Give Marvel credit for having the guts to title this issue, "A Very Special Issue of Captain America."The "Very Special" tag has become a joke from its overuse on television shows, but the real surprise is: this really is a special issue!
That's because it features the artwork of one of the honest-to-Pete giants of the comic book industry, Gene Colan.
I first noticed Colan's work in Tales of Suspense in the mid-'60s as he took over the art on the Iron Man half of the comic. (The star of the other half? Cap.) But his work was credited to a pen name - Adam Austin.
Months later they finally revealed his true identity, and Colan went on to draw all kinds of Marvel comics, including Daredevil, the Sub-Mariner, the Avengers, Dr. Strange and, eventually, Captain America. His most famous work was from his long run on the Tomb of Dracula.
Which brings us to this story written by Ed Brubaker. It's a flashback to World War II as Bucky relates an adventure where he and Cap encounter a certain horrific menace.
Colan's art is outstanding, with color support from Dean White. I'm not going to say it's his best work, but it's very good - moody, atmospheric and cinematic in its style - in other words, classic Colan.
I want to offer a word of thanks to the editors at Marvel - too often, creators from previous generations are pushed aside as being "out of style" - but talent never goes out of style, and Colan has that in spades.
I'd love to see more work like this from those talents from past years - these veterans have a lot to offer today's industry. They don't call them "the Greatest Generation" for nothing!
Grade: B+
2 comments:
I thought this was a lot of fun. I always could tell inkers had a hard time figuring out how to ink Colan's lush pencils--this goes around that problem and the coloring of the pencils is gorgeous. I hear Gene, who had to cancel his appearance at Comic Con, was able to go after all, per Evanier. Good for him!
Pete, it is great to hear Colan is going to be at Comic Con - it has to be good for him to have hundreds (or thousands) of fans telling him how much his work is admired. He's one of the true originals in the business.
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