Gene was a wonderfully talented artist with whom I had the distinct honor to work with on several occasions. He will be missed terribly.
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Gene was a wonderfully talented artist with whom I had the distinct honor to work with on several occasions. He will be missed terribly.
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Tomb of Dracula. Beautiful work.
Indeed. The best portrayal of the vampiric count in comics. But also one of the best Batman ever, one of the best Daredevil ever. A great artist whose style was exceptionally suited to dark characters and urban vigilantes. A true master at his craft. No superlative is too much, and I know that the comic book world has lost one of its legends.
I would go so far as to say that the Wolfman/Colan/Palmer Tomb of Dracula was the best portrayal of the vampiric count in any medium.
Agreed. Also, I second Thom–maybe the best Dracula in ANY medium, which is a bold statement given how often and varied the treatments have been. (kudos to Marv Wolfman as well–You could look at the art in TOD without words and still have a marvelous story but Wolfman’s dialog was terrific. Still, it was Colan’s incredible ability that made it so indelible.
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So sad that such an important artist had such a difficult end to his life but at least he knew he was loved and appreciated. The industry owes a big thank you to Clifford meth for the love and friendship he showed Mr. Colan in his final years.
There is no question as to the man’s fantastic body of work or his talent.
I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, but I still feel like I’ve lost a friend none the less.
I didn’t care for his work when I was a kid, but once I grew up a bit more I realized just how beautiful and amazing it really was. RIP, Mr. Colan.
One of the most joyous surprises in my life was the discovery that Gene Colan, a masterful dramatic artist, was also adept at cartoon illustration. I recently found a Goofy story he did with Marv Wolfman and Tom Palmer where Mickey and Goofy parodied the Dracula legend. And that was on top of the surprisingly good work he did on Jughead years ago. As for his death, the loss is ours. Mr. Colan is no longer in pain.
I loved his work everytime I saw it. Particular favorites were Iron Man, Daredevil, Howard the Duck, and Tomb of Dracula. When he came back to Daredevil in the 90’s (or was it early 2000’s), I enjoyed his run so much. Stellar stuff.
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You will be missed, Mr. Colan. You made comics so fun and exciting. RIP.
Ðámņ, we’re quickly running out of the legends. 🙁
My only encounter with Gene’s artwork was coincidentally, that issue of Wolverine that Peter David himself wrote.
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Naturally, was keen to be taking Gene’s class in comics art in my sophomore year in art school, but he ended up not teaching it for reasons that I do not know of to this day. After Sal Amendola subbed for a couple of weeks, Carmine Infantino took over it.
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I had a feeling he had not long for this world when I saw him at the last New York Comic-Con in October 2010. I had wanted to photograph him again, having previously photographed him at the Big Apple Summer Sizzler June 2009 (see his Wikipedia article), but when I approached him at his table, I wasn’t sure if he was asleep, or what. The man sitting next to him, who I believe was with him, woke him, at which point I felt guilty that I had disturbed him. I photographed him, but the upper rim of his glasses ended up coming out right across his eyes, completely obscuring him, and it almost made him look like he was still asleep. I left it alone, deciding not to upload it. The one already (and currently) in his Wikipedia article is enough.
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May he rest in peace.
Great photo, Luigi! I liked how he was wearing a DD baseball cap at that convention. I grew up gazing at his Daredevil illos as well as his legendary Tomb of Dracula run. Those titles seemed more dynamic back then, as though the characters jumped out of the page while I was reading them.
I envy you for meeting him, even if it was for a minute. He’ll be deeply missed.
Thanks, David.
Colan’s Iron Man and Daredevil are for me, the definitive versions. His style was so distinctive and one of the first I could recognize when I started reading comics.
Dammit. The first comics my mom ever read to me were some Gene Colan Iron Man comics. I loved his art style from the first panel I ever saw, even as a kid who couldn’t read yet.
I hope DC get off their lazy butt and finally republish NATHANIAL DUSK vol. 1 & 2 and NIGHT FORCE.
http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=19678
What I loved about Gene was his ability to turn in pencils so perfect that they didn’t need inking. Just amazing. His doodles were better than ninety percent of finished art.
