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"Gene Colan Interview"by Bennett Neuhauser
Gene Colan:
Well, first of all, I've been suffering from glaucoma for the
last 25 some odd years. It surprised me, because I went in to
have refraction of my glasses last December, like everyone does
if they have glasses, and I discovered right then and there that
that's what I had. It's a disease you don't feel or notice, until
one day you say, "Gee, I thought I could see that a little
bit better yesterday, or last week." And you know then you're
in trouble. Fortunately, I'm in an era where they can treat it
for the most part with drops before it gets out of hand. So, I
had to go to Boston, which is the only place to go when your in
trouble with your eyes. They're specialists in glaucoma, and I
found out from the head man there that I either had to have an
operation or go blind. In both eyes I had it, so I had to undergo
that.
Westfield:
It must me very frightening.
Gene Colan:
It is, but they put you in the "Twilight Zone," they
never put you out. You're aware of everything. You feel nothing,
and you just put your faith in their hands. You hope that it all
works out. But, I'm fine now.
Westfield:
I'm sure I speak for all your fans when I say it's good to know
you're feeling better and back to work. And we're glad, with Clifford
Meth's help, you're recovering financially as well.
Gene Colan:
Cliff came to my rescue. He got up an auction for me - I mean
the medical bills go through the roof. Even if you're covered
with insurance it doesn't matter ... It's a sobering experience,
let me tell you, it can bankrupt you. But that's where Cliff came
in. He had seen me once at a convention, but I see a lot of people
and I didn't remember him, but there he was, coming to my aid,
starting this whole thing, trying to raise some money for me.
Westfield:
He put together the Gene Colan Treasury for that
purpose, right?
Gene Colan:
That's right, the entire thing. He asked me to draw the cover.
It's a wrap-around cover. I did that with magnifying glasses and
two different kinds of eyeglasses. It was one of the periods of
time when I was home for more than two days [between trips to
the hospital]. I was maybe for four or five days, something like
that. I was able to turn out that particular cover that way -
it was the only way I could do it. I couldn't wait to get back
to the drawing board just to see what I could see. It's a funny
thing, when you need to do something, there are always ways to
do it (laughter). It depends on how badly you want to do it. That's
what I discovered about myself, that I could actually still see
what I'm doing and draw. It wasn't easy, but it's improving all
the time.
Westfield: That
cover has all the characters you're most famous for doing.
Gene Colan:
Well, I think Iron Man and Daredevil
sort of launched me, and then, before I knew what I was doing,
Batman for awhile ... I think I did them all. Captain America
...
Westfield:
... and Tomb of Dracula
Gene Colan:
Oh, yes, Dracula. That was the longest stint I've ever had. That
was for about 10 years.
Westfield:
What are your feelings about the story you illustrate in Crawling
From The Wreckage, which is about child abuse?
Gene Colan:
Child abuse is a horrible thing. I think the whole world is topsy-turvy.
There are so many bad things going on, it's hard to pick which
one to [confront]. But I think that we all, in our lifetime, crawl
from some wreckage, and when we do, you have to just brush
off the dust and say, "I'm gonna make another start."
[That's what Crawling From The Wreckage is all
about;it's all in the title.] You just don't ever give up, no
matter how bad things look, or seem to be. There's always tomorrow.
You just can't give up. That's easy to say when you're in the
middle of a fire fight, but still and all you have to do it. I
don't care how you do it, you just have to have faith that there's
gonna be a better day ahead. So when you have problems, whether
it's in your career or personal, you just have to get through
it. It's kind of part of life. Maybe it's a test. Maybe we're
all here as a test for the next experience, whatever that is.
My theory is that if we don't get it right here, we have to keep
on doing it until we get it right.
Westfield:
You are best known for your classic Marvel titles, such as Iron
Man, Daredevil, Dr. Strange,
Howard the Duck, Tomb of Dracula,
and Tales of Suspense. Do you have any upcoming
projects for Marvel?
Gene Colan:
Not for Marvel, no. I'm working now with Dark Horse. I'm doing
Predator. They asked me whether I'd be interested
doing a three-book series and I jumped at it. It's the kind of
thing I'd like to do. I'm also finishing off a very short story
based on the Alien movies. It's nothing that you
see on the screen; it's an original plot. It's just eight pages.
