Tales from the past viewed through rose tinted glasses
Sunday, September 6, 2026
Top tens: Gil Kane
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Top tens: Gil Kane
Gil Kane (1926 - 2000) was a major force in comics during the 1960s and 1970s and remained active producing excellent art up until his de...
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As mentioned in my previous post I have been on a bit of a back-issue comic buying spree recently picking up some of the comics I eithe...
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In 1978 DC began a marketing campaign that would introduce a wave of new comics in an attempt to gain ground on the the publishing jugge...
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I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
I mostly liked Kane's work, though it depended on who was inking him. I wasn't too keen on his self-inked work as it looked a bit rough to me. Another thing was his art gave the impression that he had a selection of rubber stamps with different poses on them, which he'd use and then draw in whichever costume the figure was meant to be wearing. That sounds more negative than I intended it to be as, like I said, I mostly liked his work.
ReplyDeleteI have similar thoughts on his work re inkers. I loved his Spider-Man art when inked by John Romita senior, but I was less enthusiastic over others ( and his own ) inks. I understand your "rubber stamp" comment but I liked that rough and ready style.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't thinking of roughness, McS, only that certain figure poses of his were so similar that, to save time, it looked like he had rubber stamps of them made so he didn't have to redraw them over and over again. I know he didn't of course, but tha's what it looked like to me.
DeleteSorry, I shouldn't have used the word " rough" but I knew what you meant.
DeleteHi, Paul, the Black Panther cover is definitely my favourite of the ones above, although the Savage cover is highly dramatic.
ReplyDeleteI must have really like that one as well Steve as this is a replacement cents comic for my long lost original UK 9p edition.
ReplyDeleteI was at just the right age to catch the tail end of Kane’s run on Green Lantern with DC and ride the tsunami of work / nostrils he did for Marvel.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Spider-Man 103 and 104 are his best works. And that cover above is one of my all-time favorites in general from Spider-Man!
Inked by Giacoia IIRC.
As a total tangent, I think it was in the letter page of 105 that Stan asks the readers which version of Spider-Man have they preferred the last five or so issues: the Stan Lee – John Romita or the Roy Thomas – Gil Kane.
And as another total aside, I was reading recently how Mr. Kane was apparently pilfering artwork from Marvel’s vault and selling it on the side. He was apparently frequently pressed for cash..
ReplyDeletePaul, you mentioned liking Gil Kane when inked by John Romita and I agree. My favourite Kane cover was inked by Romita - Conan The Barbarian #62 which shows Conan fighting a warthog while being watched by the obligatory cowering female (who's black on this occasion for a change). It was my first ever issue of the American Conan The Barbarian comic so I have fond memories of that Kane/Romita cover.
ReplyDeleteI recently ( well last year) bought that Conan comic in a charity shop, it is indeed a good cover . My first Conan was issue 26 which Romita did layout for but John Buscema and Ernie Chan (Chua) illustrated.
ReplyDelete.