Looking at Gil's work reminds me just how much he could've influenced me, had I been able to discover his work during my childhood.  It wasn't that long after his "heyday" that I first started to recognize my comicbook artists, and by then he wasn't anywhere near the comics that I was getting through my mother.

   I only recognize the brief run he had on the Hulk comics (that initial appearance for the Abomination in the late 1960s), and his stint on Amazing Spider-Man prior to Ross Andru's epic run of the 1970s.  By the time I was able to pick and choose comics on my own, he had long been out of regular work, and I only know of his graphic novel adaptation of a classic Nordic myth.

   Still, that man could draw human figures like nobody's business!  Along with the recently-departed Carmine Infantino, he had a unique style which stood out on its own merits.  I missed the boat on him, for sure.

In many ways, artists like Adams, Kirby, Ditko, Kane, etc, could be compared to musicians like Elvis or the Beatles. They played no notes that had not been played uncounted and uncountable times before, but HOW they played them really made a difference.

Kane was someone I definitely did not get when I was younger. About 10 or so years ago, I GOT IT. I've been searching for his individual books since that time and have accumulated a lot of it. ( Still don't have SAVAGE yet.) Some of my absolute favorite stuff of his was inked by Neal Adams/ Continuity. Beautiful work there.

I can just sit and look at his art for hours. The motion, the dynamics, the anatomy... His work should be a textbook for any would-be comic book artist.

   With Neal and the Continuity studio, I often find myself wondering why that never really took off.  Granted there was real stiff competition at the time from the Big Two (and, later on, Image, Dark Horse, and others), but I felt like there was some potential there.  Then came the whole comics speculator boom/bust, and it was gone without a ripple.

   My personal favorite from the whole Continuity era had to have been Ms. Mystic.  Perhaps it was me wanting Neal to continue the story of the character beyond the few issues in which she made her appearance, but I felt like he proved why people were calling him a master of the artform.

   Similarly, I would consider Gil Kane as having a high status within the industry.  I never knew about his career prior to working for DC's Silver Age heroes (the Atom and Green Lantern II - Hal Jordan), but it seems that he took his influences and modified them into a style that distinguished him from the pack.  There are artists that I prefer like that.

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Check the publication frequency.

   I actually recall that it took months for the final issue of MM to come out.  Continuity actually suffered from the same syndrome that affected the Image guys.  The difference was that they didn't have the management and editors keep making excuses for them when they did so.

   Quite the contrast between them and workhorses like Gil Kane...