Neal Adams
Neal Adams | |
---|---|
Awards | Alley Awards
Shazam Awards
Inkwell Awards
|
Spouse(s) | Cory McGuire (m. 1963; div. 19??) Marilyn Susser
(m. 1977) |
Children | 5, including Josh Adams |
nealadams.com |
Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022)
After drawing the comic strip based on the television drama
Following his runs on Batman and Green Lantern, Adams drew other books for DC such as Superman vs. Muhammad Ali in 1978. In addition to his work with DC, Adams simultaneously freelanced for Marvel Comics on books such as Uncanny X-Men and The Avengers. In 1971, Adams established the art and illustration studio Continuity Associates with Dick Giordano. In 1984, Adams founded his own comic book company Continuity Comics, which was in business until 1994.
Adams was inducted into the
Early life
Neal Adams was born June 15, 1941, on Governors Island, New York City,[2][5][6] to Frank Adams, a writer for the military, and Lilian, who ran a boardinghouse.[7] Raised in a military family, he grew up in a series of army bases, ranging from Brooklyn to Germany.[8] with his father largely absent from his life.[7] Adams attended the School of Industrial Art high school in Manhattan,[9][10] graduating in 1959.[11]
Career
Early work
After graduation in 1959, he unsuccessfully attempted to find freelance work at
I started to do samples for Archie and I left my Fly samples there. A couple weeks later when I came in to show my Archie samples, I noticed that the pages were still there, but the bottom panel was cut off of one of my pages. I said, "What happened?" They said, "One of the artists did this transition where Tommy Troy turns into the Fly and it's not very good. You did this real nice piece so we'll use that, if it's OK." I said, "That's great. That's terrific."[12]
That panel ran in Adventures of the Fly #4 (Jan. 1960).
Having "not left Archie Comics under the best of circumstances",[9] Adams turned to commercial art for the advertising industry. After a rocky start freelancing, he began landing regular work at the Johnstone and Cushing agency, which specialized in comic-book styled advertising.[13] Helped by artist Elmer Wexler, who critiqued the young Adams' samples, Adams brought his portfolio to the agency, which initially "didn't believe I had done those particular samples since they looked so much like Elmer Wexler's work. But they gave me a chance and ... I stayed there for about a year".[14]
Ben Casey

In 1962, Adams began his comics career in earnest at the
Comics historian Maurice Horn said the strip "did not shrink from tackling controversial problems, such as heroin addiction, illegitimate pregnancy, and attempted suicide. These were usually treated in soap opera fashion ... but there was also a touch of toughness to the proceedings, well rendered by Adams in a forceful, direct style that exuded realism and tension and accorded well with the overall tone of the strip".[16]
In addition to Capp, Jerry Brondfield also wrote for the strip, with Adams stepping in occasionally.[18]
The ABC series, which ran five seasons, ended March 21, 1966, with the final comic strip appearing Sunday, July 31, 1966.[16] Despite the end of the series, Adams has said the strip, which he claimed at different points to have appeared in 365 newspapers,[14] 265 newspapers,[19] and 165 newspapers,[20] ended "for no other reason that it was an unhappy situation":
We ended the strip under mutual agreement. I wasn't happy working on the strip nor was I happy giving up a third of the money to [the TV series' producer,] Bing Crosby Productions. The strip I should have been making twelve hundred [dollars] a week from was making me three hundred to three-fifty a week. On top of that, I was not able to express myself artistically when I wanted to. But we left under very fine conditions. I was even offered a deal in which I would be paid so much a month if I would agree not to do any syndicated strip for anyone else, in order that I might save myself for anything they have for me to do.[14]
Adams' goal at this point was to be a commercial illustrator.[12] While drawing Ben Casey, he had continued to do storyboards and other work for ad agencies,[12] and said in 1976 that after leaving the strip he had shopped around a portfolio for agencies and for men's magazines, "but my material was a little too realistic and not exactly right for most. I left my portfolio in an advertising agency promising they were going to hold on to it. In the meantime I needed to make some money ... and I thought, 'Why don't I do some comics?'"[21] In a 2000s interview, he remembered the events slightly differently, saying "I took [my portfolio] to various advertising people. I left it at one place overnight and when I came back to get it the next morning it was gone. So six months worth of work down the drain. ... "[12]
