Gene Colan Daredevil Inks

Finished inking this today, added the starry sky.

You can see the pencils here: http://tinyurl.com/yfpgye

Gene Colan Dr Strange Inks

Finished inking this one today, added a few stars, otherwise pretty straightforward. Daredevil next. See the pencils here:

http://tinyurl.com/ylstst

Listening to: Ramones "End of the Century" & Dictators "Manifest Destiny"

Gene Colan Zatanna Cover

Finished this today. I added the logo, trade dress, stars, curtains and stage, as requested. You can see the pencils here:
http://tinyurl.com/tary5

Dave Cockrum Rest in Peace

I was sad to hear the news yesterday that Dave Cockrum had passed away. I never met the man but he was a great artist and will surely be missed. Another hero gone but not forgotten. May he rest in peace. http://tinyurl.com/yb3pt3

Matt Murdock Is Daredevil

Finished inking this one yesterday, jumping on another one today, a Zatanna fantasy cover. I added in the Daily Bugle newspaper with the headline in a grey wash and also added some additional tones.

Also have 3 more to ink, a Daredevil, Dr Strange & Human Wonder to get to this week. Busy, Busy!

Gene Colan GIANT-SIZE CHILLERS #1

Just finished inking this yesterday. 13"x19" & almost all art, a few of the elements are paste-up.

Reading: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Listening to: MDC & Kraut

Gene Colan at WonderCon SF 2007

Just heard the news that Gene will be appearing at WonderCon San Francisco 2007. Can't wait to visit with Gene and Adrienne. They will finally be able to come and meet the dogs! We hope to take them a few places and just have a grand time. I'll be in NY the week before at the NYCon with G&A but them coming here will be surreal!

http://www.comic-con.org/wc/

I've Been Framed

I recieved this great email today along with the pic. Pretty cool.

"Gene & Dave, Attached is a picture of how I am displaying your DareDevil artwork that you have drawn and inked for me. Thank you again. As you can hopefully tell, it is prominently displayed in my home."

Michael

Neutro (part 2)

This is was started it all, and this is what the new owner of these commissions had to say.

"NEUTRO is possibly the worst mass-produced comic ever. It only lasted one issue in the 60s. That's pretty rare. But I have grown to love this book and its beautiful flaws. I've got a couple sketchbooks filled with NEUTRO art, both proud and silly. I found NEUTRO at a convention in Des Moines, IA many years ago. We had a table next to the SPAWN funnycar (remember when that was making the rounds?) and the McFarlane folks were playing a tape loop about their KISS dolls all day long. We thought we were going insane. So, we ended up hitting the dime boxes and lo and behold there was NEUTRO. NEUTRO saved my sanity that day, I think. So I've been going around giving away copies of NEUTRO to artists and having them do their interpretation. I think I singlehandedly drove the Overstreet price for NEUTRO over $100 in Near Mint. Ah well. I prefer my copies beat up anyways."

Neutro!

I can't explain this, so..................

http://www.candlelightpress.com/neutro/neutro1.htm

Get Ta Work!

OK, I recieved the first two pages of the Captain America book from Gene Colan yesterday & WOW! Only two pages and we already have Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Nick Fury & Bucky (yes Bucky). I've got coffee a new brush all set up, six new bottles of ink, two packs of cigs & I'm ready to get rolling. After almost a year of getting this together I finally have pages. Plus 20 pgs for the children's book and 90+ pgs to color (aside from the 38 Cap pgs to color). Check back from time to time and I'll have a few sneek peeks for ya as I move along!

COFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Tattoo Design

I drew this up for my sister-in-law.

Sandman Brush/Ink Sketch

I did this Sandman sketch for a friend of mine a few weeks ago & sent it off with a few other things just as a fun suprise for 'em. I didnt get a chance to scan any of them but he sent this along after he recieved the package. It's just a quick little brush & ink sketch but fun nonetheless. I thought he would enjoy them & he did.

"Crooked" w/ Detail

9x12 on cardboard & paper, acrylic, watercolor, clear packing tape, masking tape, ink, wire & fire.

