COLAN, Gene (b. 1926, USA)

GENE COLAN (b. 1926, USA) Gene Colan, who used the pseudonym of Austin Adams, began working in comics in 1944 at Fiction House, drawing 'Wings' comics. After spending the remainder of WWII in the Air Force, Gene spent about a year in the Art Students League. He then tried showing work to both National (DC) and Timely (Marvel) Comics. Stan Lee at Timely Comics was impressed enough to hire Gene for around sixty dollars a week. He worked on 'Menace', 'Mystic', and 'Journey into Mystery' before heading over to DC for a while to do 'Sea Devils' and 'Hopalong Cassidy'. Returning to Marvel Comics in the 60s, he worked on 'Silver Surfer', 'Iron Man', and 'Dr. Strange'. Especially notable were his long runs on 'Daredevil' and 'Tomb of Dracula' with Marv Wolfman. Gene Colan is a legend and so much has been said I don't know where to start. I think his strength lies in the action he portrayes in every panel. The scenes just comes to life. Nobody can create blur movement like Gene does, period. Daredevil is one of the best examples of this. The acrobatic character almost seemed to be created for Gene, personally pandering to his strenghts as an artist. Tomb of Dracula was another masterpiece especially when working alongside inker Tom Palmer. Between them they created such a great atmosphere.