Happy Birthday, Gene Colan

[filkertom]

Didn't catch this from yesterday, but Gene Colan, one of the best freakin' comic artists ever, turned eighty yesterday.

Do you have any favorite Colan stories? I could easily just name the entire run of Tomb of Dracula and all his incredible work on Howard the Duck, but there were those issues of Night Force and the Daredevil stuff and oh my god whenever he worked on Dr. Strange he drew the hottest fucking Clea imaginable and....

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

When I think of Gene Colan, I first think of Tomb of Dracula, but he did so many wonderful stories. He had such a way of creating mood... Yes, his run on Daredevil and Night Stuff was great and I have the most wonderful memories of various panels of his from Dr. Strange.

All those happy memories! He's one of the greats.

I've always particularly liked his covers.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

I was a _Tomb of Dracula_ fanboy, at least as well as I could be, living in small-town Iowa. For a while, I had a subscription.

It was, plainly and simply, one of the best comic books around. Looking back at it, it often seems overwritten, but the stories were and are fantastic.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

There aren't specific stories that come to mind -- because the man is a consummate storyteller, one of the best in the industry. Of the sort that I didn't fully appreciate when I was young and first coming across their art. (Others of that sort include Don Newton, Jim Aparo and Don Heck, all sadly no longer with us -- but then I always appreciated Aparo, a man who could make even Bob Haney's scripts make sense.) I wish there were more like Colan in comics today, with a commitment to the art and the craft rather than the flash and thunder.

The modern artist who reminds me most of Colan is the artist on Astro City, Brent Anderson I believe. Would love to see Colan himself do an issue ...

[aota.livejournal.com]

My first exposure to him was Tomb of Dracula. He has a style that's easy to spot and fun to look at. His Howard the Duck and Dr Strange runs were classics. Your right his Clea was fantastic.

Waauuuuuggggh!

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

You guessed it, I'm a DUCKfan from waaaay back. That's what I think of when I think of Mr. Colan's work. Very...dang, what's the drawing equivalent of "painterly"? You could see the pencil strokes and everything. His style somehow seemed to go perfectly with Steve Gerber's scripts. A hippo, birdie and two ewes to the man on his natal day, and kudos for the impressive longevity. May he last longer than poor Glenn Ford did.

[kosaginolegion.livejournal.com]

Tomb of Dracula. Definitely and specifically the Hannibal King sequences.

*sits back and resents Marvel's mishandling of the vampire detective after they - supposedly - killed off all the vampires.*

My Partner In Crime (sitting behind me) seconds the Dr. Strange, as well as the story he drew for the recent Escapist anthology.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Let's not get into Marvel's mishandling of continuity, shall we? Life's too short, and blood pressure's too volatile. (Same thing with DC and WWE.)

[kosaginolegion.livejournal.com]

Hell, I wouldn't have cared if they'd screwed with the continuity if the just kept Hannibal King the film noir sweetie he'd been from the first.

*goes off grousing*