Monday, April 3, 2017

Panel Discussion: Gene "The Dean" Colan

Martinex1: Recently Redartz and I have shared our appreciation for John Romita and Sal Buscema; today I want to discuss another of my favorite artists from the early Bronze Age at Marvel: Gene Colan!

"Gentleman" Gene as Stan Lee would sometimes refer to him, had one of the most recognizable art styles of the era.   At a time when sticking to the company's model sheets was important in building the recognizable characters that would become icons,  Gene Colan demonstrated a flair that was uniquely his own.  He used motion and shadows and a love of cinema to bring a different technique to the style and storytelling around the heroes.   Often teamed with inker Tom Palmer, Colan's dark nights seemed darker, the shadows seemed more dangerous, and the mysteries more urgent.  The characters were limber and wild; the facial expressions were detailed and varied; the mood was treacherous and bleak.   I say there was a true "art" to what Gene Colan accomplished. Gene started his comic career in 1948 and one of his first cover works was on Captain America's Weird Tales way back in 1950.   That was just the start as he worked well into the 2000s.


Gene Colan, whose images were not traditional or mainstream in my eyes, was not assigned B-list stars when Marvel got rolling under Stan Lee.    Quite the contrary, he was in charge of many Marvel newcomer titles from the late Silver Age (1967 and beyond)  that were taking the world by storm.  He had his hands on Iron Man, Daredevil, Captain Marvel, Sub-Mariner, Doctor Strange, Captain America, and even the Avengers. He was the first artist to draw the Guardians of the Galaxy.   He was prolific as well as talented.  And in my opinion, his early work was just as influential as Jack Kirby's art.  They were vastly different in their approach and styles but they each offered a sense of dynamic energy that has lasted until today.   In the late 70s, Colan would also take on Dracula and Howard the Duck. He intermittently had stints with DC, and when leaving Marvel in the early 80s he worked on characters like Batman, Jemm Son of Saturn, and Silverblade.






Gene Colan's work was amongst the first I recognized.   I was blown away by his "Tales of the Watcher" back up stories in Silver Surfer and soon after was mesmerized by his rendering of Mr. Hyde, Cobra, and the Jester over in Daredevil.  I was exposed to those issues at an early age so they remain amongst my favorites, but I do believe that Colan made an impression on me.  He made me feel the danger, irony, and kinetics of the super-hero tales.

Some may not like Gene's penciling style; like I have said it is unique.   Whereas other artists have played with the body's flexibility and positions, Gene was able to make the impossible seem real and reasonable.  I still think his Daredevil is the best.  If you look at Colan's layouts and motions of the characters, few artists attempt those actions. I will agree, however, that not every book is meant for Colan's talent; Captain America and the Avengers are amongst his lesser works (though still great). I think that is so because those books' more upbeat mood and optimism did not always align with Colan's shadowy style.  The figures within, however, are just fantastic.   Take a look at Cap resting on the couch.  And let's not forget that he co-created Sam Wilson, the Falcon.



In his later years, Gene Colan continued to work and also drew commissions for lucky fans.  I did not feel Gene's talent subsided, unlike others in his field.   He could still create a moody piece.   Take a look at his work though the Marvel years as well as some of his commissions.  




















In case you don't think Gene Colan had a sense of humor, take a look at the following. I particularly find humor in the fact that Colan got that word onto the cover of a mainstream Daredevil comic book.  I guess the Comics Code Authority was not watching too closely - see the marquis just below DD's left hand. 





Unfortunately, Gene died in 2011.  But he left behind numerous works that demonstrate a type of talent that is rarely reached and seldom passed.  




23 comments:

Chim said...

Definitely one of the greatest silver age artists, but a special one. I know him mostly from Daredevil and Tomb of Dracula. What I do like most is his unpredictability. Somehow there were always some pictures that felt wrong, were anatomy was totally off, but that is probably because he seems to go with the flow, similar to Jack Kirby. And that is also why there are in each issue so great and "not seen before" compositions of frames and bodies.

I especially liked his short Avenger run #63-#65, because it added so much oddness, weirdness in terms of art to the Avengers. And that fit so well, because Avenger stories usually have really weird cosmic plots. It adds that sense of strangeness that Jack Kirby’s art attributed to the Fantastic Four.

I would have loved to see his pencils on a run for the Fantastic Four. Has he ever penciled any FF issue? Does somebody know?

Anonymous said...

I didn't care for Gene much as a kid, but now really appreciate his flair and sense of dynamics.
However, now looking at his characters' impossibly wide stances, it somehow makes my 50-something hips hurt.

Yoyo

William said...

Nice article, and great artwork samples.

Back in the 90's the owner of my LCS held an auction to benefit Gene Colan as he was going through some health issues. All the money raised was given to Gene to help his family pay for medical expenses. I was extremely lucky to win a page of original artwork, (which was page 19 of Detective Comics #543). It's a nice battle page featuring Batman fighting a character called "The Thief of Night".

If it was possible to post pics on here I'd show it to you.

Redartz said...

