Gene Colan RIP

[STARBOY]

Sad news to hear that Gene Colan, artist on Daredevil, Doc Strange, Dracula, Howard the Duck, Bat Man, Wonder Woman and so many more (including Mickey Mouse, Archie and Teenage Mutant turtles) passed away on 23 June, aged 84 - one of my personal all time favourite artists and a true legend of comic book art - His artwork and story telling was never less than stunning and of course he was a major force in the UK Marvel reprints of the 70s and according to many in the field a true gentleman as well.

[Sir-L]

This is truly sad, he's one of my favourites too.

[stevezodiac]

I was a big Colan fan. His Doctor Strange with Tom Palmer's inks was superb as was their Tomb of Dracula. While i preferred the more stylish artists like Gil Kane, Infantino, Steranko and Wally Wood I was always aware of Colan's work which didn't have to be "pop art" and stylised to make an impression. No doubt Alter Ego magazine will do a suitable tribute issue.

[David McDonald]

I remember him from the Draculas reprints as well. He entertained many a wet afternoon.

David

[tony ingram]

Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck were two of my favourite books in the 70's, and Colan's wonderfully moody art had a lot to do with that. Two very different strips, but he was ideally suited to both. And his run on Batman with Doug Moench in the eighties was fantastic.

[stevezodiac]

I almost forgot his work on Wonder Woman as well. I never actually bought any issues. There was also Night Force.

[STARBOY]

Night Force was a really good series and DC recently reprinted most of this in a 100page special - glossy pages which strangely for me is not as good as newsprint - still well worth £5.99 - Colan's Wonder Woman was a u would expect good butt his Batman wa fantastic

[stevezodiac]

I remember when American comics changed to Baxter paper which was a lot whiter but the colours were far too bright and seemed more suited to funny animal comics. The older paper had a warmth to it. If you google Gene Colan and look at the images there are dozens of his pencilled pages there. Glorious.

[Sir-L]

Being a crime buff I really like Colans work on "Nathaniel Dusk" and "Detectives Inc". I would say that's when I really got my eyes open for his talant. After that I've looked at his superhero stuff.

[presterjohn]

His work on Nathaniel Dusk was ground breaking it it's day. It was pencil and watercolour work for the most part and mostly left uninked.

http://comicscomicsmag.com/wp-content/u ... onDusk.jpg

[davidandrewsimpson]

One very odd Colan-related UK comics strip was Gadgetman And Gimmick-Kid, which ran in Lion in 1968.

No, he didn't draw it, but the artist on the strip (was it Geoff Campion? Fred Holmes maybe?) clearly had an issue or two of Daredevil, so sprinkled among his own drawings were several swipes of Colan Daredvil poses.

Well, he'd probably been told to do a US style superhero, so he was going to the source. Dashed odd for all that, though.

Oh, and Colan was a great artist who shall be sadly missed.

[dreamticket]

I was sorry to here about Colan's passing as well. Again I'd have to mention HTD as being a favourite, as well his short second run on Daredevil before Miller took over. I also really liked the b&w books he did in the eighties. Somewhere or other I've got a folio of his -- one of those tribute mags dedicated to individual artists. Lots of pencil work in it.

[stevezodiac]

He drew Iron Man in Tales of Suspense as Adam Austin, also Sub Mariner under the same name.

[Raven]

'Fluid' seems to me the best description of Colan's style - at its best, it just deliriously swam across the pages. For me, growing up, his Gothic Tomb of Dracula artwork greatly surpassed that title's cringey writing, his Doctor Strange art was especially exciting, and his Howard the Duck art perhaps the most memorable of all. He also did some nice stuff for Tower of Shadows, which I discovered many years after it came out.

I agree with stevezodiac about the stylish artists having most appeal - Marvel artists often followed the Jack Kirby template, but Gene Colan did his own thing; definitely one of the best.

[STARBOY]

I remember the "Adam Austin" name which Colan used as he was working with DC at the time and didnt get on with his then DC editor, Robert Kanigher. As a result he was looking to work at Marvel and was given the Sub Mariner to draw when an artist couldnt make a deadline, but it always seemed silly for an artist to use a different name, espepecially one as distinctive as Gene Colan.