Last week’s passing of acclaimed artist Tim Sale was the latest Artist’s Artist we’ve had to say goodbye all too early to this year.
Like Neal Adams and George Perez before him, Sale worked his magic on many a famous comic character, but his magic shined especially bright when it came to The Man of Steel himself, Superman.
To honor Mr. Sale’s legacy with The Man of Steel, you can take your pick of the following reads:
Superman: For All Seasons, which was Sale’s first go-around with Superman, alongside his frequent writing collaborator Jeph Loeb:
The Kryptonite arc of Superman: Confidential, a tale written by another artistic DC giant who left us far too early, Darwyn Cooke.
Feel free to chat about Tim Sale and his contributions to the Superman legacy, be it in the above tales or other DC works that were privileged enough to feature Sale’s art style, which was wholly and uniquely his own.
RIP Mr. Sale. You’ll live on in our hearts for all seasons, and beyond.
The level of artistic prowess in For All Seasons feels like that of someone who’s drawn Superman for years, not someone who was doing it for the first time.
That just shows what a great pair Sale and Superman were.
If memory serves, the last time I read For All Seasons was around summer 2006, when Superman Returns debuted in theaters, so I’m definitely overdue for a re-read.
SN: I need to re-read Birthright, since the last time I read it was also summer 2006.
Superman Confidential was a great series. Cooke and Sale, could you think of a better telling Superman stories? The mid 2000s was a great time for Superman. Around the same time we were getting All-Star Superman. Was this the last time Superman books were more popular than Batman books? All-Star Batman and Robin crashed and burned and still unfinished to this day. Batman Confidential is just a thing that has happened and I remember it not being too good.
It was. While Kryptonite remains the best arc of the series, I also really enjoyed the Fourth World stories, as they were a lot of fun.
All-Star Superman, Johns and Donner on Action Comics, Busiek’s Superman, Superman/Batman, Supergirl, The Next, etc. Definitely a very good time for the Superman line (and Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, as well).
I’m still holding out hope for Adam Hughes’ All-Star Wonder Woman. One day, one day.
I’d love to see what he would do with All-Star Wonder Woman, though from what I understand, part of the problem is that he’s pretty meticiulous with his regular work, let alone doing sequentials, and he frankly gets paid better to do his covers and commisions. It’s a shame, but I have to respect the hustle.
Anyway, read through For All Seasons and it definitely holds up more than I thought it would.
First off, the art is immaculate. It has it’s weird twists to things, but it works for this story. I think the biggest weird difference is how he draws Clark/Superman himself. The small features on his head combined with his bulky physique gives Superman this weird, otherworldly, and yet kind look to him.
That page is just like the scene in Superman & Lois where Superman tells the kid “Thanks. My mom made it for me.” and I never realized the For All Seasons reference.
Of course, it could just be a coincidence and not be something that was meant to reference FAS, but I’m going to see it as a callback to Seasons anyway.
I think it’s because they also mix in the 40s animated suit with the classic Action Comics #1 car and pose as well – it’s a smorgasbord of references.
Superman: For All Seasons, which was Sale’s first go-around with Superman, alongside his frequent writing collaborator Jeph Loeb:
