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Did Kurt S also do Captain Marvel/SHAZAM? I love his style as well and reading his Superman reminds me of The Dick Van Dyke show. With the Superman books you had one stop shopping. Action, teen comedy, family books, it’s almost as if they covered every genre and added Superman just because everything is better with Superman. I think of facial expressions when I think of Kurt Shaffenberger. (sp?)
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Kurt Schaffenberger. Schaffen in German means "to create," from the same Germanic root as "to shape" in English. Schaffenberg is a town in Upper Austria, near Bavaria. Schaffenberg literally means Creation Mountain (I think). Someone from Schaffenberg would be a Schaffenberger.
But Kurt was born on a farm in the Thuringian Forest (the Thüringer Wald in the state of Thüringen), in Germany in 1920. When he was seven his family came to the United States. He won a scholarship to the Pratt Institute and after graduating he worked at the Jack Binder studio, which produced art for Fawcett Comics.
Jack Binder's brother was Otto Binder, who wrote for Fawcett. They had another brother, Earl, who wrote science fiction with Otto under the name Eando Binder (E. & O.)--they created the Adam Link stories--"I, Robot" et al (not to be confused with the later I, ROBOT from Isaac Asimov). Earl later left the writing to Otto and became his brother's literary agent. But Jack was the artist in the family and was a big deal in the 1940s comics industry.
When the U.S. got involved in World War Two, Kurt joined up. And, as he was fluent in German, he worked at the O.S.S.
Schaffenberger's Fawcett work is most notable for his work on the Marvel Family and Ibis the Invincible. He also worked for many other publishers, as well.
In 1957, Otto Binder arranged for Schaffenberger to come over to National Comics and work on the Superman family. And soon after that he scored his gig on the new SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE.
I love the look of Kurt's characters. But I think the defining feature is his line work. His lines are so smooth and perfect and give an elegance to all his artwork. Also, I feel that these sure lines better reproduced in the old comics, so the artwork came out clean. Other artists, with messier lines didn't reproduce as well in the classic format.
I can't get enough of Schaffenberger art. Every time I read a "new" Schaffenberger story (new for me), I'm in heaven.
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Always enjoyed Kurt’s work. I first saw in the old Superman Family series. Always a comfort to his work. I’d always see reprints of Lois Lane & Jimmy Olsen with his work. I also loved his art on the 80’s Superboy series. Amazingly consistent artist.
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Garcia Lopez. I know we're supposed to say Curt, but they all have an issue with giving him their weird artistic affectations facially. I think it's because he doesn't wear a mask so there's no way to hide the 'standard male face' the artist draws. It always bothered me how Byrne always made him look smug, Jurgens made him look clueless, etc.
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A few of my favorites in no particular order:
Shuster
Boring
Swan
Garcia-Lopez
Perez
Jurgens
Ordway
Grummet
Bogs
Immonen
Wieringo
McGuinness
Frank
Pacheco
Gleason
Reis
Shaner
Honorable mentions as they didn't do much solo Superman work: Dillin, Simonson
Finally, a guy who doesn't get enough credit for his work anymore and whose Superman is unforgettable: Renato Guedes.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]121320[/ATTACH]
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[QUOTE=Kirk Brent;6060940]A few of my favorites in no particular order:
Shuster
Boring
Swan
Garcia-Lopez
Perez
Jurgens
Ordway
Grummet
Bogs
Immonen
Wieringo
McGuinness
Frank
Pacheco
Gleason
Reis
Shaner
Honorable mentions as they didn't do much solo Superman work: Dillin, Simonson
Finally, a guy who doesn't get enough credit for his work anymore and whose Superman is unforgettable: Renato Guedes.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]121320[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
Now that you mention it, I actually kind of consider that the defining image of Superman in the post One Year Later era. It was certainly better than those hideous black and white charcoal sketches Adam Kubert kept churning out when he took 2 years to draw 5 issues of Action Comics...
