RIP Gene Colan 1926-2011

Gene Colan, that brilliant illustrator who breathed life into Doctor Strange, Count Dracula, Batman, Daredevil, and so many other characters both at Marvel and DC, passed away last night at the age of 84.

Colan’s art meant the world to me as a kid growing up in the sticks of rural Indiana. He created images that were seared into my young mind. Though I was a fan of his super-hero work, it was his pencils on Tomb of Dracula, Tower of Shadows, and Doctor Strange that fired my imagination and created lasting memories for me, influencing my writing even more than my artwork.

He was without peer when it came to establishing mood and atmosphere, with an enviable mastery of creating depth and shadow that bordered on being supernatural, in and of itself. His drawings came alive on the page and invoked a sense of wonder and ominous foreboding that few could match and none could better.

Gene Colan will be missed, but his passing is tempered by the knowledge that his legacy will live on.

Godspeed.