One day, I was admiring one of Superboy's cover done by Curt Swan and started rambling on to my mother on how much I liked it and wondered how Swan drew the figures. My Mother said, "Why don't you write him a letter and ask him?"

So, I did.

About three or four weeks later (maybe more) he responded. Talk about thrilled! In his letter which he penciled he included some examples of how he drew the body and head and how they are proportioned. He also encouraged me and advised me to practiced, practiced, and to practiced. This was what I needed and I went to it. I was elated.

I wrote him two more letters and again he answered.

Even though, I never became a hot shot artist I still remember and cherish the advice and the time he gave me.

Curt Swan was a great man. And is still one of my art heroes along with Neal Adams, Michangelo, Rubenss, and Norman Rockwell.

I'm not so fond these days, and he represents a lot of what makes it hard for me to read old school now, but I still remember thinking he was the bees knees

Swan's contribution to the Superman mythology cannot be overstated. Even with subpar inkers, his work was great. In the hands of inkers like Murphy Anderson and George Klein, it was magnificent.

And when is DC going to publish a Sand Superman TPB? They're on a Silver Age kick, so I hope sooner rather than later.

Working on Superman with Curt Swan was one of the great pleasures of my career. That he took time to call and tell me how much he enjoyed drawing my stories was a thrill beyond my abilities to describe.

Curt was a great artist and a gentleman in the best sense of that word. It felt good to see him lionized at conventions in his later years.

It's hard to believe that over a decade has passed since we lost him. We will miss him forever.

-- Uncle Rog

1. Curt Swan

2. Everyone else.

Curt Swan is the definitive Superman artist.

I pretty much ignore any Superman stories not drawn by him, with a few exceptions of course. I did like John Byrne's run after Crisis on Infinite Earth. Jeph Loebs and Tim Sale's SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS, and a few others.

Curt Swan, like Jim Aparo, was an artist we took for granted. Never the "hot" artist, but a reliable one who did his best whatever the job and/or quality of scripts. He was also the one who got me hooked on the Legion of Superheroes. The Sundays-style two pages Superman strip in the ACTION COMICS (during the John Byrne era) was the best thing in that anthology. It didn't hurt either that he was finally reunited with Murphy Anderson on inks. The Swanderson team! A classic team if there ever was one! (okay, there was also the Andru/Esposito and a few others). But I am among those who think that Curt Swan best inker was George Klein who had a cleaner and fuller brusk stroke that Murphy's multiple short fine strokes.

I would also recommend Curt Swan occasionnal fill-ins in Ordway's cool POWER OF SHAZAM series. Swan mostly did flashback stories about the golden age adventures of Fawcett heroes like Ibis, Spysmasher, etc.

One of the most prized volume of my collection is the harcover edition of CURT SWAN: A LIFE IN COMICS published by Vanguard. Tons of sketches, paintings, commercial art, and, best of all, the model sheets for Superman's cast of characters with many different facial expressions. Swan was a master of facial expression that maybe only Neal Adams could challenge. You should see the model sheet for Legion of Superheroes! Every legionnaire's face has his own hair-style, even the guys! Everyone one of them unique and different from the other. Easy for the girls, but the guys in the 50's and 60's comics all had the same look back then! Not when they were drawn by Curt Swan though!

(Also, Curt Swan drew my favorite Superman story ever, the Bronze Age one where Jonathan Kent comes back from the dead thanks to the power of helpful aliens who owed him a favour, and where Superman fights an evil hippie with magical wishing powers.)

I also encountered his work in those old Superman comics at a relatives house a s a kid I mentioned before. Maybe that was part of the charm? I'm sure it was.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Curt Swan per se, but I really, really need to express my love for those panels above. "Wow, check it out! There's two of us, and each is a hundred times smarter!" "Cool! Our first order of business: to notice our costumes are different colours!"