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1- Jim Lee
2- Alex Ross
3- Gary Frank
When i finally have access to the original American comics in 2003 thanks to internet and my first credit card. There was this immense hype around Batman: Hush story. Everyone was losing it over how Jim Lee would draw Superman for the first time. This left a unshakable profound imperession on me as Jim Lee is the greatest thing has ever happened to Superman. I don't think i will ever get over the fact that how big of a name Jim Lee was back then and he is still a big name.
I really like how visually majestic and realistic the Alex Ross Superman is. Especially The Kingdom Come Superman.
I really like Gary Frank's Christopher Reeve inspired Superman. After All Christopher Reeve films are my first introduction to Superman.
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[QUOTE=out of control;6697214]I really like how visually majestic and realistic the Alex Ross Superman is.[/QUOTE]
[center]Same here. Truly inspirational (IMHO):
[img]https://i.imgur.com/IIrSwhS.jpg[/img][/center]
[QUOTE=out of control;6697214]Especially The Kingdom Come Superman.[/QUOTE]
[center]I concur. Nobody does it better... ;)
[img]https://i.imgur.com/745gmNI.png[/img][/center]
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[QUOTE=out of control;6697214]1- Jim Lee
2- Alex Ross
3- Gary Frank
When i finally have access to the original American comics in 2003 thanks to internet and my first credit card. There was this immense hype around Batman: Hush story. Everyone was losing it over how Jim Lee would draw Superman for the first time. This left a unshakable profound imperession on me as Jim Lee is the greatest thing has ever happened to Superman. I don't think i will ever get over the fact that how big of a name Jim Lee was back then and he is still a big name.
I really like how visually majestic and realistic the Alex Ross Superman is. Especially The Kingdom Come Superman.
I really like Gary Frank's Christopher Reeve inspired Superman. After All Christopher Reeve films are my first introduction to Superman.[/QUOTE]
Too bad Jim Lee has never had a good Superman story to draw [i]For Tomorrow[/i] sucks and [i]Unchained[/i] is forgettable. His artwork is the only thing memorable of one awful and bland story.
Ross is good.
Frank is awesome.
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[QUOTE=Cyberstrike;6713985]Too bad Jim Lee has never had a good Superman story to draw [i]For Tomorrow[/i] sucks and [i]Unchained[/i] is forgettable. His artwork is the only thing memorable of one awful and bland story.
Ross is good.
Frank is awesome.[/QUOTE]
The interesting part is it is like there is a curse on Jim Lee. He works with the top talent comic book writers, but all the top talent comic book writers make mediocre or worst work of their career when they work with Jim Lee. Alan Moore on Wildcats, bad, Jeph Loeb on Batman: Hush, mediocre, Brain Azzarrello on Superman for Tomorrow, bad, Frank Miller on All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder, cosidered horrendous by the majorty, Scott Snyder on Superman: Unchained, mediocre. Poor Jim Lee, it is not even his fault... :/ I wonder he will ever do a good comic book under DC Comics ???
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[QUOTE=Jim Kelly;5745384]I really like the Jon Bogdanove approach to Superman--it's so out there. I'm glad he had the freedom to do his own thing with the Man of Steel. Having a standard, like Curt Swan, gives the other artists something they can bounce off of--they can go in their own direction and create amazing art.[/QUOTE]
[center]Totally agree about [B]Bogdanove[/B], truly unique & innovative (IMHO):
[img]https://i.imgur.com/vqGRDOs.jpeg[/img][/center]
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[QUOTE=daredevil1;6060410]Garcia Lopez. I know we're supposed to say Curt, but they all have an issue with giving him their weird artistic affectations facially. I think it's because he doesn't wear a mask so there's no way to hide the 'standard male face' the artist draws. It always bothered me how Byrne always made him look smug, Jurgens made him look clueless, etc.[/QUOTE]
Wait, Byrne's Superman had a "smug" air aboush? Isn't that like, self-righteous-Im-all-that kind of vibe?
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[QUOTE=Electricmastro;4909716]Gene Colan (1982):
[url]https://i.imgur.com/w9ZppqR.jpg[/url][/QUOTE]
[center]OMG! Totally agree. Colan's [I]Phantom Zone[/I] is an All-Time Favorite (XD)
[img]https://i.imgur.com/AauuxN3.jpeg[/img][/center]