I was a bit too young to have him as a favorite, but I have to admit he was one of the all-time greats.
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I love TOMB OF DRACULA and HOWARD THE DUCK. By the way, it was unfortunate that Gene’s style hadn’t really been suited to ordinary superheroics, in a market saturated with superheroes. I feel like the man didn’t get all the acclaim he deserved.
I first saw his art on Iron Man in Tales of Suspense and Daredevil (which was doing lots of ‘normal’ superhero stories back in the day). When he was asked to, he could do ‘ordinary superheroes’ and do them very well. Not saying what he did in TOMB OF DRACULA wasn’t wonderful, just that he had a delightful range. His DOCTOR STRANGE remains my favored version. He even made the superheroish garb work well.
Rest well sir, our lives are richer for all you did for us.
I met the gentleman at NYCC a couple of years back, to have him sign my “Howard for President” issue of Howard the Duck. A brief encounter, but I was stuck by an sense of a affible, lovable grandfather-type of man. My condolences and respect to his family and friends.
And I just heard the news that Peter Falk has also passed away. This is not a good day 🙁
Huh, that’s weird. Just two days ago I watched the movie Husbands, and was thinking how sad it was that Ben Gazzara is the only one of the three leads who’s still alive, because I thought Peter Falk was already dead. And now Ben Gazzara really is the only one left alive.
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So it’s possible that I killed Peter Falk.
You mean in the same way that Sergio Aragones killed Marty Feldman?
Mr. Colan drew just about everything and he drew it well. A true artist.
And did it in a way that was so recognizable and totally unique…many artists have tried to emulate Kirby or Adams or Byrne but has anyone even tried to do Gene Colan style art?
The closest to “doing” a Colan style in my opinion was Tom Mandrake on Spectre. Beautiful work.
Colan’s Iron Man was the first version that actually looked (to my young eyes) like Tony was wearing a gleaming metal suit. His Daredevil was truly acrobatic, and conveyed joy and power in every move. Lots of the great comics artists (Kirby, Adams, et al) had legions of wannabe imitators, but Gene Colan’s greatness was inimitable.
Mr. Colan’s artwork grazed some of the earliest comic books I read (mexican editions of Marvel Comics by Novedades, or Norma, from the 1980s). Those belonged to my cousin, and along with JR Sr, Colan’s art first got me hooked to comic books.
Aw, man. I had just heard about Peter Falk’s passing, and then come home and learn about this.
Two men who entertained me greatly over the years are now both gone.
And I’m old enough to remember when Gene Colan was “Adam Austin.”
Really sad news. There have been many great artists, but in the area of supernatural comics, no one, simply no one, did atmosphere as well as he did. He could make you feel that dreadful things were happening without the slightest biot of gore. Also a talented superhero artist but it was the supernatural stuff like Dracula and Night Force where he excelled. And agreed about Howard.
The work that I really think of when Colan comes up is one that not many have read.
Early to mid 80’s DC did a 4 issue Phantom Zoine mini series. Most of the main DCU appear in it, which may be the only time he did so many of the iconic DC characters.
the tone of the book was so dark and weird for a book featuring Superman, Supergirl, etc.. I fell in love and it still holds up well.
I cut my comic book teeth upon his and Marv’s wonderful Dracula. I walked 10 miles round trip just to buy Howard the Duck each month. He lived 8 decades upon this wonderful world of spinning blueness and left behind a legacy of wonderful artwork.
Over the years, I’ve met a few comics legends at conventions. Unfortunately, Gene Colan wasn’t one of them. Would have liked to have met him, though. My condolences to his family and friends.
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Rick
Nathaniel Dusk blew me away so much that it was the first comic I read where I remembered the artist’s name years later.
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And just last night, I was reading the Our Army at War Showcase volume, a story called “Fighting Mess Sergeant” from issue 10, May 1953. First page last panel has an image of the cook who has failed to deliver a hot meal and is incredibly disappointed with himself. The look was so perfect and emotional, that I looked up the artist — and it was Gene Colan on pencils (Joe Giella on inks).
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R.I.P. Gene.