Gene Colan Vampirella Inks

What a marathon. First the Lone Ranger than this Vampirella. This was the one out of the latest batch of commissions I recieved from Gene that I was most excited about inking. There were 3 great ones and when I got the "go ahead" I couldn't wait so I jumped right in. I was nice and warmed up, having just finished the Lone Ranger, so off I went. I got the green light to add the grey tone wash & I think it brought this particular piece to the next level. Now I have to change gears and get cracking on a website that's long overdue.

Reading: Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
Listening to: Portishead: Roseland NYC Live

Gene Colan Lone Ranger Inks

Just finished up inking this one.

http://tinyurl.com/yekchg

Brick NJ - Safest town in U.S.? wah?

I had heard about it on TV and a friend just sent me an email about the best/worst towns in America so this was my reply to him. Crazy!

Well i lived in St Louis for a while so i guess i'm movin' on up huh? and i grew up drinking beer behind the shop-rite in brick plaza.

It's weird, i always avoided brick when i was in NJ. well, later on anyway. i literally drove around it to get where i was going. hmmmm? BUT the absolute best chicken wing place is in brick so i go there whenever i'm back in ole joisey.

The band's home base was in brick at George the bass players house. god i cringe thinking about it all now. (i've got douche chills) He passed away a few years ago. poor bastard.

Then I did a google search for "Brick Plaza" and found this:

Just as I remembered it, all grey & depressing. Then I also found this picture. I passed this thing 1000 times driving through Bayville. Now I know a little about it.

http://tinyurl.com/wdabe

Captain America 2007

Captain America 2007 by Gene Colan. WOW! Gentleman Gene comes home again to the red, white & blue & I have to ink and color it.

Talk about a challenge. Gene just blows me away when I think he's 80 years old this year and still has the enthusiasm & drive most 30-somethings lack today. He has nothing to prove but still attacks each and every job with total commitment and fearless energy, willing, almost obliged, to bend reality to his will. Armed with only a pencil and a blank piece of paper.

It's simply incredible to me so I will be anxiously awaiting the first few pages to arrive. My usual routine is to just take the page(s) in and get an idea of what's going on, where's the lighting coming from and what's happening in general. The faces & expressions are the most important so I do those last after i've warmed up and have the brush cooperating.

Inking Gene in general is always a challenge, mostly because I want him to be happy with the outcome and maybe more importantly I want his stuff to look the best it can. I think he's doing the best work of his entire life and I really want everyone to know it. I'm not sure many inkers would say it but it's a hell of a lot of fun too. I get excited every time a package arrives to open it up and see what I'm up against so these Cap pages will be no exception. It's an honor and a pleasure to have the the opprotunity to be working with Gene and also to have his blessing and endorsement. I can honestly say the he and his wife Adrienne are my biggest fans and I'm very proud to call them friends. This is going to be a fun ride, what else can one expect when The Dean is at the wheel? Buckle Up!

This is a reply to the blog post by Gene below.

I find it a huge challenge each and every time I approach a new comic story, no matter how large or small. I'm at my desk, ruling up the first page of Captain America. I write cap. america in the upperhandcorner and then write 'page one'. I don't do any preliminary sketches. I work panel to panel. I steel myself to get into the story and familiarizing myself with the first several pages. I don't tread the entire plot because I would get too preoccupied with how I'm going to tackle some of the more difficult panels. It takes about four to five pages for me to get warmed up enough to get comfortable with what I'm doing. I've been thinking about the first page for about a week now. I basically know what I'm going to draw in the first panel. Nick Fury is facing a wall of monitor screens. The monitors reveal Cap and other well known superheroes fighting. my pencil will begin with Nick Fury. That way I can work in all the monitors around him. More to come...I'll post some visuals as I move along.

Best! Gene

Gene Colan "Old Friends" Color

Started this last week & shuffled back & forth between stages with this & that. As always the colors are pretty colose. I messed with some settings to try and get them as close as possible but it never really is exact, oh well. I'm very happy with it as a whole. It was a challenge but I jumped right in after 2 quick marker guides. The lighting came out as I had imagined it. Getting the idea out of my brain & onto the paper is always what I strive for.

Very Nice

http://www.quizgalaxy.com/quiz.php?id=41