Gene Colan (born September 1, 1926) is an American comic book illustrator, who sometimes worked under the name Adam Austin.

Colan was born in Bronx, New York, and studied art at New York City's Art Students League. He served in the Philippines during World War II. After his return to New York, he began working in comics in 1944, illustrating the science fiction adventure series Wings Comics. From 1946 onward, he worked for both DC Comics (originally National Publications) and Marvel Comics (originally Timely Comics).

During the 1960s Colan illustrated several of Marvel's major characters including Dr. Strange, Captain America and the Silver Surfer. His long runs on three 1970s titles—Daredevil, Tomb of Dracula, and Howard the Duck—are his best-known work to this day.

Colan's style, particularly his fluid figure drawing and extensive use of shadow, was unusual among Silver Age comic artists and became more so as his career progressed. Though he usually worked as a penciller (Klaus Janson and Tom Palmer were his frequent collaborators as inkers), in the 1980s he was the first mass-market comic artist to break from the penciller/inker/colorist assembly-line system by creating finished drawings in graphite and watercolor.

External link

• http://www.genecolan.com/