Favorite Pre-crisis Superman Artists besides Curt Swan and Wayne Boring

[dto]

The 1st one that come stop mind is Al Plastino. Take a few minutes and just think of all the classic stories he drew. Seriously, make a list, and you will be amaze to find that some of the most important stories were drawn not bu Curt or Wayne, but good old Al! 1st ever Kryptonite story and 1st time Superman finds out he is from Krypton, Al drew it. 1st Supergirl story, Al drew it and co created her. 1st Legion story, that's right good old Al! 1st time Superman fights evil kryptonians, that's right Al! 1st brainiac story and co-created him at that. Same with Metallo! And the list goes on and on and on, so please lets give him more credit and show him some love. BTW, he about 85 and still very much alive.

Even though many fans consider Jim Mooney THE Silver Age Supergirl artist, I somewhat prefer Al Plastino's original Kara Zor-El as seen in Action Comics #252.  (Seen at https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/supergirl/introducing/ , of course.)   
Mooney's Supergirl was a bit too "dewy-eyed" for my tastes, even when she WASN'T going *choke*, *sob*.   

Compare these two nearly identical retellings of Kara's origins, particularly their depictions of Supergirl:


Al Plastino --

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/supergirl/introducing/?page=2 (I particularly love Kara's portrait in the last panel.)

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/supergirl/introducing/?page=3

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/supergirl/introducing/?page=4



Jim Mooney

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/tales3/greatest/?page=58 (Compare Linda's face in panel 4 to Plastino's close-up.)

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/tales3/greatest/?page=59

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/tales3/greatest/?page=60


Comparing their faces, Mooney's Kara has softer features and larger eyes for a more "innocent" and "sentimental" look.  His Supergirl actually appears slightly younger than 16 years old in this story.  Plastino's sharper cheekbones and general demeanor seem appropriate for an older teen ready to take on the role of Supergirl -- see the very last panel of https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/supergirl/introducing/?page=8 and you can detect Kara's general self-confidence despite her inner qurestions.  And in the previous Plastino close-up, you can easily see her winning charm in Kara's eyes and smile. 

It's a pity that Al Plastino didn't draw more Supergirl adventures, but at least he was the one who started Kara's long journey.  And for that, I'm very grateful.

[nightwing]

JulianPerez writes:

I absolutely love Ross Andru's take on the character, but only post-1978 or so when he returned from his stint on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. When Ross Andru returned to DC, it was absolutely nothing compared to what he was before: he combined his polish with Marvel and Kirby-style action and dynamism. Ross Andru's Superman was handsome and powerful and magnificent to watch, and his women always wore the finest fashoins. Ross Andru's finest work had to have been on those Superman/Spider-Man team-up digests.

Well Julian we long ago agreed to disagree on Andru's version of Superman, but you should know that some facts have come to light in recent years regarding "Superman vs. Spider-Man."  Namely, the fact that Neal Adams went in and re-drew a great deal of Andru's pencils on that book.  This was revealed by Dick Giordano (who inked the book) a couple years ago and confirmed again in the new "Krypton Companion."

Giordano did say he regretted letting this "secret" slip, as it implies Andru was somehow sub-par.  And he added that Neal did his best to draw "Andru style," with that quirky anatomy and bizarre foreshortening Ross was known for, but in the end much of it is Neal's work.

It's also hinted that another artist (Romita? I forget) tweaked some of the Spidey images.

[Aldous]

Neal Adams has some "bizarre foreshortening" of his own.

I feel I must put in a good word for Ross as some of my favourite comics are drawn by him. When I was a kid I loved him on "Amazing Spider-Man" when it was being written by the great Len Wein. Sometimes Ross's art was perfect for a certain type of comic, and that's the most any reader can ask for.

[Lee Semmens]

If we're going all the way back to the Golden Age (and why not?), then I have to put in a vote for Jack Burnley, one of the greatest to ever work on Superman or Batman.

Jack Burnley is my favorite Golden Age Superman (and Batman - along with Dick Sprang) artist. He and Al Plastino are apparently the only two living Golden Age Superman artists.

Relatively recently, on another message board a poster mentioned that he thought that Burnley's work very much reminded him of my all time favorite Superman artist, Curt Swan, and, on thinking about it, I agree with him!

The quirky Wayne Boring is also another one of my favorites.

[JulianPerez]

Well Julian we long ago agreed to disagree on Andru's version of Superman, but you should know that some facts have come to light in recent years regarding "Superman vs. Spider-Man."  Namely, the fact that Neal Adams went in and re-drew a great deal of Andru's pencils on that book.  This was revealed by Dick Giordano (who inked the book) a couple years ago and confirmed again in the new "Krypton Companion."

Giordano did say he regretted letting this "secret" slip, as it implies Andru was somehow sub-par.  And he added that Neal did his best to draw "Andru style," with that quirky anatomy and bizarre foreshortening Ross was known for, but in the end much of it is Neal's work.

Interesting. I don't deny this story is true, however...it's a stretch to interpret this as Andru being an uninspired artist with weird anatomy that is made readable by Adams and others touching him up.

Also I can't get out of my head now the mental image of Adams and Romita pulling a "Shoemaker and the Elves" by jumping out of the closet when Andru leaves at night, and finishing his pages, all to the tune of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies."

My vote are for Gil Kane an Garcia-Lopez,their dynamic Superman is second to none!

I'm with you on the incredible Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and I don't think enough people mention how great he was at capturing expressions and faces, and what a wonderful, playful sort of sense of humor he had.

Kane on the other hand...Gil Kane is one of the greatest adventure artists that ever lived, but when he tried to write Superman as well as draw, the result was embarassing. A whole while back, I called Gil Kane's 1983 Superman Special "the worst Pre-Crisis Superman story ever." And as inevitably happens to artists that write their own stuff (Kirby comes to mind here) when he plotted his own comic, Kane's art got lazier and far less detailed and busy.

[Super Monkey]

And as inevitably happens to artists that write their own stuff (Kirby comes to mind here) when he plotted his own comic, Kane's art got lazier and far less detailed and busy.

Actually Jack Kirby plotted most of his old marvel comics. Jack just wasn't very good with words, but his ideas however were some of the greatest ever, he just couldn't write dialogue to save his life. However, that said, in some ways his dialogue was so over the top and weird that it was actually fun and cool, I mean let's face it he is fun to quote

 

[Permanus]

I've tried to like it, honestly I have, but frankly, I find Kane's art deadly boring.

[Sword of Superman]

My vote are for Gil Kane an Garcia-Lopez,their dynamic Superman is second to none!

I'm with you on the incredible Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and I don't think enough people mention how great he was at capturing expressions and faces, and what a wonderful, playful sort of sense of humor he had.

Kane on the other hand...Gil Kane is one of the greatest adventure artists that ever lived, but when he tried to write Superman as well as draw, the result was embarassing. A whole while back, I called Gil Kane's 1983 Superman Special "the worst Pre-Crisis Superman story ever." And as inevitably happens to artists that write their own stuff (Kirby comes to mind here) when he plotted his own comic, Kane's art got lazier and far less detailed and busy.

Julian i forgot to mention the Neal Adams Superman,another good interpretation,i agree with you about the story of Superman special by Kane,but i still remain of my opinion about is versione of the Man of Steel,maybe is not the best out there,but is still one of my favorit.