He worked as a ghost artist for a few weeks in 1966 on the comic strip Peter Scratch (1965–1967), a hardboiled detective serial created by writer Elliot Caplin, brother of Al Capp and Jerry Capp, and artist Lou Fine.[22] Comics historians also credit Adams with ghosting two weeks of dailies for Stan Drake's The Heart of Juliet Jones, but are uncertain on dates; some sources give 1966, another 1968, and Adams himself 1963.[18] As well, Adams drew 18 sample dailies (three weeks' continuity) of a proposed dramatic serial, Tangent, about construction engineer Barnaby Peake, his college-student brother Jeff, and their teenaged sibling Chad, in 1965, but it was not syndicated.[23] Adams later said that Elliot Caplin offered Adams the job of drawing a comic strip based on author Robin Moore's The Green Berets, but that Adams, who opposed the Vietnam War, where the series was set, suggested longtime DC Comics war comics artist Joe Kubert, who landed that assignment.[20]
Silver Age splash
Turning to comic books, Adams found work at
With DC war comics stalwart Joe Kubert now concentrating on the comic strip The Green Berets, Adams, despite his opposition to then-current U.S. military involvement in Vietnam,[20] saw an opening:
I really didn't like most of the comics [at DC] but I did like war comics, ... so I thought, 'You know, now that Joe is not working there, they've got Russ Heath and they are plugging other people in where Joe used to be. Maybe I could kind of shift into a Joe Kubert kind of thing and do some war comics, and kind of bash them out [quickly]'. ... So I went over to see [DC war-comics editor] Bob Kanigher and I showed him my stuff, and I did have that feeling that they were missing Joe – a guy who could draw and do that rough, action stuff. So he gave me some work".[20]
Adams made his DC debut as penciler-inker of the 8+1⁄2-page story "It's My Turn to Die", written by Howard Liss, in the anthology series Our Army at War #182 (July 1967). He did a smattering of additional horror and war stories, respectively, for the two publishers, and then, after being turned down by DC's Batman editor Julius Schwartz, approached fellow DC editor Murray Boltinoff in the hopes of drawing for Boltinoff's Batman team-up title The Brave and the Bold.[20] Boltinoff instead assigned him to The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #101 (July–August 1967) and its full-length story "Jerry the Asto-Nut", written by Arnold Drake.[26][27] It became the first of a slew of stories and covers Adams would draw for that series and The Adventures of Bob Hope, two licensed titles starring fictional versions of the TV, film and nightclub comedians.[28]
During this period near the end of the industry revival historians call the
Another signature character, in what would prove Adams' breakout series, was the supernatural hero
Adams concurrently drew covers and stories for The Spectre #2–5 (Feb.-Aug. 1968), also writing the latter two issues, and became DC's primary cover artist well into the 1970s. Adams recalled that Infantino "was appointed art director, and decided I was going to be his spark plug. I also thought it was a good idea, and was promised a number of things which were never fulfilled. But I thought it would be an adventure anyway, so I knuckled down to things like 'Deadman', The Spectre and whatever odd things would come my way. I was also doing large amounts of covers".[33]
Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a Teen Titans story which had been written by then-newcomers Len Wein and Marv Wolfman. The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero but was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino.[34] The revised story appeared in Teen Titans #20 (March–April 1969).[35]
Adams' art style, honed in advertising and in the
Jim Steranko at Marvel and Neal Adams were the most prominent new artists of the late '60s to enter a field that had been relatively hostile to new artists ... and breaths of modernism, referencing advertising art and pop art as much as comics. Despite vastly different styles, both favored designs that drew on depth of focus and angularity that put the reader in the center of the action while slightly disorienting them to increase the tension, and placed special emphasis on lighting and body language as emotion cues. Not that these things were unknown in comics by any stretch, but publishers traditionally deemphasized them. As well, both were hugely influential on how a new generation of artists thought about what comics should look like, though Adams was arguably more influential; his approach was more visceral and, more importantly, he ran a studio in Manhattan [Continuity Associates] where many young artists started their professional careers.[37]
First Marvel Comics work

