Despite the myriad copyright laws in our litigious society today, one of the cool things about both Marvel and DC as companies is allowing grassroots artists to draw and sell their characters in local areas. I have to tell you, there is some awesome stuff out there probably closer to you than you think, and you may not even know it!

Today I’m not going to be talking about the Swans, Byrnes, and Lees of the world, but about people that you have probably never heard of- some whose names even I can’t remember- who have done an amazing job on Superman. Over the years I have picked up a lot of art for my personal collection, and I am sure I will buy even more in the future. Today I would just like to highlight three of my favorite prints in particular that feature our favorite character.

1. Superman #1 Rebirth Homage

Some years ago my wife and I were visiting friends in Burbank, California. Superman Rebirth was on the shelves and we had just become parents. Times were good.

Burbank is a pop culture hotbed as it is home to many movie studios, including Disney and NBC, and is also home to two fantastic comic book stores (or at least, pre-COVID… not sure if they’re both still there).

I never caught the name of the local artist who drew this piece (it’s signed by a “JRad?”) but I nabbed it instantly after walking into one of the stores and hung it in my son’s room! It captures the spirit and heart of the Rebirth era, something that every Superfan out there loved, and manages to be a homage to perhaps Superman’s second most famous cover of all time, Superman #1.

In addition to the beautiful nods to the character, the artist here also manages to capture the feeling of being a dad with your son. The feeling of teaching your kids a skill or life lesson and then celebrating it together is just fantastic, and in this case, Clark and Jon are celebrating their ability to fly. It is something which I will always treasure and resonate with in this era of stories.

2. Metropolis: The Home of Superman by Timothy Yan

I’m a sucker for old fashioned postcards. The style of the 1950s and the spirit of optimism they embodied work great for Superman and his world. When it comes to the cities superheroes reside in, they are meant to represent the character themselves in a way, and in Supes’ case marrying that optimistic, old fashioned style with his town would seem like a very good fit.

I attended a con in San Francisco last December and while perusing the artists alley I happened across one table where the artist utilized said style in fantastic ways. I couldn’t help but be struck by the ‘S’ design and the old postcard style, culminating with the Daily Planet globe and a super streak across the sky.

Of course, I had to buy this piece.

The artist’s name is Timothy Yan and he is local to the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m not sure how much of a presence he has on social media, but if any of you feel like doing some digging, be my guest!

3. Fortress of Solitude by Itoscaresme

So this guy is not exactly a local artist (far from it!), but his work did pop up on my X feed and I was gobsmacked.

I have always, always loved the look of charcoal/ink on white paper. The shades of dark and grey give art a beautiful texture and striking look. Old movies with “chiaroscuro” are a favorite of mine for the way they tell the story and give it a look that, while superior in technology, modern films just can’t quite replicate.

This work isn’t exactly that, but is a print of an original that is dark ink and watercolor on a thick card stock, almost like papyrus. Watercolor can also be used to great effect, as is evident in Jim Lee’s Hush work or anything by Dustin Nguyen.

The artist is Japanese, and I don’t see his name anywhere on his site, but just goes by “Ito.”

His work mixes traditional Japanese art styles and pop culture, and I couldn’t resist this print of Superman walking through an anime-esque Fortress of Solitude. Really awesome.

His online store can be found here.

I’ll stop there for now in the interest of time, but I have a LOT of Superman art I could talk about. Maybe in a future post.

In the meantime, check out your local art scene- cons, comic/anime shops, heck, even farmer’s markets sometimes have people displaying art! You never know what you might find.