Westfield:
Speaking of movies, you're known for a very fluid art style that
seems to embody movement. It's been called a "cinematic"
style. How much were you influenced by movies and cinematography?
Gene Colan:
I'd think 100 percent! [laughter]. I'm not a film director, but
I probably wish I could have been. But I knew right off that I
had the ability to draw and the best way to show what I could
do was to get into comics. To me comics were always like movies.
Although the pictures didn't move, there was a way to present
it where they could take on the appearance of movement. I wasn't
original with that. Harvey Kurtzman, I think, introduced that
to comics. I was searching at the time for a way to show it myself.
We're all influenced by other people, other artists. Actors are
influenced by other actors, artists are influenced, too. You take
a little bit from this one or from that one and pretty soon you
have a handwriting all your own. To me art is like handwriting,
you can't disguise it - that's your style. So, being influenced
by film all the time, you learn a little bit from different people.
Film has always been my first love. I just love the movies.
Westfield:
Are there any film directors you'd say influenced you?
Gene Colan:
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Martin Scorcese. I love his work. John Houston.
I love his work. Of course, Hitchcock. Brian DePalma -
love it, very artistic. Carlito's Way is excellent.
That's a memorable film. Directors are like artists and artists
are like directors. There's an overlap.
I love Warner Brothers movies ... and
there's always a rain scene in Warner Brothers films, and so I
picked up on that. Very often I'd have a scene and I'd make it
rain - give it a sense of realism. Every day isn't a beautiful
day, so it's good to show weather occasionally. It stretches you
a bit to draw wet pavement and rain coming down. It adds to the
atmosphere of the story, even if it's not asked for.
Westfield:
Another thing you've always had the knack for drawing was car
headlights in the dark or in the rain.
Gene Colan:
Well, on the screen it looked like that to me. Sometimes you get
a star burst coming out of the sides of the headlights and that
is probably something reflected off the lens of the camera, and
so I'd say to myself, "I like that," so I'd put that
in. I've copied a lot of what I've seen on the screen. Artists
study all the time, they study people, they pick up hints from
real life. In my case it was film.
Westfield:
What ever happened to your Marvel Music "Elvis: Mystery
Train" project?
Gene Colan:
It's on hold. That's when Marvel ran into problems, so everything
came to a halt. Right now it's in limbo. Senator Daniel Patrick
Moynahan's son is writing it, by the way.
Westfield:
You have an art style that can be enhanced or muted by what the
artist who inks your art does. You're also known for having your
finished pencils published as is. Who have been some of your favorite
inkers and can you tell us about your finished pencil style?
Gene Colan:
I love Tom Palmer's work very much. He interpreted Dracula very
nicely. Pencil lines are very subtle and they're soft, and I use
an awful lot of shading. I understand that's difficult to interpret
with ink, but he's managed to pick up on that a lot - he's done
wonderful work for me over the years. I also like Al Williamson's
work. He's a top artist himself. He's a great penciler and a wonderful
inker, and he brings out a certain movement, a certain naturalness
in my work that I admire very much. Sometimes I've inked my work
myself and I find it's a long process to ink and put down exactly
what you have in mind. It's easier for me to explain myself with
a pencil than it is with a pen or a brush, so I've prevailed upon
some of the publishers to publish my work in pencil. In the earlier
days, they couldn't do it, because they didn't have all the technology
that they have today. Today they can pick up almost any kind of
line you put down. It (published "finished-pencil" art)
started with the Ragamuffins series from Eclipse,
written by Dan MacGregor. Then DC did it with Nathaniel
Dusk. The first two issues of it were not well done, but
they got the hang of it by the time the third issue rolled around,
and by the fourth one they really nailed it. Then Comico did it,
and now I've asked Dark Horse if they'd be willing to do it and
they said, yes, so I'm off and running with that. I'd rather do
it that way than to ever have an inker involved, because then
you've got two styles to deal with, the penciler's style and the
inker's style. Some inkers are very strong inkers and what winds
up on the page is really not your work at all, it's somebody else's.
Westfield:
What are some of your favorite characters and titles among the
many you've worked on over the years?
