Neal Adams RIP

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I just heard that Neal Adams has died.

One of the greats.

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Neal Adams, Comic Book Artist Who Revitalized Batman and Fought for Creators’ Rights, Dies at 80

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Rocket, Ben, Al-x, Sean Robinson, Todd

Damn.

I don’t know what Neil Adams I read first.

The UK X-men annual from 1981 which edited Neil Adam’s x-men into 64 big pages

Or DC Superheroes Monthly – that reprinted some Neil Adam Batman classics

Either way, the dynamic story telling stood out, and i was often disappointed with more modern comics that didn’t pop in the same way.

Thanks Neil!

 

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Ben, garjones

Sad news about Adams. He wasn’t a saint, but he used his status to fight for creators’ rights against the very companies that were hiring him, risking his future career on behalf of older comics artists who had been (in his opinion and that of many fans) unfairly treated and compensated by the publishers. He fought the good fight, and deserves to be remembered for that.

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Ben, garjones, Dave, Todd, Sean Robinson, Al-x

Dan wrote:

The UK X-men annual from 1981 which edited Neil Adam’s x-men into 64 big pages

That annual (which I picked up second hand at a jumble sale) is my first Adams book. He was so far ahead of his time, the artwork had a level of sophistication way above other work at the time.

I expect John Siuntres will release some old Adams Word Balloon interviews to commemorate his passing. I’d recommend a listen to them, to put it mildly he was not a man who lacked confidence in his abilities, which may rub some people up the wrong way but I found very entertaining. Quite the character.

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Ben

I have surprisingly read very little of Neal Adams work. Maybe a handful of issues – mostly X-Men and one or two GL/GA. His impact on Batman was huge, but I don’t think I’ve actually read any of his work on the character. I’ve always left it for another day.

But, Neal designed Tim Drake’s Robin costume, back in the 1990’s. Variations of which have retroactively become the de facto Robin costume for all of the various and sundry characters who have inherited the mantle. For this alone, he had a huge impact on my life too.

R.I.P.

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JRCarter, Ben

On Instagram and Facebook, so many of the comics artists I admire and follow are paying tribute to Neal Adams, from Mike Mignola to Erik Larsen and others. And everyone is posting their favorite Adams art, reminding me of just how amazing his comics artwork was.

Now I want to pull out my back issues of THE AVENGERS and reread the “Kree-Skrull War” storyline written by Roy Thomas and drawn (mostly) by Neal. I want to see that iconic splash image of Triton (from the Inhumans) climbing up out of a manhole in the middle of Manhattan.

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Todd

I always loved the way he drew Batman. His physique was that of a lithe gymnast, not a bulked up boxer that a lot of artists draw him as now.

Neal Adams and Jim Aparo are my two favorite Batman artists.

RIP

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Sean Robinson, Ben

A friend (just one of the Dave’s I know) and I went to Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle Spring of 2019.

We met Neal Adams and Dave bought a few prints from him.
Dave says; “You are without a doubt the definitive Batman artist.”

He nods in agreement and responds “yep”

A true talent and he knew it.

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Bruce, Uncle Retrospective, Dave, Ben

This is a cool video. Adams, Moebius and Joe Kubert sketching on French TV in 1972. The narration is all in French (although the artists chat in English) not that it matter as drawing is pretty universal.

https://www.ina.fr/ina-eclaire-actu/video/cpf86607640/du-tac-au-tac-emission-du-30-septembre-1972

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DavidM, Bruce, Todd

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DavidM

Did anyone here ever read his own comic publisher?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_Comics

I read a few books from there. Some had very good art and I believe they did not have the comics code due to graphic violence and risque art.

Re: Continuity Comics: Neal Adams was one of the best artists ever to draw comics, but as a writer he left much to be desired.

The last thing I recall reading from him was a series called “Blood” that ran in Dark Horse Presents about a decade ago. Again, the art was great, but the story… let’s just say he should have hired a writer to polish up his words.

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Rocket

It was a bit of the Image problem, albeit there was some course correction with hiring better writers later, most of them just weren’t any good at plotting good stories.

I know Adams’ more recent DC stuff he wrote has some cult following because the stories were pretty crazy but in a more ‘so bad it’s good’ category.

I still wonder how the course of comics may have changed if Adams had poached the hot writers like Claremont or Wolfman back then or the Image guys had launched out of the gate with Moore and Morrison as permanent writers. By the time they did engage them I think the wind had gone out of the sails a lot on those books because they were derivative and not very well written.

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DavidM, Todd, Rocket

Adams take on Phoenix was an influence on Byrne:

garjones wrote:

I know Adams’ more recent DC stuff he wrote has some cult following because the stories were pretty crazy but in a more ‘so bad it’s good’ category.

Yeah he did that Batman Odyssey book that was just bonkers.

njerry wrote:

Now I want to pull out my back issues of THE AVENGERS and reread the “Kree-Skrull War” storyline written by Roy Thomas and drawn (mostly) by Neal.

I was trying to figure out what my first Neal Adams issues were, and you’ve just reminded me. I will have read them in black-and-white UK reprints.

 

Rocket wrote:

Did anyone here ever read his own comic publisher?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_Comics

I read a few books from there. Some had very good art and I believe they did not have the comics code due to graphic violence and risque art.

I read a few issues of Ms. Mystic but the distribution was spotty. I would probably buy a collected edition now if there was one, I have good memories of it.