Gene in January, Day Twenty FiveCaptain America #137 page 12 by Gene Colan and
Bill Everetthttps://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1697821
There was a period of a year or two when Marvel published 19 page stories
instead of 20-pagers, by slicing one full story page in half and running ads on
the bottom of each half page of art (check out additional images, below). This
is one such page, and laughably enough, it's not the only one in my collection!
Some collectors only buy covers and splash pages. Lacking both the self respect
and the stock portfolio of guys like that, I am quite delighted to collect
panel pages. If one of these half pagers comes along, I'll collect the heck
outta that, too! Laugh, clown, laugh, but there's n̶o̶ not much paralyzing,
emotionally crippling shame in my game.
This delightful Colan/Everett half-pager is one I was outbid on at an ebay
auction many years ago. I later discovered that the winner was one of our
hobby's good guys, who was attempting to reunite Cap #137 in original art form.
Had I known that, I wouldn't have bid at all, because there is no greater
calling in life than to help a fellow collector reunite a Colan/Everett story,
as there is no greater satisfaction than the feeling of accomplishment and
overall well-being that you experience after selling/trading me your
Colan/Everett Black Widow art.
Over a few years I was lucky enough to assist Cap #137-Guy in sourcing several
more pages from this issue for his collection. Collectors who attempt to
reunite stories are a curious breed, and we can usually recognize one another
across crowded rooms by an Ahab-like quality in the eyes. When Cap #137-Guy
decided to put the tiller to starboard and let the white whale slip away, he
was gracious enough to drop me a line.
Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my
soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of
mountains, under torrents’ beds, unerringly I rush! Naught’s an obstacle,
naught’s an angle to the iron way!
Pax,Sean
