Happy Birthday to the late GREAT Gene "The Dean" Colan!!!

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Gene Colan would have been 90 today.

Gene Colan (1926-2011) labored in the trenches of the comic-book industry for years, drawing war and romance comics,
but it wasn’t until his arrival at Marvel Comics in 1965, drawing the underwater hero the Sub-Mariner, that Colan’s star ascended.
His figures, graceful yet powerful, were perfect for an athletic swimming hero, and gave the character a regal aura that suited his title, Prince Namor.
Along with his contemporaries, John Buscema and John Romita, Colan was one of the first Marvel artists to break away from the Kirby look
(but only after assimilating his dynamics into his own), which was the company’s de facto house style during the Silver Age.
Originally designed by Kirby as a bulky, gray robot, redesigned by Steve Ditko with the now-familiar red-and-gold armor,
and illustrated by other Marvel artists like Don Heck, Marvel’s Iron Man was given to Colan in 1966.
He commented, ”The only problem I had in the beginning was getting an expression on his face.
I wanted the reader to feel his emotion at times, not just be a metal figure always looking the same.
So I took some poetic license. I tried not to overdo it — after all, it is made of metal. I tried to be very subtle with it, add a little humanity to the face.”
By turning Iron Man’s mute helmet into a mask of tragedy, imbuing him with the pathos of a man trapped in a prison of armor, Colan forever owned Iron Man.

This quality of bringing to superheroes a realistic, human side made Colan perfect for the nascent Marvel style of heroic — yet somewhat tragic — protagonists.
The blind hero Daredevil, after a round-robin of artists, blossomed under Colan’s stewardship,
because he convincingly depicted the swashbuckling side of the character as well as his civilian alter ego of lawyer Matt Murdock.
And though Colan too, like Romita, had to follow Ditko — but on Dr. Strange, Ditko’s other flagship creation — Colan was not intimidated.
His Strange stories, drawn in cinematic, chiaroscuro shadings, with panel layouts and compositions that wended
and warped their way through the page, befitted the ectoplasmic, other*worldly dimensions they were set in.
That Colan’s vision of the occult character holds its own against Ditko’s to this day is a testament to Colan’s atmospheric style, one of the most unique in the history of comic book art.

[Panic]

Fantastic artist. I didn't really appreciate him when I was young. Now I think his work is amazing.

[Cmbmool]

Happy birthday Gene Colan. Truly an amazing Marvel artist for its early years in the Golden age.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Mr. Colan's work on Tomb of Dracula was outstanding. I'll always remember that amazing run.

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http://13thdimension.com/13-covers-a...y-celebration/

[Jabare]

Tomb of Dracula never forget

[Iron Maiden]

Yeah, Tomb of Dracula was a favorite of mine. Wolfman and Colan was one of the memorable pairings in comics.

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http://13thdimension.com/13-covers-a...y-celebration/

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Fantastic artist. I didn't really appreciate him when I was young. Now I think his work is amazing.

I think I had that same experience for a short time as well.

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https://13thdimension.com/13-covers-...celebration-2/

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Happy birthday Gene Colan. Truly an amazing Marvel artist for its early years in the Golden age.

Isn't it Silver Age?

[Paradox_Nihil]

Fantastic artist. I didn't really appreciate him when I was young. Now I think his work is amazing.

Same here.

I really love his work for DC during the 80s. The Night Force and, especially, Nathaniel Dusk, done almost without inking and watercolored directly over the pencils. Regarding his Marvel work, I am acquainted more with the Bronze Age stuff (especially The Tomb of Dracula) than his earlier works.

[Iron Maiden]

I always enjoyed Gene Colan's art whenever he worked on a Marvel comic. All the favorites are shown here and I liked how he did sort of a stop motion camera effect to convey Daredevil's acrobatic moves. IMO the great artists of Marvel's first wave, behind Kirby were Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, John Romita Sr. and then a little later John Buscema. Gene Colan sometimes worked under the name of Adam Austin on some of the Sub-Mariner issues he did since he still was getting work from DC. They could be a bit harsh in those days and if they found out you were working for a rival company they wouldn't use you any more.

He was such a stand out on the more atmospheric work like Tomb of Dracula. He is given co-creator credit for the Falcon. His last Marvel work was Captain America #601 with Ed Brubaker and he won his only Eisner with that issue.
Here's a page from it.



Gene Colan in his studio, with one of his Daredevil covers in the background

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Mr. Colan's work on Tomb of Dracula was outstanding. I'll always remember that amazing run.

I think Tom Palmer's inking was an important factor in making Mr. Colan's work on ToD outstanding it certainly has me remembering their run on ToD as 'amazing'.

[K7P5V]

I think Tom Palmer's inking was an important factor in making Mr. Colan's work on ToD outstanding it certainly has me remembering their run on ToD as 'amazing'.

Agreed. The team of Wolfman/Colan & Palmer were unbeatable.