Colan Rides Again

[colonel_green.insanejournal.com]

Four scans from Captain America #601, Gene Colan's one-issue return to drawing (so, another candidate for "the last full comic illustrated by Gene Colan").

This was written about three years ago, I believe; I recall hearing some mention of it around then, though as an annual.  The framing device is set circa Civil War #3-4, as Bucky (in his post-Winter Soldier, pre-Cap garb) talks with Nick Fury about one of their past adventures in a little town in Belgium, following Patton's raising the siege of Bastogne.  Brubaker said he consulted with Colan as to what he was interested in drawing, and ended up with a mix of his Cap stuff and Tomb of Dracula.  A vampire's on the loose, killin' folks, and Steve and Bucky are on the case.  When the Wehrmacht originally rolled on through, one of the officers was a vampire, but he was long gone, leaving only his legacy behind.  It seems they've uncovered the person behind it, one of the famous ladies participating in a USO show, but Cap is suspicious (since it's not clear how the departed vampire-Nazi could have been involved, and it seems unlikely they'd be unrelated).




Colan's one of the greats, but this reveal image lost a lot of its impact for me because I was focussed pretty much entirely on trying to figure out the perspective on that huge hand.

Comments

A Return I Am So Happy To See, If Only For A Moment

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

At last it's possible to do his pencils justice. TOTAL WIN.

I love Colan. Love, love, love him. (He even bought my set of HOWARD THE DUCK on Ebay years ago! As a present for his grandkids)

[shanejayell.insanejournal.com]

The Vamp girl IS kinda 'wtf' but still, DAMN pretty art.

[filkertom.insanejournal.com]

So lovely. Damn, what an artist that man is.

[scorpiokyle.insanejournal.com]

i still loved the cover

"A very special issue of"

[randyripoff.insanejournal.com]

IMO, Colan doesn't get nearly the accolades he deserves. During his time at Marvel he was easily as prolific as Kirby if not moreso, and his art was both dynamic and beautiful.

I think the Essentials have really brought his work to the fore, as his pencils are really fabulous in black and white.

[kirayoshi1.insanejournal.com]

Very nice. Last thing I saw from Colan was an eight-pager called "Niki Goes Down", in the Dark Horse GN "Tales of the Slayers". Centered around Niki, a vampire slayer in the 70s, who would later be the second slayer killed by Spike. Also very pretty. I may post a page or two of that one in the near future.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

The impression I got was that the vampire's hand had grown huge in some freaky shapeshifting-nosferatu-type thing. Her arms to seem to be disproportionately large in that scene where she's lunging at Cap and Bucky, so maybe I'm right.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

I'm thinking more an homage to Kirby.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

Perhaps, but that 'extreme perspective' thing works best when a character is lunging right at you, or standing right in front of you. In this case, the vampire is way up in a tree, some two or three meters from our viewpoint. I'm sticking with my freaky-morphing-vampire-hand theory.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Gene Colan? Doing horror? With his pencils showing their beauty? AND gloriously tonal colours? This is on the MUST BUY NOW list.

Seriously, the man is now 82 and has only just given up taking commissions. A genuine legend and an object lesson to every person with a pen out there who calls themselves a professional artist.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

(so, another candidate for "the last full comic illustrated by Gene Colan")

I think this one might be more "last" than most. This, from Gene's Yahoo Group posting of yesterday

"I loved drawing to Ed's script! Loved
drawing War. I've been blessed. Tom Brevoort was like a mother bear
watching over every detail of this production. Same with Ed. They
weren't about to let anything interfere with my art. Dean White who
did a masterful job coloring had to submit each page one by one for
all of our approval. And he couldn't have been more of a team player,
fabulous attitude and brilliant work.
I began my career in 1946 with Marvel. It was Stan who hired me.
Beany cap blowing in the wind from the window behind his desk. And
now my work is done. My career ends with Marvel, with a new
generation of editors and creators, but the same comraderie and
excellence as when it all began. :)"

Ending your professional career on a note like this after SIXTY THREE YEARS? The man deserves a medal for that alone!

[halloweenjack.insanejournal.com]

Colan's work is incredible, and incredibly original.

[buttler.insanejournal.com]

Oooo. Hot damn.

[cat_13145.insanejournal.com]

Hugs Bucky. his comment is very good, given his own situation at that point.