A fearless selection…
Comic books are a lot like music: You often discover artists out of their natural context. For example, how many millions of teenagers discovered the old blues legends through the Rolling Stones? Or, how many people discovered their favorite song is actually a cover?
Gene Colan is sort of like that for me. I didn’t become familiar with him until it was announced he was going to be taking over Batman art in the early ’80s. I remember asking about him at the comics stall at the late, lamented Route 1 Flea Market in New Brunswick, N.J., and being told that he was a perfect fit for the Darknight Detective.
Little did I know that Colan was pretty much a legend by that point, known particularly for his seminal runs on Daredevil and Tomb of Dracula — not to mention other titles, which you can read about here.
Anyway, for this year’s 13 COVERS salute, I’ve decided to go back to Colan’s Daredevil, which we’ve not highlighted since our 2015 birthday celebration. (Click here.)
Colan was born Sept. 1, 1926. He would have been 92. He died in 2011 — but his art lives on:
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Frank Giacoia inks
Giacoia inks
Giacoia inks
George Klein inks
Giacoia inks
Klein inks
Giacoia inks
Giacoia inks
Giacoia inks
John Tartaglione inks
Klein inks
Giacoia inks
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MORE
— 13 COVERS: A GENE COLAN Birthday Salute: 2017 Edition — Starring DRACULA. Click here.
— 13 COVERS: A GENE COLAN Birthday Salute: 2016 Edition — Starring BATMAN and DRACULA. Click here.
— 13 COVERS: A GENE COLAN Birthday Salute: 2015 Edition — Starring DAREDEVIL. Click here.
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All credits and scans courtesy of the dramatic Grand Comics Database.
September 1, 2018
Happy birthday to the late Mr. Colan.
September 2, 2018
Unmistakably Gene Colan. But I felt his earlier DD work was better than the later stuff. Example: in the mid-50s, we don’t get as much brilliance from Gene. Se #54 & 56 for examples.