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ComicBookArtFiend — Superman by Todd Nauck
Published: 2009-08-09 06:29:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 4684; Favourites: 71; Downloads: 192
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With one exception, whenever I have Superman done as a sketch or a commission, he's always wearing his Max Fleischer threads. To me, that's his best look, and the way he should look all the time. I'm old school that way.Here we have another MCCC sketch, this time by . He's drawn Superman on several occasions before, but this was the first time he drew the Fleischer costume. So it was a nice change of pace for him.
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Comments: 6
Completely agree. There is a sleekness and art-deco, almost iconic, look to the Fleischer costume that just can't be topped. I've always felt the subdued color palette of the costume lends a pleasingly noble feeling to Superman. And as you said, it's quite dignified.
I think Timm achieved much the same with his original redesign for Batman in Batman:TAS (which he freely admits was inspired by the Fleischer Superman shorts). He pulled back on the bright garish colors, deepened the color palette, and created a timeless incarnation of Batman.
I've commissioned a few people to do a Fleischer-suited Superman over the years. Overall the results have been mixed. I think some artists are so locked in to his current costume incarnation that even with references, can't break away from it. I always hoped I could get a Fleischer Superman commission from Dave Stevens before he passed. He completely understood the era and its designs. I think would have been perfect for a commission.
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I've given a lot of consideration to getting a Fleischer Superman from Steve Rude, given that he already draws Superman off the Fleischer model sheets. But as his art is quite pricey ($200 for a black and white figure drawing), I'm kind of holding off on it for now. I would have LOVED to get Ed McGuinness to do a Fleischer-style piece (he took a whack at it for one of his SUPERMAN covers), but his prices are far beyond my comfort level. I tend to be picky about who I get to draw sketches and commissions, both in terms of not just art style, skill set, and quality, but also price. I think the most expensive Superman art I have was $135, and that was because he was with two other characters in the piece.
Speaking for myself, the only time I've had artists get the Fleischer-style look wrong is if they just don't draw Superman well, period. If the artist doesn't get the feel of the character, it doesn't matter what costume he's wearing; it's going to look bad regardless. If an artist does get the character and draws him well, then I have a much easier time providing them with the Fleischer suit and saying, "Do this." And if that artist is predisposed to tinkering with the current costume, they tend to look at the Fleischer suit and go, "Hey, I can do this." And in the cases where I've gotten artists who've done Superman before to Fleischer him up (Butler, Nauck, Baltazar, and even convention regular Terry Huddleston), for them it's a treat and they dive right into it. Now while I have had artists refuse to draw me certain characters out of pure fear ("this is too hard to draw"), the Fleischer Superman isn't one of them. Then again, because I'm so fussy about who I pick to draw him, I'm not likely to get refusals.
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Couldn't agree more on the Fleischer costumed Superman. It's the definitive version for me too!
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It's amazing how something so simple as making the belt red and putting black backing on the emblem makes the suit look that much better, isn't it? By getting rid of most of the yellow and going for a almost totally red and blue look, the Fleischers made Superman's costume look dignified and sleek rather than garish and silly. Even the red briefs, which look really outdated on the regular costume, look like they belong on the Fleischer suit. Everything about it works. You could even explain away the colors of the S-shield by saying that Superman deliberately added black to the House of El crest in memory of his people and nobody would give it a second thought.
And admittedly, it's fun to ask people who've drawn Superman countless times over to do the Fleischer costume, because they usually never do it. They take it as a fresh challenge to draw that outfit, and everyone I've asked to draw it has jumped at the chance. Steven Butler was beside himself with excitement when I asked him to draw it for the Superman/Flash Gordon piece I commissioned from him, because he loves that look, too. I guess for them, Fleischer-suited Superman counts as a fresh new character compared to standard-issue Superman.
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