Coming in May from Fantagraphics: Gil Kane Rarities Volume 1, an exciting collection of American comic artist Gil Kane’s more obscure Marvel work from the 1970s and ’80s.
Gil Kane (1926-2000) was a comic book artist whose career spanned the 1940s to 1990s. He co-created the modern-day versions of the superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom for DC Comics, and created the independently published precursors to the graphic novel, His Name Is… Savage! and Blackmark. He is in both the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame and the Harvey Award Jack Kirby Hall of Fame.
Recalling an encounter with Gil in the 1990s, fellow artist Steve Oliff noted last year, “I only remember one thing Gil said that has stuck with me all these years.
“He said that if you want to be a good artist, you need to draw every day. It doesn’t matter what you draw, but in order to hone your skills, you have to draw all the time. It’s like you’re building muscle memory.
“I haven’t lived up to his rule, but over the last 30 some-odd years, I’ve drawn thousands of days. And he was right. It took tens of thousands of drawings to even be the marginal artist that I am. He must have done millions…”
The release is part of Fantagraphics “Lost Marvels” series, delving into the misty margins of Marvel’s past to shine a light on extraordinary work that has never or rarely been collected for modern readers. Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows, released last year, features the work of Neal Adams for Marvel’s eponymous supernatural anthology. Its release was followed by Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin Vol. 1: Dominic Fortune, Monark Starstalker, and Phantom Eagle; and Lost Marvels No. 3: Savage Tales of the 1980s.
This first Gil Kane volume of includes such treats as his Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book adaptations from Marvel Fanfare, originally intended for its own title, beautifully inked by P. Craig Russell; the action-packed book-length Origin of Ka-Zar from Astonishing Tales #11; and his issues of Creatures on the Loose starring early John Carter prototype Gullivar Jones (the first story inked by Bill Everett).
Plus, a genre-hopping gallery of 100 exciting covers by the artist who almost single-handedly defined the look of 1970s-era Marvel.
• Lost Marvels No. 4 – Gil Kane Rarities Vol. 1: Jungle Book, Ka-Zar, Gullivar and Other Rediscovered Work is due for release 19th May and available to preorder now from your local Bookshop (uk.bookshop.org Affiliate Link) | AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | ISBN: 979-8875002045 | 240 Pages
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, US Comics
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Certainly purchasing. Love that there’ll be 100 covers included. Fantagraphics would be a great home for a Kane Covers of the 70s volume (2 volume?) of his 800+ Marvel covers…