Gene Colan Portfolio Dream Teams Gene Colan’s Pencils Interpreted by Comics Superstars By Glen David Gold
I’ve heard athletes say that marathons are good for proving yourself, but if you want a glimpse into your soul, try competing in an Iron Man triathlon. That’s what I imagine inking Colan is like. There are so many ways to ruin a Colan page and, when it’s done right, so many different ways it can be right – think of Sinnott versus Palmer, for instance. That’s what inspired me to get some non-traditional inkers on Gene’s commissioned pieces.
When I saw Gene’s pencils of the Black Widow/Batgirl piece, I immediately thought of George Pérez, who took on the commission enthusiastically... and without reading the letter I’d enclosed, which suggested he ink it with a brush. By the time he’d finished – inking the entire thing with a pen, which he uses exclusively, as he has double-jointed fingers – and looked at the note, he thought I might hate what he’d done. He told me that at times he worried he would never actually finish the obsessive detail of the stairs, the bricks, the iron ball, etc. He did a magnificent job adding his sense of order and precision to Gene’s impressionistic dungeon. GENE COLAN
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