While continuing to freelance for DC, Adams in 1969 also began freelancing for Marvel Comics, where he penciled several issues of the mutant-superhero team title X-Men and one story for a horror anthology title. The Marvel "Bullpen Bulletins" column of Fantastic Four #87 (June 1969) described Adams as having "one foot planted in our Marvel doorway. We're guessing your ecstatic comments, when you see the way he illustrated our latest X-Men bombshell, will transform him into a Marvel madman from head to toe." Such freelancing across the two leading companies was rare at the time; most DC creators who did so worked pseudonymously.[38] Adams recalled in 1976:
The first time I got away from DC was when I went to Marvel to do the X-Men. It didn't stop me from working at DC; they were a little annoyed at me, but that was a calculated plan. ... If people saw that I would do such a thing, then other people might do it. Beyond that, it seemed like working for Marvel might be an interesting thing to do. It was, as matter of fact. I enjoyed working on the X-Men. [The company was] more friendly, a lot more real and I found myself delighting in the company of Herb Trimpe, John Romita and Marie Severin. I found them to be people who were not as oppressed as the people at National [i.e., DC Comics] were.[39]
He teamed with writer
Batman
Continuing to work for
Green Lantern/Green Arrow and "relevant comics"
Batman's enduring makeover was contemporaneous[43] with Adams and O'Neil's celebrated and, for the time, controversial revamping of the longstanding DC characters Green Lantern and Green Arrow.[58]
Rechristening Green Lantern vol. 2 as Green Lantern/Green Arrow with issue #76 (April 1970), O'Neil and Adams teamed these two very different superheroes in a long story arc in which the characters undertook a social-commentary journey across America.[58] A few months earlier, Adams updated Green Arrow's visual appearance by designing a new costume and giving him a distinctive goatee beard for the character in The Brave and the Bold #85 (Aug.-Sept 1969).[59] A major exemplar of what the industry and the public at the time called "relevant comics",[60] the landmark run began with the 23-page story "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight" and continued to "... And through Him Save a World" in the series' finale, #89 (May 1972). It was during this period that one of the best known O'Neil/Adams stories appeared, in Green Lantern #85–86, when it was revealed that Green Arrow's ward Speedy was addicted to heroin.[61][62] Wrote historian Ron Goulart,
These angry issues deal with racism,
drug addiction. The drug abuse problem was dramatized in an unusual and unprecedented way by showing Green Arrow's heretofore clean-cut boy companion Speedy turning into a heroin addict. All this endeared DC to the dedicated college readers of the period and won awards for both artist and writer. Sales, however, weren't especially influenced by the praise, and by 1973 the crusading had ceased. I remember dropping in on [editor] Julius Schwartz about this time and asking him how relevance was doing. 'Relevance is dead', he informed me, not too cheerfully.[52]
After Green Lantern was cancelled, the adventures of both super-heroes continued in the pages of The Flash #217–219 and #226 (1972–74).[63]
Other work for DC
After Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Adams' contributions to DC, apart from his work on
The last complete story that Adams drew at DC before opening his own company,
21st century
In 2005 Adams returned to Marvel (his last collaboration for this publisher had been in 1981 drawing a story for the
In 2010, Adams returned to DC Comics as writer and artist on the miniseries Batman: Odyssey.[71][72] Originally conceived as a 12-issue story, the series ran for six issues,[70][73] being relaunched with vol. 2, #1 in October 2011.[74] A total of seven issues were published for the second series until its end in June 2012.[70]
Apart from those assignments for DC, Adams penciled The New Avengers vol. 2, #16.1 (Nov. 2011) for Marvel Comics.[75] In May 2012, Marvel announced that Adams would work on the X-Men again with The First X-Men, a five-issue miniseries drawn and plotted by him and written by Christos Gage.[76][77] Adams produced short stories for Batman Black and White vol. 2 #1 (Nov. 2013)[78] and Detective Comics vol. 2 #27 (March 2014).[79]
In February 2016, Adams revisited some of his most notable covers done for DC Comics in the 1960s and 1970s,
In August 2020, Adams and writer Mark Waid released Fantastic Four: Antithesis, a four issue miniseries starring the Fantastic Four in a battle with a new cosmic threat.[86] This would be his final work as an interior artist.[87][88] Adams' final work as a writer (in addition to providing the artwork) would be Batman vs Ra's al Ghul, a miniseries that was originally published in November 2019 before the final two issues were delayed to March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[89]
Film, TV and theater
Adams' pencil drawings on his later Batman stories were frequently inked by Dick Giordano, with whom Adams formed Continuity Associates,[90] a company that supplied storyboards for motion pictures and interior artwork for comics publishers.
