Veteran Silver Age comic book artist Al Plastino, best known as one of the most prolific Superman artists of the 1950s, passed away Monday at the age of 91, after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer.  Plastino co-created Supergirl with Otto Binder in 1959 in the pages of Action Comics #252.
 
"When you think of Superman in the 1950s, only a handful of artists come to mind – and Al Plastino’s one of them," said Dan DiDio, DC Entertainment Co-Publisher.  "Along with the likes of Wayne Boring and Curt Swan, Plastino brought a level of humanity to Superman that had never been seen before.  He brought out the human side of a modern myth."
 
In addition to his work on the Superman family of comics (Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Superboy, Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane), Plastino was known for his work on DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes, the syndicated Batman comic strip, and Sunday episodes of Nancy after Ernie Bushmiller passed away.  From 1970 until his retirement in 1989, he also drew the syndicated strip Ferd'nand.
 
Plastino has recently been in the headlines (for example, in the New York Daily News) due to a legal dispute regarding the ownership of original art he drew in 1964 for Superman #168, "Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy," which was scheduled for publication at the end of November 1963, but was shelved after Kennedy’s assassination.  Later the story was released at the request of the Johnson administration, and appeared in Superman #170.  The art, which Plastino claimed was donated to Boston’s Kennedy Library decades ago, turned up at New York Comic Con, where Heritage Auctions was exhibiting it in preparation for an upcoming auction in California.  The art, estimated to be worth around $50,000, was pulled from auction when Plastino sued Heritage, seeking disclosure of the private seller’s name.  Heritage, who has not disclosed the owner’s identity, says the seller purchased it at a 1993 auction.