Comic Book Artist Gil Kane Dead

Legendary comics artist Gil Kane passed away in his Aventura, Fl., home on January 30 as a result of complications from cancer. Kane was 74. He is survived by his wife Elaine.

Born in Latvia in 1926, Kane and his family moved to New York City when he was three. An art prodigy in his teens, Kane worked for every major comic publisher of the day, including Quality, DC, Marvel , Prize, and MLJ. In 1959, Kane and John Broome revived the Golden Age Green Lantern, and ended up completely revamping the Emerald Avenger and turning him into Hal Jordan of the Green Lantern Corps.

Well-known characters Kane worked on over the years included The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Wildcat, Johnny Thunder, The Atom, Iron Fist and many others as well as illustrating stories for Heavy Metal, the early graphic novels Blackmark and His Name Is Savage, and the miniseries The Ring of the Niebelung. Kane continued to work until the very end. His cover for Silver Age: Green Lantern #1 for DC will appear in May, and he produced a two-part Green Lantern/Atom story for Legends of the DC Universe #29-30.

DC Comics has announced that it will sponsor a memorial service for Gil Kane in New York City. Details are still being determined.