Staff Picks (January): Al Plastino — Last Superman Standing

TwoMorrows Publishing continues to produce great books featuring comic book creators often taken for granted or worked when providing credits was not the norm for publishers.

Twomorrows’ Krypton Chronicles gave a smattering on the artists behind the Man of Steel, and to many the Superman artist was Joe Shuster or Curt Swan, all depending on when you began to read his adventures. While I didn’t know initially who drew the stories, those I grew up reading were those illustrated by Wayne Boring and Al Plastino.

In Al Plastino: Last Superman Standing from Twomorrows Publishing, we get to read about the artist as well as what made him a true professional from the early days of the Harry Chesler studio to his World War II military art and design to newspaper strips like Ferd’nand and Nancy to Superman and Batman.

If you were a fan in the late fifties and early sixties you might be surprised that Al was the co-creator of characters like Supergirl, Brainiac, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, drawing those characters’ first appearances as well as illustrating the initial comic story to feature Kryptonite.

Al -- who proved to be able to mimic so many artists style from Van Buren to Wayne Boring -- became the face of Superman as he would redraw Superman’s face on books done by other artists in keeping a true house style.

The section I enjoyed most was on Al’s work on "Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy." Reading about the history of this story’s creation, discovery of the art to its final home is why you buy books from Twomorrows it’s in the details.

Written by Eddie Zeno, author of Curt Swan: A Life In Comics, and with a forward by Paul Levitz, once again Twomorrows Publishing has produced a book any fan of comic book history will want to read and reread.

—Steve Leaf

Publisher: Twomorrows Publishing Item Code: JAN161718 Release Date: 04/20/16 SRP: $17.95