American comic book artist (1920-1996). Born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, he started
drawing when he was just a boy and so
impressed his
teachers that they gave him regular
art projects to help him hone his talents.
Swan was
drafted in 1940 and spent all of
World War II in the US
Army, where he worked for "
Stars and Stripes." Upon returning to the United States, he was hired on what he originally considered to be a
temporary basis (he thought comics were a passing
fad) by
DC Comics, where he worked on
Joe Simon and
Jack Kirby's "
Boy Commandos." He soon moved on to other features, including "
Tommy Tomorrow" and "
Gangbusters."
As the years went by, Swan got occasional work drawing
Superman stories (including spinoffs like
Superboy and
Jimmy Olsen) whenever the regular artists weren't available. By 1953, however, Swan was made a full-time Superman
penciller, drawing several hundred stories and covers for the
Man of Steel. He also drew the Superman
newspaper comic strip 'til its cancellation in 1964.
Swan's
depiction of
Big Blue quickly became the best-known among comics fans. He toned down the
musculature of
Wayne Boring's Supes and made him even more
clean-cut. Swan's Superman was so
popular and
refreshing that his
style was quickly adopted by other DC artists, which meant that, for good or ill, many of DC's books ended up looking very
similar for much of the
Silver Age.
Swan continued to
draw Superman regularly until 1985 when he was unceremoniously kicked off his Superman books. His last work as the regular Superman artist was the acclaimed "
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" which was written by
Alan Moore. He worked on a few scattered DC books, including the occasional illustration for Superman books and a limited
Aquaman series. He also drew some illustrations for, of all things, "
Penthouse Comix" in the mid-1990s. After retiring, he made a few appearances at
comic book conventions to meet his
fans before dying at the age of 76.
Research from http://www.comic-art.com/bios-1/swan0001.htm