In the early 1970s, Adams was the art director, costume designer, as well as the poster/playbill illustrator for
In 1980, Neal Adams directed and starred in Nannaz, later released by Troma under the title Death to the Pee Wee Squad. The film co-starred Adams' children Jason and Zeea as well as fellow comics professionals Denys Cowan, Ralph Reese, Larry Hama, and Gray Morrow.[92]
In late 2013 Adams appeared in the PBS TV documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle.[93]
Creators' rights
During the 1970s, Adams was politically active in the industry, and attempted to unionize its creative community. His efforts, along with precedents set by Atlas/Seaboard Comics' creator-friendly policies and other factors, helped lead to the modern industry's standard practice of returning original artwork to the artist, who can earn additional income from art sales to collectors. He won his battle in 1987, when Marvel returned original artwork to him and industry legend Jack Kirby, among others.[94][95] Adams helped lead lobbying efforts that resulted in Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster receiving decades-overdue credit and financial remuneration.[96]
Inker Bob McLeod recalled in the 2000s the unique place Adams held in the industry when McLeod entered the comics industry in 1973:
Pat [Broderick] told me I really ought to meet Neal Adams, whom he had met at DC. ... At that time, Neal held a position of respect in the industry that no one in comics since then has achieved. He was the single most respected artist in the business. ... Neal looked at one of my samples and asked me what kind of work I was looking for. I said, "Anything that pays." (By that time, I was down to my last $10. ... ) He just picked up the phone and called the production manager at Marvel and said, "I've got a guy here who has some potential as, well, some potential as an artist, but I think he has a lot of potential as a letterer." I was immediately hired at Marvel in the production department on Neal's recommendation, and they still didn't even want to see my portfolio. If I was good enough for Neal, I was good enough for them.[97]
In 1978, Adams helped form the Comics Creators Guild, which over three dozen comic-book writers and artists joined.[98]
Also during the 1970s, Adams illustrated paperback novels in the
Dina Babbitt and work related to the Holocaust
In collaboration with
In 2010, Adams and Medoff teamed with
Awards and honors
Adams' first Deadman cover won the 1967 Alley Award for Best Cover.[108] A Batman/Deadman team-up in The Brave and the Bold #79 (Sept. 1968), by Adams and writer Bob Haney, tied with another comic for the 1968 Alley Award for Best Full-Length Story; and in 1969, Adams won the Alley Award for Best Pencil Artist, the feature "Deadman" was elected to the Alley Award Hall of Fame, and Adams received a special award "for the new perspective and dynamic vibrance he has brought to the field of comic art".[32]
He also won
Adams won the 1971
He won an
In 1985, DC Comics named Adams as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.[116]
Adams was inducted into the
In 2019, Adams was inducted into the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievement and outstanding accomplishments.[118]
Advocacy of expanding Earth hypothesis
Adams believed the Earth is growing[119] through a process called pair production.[120] Adams held the work of Australian geologist Samuel Warren Carey in high esteem, but considered the term "Expanding Earth" a misnomer.[121][122] While Carey did advocate an expanding Earth in the mid-20th century, his model was rejected following the development of the theory of plate tectonics.[123][124][125] Adams advocated his ideas in a DVD documentary he wrote and produced, clips of which are available on his YouTube channel.[126][127] Planet growth animations were created by Neal's daughter Zeea Adams.