Very nice look at a unique, stellar artist. And a great selection of artwork, partner!

Gene's art appealed to me from the start. His dramatic composition, moody atmospherics and deep shadows really contrasted with other contemporaneous artists' work. Loved his Daredevil, Doctor Strange and Dracula (mayhap he had a penchant for 'D' characters?). And Colan could draw nighttime cityscapes like nobody else.

Glad you included the Not Brand Echh page. It shows how effectively Gene could handle humor, as well. He drew a story in "Simpsons'Treehouse of Horror", written by Marv Wolfman. They parodied their "Tomb of Dracula" work using the Simpsons cast. Still a favorite.

david_b said...

Whaaat a gorgeous way to start a rainy Monday.. Gene's sense of flight and dynamics is truly unmatched. I will accept NO arguments on that. :)

What makes a truly memorable artist is the intense anquish you get in your gut when you discover the ish before the one you've just opened up was indeed 'his (or her) last'.

His Iron Man work was the best ever, pretty even with his DD. I really enjoyed his Strange work, but unfortunately Ditko will always remain tops.

Much like Gerber's Howard, it's hard for me to visualize a non-Gene 'Tomb of Dracula'.., it just doesn't work.

Chim, I recall seeing some FF panels in DD and some other titles drawn by Gene, but never an entire FF issue. Like ASM, that would have just been wrong.

Gene's another artist I just couldn't see doing DC heroes (personally), so it's interesting to see the work here.

Doug said...

Like Yoyo, I have a much greater appreciation for Colan as an adult. I think, like many artists we've discussed but specifically Don Heck and Carmine Infantino, a line can be drawn between Colan's Silver and Bronze Age work. I recall his late-70s run on Daredevil as being somewhat jarring following the tenure of Bob Brown. Brown's DD was very sleek, lithe... Colan's Daredevil was a bit more chunky. It took a few issues for me to get acclimated. But Silver Age DD and Iron Man by Colan? Beautiful. Love it!

I appreciate the wide array of art samples today - super job!

Doug

pfgavigan said...

Hiya,

Just popped in to take a quick look!!

Hey, Chim Brouer! See if you can find What If, Vol 1,issue 21. It's one of Colan's few attempts at the Fantastic Four. Interesting, but the story itself didn't do anything for me.

I don't normally do stuff like this, but if you're a Peter David fan or an individual who is willing to lend a hand to people when they're in trouble you might want to click on the link below:

https://www.gofundme.com/peter-david-needs-your-help

The information there covers the particulars.

Seeya,

pfgavigan

Garett said...

Love seeing these samples. My favorites by Colan are Howard the Duck and Tomb of Dracula. His combo of cartoon animal and realistic humans on Howard was fantastic. Also like his Dr. Strange, Daredevil inked by Palmer, and later Batman. There was a series called Night Force that I kept up with for while.

Colan's later commissions were great, and I had a reproduction of The Shadow drawn him. Misty atmosphere, swirling. Great shadows in his work, and lively swirling bouncy compositions. Dark but still positive and lively, not grim. Definitely an original artist!

Chim said...

Hey pfgavigan, you made my day! Thank you so much! I was never exposed to "What if?" here in Germany.

I just err... um... "found" the issue on the internet. Wonderful! A Fantastic Four issue drawn by Gene Colan, just as I have wished for four hours ago. Marvels happening in the real world.

J.A. Morris said...

He was one of the first artists whose work I could identify. Those 1960s Daredevil issues he penciled are among the most fun comics to look at even 50 years after they were published. No one ever did a better job than Colan when it came to drawing DD swinging around New York.

Chim said...

... Looking through the "What if?" issues. Funny that so many of them have actually played out years later like "Jane Foster as Thor". Maybe a good future topic.

Mike Wilson said...

I'm in the same category as Doug and Yoyo; I didn't really "get" Colan's art as a kid, but I learned to appreciate the subtleties as I got older.

My favourites are probably DD and Batman ... both well-suited for his tonal approach. I think he'd have done a good Moon Knight too.

pfgavigan said...

Hiya,

Hey Mike Wilson, see if you can track down that color Hulk Magazine. I think that Colan was the first regular penciler on the first set of Moon Knight solo adventures.

Can't swear to it.

Seeya,

pfgavigan

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Marti - great presentation and great thoughts! I could not agree more! For me DD is Colan and Colan is DD. I was not quite at the age to see his Cap work "live" and really was not into vampires. SO his really long run on DD is it!

I would like to say, though, that Gene the Dean's work on "Green" Captain Marvel #2 and the Battle with the Super Skrull... WOW!

Ward Hill Terry said...

I want to plug Colan's work at DC. Besides what has already been mentioned, he did some mini-series that are well worth finding. "Phantom Zone" written by Steve Gerber, for you HTD fans. More significantly "Nathaniel Dusk" written by Don McGregor. It's a private eye story set in the thirties, and there were two four-issue mini-series. I think that the first one was shot directly from Colan's pencils and it is beautiful!

Mike Wilson said...

