Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Tag: Gil Kane

Gil Kane — Jurassic Jeopardy (Rerelease)

Original Art and The Artists

Jurassic Park #4, August 1993

In honor of Jurassic World: Dominion opening this Friday, we’re featuring a “Summer Rerelease” special this week of three of our best earlier Jurassic Park posts.

Gil Kane and George Perez teamed up on artistic chores for the original Topps Jurassic Park film adaption. (With writing by Walter Simonson). It was a unique pairing suggested by Topps EIC Jim Salicrup, and for the most part, worked very well. All four issues came out on the predetermined schedule, not an easy feat, especially in those days with newsstand distribution considerations. But the schedule was… tight. (OK, harrowing.)

I was delighted to pick up the original art for Gil’s and George’s variant cover for issue #4 a few years ago at auction.

The scene is from the climax of the film where our young heroes are menaced in the commissary kitchen by the crafty velociraptors. It’s a cool composition that captures the terror of the moment.

Here’s the rub — Is that a chubby raptor missing a neck? Or a deformed T-Rex? I mean, what kind of dino did Gil actually draw?

You can’t tell from the scan, but there’s an art patch on the dino’s face. Clearly some of it absolutely, positively needed to be altered to be approved overnight. But someone in Universal’s licensing department must have ultimately taken pity on our harrowing schedule, and us, because the final version is definitely not on model.

Since this is technically not the “main” cover, which is by Dave Cockrum, maybe they gave us a pass. (I don’t remember who did the art patch — George, our production department, or, for that matter, Gil.)

Ah, Gil. We sent him lots of photo reference. I can’t recall if we sent this exact scene specifically, but regardless, he had reference. Like I said, lots of it. 

Only problem is, as I found out later on, Gil didn’t have much use for reference.

It doesn’t matter. He was one of the best. I consider myself fortunate to know him professionally, albeit briefly. Stories about him were legendary by the time I met him in 1993.

And, I got at least one “Greg, my boy…” out of him, so I could cross that off the list. Whew.

Dave Cockrum’s cover features raptors that are more on model, while Gil’s raptor might need some Ultra Slimfast.
Raptors are lean, mean, fighting machines as seen in reference stills from the film.

Gil Kane / Rich Buckler — Spider-Problems, Big & Small

Original Art and The Artists

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #10 and Web of Spider-Man Annual #6, 1990

Described (tongue in cheek, hopefully) as a “micro-crossover,” Spidey’s Totally Tiny Adventure is a three-part story from 1990, running in the summer annuals. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #24, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #10, The Web of Spider-Man Annual #6).

The story, as you might guess, features Spider-Man shrinking down to Ant-Man size and beyond. It’s definitely a bit light-hearted without devolving into straight camp. (Our friends at Pulp and Dagger have a full review here.)

Gil Kane drew chapters one and three, and Rich Buckler tackled chapter two. And a trivia note: Stan Lee scripted both chapters two and three, marking a rare return to the keyboard for the Spidey’s co-creator.

Gil Kane — Not Shrinking Away

Original Art and The Artists

Legends of the DC Universe #29, June 2000

Gil Kane’s final completed work (published posthumously) is this fun two-parter featuring his two classic silver age characters, The Atom and Green Lantern officially teamed together for the first time. 

Written with affection by Steven Grant, and inked by Klaus Janson, this story confirms that Gil was able to deliver quality storytelling right until he headed to the big studio in the sky.

Gil was one of a kind as a creator (and a person) and as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I was happy to know him professionally — albeit very, very briefly.

Gil Kane — The Star Wars Effect

Original Art and The Artists

Star Hawks, Sunday Strip, August 12, 1979

Here is a nice (Sunday) example of Ron Goulart’s and Gil Kane’s Star Hawks, the short-lived SF adventure strip which ran from 1977-1981. (Extra nice in that it includes both the strip header and the color proof.)

“Inspired – as so many things were in the late 70s – by the tremendous success of Star Wars, the newspaper feature syndicate NEA (Newspaper Enterprise Association) got it into their heads that a space opera comic strip that evoked the cosmic high adventure and swashbuckling derring-do of George Lucas’ movie might be a popular addition to the nation’s comics pages.” — Christopher Mills

Perhaps most interesting thing about the strip was the that the initial dailies were double tier as well as the Sunday’s — a risky gambit that allowed Kane to showcase his strengths in storytelling and layout. Unfortunately, newspapers weren’t in love with devoting that much real estate to the quirky SF adventure, and it ultimately dropped to the traditional one-tier.

Goulart ultimately left the strip and Kane enlisted frequent collaborator Archie Goodwin, who wrote the one above. He also left after a few arcs, and Roger Mackenzie wrapped things up.

All of the series is available in a three-volume set from The Library of American Comics and IDW Publishing.

Worth every penny, but of course, I’m biased.

Continuing our month long celebration of the great adventure comic strips:
Week 1: Superheroes
Week 2: Detectives
Week 3: SF
Week 4: Comic Book Giants

Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson — Partners In Crime Solving

Original Art and The Artists

The Atom #7, July 1963

Atom and Hawkman (Silver Age versions) both celebrate 6oth anniversaries in 2021. Hawkman (and Hawkgirl) launched in Brave and Bold #34 in March 1961, while The Atom launched in Showcase #34 later that year. 

34 must have been the lucky number in 1961.

This beautifully-rendered page is from the first team-up of the two characters in issue #7 of the Atom’s own title in 1963. 

Murphy Anderson’s lush inks can often overpower any penciller, but here it’s relatively easy to spot Kane’s trademark style, especially in the final panel.  Great storytelling and dynamic action from both characters help make this a terrific example from the issue.

