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Was Gene Colan one of the most underappreciated artists?

Started by JazzMan,

61 posts in this topic

telerites

telerites

Posted
Posted
I wasn't a huge fan of his superhero work, but the other work he did with TOD and Howard the Duck were very cool. He did some work on Two Fisted Tales that I found exceptional, but Gaines had a staff of awesome artists and story tellers during that time.

 

I agree with this but I have to admit, my appreciation for Colan's pencils and all of his work has increased tremendously over my 40 years of collecting. I bought the Secrets in the Shadows: The Art and Life of Gene Colan and looking at his raw stuff is really quite incredible.

 

 

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JazzMan

JazzMan

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I wasn't a huge fan of his superhero work, but the other work he did with TOD and Howard the Duck were very cool. He did some work on Two Fisted Tales that I found exceptional, but Gaines had a staff of awesome artists and story tellers during that time.

 

I agree with this but I have to admit, my appreciation for Colan's pencils and all of his work has increased tremendously over my 40 years of collecting. I bought the Secrets in the Shadows: The Art and Life of Gene Colan and looking at his raw stuff is really quite incredible.

 

 

Maybe his inker didn't do his pencil work any justice.

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fett

fett

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My second piece of OA was a DD splash by Colan.

It's what gave me the OA collecting bug. And I'm sure glad it did.

 

I really love Gene's super-hero artwork.

 

 

What issue?

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Hekla

Hekla

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Colan's strength is creating atmosphere (e.g. shadowy scenes) and unusual perspectives. I think this is why he excelled in titles such as Dracula, Doctor Strange and Daredevil.

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MedicAR

MedicAR

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I was a member of Mr. Colan's Yahoo Group near the end of his life. His wife regularly acted as a go between for him and his fans. I do not recall how the topic came up, but she posted that Nathaniel Dusk was a huge milestone for him. I knew it looked unique when it was released but lacked the sophistication or knowledge of production to fully understand why. Mrs. Colan indicated that Gene had wept with joy when he held a copy in his hands for the first time. He was happy beyond words that the book could be produced directly from his pencils as he had wanted the world to see his pencils from the very beginning. She made it clear that he didn't dislike his inkers but that he preferred his uninked work.

 

As a result of this exchange, I have been diligently searching for a page form that series ever since. He may not have considered it his greatest work but was so very proud that the world could see his work more closely to the way he did for the very first time.

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Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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Great artist whose style did not always fit the stuff he was assigned. His stint at Archie is particularly weird. It looks like Stan Goldberg channeling Tomb of Dracula. A real mismatch. but when he was on the right title, it was amazing.

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kav

kav

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I also thought Colan sucked when I was younger.

Now I can see the greatness of the dude.

Especially when compared to the generic Jim Lee

style artists....

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MedicAR

MedicAR

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Posted
Great artist whose style did not always fit the stuff he was assigned. His stint at Archie is particularly weird. It looks like Stan Goldberg channeling Tomb of Dracula. A real mismatch. but when he was on the right title, it was amazing.

 

I remember seeing an Archie sketch by Mr. Colan, and being utterly perplexed at why anyone would request such a thing. Even more remarkably, it was very much in the Archie house style. Once I found out he actually did some Archie books, I figured he had used his amazing talent to just blend in on the title. Now I need to find some of these…

 

hm

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Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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Great artist whose style did not always fit the stuff he was assigned. His stint at Archie is particularly weird. It looks like Stan Goldberg channeling Tomb of Dracula. A real mismatch. but when he was on the right title, it was amazing.

 

I remember seeing an Archie sketch by Mr. Colan, and being utterly perplexed at why anyone would request such a thing. Even more remarkably, it was very much in the Archie house style. Once I found out he actually did some Archie books, I figured he had used his amazing talent to just blend in on the title. Now I need to find some of these…

 

hm

 

His characters seem to me to be derived from Stan Goldberg's versions, but you can definitely tell it's Colan. No question about it. Sometimes it's the layout, like this page, where he uses the patented Colan sequential montage with no panel borders:

 

SAM_1200.jpg

 

 

And other times, it's in his linework, which gets very Colan-esque when there's action involved and not just characters standing around talking:

 

SAM_1201.jpg

 

 

 

Life with Archie #278 has a story Colan both wrote and drew, about Archie exploring a haunted house. It's very ToD meets Archie in terms of the art, which is very strange from both sides of the equation.

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rjpb

rjpb

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I thought Colan was top-notch as a kid, and still do now. I suppose he was underappreciated when compared to some of his contemporaries who became fan favorites, but he got more respect than some solid artists whose silver/bronze age work was arguably not their best, like Tuska, Heck and Craig.

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