As far as I'm aware, this was the only time Curt Swan worked with George Perez, which is kind of a shame because they complement each other wonderfully. Traditionalists probably preferred getting Murphy Anderson for the second part, but as a Perez fan who also grew up with the Swan stories, I find this art close to my platonic ideal.
One part of the story that gets relatively little attention is Perry and Alice's marital strife, which had been a long-running plot in the Cary Bates stories that Bates, to be honest, either didn't seem to know how to resolve or didn't want to resolve. Moore's treatment of it is a bit cursory, granted, but it works pretty well within the larger tableau.
Although it's sometimes presented as doing so, the story doesn't get anywhere close to featuring Superman's ENTIRE rogues' gallery, even if you leave out the enemies who appeared only once. Terra-Man and the Parasite get written out before the story begins and Mongul, a memorable figure in another Moore Super-story, doesn't even rate a mention. (Zod and his fellow Phantom Zone villains get a one-panel cameo.) Even Moore recognized there was only so much that 46 pages could hold.
Todd Klein, probably the most widely recognized letterer in the business today, lettered both parts of this story. He is best known for his work on Sandman, and here and there (especially on the first page) you can see the flair he'd bring to that work when the occasion called for it. His relationship with Moore's work would continue with Supreme and the entire America's Best Comics line, as well as a special "Alphabets of Desire" print.
"Whatever Happened To" stories were a semi-regular feature in DC Comics Presents for a couple of years. They featured relatively obscure characters by the standards of the day. The title still carries a lot of meaning without this reference, but contemporary Superman fans would appreciate the twist on this old format, which along with the rest of the front page implies a future where even Superman's memory is starting to fade a bit.
Part of the appeal with Swan's work here is the essence of continuity. It'd be like having Kirby do a 'whatever happened to the FF' story, to some degree. Swan was the default Superman artist of my youth...and reading this again now, I'm impressed by his draftsmanship. Solid artwork, great flow and expressive characters.
I remember being amazed at the full-on ability of this story to basically go full apocalypse prior to the reboot. Yes, we know it was coming and that this was basically 'an imaginary story', but it was just an amazing one.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lordultimus) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
scans_daily2018-10-18 06:22 pm
no subject
As far as I'm aware, this was the only time Curt Swan worked with George Perez, which is kind of a shame because they complement each other wonderfully. Traditionalists probably preferred getting Murphy Anderson for the second part, but as a Perez fan who also grew up with the Swan stories, I find this art close to my platonic ideal.
One part of the story that gets relatively little attention is Perry and Alice's marital strife, which had been a long-running plot in the Cary Bates stories that Bates, to be honest, either didn't seem to know how to resolve or didn't want to resolve. Moore's treatment of it is a bit cursory, granted, but it works pretty well within the larger tableau.
Although it's sometimes presented as doing so, the story doesn't get anywhere close to featuring Superman's ENTIRE rogues' gallery, even if you leave out the enemies who appeared only once. Terra-Man and the Parasite get written out before the story begins and Mongul, a memorable figure in another Moore Super-story, doesn't even rate a mention. (Zod and his fellow Phantom Zone villains get a one-panel cameo.) Even Moore recognized there was only so much that 46 pages could hold.
Todd Klein, probably the most widely recognized letterer in the business today, lettered both parts of this story. He is best known for his work on Sandman, and here and there (especially on the first page) you can see the flair he'd bring to that work when the occasion called for it. His relationship with Moore's work would continue with Supreme and the entire America's Best Comics line, as well as a special "Alphabets of Desire" print.
"Whatever Happened To" stories were a semi-regular feature in DC Comics Presents for a couple of years. They featured relatively obscure characters by the standards of the day. The title still carries a lot of meaning without this reference, but contemporary Superman fans would appreciate the twist on this old format, which along with the rest of the front page implies a future where even Superman's memory is starting to fade a bit.
no subject
Part of the appeal with Swan's work here is the essence of continuity. It'd be like having Kirby do a 'whatever happened to the FF' story, to some degree. Swan was the default Superman artist of my youth...and reading this again now, I'm impressed by his draftsmanship. Solid artwork, great flow and expressive characters.
I remember being amazed at the full-on ability of this story to basically go full apocalypse prior to the reboot. Yes, we know it was coming and that this was basically 'an imaginary story', but it was just an amazing one.