Sean Clarke :: Gene Colan

Howard The Duck #5, page 8

Artists: Gene Colan (Penciller) , Steve Leialoha (Inker)

3 Comments - 432 Views - 3 Likes

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Artwork Details

Title:	Howard The Duck #5, page 8
Artist:	Gene Colan (Penciller)
Artist:	Steve Leialoha (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	432
Likes on CAF:	3 4
Comments:	3
Added to Site:	1/3/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Gene was initially worried that being assigned the Howard The Duck comic was a demotion to drawing funny animal stories for children... until he read Steve Gerber's scripts. �I enjoyed it, because Howard was the easiest thing to do, and it was such a chance to make things funny and lighten up a little bit,� Colan said. �I enjoyed humor, and Steve was so funny. I�d just sit there and laugh my head off just reading the script, and I�d call him and say so.�

I think it's time to talk about Steve Leialoha. Brothers and Sisters, can I testify to the glory of Steve Leialoha, and praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness? When the great artist pairings of comics history are duly reverenced, Brothers and Sisters, where are the trumpets, lutes and harps for Colan/Leialoha? Heed my words, and teach the children of Newsprint that they cannot apply themselves too diligently to the praises of Colan/Leialoha!

Steve Leialoha brought a sensitivity and finesse that was perfect for this book, and for about a year we had a dream team of Gerber/Colan/Leialoha working sympatico to bring us some quirky and wonderful stories. Here's to comics that fly under the radar of editors!

I might be misremembering... and there's not much tread left on the ol' cognitive tires, if you catch my frisbee... but I think that Steve Leialoha departed Howard The Duck to ink the initial Star Wars adaptation comics in 1977. I'm not saying this was a bad idea. I'm not saying that Leialoha didn't help those comics look great, too. I won't deny that the initial Star Wars comics were reprinted dozens and dozens of times, allowing Steve Leialoha to bask in opulent luxury hitherto unknown to comics artist trench workers, while Marvel waited almost 25 years to reprint Howard the Duck in an Essential TPB that went out of print a few weeks later. What I am saying is that Leialoha's departure from HTD still saddens me, and I take it as a personal affront.

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About the Owner

	Sean Clarke Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	January 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Sean's Classifieds Sean's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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glen gold
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 1/3/2021

Can I get an amen for the Church of Colan/Leialoha?

You know I'm in the congregation already. Steve's inks on Brunner, then Buscema, then Colan made the book look great. Janson is a very good inker, but Colan's pencils -- especially for 1970s printing -- needed a nimble line, and Steve is mercurial and fluid. Wasn't so shabby on Starlin beforehand, either. Steve and Tom Palmer are the two best inkers for Gene - they have a lot of stylistic overlap, but for me, Leialoha has the razor-thin edge.

Hey, I've never seen this page before - great pick up and lotsa great detail I missed when it was published. One thing I love about Gerber is his use of house-style artists to subvert whatever the hell was going on in his storylines, and Gene was in that way utterly perfect as the Howard artist. "Does Gene even know what's going on here?" Yup. He did.

REDEMAGNI CLAUDIO
Member Since 2016

1 - Posted on 1/4/2021

Very beautiful page, congratulations

Lee Benaka
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 1/4/2021

Not fair, you get all the nice Colan/Leialoha Howard art! This is a wild, fun, and beautifully drawn and inked page. Great shots of Howard in every panel, what more could you want? Congrats Sean!

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