FW Presents: Showcase Gene Colan: CAPTAIN AMERICA

FW Presents kicks off the 4th of July weekend with a brand new showcase of the artistic genius that is Gene Colan. On this episode, Ryan Daly welcomes the shield-slinging Chris Franklin to discuss CAPTAIN AMERICA #256. No, it’s not the first appearance of The Falcon, or an epic battle against fascism, or anything else that would feel topical for this point in American history. It’s Cap in a haunted house, really, but it’s drawn by Gene “The Dean” so it still looks damn good!

Throughout his life, Gene Colan brought his truly unique art style to the pages of Batman, The Tomb of Dracula, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, The Avengers, Howard the Duck, Doctor Strange, The Spectre, and so many others. What issues will Ryan chronicle on this podcast? You’ll have to tune in to find out!

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.

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Intro: Gene Colan interview from “The Men Without Fear”; “The Vampire Hunters” by Wojciech Kilar.

Additional music: “Captain America” and “Captain America March” by Alan Silvestri.

Thanks for listening!

5 responses to “FW Presents: Showcase Gene Colan: CAPTAIN AMERICA

  1. Top chat, chaps, I remember this as big, daft fun, and checking it out on Marvel Unlimited, it certainly is. Looking at it from a different perspective from originally, I’m seeing a lot of Frank Robbins in Colan’s Cap figures, especially the way the legs bend. What could it mean?

    According to the Grand Comic Database, the inking credits are as follows: Dave Simons (pages 1-10, 21-22); Al Milgrom (pages 11-16); Frank Giacoia (pages 17-20)

    I wonder whatever happened to Simons, I remember liking him on Ghost Rider, and then…? File with Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, who made Rom so much better.

    1. Dave Simons continued to work in comics into the early 90s, mainly working on the Conan titles and DCs TSR titles, before moving into animation for a while but then had a few health problems. I remember reading that he had got help from the Hero Initiative. Sadly he died a few years ago at a very young age (54). He was one of my favourite inkers for Gene Colan and I wish he’d worked with him more. Particularly as I think Gene was generally badly inked at DC.

  2. Impressive Podcast. Most impressive. For an inventory story this is pretty good. As is the art. Then again the Dean has always put out good art. The costume is pretty bad for the bad guy… could be worse. See New Warriors. The Writer is defiantly under rated. He’s done great work in the past. Sadly he can’t create any more work… poor man.

  3. I remember buying this new. Either off a spinner or a magazine rack. It was pre-LCS times! Honestly, I was very disappointed. It was an obvious fill-in issue following an absolutely stunning run of Captain America comics! It was so jarring to this teen-age comic reader. This comic ignored all the carefully set-up secondary characters, potential future plot-lines, and the established status quo of Cap and Steve Rogers. It was a sequel to a story that I hadn’t read with art that bore no resemblance to Byrne and/or Rubenstein. I did not eagerly re-read this one.
    Now, removed from the monthly habit of so long ago, I can see what a tremendous effort was needed to get this book inked, colored, and printed on time. I can also appreciate the skill that Bill Mantlo used to create a Captain America story that could be used as a fill-in, while still remaining “in continuity.” I’m amazed that Gene Colan could take Mantlo’s plot points, Marvel style remember, no scripts, and draw this story in between all of his regular assignments. I expect that the pages were given to the inkers who could finish the job essentially overnight. So, good job all around, everyone!
    As a stand alone piece of Colan, it’s properly spooky and mysterious with a lot of lovely deep shadows and evocative crumbling castle walls. As Martin points out, there’s a lot of Frank Robbins-esque fluidity of motion, but that’s not unusual for Colan’s action figures. Certainly neither Dracula nor Doctor Strange had many occasions to splay their legs in a frenetic leap!
    Always great to hear you two chat about comics!

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