Adams appeared on the
Personal life and death
Adams' first wife was the innovative and exceptional comics colorist Cory Adams. Their children are Kristine (Neal's business right hand), Joel (award-winning artist and character designer on King of the Hill), Jason (works in toy and fantasy sculpture), and Zeea (colorist, painter, digital artist and animator).
Adams and his second wife Marilyn[93] lived in New York.[135] Adams had their son Josh.[136] Josh illustrated a pinup of Batman in Batman: Odyssey #1 (Sept. 2010).[137]
Adams died in New York on April 28, 2022, at the age of 80. Marilyn, his wife of 45 years, told The Hollywood Reporter that Adams had died from complications of sepsis.[3]
Bibliography
See also
References
- ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
- ^ a b Schepens, Beth (2003). "Army Brats Recall Island Paradise – Sidebar: Governors Island Factoids". NYC24.org. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009.
- ^ a b c Kit, Borys (April 29, 2022). "Neal Adams, comic book artist who revitalized Batman and fought for creators' rights, dies at 80". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (April 29, 2022). "Neal Adams, Legendary Comic Book Artist Who Revitalized 'Batman,' Dead at 80". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0313399237.
- ^ Carlson, Michael (May 6, 2022). "Neal Adams obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Gustines, George Gene (May 4, 2022). "Neal Adams, Who Gave Batman a Darker Look, Dies at 80". The New York Times. Archivedfrom the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ "Front Row Center with Howard Chaykin: Neal Adams". NeoText. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d The Neal Adams Treasury. Vol. 1. Detroit, Michigan: Pure Imagination. 1976. p. 3.
- ^ Kimball, Kirk (n.d.). "Gaspar Saladino – The Natural". Dial B for Blog. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
- ^ a b "Neal Adams/Continuity Studios: Biography". NealAdamsEntertainment.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Neal Adams interview (n.d.). "Neal Adams: Renaissance Man Part I". ComicsBulletin.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008.
- ^ Heintjes, Tom (n.d.). "Funny Business: The Rise and Fall of Johnstone and Cushing". Hogan's Alley (online magazine), via MSNBC.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Additional, November 16, 2009.
- ^ ASIN B0006WZB2E.
- ^ These would later include the one-page "Flash Farrell Gets the Picture at Goodyear Aerospace". See Harvey Comics' Richie Rich #39 (Nov. 1965) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ ISBN 978-0-517-12447-5.
- ^ Mendez, Prof. Armando E. "The Rules of Attraction: The Look of Love: The Rise and Fall of the Photo-Realistic Newspaper Strip, 1946–1970: 'The Boy Wonder: Neal Adams and Ben Casey'". Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2009. Additional, November 16, 2009.
- ^ a b Mendez, "The Rules of Attraction ... 'The Boy Wonder: Neal Adams and Ben Casey — Ghost Stories'" at the Wayback Machine (archived November 12, 2006). Archived from the original November 13, 2006. Additional, November 16, 2009.
- ^ "Neal Adams interview". The Comics Journal (43). Fantagraphics Books: 52. December 1978.
- ^ a b c d e "Neal Adams: Renaissance Man Part II". ComicsBulletin.com. n.d. Archived from the original on May 26, 2010.
- ASIN B0006WZB2E.
- ^ "Peter Scratch". ThrillingDetective.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
- ASIN B0006WZB2E.
- ^ Arndt, Richard J. "The Warren Magazines" (2005 version with five interviews). Accessed October 11, 2009. Link updated November 16, 2009. WebCite archive.
- ISBN 1-893905-08-X.
- ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
Adams commandeered his first DC work as a penciler/inker with 'It's My Turn to Die' a nine-page back-up tale written by Howard Liss for Our Army at War #182 in July [1967] ... The following month, The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #101 perfectly illustrated how Adams was equally adept at delivering the art of laughter. In his first full-length story for DC, he provided writer Arnold Drake's space odyssey 'Jerry the Astro-Nut' with a photo-realistic flare not seen in comics.
- ^ Shutt, Craig (July 3, 2005). "Neal Adams and Jerry Lewis". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
Adams took over Jerry's art (and covers) with #101.
