Fans, Family & Friends Photo Album
San Diego 2001 - Colanfest 2001 - Family - Candid Poses - Extended Internet Family

Below is a rare treat for Colan fans or any comic fans: a glimpse into the life of a comic book artist. There are some thumbnails of Gene and family, some of Gene & fans at conventions, Gene & Adriennes’ extended internet family and some great candid shots of Gene (and/or family and friends) doing some poses as references for particular pieces that Gene was drawing. If possible, I’ll try to line up some scans of some of those particular images to put alongside the photos when I get a chance. I hope you enjoy our humble little album and its glimpse into the heart and soul of a truly wonderful artist!

Extended Internet Family

2006 NY Comic Con w/ Rich Cirillo
2006 NY Comic Con w/ Dawn Hammel
2006 NY Comic Con w/ Kevin, Bryan & Jamie
from comicgeekspeak.com


Tom Field’s Justine & Dennis


Gene and Dave Gutierrez


Marc Svensson, Gene and Steve Cohen


Gene and son Erik 2002


Ken Allan Huggins family. Ken at his drawing board working on an Invaders piece.....


Charlie & Abigail Jackam.


Michael Baulderstone family. Melissa, Harry, Lily, Ned ( in pouch ) and thats me, Michael.


Marc Svensson family
Marc, Lisa, Scott (4) and Patrick Svensson (2).


The Feldman family
Sophie (3), Olivia (5), and Rita (14)


Mark Staff Brandl family
"Here is a snapshot of my wife and both our dogs and both our cats all on the sofa at the same time. That’s my family!".


San Diego 2001

One of the highlights of the San Diego Comic-Con 2001 was a Silver Age Panel hosted by Mark Evanier (hidden behind the podium) and featuring Marie Severin, John Buscema, Gene Colan and John Romita (shown here left to right).
Marie Severin is one of the most charming creators you’ll ever have the privilege to meet. Like the rest of her colleagues on this panel, she’s humble to a fault, loves being an artist, and has talent beyond reckoning. Marie was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Eisner Awards during this Comic-Con.

John Buscema entertained the audience with his dry humor, reminisces of his colleagues and past work, and reminded us all what it really means to be a giant in the field. Sadly, John passed away in January 2002. Those fans who were lucky enough to attend were truly blessed.
Gene’s talent, humility, hard work and gentle soul are well known on this list, but it was wonderful to see him with these long time colleagues. It’s not often you see this many people of this caliber all assembled together. And it’s an even bigger treat to hear them telling stories & talking with one another, and you suddenly realize that these giants of the field are regular folks.

John Romita, like the other three, is a gentle & friendly fellow, very self-effacing when confronted with all the adoring fans around him. When I chatted with him at another point in the convention, he would tell me stories about doing sketches for kids who just loved getting a drawing of their favorite character and didn’t even realize that it was the "great John Romita" doing the drawing for them. I got the impression that Romita finds all the collecting and high-priced trading a little bit silly and even counter to what comics should be like.

ColanFest 2001

On September 1 of 2001, a bunch of Colan fans gathered in Worcester, Massachusetts to help Gene celebrate his 75th birthday and to just show their appreciation for this great artist. The day started off at That’s Entertainment (a comics & collectibles shop in Worcester).

Before Gene showed up, the fans got to spend some time together in a little side room that That’s Entertainment was kind enough to provide. While many of Gene’s fans were familiar with each other from the discussion list, this was the first time a number of them had a chance to meet in person.

That’s Entertainment ~ The comic book store that hosted the event on September 1, 2001, Gene’s birthday. Gene, believing it to be nothing more than a personal appearance, was flaberghasted to learn that it was a surprise birthday celebration commemorating his 75th birthday and his marvelous career in comics. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

 xxxx

Colan Fans Congregate ~ Gene’s loyal fans gathered at the store in a private side room at noon. Fans arrived from California, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont and Canada to take part in the event. We met and kibbitzed with each other for the first time, enjoyed looking at each others’ personal collections of art, cards and other merchandise.

 

Gene & Adrienne Delighted by Surprise ~ Genuine surprise and delight is captured on the faces of Gene and Adrienne Colan as his fans sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

 

 

Gene Accepts Fan Art as Gift ~ Fans present Gene with a variety of interesting and personal gifts.


 

Gene Presented With Birthday Cake ~ About an hour later, after Gene and Adrienne took their places at the appearance podium, the fans marched in procession across the store to present Gene with a surprise Birthday cake.

 

 

Fans Watch A Video Celebrating Gene ~ The Colans and their fans enter an auditorium to view a brilliant video tribute of Gene’s career specially produced for this event.


 

Colan Addressing His Fans ~ Following the screening (which also featured a short animated film produced by one of the participating Colan fans) Colan addresses the appreciative crowd. He thanks everyone for their wonderful support and provides some amusing anecdotes about the comic book industry.

 

 

Colan Fans Gather At UMass Medical Centre ~ Following Gene’s birthday celebration at That’s Entertainment, we ventured out to the UMass Medical Centre. Many of the Colan fans are seen in the picture just prior to entering the facility.



 Private Dinner & Reception at Restaurant ~ Later that evening, the entire top floor of Pepper Corns Bar & Grill in Worcester, Mass was exclusively reserved for a private dinner and reception for the Colans and their fans.
  

Table #1

Table #2
  

  

Table #3


Family Photos

One of the highlights of 2001 for Gene and Adrienne was getting to spend some time with their grandkids. Batman and Superman, eh? Where are the Marvel costumes, huh?

In addition to the boys, Gene & Adrienne got to spend some time with their brand new grandchild in 2001. No captions could do these two pictures justice. It just doesn’t get any more precious...

The Colan family photo album wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t include the Colans’ two Golden Retrievers: Charlie Boy and Scout.

Candid Poses

I can only guess that this first set of pictures below is for the upcoming Spider graphic novel. Hopefully with these (and the rest of the pictures) either Gene and Adrienne, or my fellow Colanuts, can help me identify which particular characters/comics the various pictures can be matched up with.

Hmmmm... there are an awful lot of firearms being brandished in these pictures! Not sure I’d want to bump into a comic book artist in a dark alley if he was in a bad mood!!

It’s only a flesh wound.
I’ve ‘ad worse!
(with apologies to Monty Python)

Expression-ism!!

Who said comic books weren’t art!??

Nathaniel Dusk, Detective Extraordianaire, at your service, ma’am!