2000 Comic Book News Archives

February 3, 2000: Gil Kane Dies at 74

Legendary comics artist Gil Kane passed away in his Aventura, Florida home yesterday as a result of complications from cancer at the age of 74. He is survived by his wife Elaine. Born in 1926, Gil Kane and his family moved from their native Latvia to New York City when Kane was three. An artistic prodigy by the time he reached his late teens, Kane had left his mark on every major comics publisher of the day, including MLJ, Prize, Quality, Marvel, and DC, for whom he produced Wildcat, Johnny Thunder, and a plethora of Western, science-fiction and true crime tales. In 1959, he joined with John Broome to revive the Golden Age Green Lantern, in the process totally revamping the look of the strip and giving the Emerald Avenger the sleek, streamlined costume that became Hal Jordan's signature look for the Green Lantern Corps.

In the 1980s, Kane spent about five years in Los Angeles, working on animation concepts for Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears. But he soon returned to comics, illustrating the "Ring" for writer Roy Thomas in 1990 and drawing new versions of Superman and illustrating "The Edge" for frequent collaborator Steven Grant.

Over the years, Gil Kane's work has come to stand as the textbook definition of dynamic drawing. A master of style, Kane imbues each of his drawings with an unequalled sense of power and motion. Kane illustrated GREEN LANTERN, THE ATOM and THE RING OF THE NIEBELUNG for DC Comics, as well as lending pencil and pen to many other series, including The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man for Marvel Comics, stories in Heavy Metal magazine, early graphic novels Blackmark and His Name Is Savage, and the Thunder Agents series for Tower.

Paul Levitz, DC Comics' Executive Vice President and Publisher said: "Gil was one of the masters of comic book art -- drawing with a style so personal that his pages could be picked out of a stack by even a casual reader, and yet so influential that a generation of totally dissimilar artists would look back on what they learned from him. Ever a gentleman and a scholar, Gil loved comics. He experimented with them, published them in unprecedented formats, translated their characters to other media, and never stopped delighting our eye with his pencil and pen."

Mike Carlin, Executive Editor - DC Universe remembers: "Gil Kane called me 'M'Boy,' from the time I first got his autograph at a NY convention in1969 until the phone call he gave me a month ago. I loved that he called me that. I loved Gil's art as a kid and I love it now - from his forward-thinking costume designs (the Silver Age's Green Lantern and the Atom are two of the coolest costumes ever designed) to his up-to-date reflections of fashion and style in a medium that doesn't keep up with the times as well as it should. There are not a lot of artists who stay on top of their game as long as Gil did. I know Gil called everyone 'M'Boy' (even my wife once!)...but I still loved that he called me that.

"Gil Kane worked to the very end of his career, including doing a cover for SILVER AGE: GREEN LANTERN #1 for May's SILVER AGE event and a 2-part Green Lantern/The Atom story in upcoming LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE #29 & #30. DC will be sponsoring a memorial service for Gil Kane to be held in New York City. Details will be released as they become available.



2000 Comic News

Listed below are all the Comic News items archived for 2000.


Back to the News Archive Contents page.

Back to the Latest News page.