- ISBN 1-893905-61-6.
- ^ McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 129: "1968 was the year when Neal Adams and Batman's fates became forever intertwined ... Adams tackled his first interior with Batman on Leo Dorfman's script for 'The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads' story in World's Finest Comics #175."
- ^ McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 125: "In a story by scribe Arnold Drake and artist Carmine Infantino, circus aerialist Boston Brand learned there was much more to life after his death ... In addition, Neal Adams, the artist who succeeded Infantino with the second issue, would soon become an industry legend."
- ISBN 978-0-06-053816-3.
- ^ a b "1969 Alley Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on April 24, 2012.
- ASIN B0006WZB2E.
- ISBN 9780452295322.
- ^ Evanier, Mark (moderator) (Summer 1999). "Spotlight on Nick Cardy: The 1998 San Diego ComiCon Panel Transcript". Comic Book Artist (5). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011.
- ^ Mendez, "The Rules of Attraction ... Introduction" at the Wayback Machine (archived May 2, 2009). Archived from the original July 9, 2007. Additional, July 16, 2009.
- ^ Grant, Steven (October 14, 2009). "Permanent Damage". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 18, 2009.
- ^ Evanier, Mark (April 14, 2008). "An Incessantly Asked Question #5". P.O.V. Online (column). Archived from the original on November 26, 2009.
- ASIN B0006WZB2E.
- ^ Stiles, Steve (n.d.). "The Groundbreaking Neal Adams". Archived from the original on October 8, 2008.
- ^ Schumer, Arlen (Winter 1999). "Neal Adams: The Marvel Years". Comic Book Artist (3). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
- ^ O'Neill, Patrick Daniel (August 1993). "'60s Mutant Mania: The Original Team". Wizard: X-Men Turn Thirty. pp. 74–77.
- ^ a b "Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams collaborations". Grand Comics Database. n.d.
- ISBN 978-0756641238.
Writer Dennis O'Neil revealed that it was not Xavier who had perished but a shape-shifter called the Changeling. ... This epic tale provided an appropriately grand finale for the work of legendary artist Neal Adams."
- ISBN 978-0-8109-8171-3, p. 127: "Running nine issues, much of it spectacularly illustrated by Neal Adams, the Kree-Skrull War had no precedent in comics. ... With this story The Avengers unquestionably established its reputation as one of Marvel's leading books"; and Stiles, Steve, "The Groundbreaking Neal Adams", re: X-Men: "Even knowing that the book was slated for the axe, Adams poured out some of the finest, most innovative work of his career".
- ISBN 978-0785107453.
- ISBN 9780810938212.
This wild tale ... attempted to tie together more than thirty years of the company's stories ... More than any previous work, 'The Kree-Skrull War' solidified the idea that every comic book Marvel had ever published was part of an endless, ongoing saga.
- ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 150: "Unprecedented in Marvel history, this epic spanned nine issues of The Avengers. The saga began in The Avengers #89."
- ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 159: "Roy Thomas conceived the initial idea of an alternate-future Earth sequel to H. G. Wells' classic science fiction novel The War of the Worlds ... Neal Adams plotted the first story with a script by Gerry Conway and art by Adams and Howard Chaykin."
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 143: "Artist Neal Adams and writer Denny O'Neil rescued Batman from the cozy, campy cul-de-sac he had been consigned to in the 1960s and returned the Dark Knight to his roots as a haunted crime fighter. The cover of their first collaboration, "The Secret of the Waiting Graves", was typical of Adams' edgy, spooky style."
- ISBN 978-0-7624-3663-7.
Editor Julius Schwartz had decided to darken the character's world to further distance him from the camp environment created by the 1966 ABC show. Bringing in the talented O'Neil as well as the innovative Frank Robbins and showcasing the art of rising star Neal Adams ... Schwartz pointed Batman in a new and darker direction, a path the character still continues on to this day.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8092-5045-5.
- ^ Greenberger and Manning, p. 177 "Adams helped darken Gotham City in the 1970s [and] the scene was set for a new host of major villains. One of the first was Man-Bat, who debuted in the pages of 1970's Detective Comics #400.