Neither the solo Hawkman title, nor the solo Atom series ended up gaining much traction sales-wise, so as a final ploy later that decade, the two characters were merged together into one title. The gambit didn’t work, and both books disappeared from the stands by the end of 1969.

Gil Kane and Wallace Wood — Toys For The Holidays (Part 2)

Original Art and The Artists

Captain Action #3, May 1969

Can lightning strike twice in the toy biz?  Inventor Stan Weston thought so, and I for one, became proof of concept.

Weston had created the original 12” G.I. Joe “doll” for Hasbro in 1964 and younger baby boomers like myself quickly became obsessed with the figures and all their wonderfully detailed accessories.

Next up: Weston took his invention to Ideal Toys in 1966, and turned it into a superhero concept, capturing the zeitgeist of the era. Captain Action was born, and despite the goofy name, its dozen licensed superhero costumes were a terrific gimmick.

Kids could turn the good captain into a number of well-known characters including Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America and Aquaman.

And the best part? The costumes and accessories worked just fine with existing G.I. Joes, so any crafty kid (we were all crafty, FYI) could create a multiverse Justice League without buying multiple Captain Action figures.

The toy line burned brightly, but briefly, and by 1968/69, the product was heading to the closeout racks. That apparently didn’t concern DC, which licensed the character for yet another brief comic book series.

Fortunately, visual storytelling chores were handled by Gil Kane and Wally Wood, making for some great original art. (Wood drew issue #1 solo, and then inked Gil on issues #2, #3 and #5. Gil scripted, penciled and inked issue #4.)

This cool page features the origin of “Dr. Evil,” main nemesis to the good Captain. Remember when I said the Captain Action name was goofy? I have no words for naming a villain “Dr. Evil.”

Joe Staton — Green Energy

Original Art and The Artists

Green Lantern #143, August 1981

Continuing a celebration of Green Lantern’s anniversary this week.

Joe Staton somehow manages to channel a bit of Gil Kane and a bit of Neal Adams on this dynamic Green Lantern action sequence from 1981.

I first started following Joe’s work (with writer Nicola Cuti) on the quirky E-Man from Charlton back in 1973 1975.  (Funny enough, it lasted 10 issues, and I kept all 10, which is unusual for me. Guess I really liked it.)

Shortly thereafter, he took over art duties on the Justice Society in All-Star Squadron, a book I also enjoyed.

This page is from Joe’s first run on Green lantern with writer Marv Wolfman, and this story introduces the extraterrestrial superheroes, Omega Men. Joe later returned on the Green Lantern Corps with writer Steve Englehart.

When conventions finally return (mid-late 2021 is my guess) make sure you visit Joe wherever —and whenever — you find him. He is truly one of the humblest and nicest creators in the business. And obviously, very talented.

Gil Kane — Green Anniversary

Original Art and The Artists

Green Lantern #14, July 1962

Green Lantern celebrates two anniversaries in 2020. 

The original Green Lantern (Alan Scott) first appeared in 1940, and the Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, gained his own DC comic book series in 1960, shortly after first appearing Showcase #22 the year prior.

During the first 75 issues of GL’s own Silver Age comic, Gil Kane is the artist most associated with this run.

In these early issues Gil is not quite GIL KANE yet. The art is very solid, slick, and polished, in DC tradition, but it would take a few years before Gil’s trademark style would fully break through the conservative confines of the scripting and editing.

By the time Gil finishes his 10-year run with issue #75, Green Lantern is not a giant commercial success, but Gil Kane is most certainly GIL KANE. Reading through collected editions of the series, you can clearly see the metamorphosis of his storytelling capabilities and artistic style.

As for issue #76 in 1970 (Another anniversary, now that you mention it) Denny O’Neil and DC shake things up a bit by adding Green Arrow to the mix — and artist Neal Adams takes the reigns.

The rest, as they say, really is history.

Green Lantern milestones: The first appearance of Alan Scott in 1940; the first appearance of Hal Jordan, 1959; The first Silver Age issue of the Jordan GL, 1960.

Gil Kane — Face of Evil

Original Art and The Artists

Captain Action #4, April 1969

Our ode to Halloween and the creatures of the comic books continues…

Dr. Evil — a good looking villain with a terribly cheesy name, even by the standards of the 1960s.

The character was the antagonist in the Captain Action “doll” product line, which launched in 1966. (More on that in a future post.)

DC adapted the toys into a short-lived series and Kane drew much of it. Ironically, the toy sales themselves were rapidly waning by the time the comic series launched in late 1968.

In this specific issue, Gil writes, pencils and inks the entire story — a first for him for either of the “big two” publishers.

And speaking of cheesy and the 60s: That amulet. The Nehru jacket. Those sandals. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

One very fashionably mod alien.

One of these Dr. Evils turned out to be much more memorable and iconic than the other. Chances are there were some Captain Action toys floating around Mike Meyers house back in the day…

Gil Kane — All In Color For A Quarter

Original Art and The Artists

Batman # 208, February 1969

Giants. Annuals. King-Size Specials. It didn’t matter what you called them, but for 25 cents I was all in.

The DC oversize reprints appeared frequently when I was a kid. And I had no regular access to back issues until later on, so these definitely scratched the “classics” itch.

This Gil Kane Batman page comes from a short  “bookend” story tying the theme of the reprints together.

I don’t think DC used this bookending approach all that often.

It’s always nice to pick up a page from a story you specifically remember well. It tweaks the Batman origin a bit, although I’m pretty sure this specific thread was never picked up again.

And Silver Age Kane Batman pages are a rarity in themselves. (Although he did draw some Batgirl back-up stories, which often featured Batman as well.)

(The story itself has never been reprinted elsewhere, a challenge with many DC comics of the same period.)