Gene Colan:
I enjoyed doing Ragamuffins. It was about kids
and nostalgia and growing up in a small town, and I like that.
I enjoyed doing Nathaniel Dusk, because it was a
period piece that took place in the late 1930s and early '40s.
But since most of the work has come out of Marvel, I think Iron
Man and Daredevil were the two things I
enjoyed the most. Certainly, then, after that I wanted the opportunity
to do Captain America (which he got). The one that
I liked the least was the Sub-Mariner. I found him
awfully difficult to draw. [laughter] I couldn't get his head
or his face just right. I always had a problem with it. [laughter].
Westfield:
Looking ahead, are there things you've haven't done that you'd
still like to do?
Gene Colan:
I can't look that far ahead. I have a feeling that the format
of comics are going to change. A lot of it's going on television,
the CD-ROMs and stuff like that. I'm not saying the comic book
will vanish, but I think that we'll be looking at comics ultimately,
down the road maybe ten years from now, in a different way. I
think there might be sound added to it. It's got to go a little
further than just on the printed page. Now, I think people still
love to hold a comic book - or any kind of book - in their hand.
It's easy to read, you can take it with you, that sort of thing,
but since television has made big strides - and God only knows
where we're heading - it's interesting to think about what the
future will be, but no one really knows. We can't keep up with
the technology, and I think comic books are going to take on a
whole new look.
It's a wonderful age really. I don't
like the computer art, because it takes away from some of the
character of the work. Even with Disney, they're coloring everything
with computers. They're able to draw an animated character, put
it in the computer and the computer can make a three-dimensional
image out of it, so a lot of the original technique and art is
gone. It becomes a mechanical thing, and that part is disappointing,
but that's progress. The automobile took the place of the horse
and buggy. [laughter].
Westfield:
Next comes electric hover cars! [Laughter]
Gene Colan:
That's right, absolutely. [Laughter] They're going to have flying
automobiles, I really believe it. They're already talking about
cars you don't have to drive anymore - just get on an electronic
highway and go. Read a paper, watch TV and the car automatically
takes you where you want to go. The young people have a lot to
look forward to.
Westfield:
How do you feel about the attention you get as a member of the
legendary silver-age Marvel Bullpen?
Gene Colan:
As an artist through the years, it's very difficult to believe,
when you're sitting in your own little bubble at home, working,
that anybody knows much about you. And that's the way it's always
been for me, so I find it very fascinating that there are so many
people out there that know about the artists in the business,
because we're all the same. We stay at home, we're not much aware
of what's going on, we're separated from what's going on, and
therefore we're taken aback a little bit by all the notoriety
and the fans and all of that stuff. I've never really gotten used
to it. I'm terribly flattered by the whole thing.
Westfield:
In closing, is there anything you'd like to say to yours fans?
Gene Colan:
I appreciate the admiration and devotion that a lot of the fans
have shown me, especially during this rough period with my sight
problems. I can't begin to tell you how my wife and I are so taken
by the dedication that I see at conventions and the results of
people trying, even financially, to help me through a bad period.
So, there's an awful lot of love out there. I can't even tell
you in words how much I appreciate that.
I teach in New York at the School of
Visual Arts. I go every Friday and I teach for a full day students
who want to get into the business. It's very hard to tell them
how to do this or that or the other thing, because all of these
feelings come from within and it's just by sheer practice that
it, in time, comes out. And to anyone who wants to get into the
business I would say, just be patient with yourself and keep on
drawing and keep on practicing. You have to really love it, though,
to make a success of it. Never put the money first, just the art
of it. When you put the art of it first, like in anything else,
the money follows. But never think of it in terms of, "how
much money I can make." You can't make it that way. You just
have to love the craft. Some actors will act for literally for
nothing, if they can just have an audience and act in front of
them. That, to me, is the way to success. You have to love. If
you want to be a fine art painter, you have to love that. If you
want to be a composer, you have to love that. And writers, they
paint with words. It's just another way of expressing themselves.
It's really a love affair that you have with it and that's where
the new ideas come from. It will lead you to just where you want
to be, you just have to love it. That's all. And it's got to happen.
Yeah, I think there's a law out there that's working for all of
us. You just have to tap into it. |
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