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 145: "Writer Denny O'Neil once stated that he and artist Neal Adams 'set out to consciously and deliberately to create a villain ... so exotic and mysterious that neither we nor Batman were sure what to expect.' Who they came up with was arguably Batman's most cunning adversary: the global eco-terrorist named Ra's al Ghul."
- ISBN 978-1465424563.
Two-Face was reintroduced for the Bronze Age in this collaboration by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams.
- ^ Greenberger and Manning, p. 161 and 163 "In 1973, O'Neil alongside frequent collaborator Neal Adams forged the landmark 'The Joker's Five-Way Revenge' in Batman #251, in which the Clown Prince of Crime returned to his murderous ways, killing his victims with his trademark Joker venom and taking much delight from their sufferings."
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 156: "After decades as an irritating prankster, Batman's greatest enemy re-established himself as a homicidal harlequin in this issue ... this classic tale by writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams introduced a dynamic that remains to this day: the Joker's dependence on Batman as his only worthy opponent."
- ^ a b McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 139: "Real-world politics have always gone hand-in-hand with comics and their creators' own personal perspectives. Yet this was never more creatively expressed than when writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams paired the liberal Green Arrow with the conservative Green Lantern."
- ^ McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 134: "Artist Neal Adams targeted the Emerald Archer for a radical redesign that ultimately evolved past the surface level ... the most significant aspect of this issue was Adams' depiction of Oliver Queen's alter ego. He had rendered a modern-day Robin Hood, complete with goatee and mustache, plus threads that were more befitting an ace archer."
- ISBN 978-0-8195-6280-7.
- ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1.
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 146: "It was taboo to depict drugs in comics, even in ways that openly condemned their use. However, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams collaborated on an unforgettable two-part arc that brought the issue directly into Green Arrow's home, and demonstrated the power comics had to affect change and perception."
- ^ "DC Unveils New Collected Editions from the Original Universe". Comic Book Resources. April 5, 2004. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 170: "Many talents from both Marvel and DC contributed to this landmark publication – in addition to inker Dick Giordano, Neal Adams provided several re-drawings of Superman while John Romita Sr. worked on numerous Peter Parker/Spider-Man likenesses."
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 178: "Writer/artist Neal Adams proclaimed that Superman vs. Muhammad Ali was "the best comic book" he and co-writer Denny O'Neil had ever produced."
- ^ Schumer, Arlen (1999). "The Greatest: Neal Adams and Superman vs. Muhammad Ali". Comic Book Artist Special Edition (1). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
Arlen Schuer: Do you feel Superman vs. Muhammad Ali is the best comic you ever did?
Neal Adams: I would have to say yes. I've been asked lots of times, but I must admit, even I enjoy reading this book over and over again. - ^ Trumbull, John (July 2015). "DC Comics Deluxe Reprint Series of 1983 to 1988". Back Issue! (81). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 89–95.
- ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1990s" in Dolan, p. 247: "When WB made the decision to include Dick Grayson in the Batman Movie DC editorial was required to modify the classic costume of the iconic Boy Wonder to better suit the tone of the movie, they called upon several artists to put their own spin on it. It was legendary artist Neal Adams who delivered the winning concept. Robin is Dick Grayson. An Acrobat that calls himself Robin. I was charmed by the Robin costume as a child so I just made it more sensible. Tights, turned the cape inside out and the boots, well Dick is an acrobat so I gave him footwear that allows him to have better grip"
- ^ Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 248: "Complete with a Neal Adams poster stapled to its spine, the first issue [of Robin] featured an apprehensive Robin doubting his place by Batman's side."
- ^ a b c d Neal Adams at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Segura, Alex (April 2, 2010). "It's Official: Neal Adams on Batman: Odyssey". DCComics.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2010.
- ^ Manning "2010s" in Dougall (2014), p. 313: "Writer/artist Neal Adams returned to the character of Batman with this series that took place in its own slightly altered continuity"
- ^ Phegley, Kiel (April 2, 2010). "Neal Adams talks about Odyssey". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 20, 2010.
