First published May 18, 2008
As many of you know who read my posts and articles, or have heard me speak, I was greatly influenced by a remarkable, painterly adventure comic artist, Gene Colan. I am saddened to announce that at age 85 he has liver failure.
Gene is not only my Master, but has become my friend over the last years. His wonderful wife Adrienne as well. She writes, "My darling, sweet, handsome and brilliantly gifted husband's liver is failing. The complications are very nasty. This week it's fluid retention and encephalitis. He's on powerful meds now to diminish the symptoms. He sleeps a lot and has very little energy."
The author and all around great guy Clifford Meth is organizing assistance for the family, as they have zero pharmaceutical coverage and are paying crippling prices for meds. God bless the no-health-care-third-world- US health system.
Due to Meth, Marvel and DC, Gene's ex-employers are pitching in a bit to help. Which well they should do, for as the major artist on Daredevil, Iron Man and creator of blade and many other "properties" he has received not a penny from the multi-millions made by the movies (which have even featured scenes and designs liberally "borrowed" from his art). Likewise many many famous comic artists and illustrators are giving artwork to be auctioned off on-line. Likewise Meth is donating proceeds of a book he did with Colan.
You can keep up with developments, the auction, and the book here:
http://thecliffordmethod.blogspot.com/;
you can donate directly to the Colans via their Paypal account: genecolan@optonline.net;
you can send a card or money here:
Gene Colan
2 Sea Cliff Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579
USA
Check out his art here: www.genecolan.com/
Categories:
Comic Art
Comments (3)
News update on Gene' health from his wife Adrienne:
> Gene's sleeping way less. a good thing. how he's feeling is harder
> to define. Basically, he's feeling pretty miserable mostly because
> he's tired and very weak. most days we do nothing but focus on what
> he eats, taking his meds, what he eliminates or doesn't, reporting to
> his hepatologist, reporting to and talking with our children,
> applying linament to back pain. neck spasms and leg cramps have
> abated somewhat and that's a relief. most days we're off to one
> medical appt. or another. he generally gets out and walks to the park
> across the street with Benny Blanco our dog. He attempts to do some
> work but most days doesn't. then about once or twice a week, he's
> able to focus on Captain America and the 11 commissions he accepted a
> couple of months ago. Yesterday he was able to polish off all the
> 'remarked prints' that were ordered (about ten). so that was very good.
> He gets huge pleasure from talking with our kids. he loves hearing
> from them. He enjoys phone calls from fans and colleagues that he
> knows well.
>
> eating and watching: his appetite is poor. and very picky. most
> times, it's salads, bean salads, pasta w butter and tomatoes and
> fruit. He watches old westerns with Gary Cooper and news shows,
> cnn, msnbc, cnbc. He watches high def art shows like GALHD, programs
> with doggies, the dog whisperer, nature/travel shows especially of the
> West and Ireland where he still longs to go.
> and he suffers through some mindless game shows with me like Deal or
> No Deal. When we watch the guests on some news shows, he sometimes
> talks to the tv and tells them to shut up. :)
>
> He weighs 143 lbs. he's very slender and always gorgeous handsome. :)
> thank you for asking.
> Love to all!
> Adrienne
> Gene's sleeping way less. a good thing. how he's feeling is harder
> to define. Basically, he's feeling pretty miserable mostly because
> he's tired and very weak. most days we do nothing but focus on what
> he eats, taking his meds, what he eliminates or doesn't, reporting to
> his hepatologist, reporting to and talking with our children,
> applying linament to back pain. neck spasms and leg cramps have
> abated somewhat and that's a relief. most days we're off to one
> medical appt. or another. he generally gets out and walks to the park
> across the street with Benny Blanco our dog. He attempts to do some
> work but most days doesn't. then about once or twice a week, he's
> able to focus on Captain America and the 11 commissions he accepted a
> couple of months ago. Yesterday he was able to polish off all the
> 'remarked prints' that were ordered (about ten). so that was very good.
> He gets huge pleasure from talking with our kids. he loves hearing
> from them. He enjoys phone calls from fans and colleagues that he
> knows well.
>
> eating and watching: his appetite is poor. and very picky. most
> times, it's salads, bean salads, pasta w butter and tomatoes and
> fruit. He watches old westerns with Gary Cooper and news shows,
> cnn, msnbc, cnbc. He watches high def art shows like GALHD, programs
> with doggies, the dog whisperer, nature/travel shows especially of the
> West and Ireland where he still longs to go.
> and he suffers through some mindless game shows with me like Deal or
> No Deal. When we watch the guests on some news shows, he sometimes
> talks to the tv and tells them to shut up. :)
>
> He weighs 143 lbs. he's very slender and always gorgeous handsome. :)
> thank you for asking.
> Love to all!
> Adrienne
Adrienne Colan, Gene's wife, shares her recent letter to Dr. Nancy Bach at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York:
I'm generally so focused on and attending to what is wrong with Gene that it just occured to me I can share one thing positive for sure with you tonight: There is no question since under your care that Gene has made a 1000% return to better stamina than I've seen on him for a very, very long time. Even a year ago, he was falling asleep in the middle of conversations, in the middle of dinner, even if it was at a restaurant. We didn't know what was wrong. This week, it is so evident that he is awake and alert and even back to drawing his beloved comic books (he's currently drawing Captain America). So tonight, Dr. Bach, you are the superhero. I can't thank you enough for your remarkable devotion to trying the best you can to restore quality to Gene's life.
http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/05/22/hero-initiative-and-marvel-team-up-for-gene-cola