I'd like to touch on some lesser known, but no less terrific works of the late, great Gil Kane.
His Name Is...Savage was dynamite, exciting, violent!!! Written by Archie Goodwin, drawn by Gil Kane, it took comic books to another level. Like Steranko, it was a motion picture level of work. Unfortunately, it is hard to come by.
Anything Goes! #1 sports a Savage cover and a four page unfinished Savage story after the passing of Archie Goodwin.
Finally, a reprint from Fantagraphics comes along, retitled Gil Kane's Savage and included two interviews with Gil Kane. Nice to have a more widely available edition of this memorable comic magazine.
My first exposure to Blackmark, was in a Bantam paperback book. It was outlined by Kane and written by Archie Goodwin. It was reprinted, with additional material, by Fantagraphics coming in at a whopping 260 pages! It was two books with four full chapters each! A Blackmark fan's dream.
Malibu's Comics Edge series was written by Steven Grant with Gil Kane artwork. It was left uncompleted, intended as a four issue mini-series. It was later collected in a stunning hardback volume by iBooks with additional material to complete the series.
The fantastic cartoon adventures of the distant future in Star Hawks was a newpaper strip written by Ron Goulart with Gil Kane art. It was fun, perfect adventure befitting Ron Goulart. The second Ace Book series contained profiles of Goulart & Kane. Hermes Press collected the series as they have with Buck Rogers, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants and the forthcoming I Spy comic books.
Finally, Gil Kane and the great John Jakes, came out with a huge novel befitting the name, Excalibur. It was a long, but thrilling tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I don't see it around much, but it is a wonderful book and well worth reading.
I hope you look into these gems and like them as much as I have. Gil Kane's range was incredible.
Thank you for your time.
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