Trade Marks: Marvel Visionaries - Gil Kane

OK, I know that this one is far from new, but I kept seeing remaindered copies of it at various stores so I picked it up for a pittance and thought I'd share my thoughts. Let me begin by saying that I am a huge Gil Kane fan. I'll counter that by saying that I'm not such a big fan of this book. It's a real mishmash collection of stories and it made me realize how much of Kane's best work was at DC. The early Cap stories in Tales of Suspense are ok, but Kane's is really holding back and his pencils lack his normal drama - line line is far too fine. The random story selection drove me - a poor Jim Shooter Daredevil story and the date Amazing Spidey #99. It really highlighting what Marvel didn't (or couldn't reprint). No Death of Gwen Stacy. No Conan. No John Carter of Mars. Between all the superhero, sci-fi and western work, I'd say that Gil Kane was a visionary at DC. At Marvel, he was just an artist for hire. The Roy Thomas intro was pretty good - but I'd really like to hear from someone else (at least it wasn't by Stan Lee). The coloring also seemed a bit over the top in places. Boy, I'm full of complaints today! Trade Mark: C+