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While we were off the grid Cliff Meth passed along some great news:

I am delighted beyond delighted to announce that Marvel Entertainment has made clear its intentions to help Gene and Adrienne Colan.

In a warm conversation this morning, executives at Marvel offered Adrienne and I some of the many things that they plan to do for the Colans to provide immediate and long-term relief. I will provide the details soon.


We had some tart words for Marvel earlier last week, but let’s be equally effusive in our praise: by doing the right thing, Marvel is really stepping up to the plate and reversing some of the injustices of the past, Hooray for Marvel!

1 COMMENT

  1. (Off-topic rant on.)

    Now if only they’d start paying royalties to the estates of deceased creators…

    It bugs me that I’ve bought $100 Omnibuses (Omnibiii?) of the Fantastic Four books and $50-55 Masterworks of Jack Kirby’s work, work that resulted in paychecks for every person working at Marvel…

    …and yet, not a penny goes to the Kirby family. Meanwhile, DC pays handsome royalties on the 4th World books (at least that’s what Evanier says, and he should know).

    (Off-topic rant off.)

    I’m glad to see that Marvel’s doing right by Gene Colan. Colan’s a true gentleman. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the first NYCC, and he treated *me* like I was the superstar, not him.

  2. I noticed while working on the Marvel August 2008 solicits, there are several Colan related offerings. I wonder if any of these were rush solicited or bumped to generate royalties?

  3. what did he create exactly? seems like a nice way to stem off the tide of what happened to DC and superman if he was involved in any of their characters and treated unfairly…

  4. “What did he create”? How about two of the best comics in the seventies, Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck; not to mention the first classic run of Daredevil, long before Frank Miller was thought of, the only worthwhile Iron Man comics ever drawn, and so on and so forth and so following. If you know so little about comics, why open your mouth?

  5. Gene Colan was head-hunted by Stan Lee and was a favourite of many of the very best Marvel writers. I am thinking of Marv Wolfman and Steve Gerber, who sought him out for his post-Marvel creation Stewart The Rat. The only other person who Gerber sought out in the same way – for Destroyer Duck – was one Jack Kirby. Marv Wolfman also twice sought him out for post-Marvel work, which resulted in a few of Colan’s non-Marvel jobs. He was also universally reputed as a joy to work with, imaginative, polite and always on time.

  6. I have always loved Colan’s artwork, beginning when I first saw it in Daredevil. Bravo for Marvel’s stepping in to help in Colan’s time of need.

  7. thanks Fabio, I honestly did not know what his contributions were and was too lazy to look them up.

    As for opening my mouth, I can only truly apologize for not being the elite comic book historian that you are.

  8. Fabio:
    “If you know so little about comics, why open your mouth?”

    Well, that’s how some people learn about comics.

  9. The Colans are saying that any arrangements with Marvel are still pending and very much in the air. I think Meth has done a disservice by giving Marvel good PR too soon.

    Still, if Marvel ends up not coming through then they are really going to look terrible. We’ll see.

  10. Since Marvel will soon be putting out a $100 Howard the Duck Omnibus, they certainly should throw Colan some cash.

    I already bought the “Essential” version of the same, but I sure would like the version with color….

  11. For those who dont know ,Gene Cola,n is probably best known in the fan community for his work for Marvel from 1966-1981, he also had other stays at Marvel including 1949-1959! In the late 1980s, he spent several years penciling for Archie and where he was the main Jughead artist.
    but best known for Tomb of Dracula, Howard the Duck, Daredevil, Iron Man. Dr. Strange – and did lots of other Marvel titles: Avengers, Captain America, etc.