Hmm, I don't quite remember Gibbons being guest of honor, but I would've been less interested in him than Buscema, so his presence wouldn't have necessarily caught my eye. Anyway, it was about four or five years ago, and probably the Comicon where the public was getting its first glimpses of the JLA 'toon. I believe it took place just a few months prior to Buscema's death, maybe even a span of mere weeks.

Was definitely happy to've seen the brilliant old curmudgeon before we lost him.

It was during that panel that I met Mr. Buscema and asked him if it was true that he "hated" drawing superheroes.  His response to me was that he thought the concept of superheroes was silly, that he couldn't relate to characters in capes and long underwear and that he preferred characters such as Conan and Tarzan whose actions and abilities were more relatable for him.

He emphasized that he didn't hate drawing, of course, and that he appreciated his career and the admiration of his fans.  He planned to be a commercial illustrator, doing pretty-girl art and advertising...but got sidetracked into a comics career and made a good living doing it.  Superheroes weren't his passion.  From our too-brief conversation, I did not get the impression that he held the industry or its readers in any contempt...

I, too, am so glad that I worked up the nerve to approach him!  He was more interested in my endeavors and encouraging me than he was in speaking of  himself and his influence on generations of artists.  Meeting him will always be a treasured memory.

Ha, so that was you! Very cool, and I'm glad to know my memory of his response was in the ballpark.

I remember being a little disheartened that he didn't have more enthusiasm for the genre so many of his fans loved him for, but it's just the somewhat unfortunate reality of many older pros. I suppose it brings 'em closer to most working-class folks, though. How many people truly love their job? A minority, for certain, but people still find satisfaction in a job well done, in exercising their abilities, and in occasionally discovering areas of their job that provide true enjoyment (for Buscema, obviously, the CONAN material).

So maybe not so disheartening after all. Just a bit of reality.

It was a good question, Glenn. Kind of addressed that elephant in the room everyone had been tip-toeing around.

QUOTE: Some of you seem stuck in that ON/OFF mode I find so annoying in some stratas of fandom -- if you don't ABSOLUTELY LOVE something, you must ABSOLUTELY HATE it.

I don't see that at all here. My initial post regarding Buscema said he had "no love" for superheroes. Glenn characterized Buscema as not having passion for superheroes. And the quotes we've found have had Buscema describing them as "silly" and saying things like, "Anything with super-heroes, I'm not interested."

I think our observations are pretty well backed by his comments, none of which were close to "absolute hate"...nor characterized as such.

QUOTE: Back to the preview of "All Star Superman" can anyone point out to me the specifics of what's intriguing in this preview?

What I like about it:

*The four panel origin sequence is perfect for me, both terse and mythic simultaneously. Great cadence. Way I see it, Superman's one of maybe two or three superheroes with whom the general public is familiar with their origin. And for 99% of regular comic readers, the origin's old hat. Why rehash it, I say. I like cutting to the chase, and that opening page is an instant momentum-builder.

*Very majestic splash page. We've seen Superman flying through stars, but this one's still a grabber.

*Vibrant color throughout. Very electric.

*Beginning in the middle of the action is a smart idea, and according to my brother, Ray Bradbury wrote a story about a manned mission to the Sun, so naming the ship after him is a neat Easter Egg tribute in the opening disaster sequence. And even invoking Bradbury's name might be a case of Morrison finding a keynote for the series. Bradbury's brand of humanistic sci-fi/fantasy seems quite appropriate for Superman I think.

*"I am death. Courtesy of Lex Luthor!" is a great line. Morrison's dialogue can teeter between embracing melodrama and pushing it to a place that's almost parodic, but even Stan did that sometimes and a good line's a good line. In fact, there's lots of good snippets throughout those pages, from exposition that gives us both Superman's power level and the danger level ("I know every cell in his body is a living solar battery...but the temperature at the solar chromosphere is 6000 fahrenheit."), to iconic pronouncements ("There can't be much time." "Nobody can help you here."), to terse character insights ("I'm getting older and...and he isn't.")

*I like seeing Superman struggling with skimming the sun. Even though this is ostensibly a pre-CRISIS Superman, I appreciate a little post-CRISIS vulnerability; this guy's gotta work!

*Really enjoy Lex's scene, specifically the pacing on it. Intercutting it with the chaos on the shuttle adds momentum and supervillain zeal to a final line that might otherwise seem blase: "...it's time to get serious about killing Superman."

What I don't like:

*The dialogue gets too Morrisonian at times. Phrases like "grown with zero fear genes" and "fear is the sauce on the steak of life" run the risk of derailing suspension of disbelief because they scream "Morrison" more than "Superman." I'm not wholly anti-auteur, though, even when it comes to licensed properties. Tim Burton's BATMAN intrigued, as Burtony as it was, and icons like Superman and Batman seem to handle the approach much better than characters who've always been characterized one way specifically (Wolverine, say, or Spider-Man).

*Even though I love Quitely's art, yes, his facial expressions take a little getting used to. Superman does looks a little weird in that last panel, at the angle he's shown. But I know from experience with NEW X-MEN that what seems strange in the midst of a few isolated pages becomes wholly appropriate when one immerses oneself in Quitely's style. Bit like Kirby, broadly. You look at a Kirby face with no context, and everyone's a brute. In the context of page after page of his art, though, you learn to read his motifs, see the subtleties within them.

*Supes' crotch-sheen is a little creepy. Hope it ain't quite so noticeable in the final printing.

Dave