Jim Lee Admits That He Has Trouble Drawing Superman

Jim Lee and DC Comics have a new book coming out entitled the ICONS: The DC Comics and Wildstorm art of Jim Lee.  It looks like one heck of a cool book, and you should go buy it HERE. 

As part of the promotion surrounding the new book, Jim Lee is being asked all of the typical questions that you would suspect.  But he certainly surprised us with his answer to the question of which character he has had trouble drawing by answering Superman. 

LEE:  Superman is the hardest character to draw. There are a couple of things that make him difficult. He’s got a very simple costume, and doesn’t have the long cape like Batman. He’s not a character that is necessarily always in shadow, and he doesn’t have a mask. He has to be Superman. He has to be the most grand, the most idealized form at all times, so he has to look powerful, but he can’t look bloated. His face has to look noble and handsome and rugged. It’s a war of subtleties. Every little change on that character makes a big difference in how he finally looks.


I think that I erase that character more than I draw that character, to be honest. He’s a character that doesn’t have the gloves, and doesn’t have the big boots, so you're really drawing sort of an idealized human form with a very simple costume. He’s got to be in a pose that suggests nobility. It's got to be a pose that suggests his idealized form, and it's tricky to do. Batman hunches over. He’s crouched and he’s in the shadows, so he’s in slightly more dynamic poses. Superman tends to stand very upright and he’s very symmetrical, and those are actually the most difficult poses for me to draw.

Jim Lee's Superman drawing are nothing short of iconic, so it is a little more than surprising to hear him suggest that he struggles with him.  You certainly wouldn't have guessed that based on the final product. 

Getting a peek inside the mind of the greatest artist in comics today is always fascinating.  To see more of his interview with MTV, click HERE.