Gene Colan
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Gene Colan (born September 1, 1926, the Bronx, New York City, New York) is an American comic book artist who sometimes worked under the name Adam Austin. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2005. Image:Daredevil47.jpg Colan studied at the Art Students League of New York and served in the Philippines during World War II. After his return in 1944, he began working in comics, illustrating the science fiction adventure series Wings Comics.
From 1946, he worked for both DC Comics (originally National Publications) and the 1940s and 1950s precursors of Marvel Comics (Timely and Atlas, respectively). A stickler for research, Colan used a photorealistic approach on countless war stories during this time for DC's All-American Men at War, Captain Storm, and Our Army at War, as well as Atlas' Battle, Battle Action Battle Ground, Battlefront, G.I. Tales, Marines in Battle, Navy Combat and Navy Tales. He would rent 16mm movies of Hopalong Cassidy Westerns in order to trace likenesses for the DC licensed series, which he drew from 1954 to 1957.
While freelancing for DC romance comics in the 1960s, Colan did his first superhero work for Marvel under the pseudonym Adam Austin. Taking to the form immediately, he introduced the "Sub-Mariner" feature in Tales to Astonish, and succeeded Don Heck on "Iron Man" in Tales of Suspense.
Shortly afterward, under his own name, Colan became one of the premier Silver Age Marvel artists, illustrating a host of such major characters as the Black Panther, Captain America, Dr. Strange (both in the late-'60s and the mid-'70s series), and his signature character, Daredevil. Colan's long run on the series Daredevil encompassed all but three issues in an otherwise unbroken, 81-issue string from #20-100 (Sept. 1966 - June 1973), plus the initial Daredevil Annual (1967). He returned to draw ten issues sprinkled from 1974-79, and, as an established legend, an eight-issue run in 1997.
Colan also garnered praise in the 1970s for illustrating the complete, 70-issue run of the acclaimed horror title Tomb of Dracula, as well as most issues of writer Steve Gerber's cult-hit, Howard the Duck. Image:DrStrange180.jpg During the 1980s, back at DC, Colan brought his shadowy, moody textures to Batman, serving as the Dark Knight's primary artist from 1982-1986, penciling Detective Comics #528-538, 540-546 and 555-567, and Batman #340, 343-345, 348-351 and others. He was also the artist of Wonder Woman from #288-305 (Feb. 1982 - July 1983). Helping to create new characters as well, Colan collaborated in the '80s with Tomb of Dracula writer Marv Wolfman on the 14-issue run of Night Force; with Cary Bates on the 12-issue run of Silverblade; and with Greg Potter on the 12-issue run of Jemm, Son of Saturn. As well, he drew the first six issues of Doug Moench's 1987 revival of The Spectre.
Colan's style, characterized by fluid figure drawing and extensive use of shadow, was unusual among Silver Age comic artists and became more so as his career progressed. He usually worked as a penciller, with Klaus Janson and Tom Palmer as his most frequent inkers. Colan was the first mass-market comic artist to break from the penciller/inker/colorist assembly-line system by creating finished drawings in graphite and watercolor. Notable examples include the DC Comics miniseries Nathaniel Dusk (1984) and Nathaniel Dusk II (1985-86), and the feature "Ragamuffins" in the Eclipse Comics umbrella series Eclipse #3, 5, & 8 (1981-83). All these were written by frequent collaborator Don McGregor.
His art's shadowy depth makes it particularly well-suited for black-and-white reproduction, as in his stories for the Warren Publishing magazines Eerie and Blazing Combat in the '60s, and Marvel's Dracula Lives!, Hulk, The Savage Sword of Conan, and Savage Tales magazines in the '70s.
Independent-comics work includes the miniseries Predator: Hell & Hot Water for Dark Horse Comics; and the Eclipse graphic novel Detectives Inc.: A Terror Of Dying Dreams (1985), written by McGregor and reprinted in sepia tone as an Eclipse miniseries in 1987.
Colan was nominated for the Shazam Award for Best Penciller (Dramatic Division) in 1974.