Editing Curt Swan (section)

===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>