Thanks pfgavigan; it looks like Colan only did one Moon Knight back up in the Hulk Mag (in #11), then Keith Pollard did one, then Siekiewicz took over. But that first story IS reprinted in the Essential Moon Knight, and I HAVE been meaning to get that, so ... :)

Anonymous said...

A really wonderful tribute. Always a pleasure to see some of the The Dean's best work.

M.P.

pfgavigan said...

Hiya,

I hope nobody takes offense, but while I am in agreement with the main compliments regarding Colan's work, I do have some caveats regarding his pencils. Please do not interpret these as an attack on the artist or any of you.

Gene Colan is said to have painted water colors with pencils. His raw pencils have shadows and shapes and depths which are exquisite. Once printing technology caught up to these it was a joy to study and appreciate his work.

For the majority of his career, however, he was an absolute bear to ink. Talented individuals labored to make what he delivered printable and he was often unappreciative of their efforts. Which would be more understandable to me if the worst inker to touch Colan's pencils was someone other than himself.

Don't get me wrong. When doing grey washes for the black and white magazines such as Creepy and Eerie he absolute nailed it. But I've seen too many of his pages at different stages of his career to hold to his notions. He often obliterated his subtleties under the brush, subtleties that Coletta or Able were 'able' to preserve. I think he simply didn't know when to put down the brush.

And while I appreciate the flowing nature of his work, his later abandonment of the more traditional panel layout of pages for a 'organic' approach, images giving way to other images, worked best when he was teamed with a powerful writer. When the writer, and I have one in particular in mind, couldn't provide a written narrative to accompany the visuals the story often became lost in the telling.

Once again I hope that no one takes offense at my opinions. They are only my feelings and might be valid only for myself.

Seeya,

pfgavigan

Martinex1 said...

Thanks all in sharing my appreciation for Gene Colan. I was remiss in not mentioning an odd bit of trivia - Gene Colan actually worked on some Archie comics in the 90s if you can imagine that! While being on model for those characters, there were a few Colan quirks and you could sometimes pick up on his style -particularly in the characters' legs. I know he worked on "Jughead's Time Police" and "Return to Riverdale." If I can find some art I will display it in our coming Sunday post.

Ward Hill Terry -thanks for mentioning "Phantom Zone" and "Nathaniel Dusk" - both great from what I have seen.

I'm glad that these panel discussions have been popular thus far... more to come.

Fred W. Hill said...

I loved his work on DD, Iron Man & Dr. Strange, among others, but my favorites were Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck. One of his particular gifts as an artist was in a great range of facial expressions that to me really sold the horror of Dracula as well as the humor and exasperation in HTD. And on DD it's rather fascinating how his art could veer from jocular absurdities in the era of Mike Murdock to foreboding drama in many other stories.

Graham said...

I was always a fan, but appreciated him more for his work on Daredevil and Iron Man. I didn't read Tomb of Dracula, but after what I've read over the years since it's run, I wish that I had.

I really came to appreciate his work on Batman in the early 80's. I was nearing the end of my comics reading at the time and the period where he and Don Newton sort of alternated between Batman and Detective Comics actually encouraged me to stick around a bit longer. I had always wondered how he would do with the Dark Knight and I was not disappointed.

Humanbelly said...

Ah rats, I'm so sorry I couldn't get in here to comment yesterday-- GREAT topic!

So-- just some quick thoughts (some which I've likely expressed before 'round here or elsewhere's)--

1) If Chim hadn't brought up Avengers 63-65, I definitely would have myself-! In those three issues you get some terrific flat-out super-teamosity that any artist would be proud of-- some of them, I daresay, iconic (crash-landing on the Avengers roof; the fantastic "Like a Death-Ray From the Sky" opening of #64; Swordsman's bittersweet (and comic) call-to-arms opening in #65, etc). Those three issues fall right smack inside my personal best-run-of-any-title-ever choice (Avengers 57-67).

2) It would be a SHAME to not mention his work on the Subbie feature (as Adam Austin) in Tales to Astonish, 'cause I'll tell you, his pencils always struck me as being about 5 years ahead of the visual "curve" on that book-- a strikingly more realistic look than we were accustomed to seeing.

3) The art on HTD was so darned good! And I'm gonna submit that Gene's work went a loooong way toward making what was, in a way, an extended exercise in self-indulgent writing into a very palatable and enjoyable book. Much like Sal B's handling of that loopiest era in the Defenders, the commitment to visual legitimacy, regardless of the subject, simply carries the day.

-- man, even my short notes are long--

HB

Kid said...

Colan at his best was fantastic, but in later years his perspectives often left a lot to be desired, and his 'banana' fingers just didn't look right. However, it must be remembered that he had serious problems with his eyes and had to draw with his face right up against the page, so the fact that there was still a lot to be admired in even his 'lesser' work says a lot for the man's talents. He eventually had an operation on his eyes and you could see the improvement in his art when he subsequently returned to drawing comics. Yup, it definitely helps when you can see what you're drawing. Gene Colan - one of the very best artists of the Marvel Age.

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