fine Way to Say Thank You"], Superman Home Page. Accessed March 28, 2009.</ref>}}

Swan's last work as regular artist on Superman was the non-canonical 1986 story "[[Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?|Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?]]", written by [[Alan Moore]].<ref>Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 220: "In 'Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?', a two-part story written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Curt Swan, the adventures of the Silver Age Superman came to a dramatic close."</ref>

After this, Swan continued to do occasional minor projects for DC, including the artwork of what is thought to be one of the rarest Superman comics ever published, titled "This Island Bradman" (written by [[David P. Levin]]), a comic book that was privately commissioned in 1988 by real estate tycoon Godfrey Bradman as a Bar Mitzvah gift for his son,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.recalledcomics.com/SupermanBradman.php|title= ''Superman'' #nn Bradman Private Commission|date= n.d.|publisher= RecalledComics.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140103092436/http://www.recalledcomics.com/SupermanBradman.php|archive-date= January 3, 2014|url-status= live|quote= This comic was commissioned by English property tycoon Godfrey Bradman for somewhere around £10,000 (around $18,000 back then) to celebrate his son Daniel's 13th birthday (Bar Mitzvah) and was given out to his friends to mark the occasion.}}</ref> as well as an [[Aquaman]] limited series and special in 1989,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Trumbull |first=John |date=October 2018 |title=Changing Tides: The Post-Crisis Aquaman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgZxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |journal=[[Back Issue!]] |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |issue=108 |pages=36–37}}</ref> and various returns on illustrating Superman, including the prestige format graphic novel one-shot ''Superman: The Earth Stealers'' in 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/comic-book-legends-revealed-529/ |title=Comic Book Legends Revealed #529 |last=Cronin |first=Brian |date=June 26, 2015 |website=[[Comic Book Resources]] |access-date=August 23, 2015}}</ref>

In 1995, Swan did four illustrations for ''[[Penthouse Comix]]''<ref>{{cite comic|writer= [[Larry Niven|Niven, Larry]]|penciller= Swan, Curt|inker= Swan, Curt|story= Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex|title= Penthouse Comix|issue= 5|date= January–February 1995| publisher= [[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]| page= | panel=}}</ref> for the [[Larry Niven]] essay "[[Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex]]," which detailed the problems that Superman would face in having [[sexual intercourse]] and [[sexual reproduction|reproducing]] with a human woman, using arguments based on humorous yet logical reconciliations between [[physics]], [[biology]], and the abilities of [[Kryptonians]] as presented in the Superman comic books.<ref>''Knight, The Magazine for the Adult Male'', Volume 7, Issue 8, December 1969.</ref>

Swan's [[swan song]] was five pages published posthumously in the 1996 special ''[[Superman: The Wedding Album]]''.<ref>Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 275: " The behind-the-scenes talent on the monumental issue appropriately spanned several generations of the Man of Tomorrow's career. Written by Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, David Michelinie, Louise Simonson, and Roger Stern, the one-shot featured the pencils of John Byrne, Gil Kane, Stuart Immonen, Paul Ryan, Jon Bogdanove, Kieron Dwyer, Tom Grummett, Dick Giordano, Jim Mooney, Curt Swan, Nick Cardy, Al Plastino, Barry Kitson, Ron Frenz, and Dan Jurgens."</ref>

Swan died June 17, 1996, in [[Wilton, Connecticut]].<ref name=Aamodt/> Helene Swan died at the age of 91 on January 27, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/ncadvertiser/news/obits/113563-helene-r-swan-91-real-estate-agent-traveler.html |title=Helene R. Swan, 91, real estate agent, traveler |date=February 2, 2012 |work=The New Canaan Advertiser |publisher=[[Hersam Acorn Newspapers]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240525185208/https://www.webcitation.org/663LrQAZC?url=http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/ncadvertiser/news/obits/113563-helene-r-swan-91-real-estate-agent-traveler.html |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |access-date=March 10, 2012 |quote=Helene Rose Swan, a longtime resident of Westport ... died after a long illness on Friday, Jan. 27, at Waveny Care Center, surrounded by her family. She was 91, and the wife of more than 35 years to the late Curtis D. {{sic}} Swan. |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

A previously unpublished story featuring Swan's art debuted in [[Action Comics 1000|''Action Comics'' #1000]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/action-comics-1000-deluxe-hardcover/ |title=DC Announces Action Comics #1000 Deluxe Hardcover Release |last=Herviou |first=Nicole |date=May 1, 2018 |website=Comic Book Resources |access-date=May 1, 2018}}</ref>