Good night, my hero: Lew Sayre Schwartz, 1926-2011

In sad news, the man who drew my childhood favorite issues of BATMAN has passed away.

I had the great pleasure of spending a fall Manhattan afternoon with Lew Sayre Schwartz in 2005.  It was nothing short of a dream come true- I adored his 1981 documentary on Milton Caniff, he did a cool edition of MOBY DICK, and he tolerated Bob Kane.  

Lew was jovial and we had a great conversation about Caniff, the military, and of course Batman.  We thumbed through a hard cover collection of BATMAN comics and pointed out several pieces of his work which were mis-attributed to other artists, which made him laugh.

Mike Mignola's cover to Batman #700, featuring DC's most recent L'enfant terrible, The Red Hood, is a loving tribute to Lew's original cover to DETECTIVE COMICS #168.  With all respect, Lew may not have done the more graphically sophisticated job of the two, but he did the one that drew in children.  Different jobs for different times.

What drew me to Lew's artwork as a child was his brush- his people are full of distinct character.  The Catwoman he portrayed was dangerous ( an interesting move away from Catwoman as a potential Batman love interest or reform-advocate), his Joker was expressive, and his henchmen were distinct.  In what could have been a boxy spoof, Lew illustrated the "The Gorilla Crime Boss of Gotham City" with panache and lush ink.  I was a lad in Detroit with piles of BATMAN reprints and I was hooked.

 Lew clearly had an impact on others, most eloquently Eddie Campbell.  

I am so grateful I had the chance to meet with you and learn from you.  You mixed grace and affection and talent.

Good night. 

Comic Art Tuesday: Fradon, Giordano, and Lew Sayre Schwartz

Ramona Fradon "BATMAN and ROBIN"

Ramona Fradon can draw the phonebook and I'm in love.  Ramona, the illustrator of my childhood.  Instead of testosterone-fueled musculature and adolescence-inspired cleavage, Ramona was an excellent storyteller with a minimum of lines.  SUPERFRIENDS was a great comic to read as a kid, with tons of guest stars and villains.  Her Dynamic Duo was what I had in my head growing up.

Every time I run into her I think of something new to get from her.  Maybe Batgirl next time... 

"The Justice Society" Dick Giordano

Dick Giordano was the unifying force of Batman in the Seventies, inking Jim Aparo, Neal Adams, and the other greats of the Bronze Age of comics.  My favorite Treasury comic was a JUSTICE LEAGUE edition that my brother received, mostly because of the cool front/back cover design work by Dick.  The back cover was the alternate universe team the "Justice Society", a collection of the Golden Age heroes (including a version of Batman) that started in 1939 and retired in the late Sixties or so. The Justice Society Batman supposedly never wore the yellow oval bat-insignia on his uniform.   My brother and I each asked Mr. Giordano to re-create one of the covers.

Lew Sayre Schwartz, Personal Correspondence

Definitely, as a kid of the Seventies, I read a ton of DC reprints.  My favorite Bat-artist had to be none other than Lew Sayre Schwartz, who created The Red Hood and the Gorilla Crime Boss of Gotham, amongst other memorable stories.  I think most fans agree that Dick Sprang was the best artist of the Golden Age of Batman, but Lew illustrated with a heavy brush, which added a comic strip quality to the work that was never duplicated.  

Meeting Lew was a wonderful opportunity.  Like many illustrators of his age, he served in World War II and was enthusiastic in talking about common interests.  A recent collection of Batman comic covers had just been released and we flipped through it together and found all of the mis-credits.  He is a cool cat, a bit of an ad man attitude about the whole thing.

I adore him.