- ^ Hudson, Laura (July 19, 2011). "Parting Shot: Batman: Odyssey to Return in October with Vol. 2". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ Phegley, Kiel (April 22, 2011). "Neal Adams returns to Avengers With Bendis". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011.
- ^ Lamar, Cyriaque (May 14, 2012). "Neal Adams to draw The First X-Men, a miniseries starring Wolverine and a Nazi-hunting Magneto". io9. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
- ^ Johnston, Rich (May 14, 2012). "Marvel Announces First X-Men By Neal Adams And Christos Gage". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
- ^ Manning "2010s" in Dougall (2014), p. 339
- ^ Manning "2010s" in Dougall (2014), p. 341
- ^ McGuirk, Brendan (November 15, 2015). "Neal Adams Pays Homage to Distinguished Career of Neal Adams in DC Variant Covers". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
- ^ Beedle, Tim (January 29, 2016). "Side-By-Side: Neal Adams Revisits His Legendary Past". DC Comics. Archived from the original on June 26, 2016.
- ^ Yehl, Joshua (November 13, 2015). "Superman Will Be Heroic, Handsome, and Won't Break Necks in Coming of the Supermen: Neal Adams Returns to Superman". IGN. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016.
- ^ Nolan, Liam (July 12, 2017). "Neal Adams Resurrects Deadman For DC Comics". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017.
- ^ Johnston, Rich (August 2, 2017). "Neal Adams Explains That Everything You Knew About Deadman Was Wrong". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017.
- ^ Arrant, Chris (January 23, 2018). "What's Inside Action Comics #1000 Hardcover Companion". Newsarama. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018.
- ^ Spry, Jeff (August 6, 2020). "Superstar Neal Adams on finding the 'family' in new Fantastic Four comic event 'Antithesis '". SYFY.com. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
- ^ Dar, Taimur (April 29, 2022). "RIP Neal Adams: legendary comic artist and champion of creator rights passes away at 80". The Beat. Superlime Media LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
- ^ Younis, Steve (April 29, 2022). "Neal Adams, Legendary Comic Book Artist, Dies Aged 80". SupermanHomepage.com. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
- ^ Harris, Tyler (March 19, 2021). "Review: Batman Vs Ra's Al Ghul #5". Dark Knight News. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
- ^ KUPPERBERG, PAUL (July 20, 2022). "A Comic Moment With… DICK GIORDANO". 13th Dimension.
...he and Neal Adams opened the advertising and comics packaging agency Continuity Associates.
- ^ Miner, Michael (February 26, 2009). "Slow Torture in the Age of Speed". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Additional.
- ^ Cronin, Brian (September 30, 2018). "That Time Neal Adams Wrote and Directed a Film Starring Comic Artists". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ a b Spry, Jeff (February 2014). "Neal Adams: Up Close and Personal". Bleeding Cool. #8. Avatar Press. pp. 57–63.
- ^ "Marvel Returns Art to Kirby, Adams". The Comics Journal (116). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 15. July 1987.
- ^ "Neal Adams Receives Art Without Signing Marvel's Short Form". The Comics Journal (116). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 15–16. July 1987.
- ^ Dean, Michael W. (October 14, 2004). "An Extraordinarily Marketable Man: The Ongoing Struggle for Ownership of Superman and Superboy". The Comics Journal. 49 (263): 13–17 [16]. Archived from the original on December 1, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ McLeod, Bob (n.d.). "untitled". BobMcLeod.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007.
- ^ Groth, Gary (October 1978). "Birth of the Guild: May 7, 1978". The Comics Journal (42). Fantagraphics Books: 21–28.
- ^ "Interview with Neal Adams". Tarzan.cc. May 28, 2005. Archived from the original on May 18, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Markstein, Don (2009). "Skateman". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on June 2, 2014.
In Skateman, Adams created what is one [of] the least-acclaimed heroes of all time.
- ^ "Adams Sued for $20 Million in Libel/Trademark Suit". The Comics Journal (162). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 7–11. October 1993. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Netzer v. Continuity Graphic Associates, Inc., 963 F. Supp. 1308 (Dist. Court, SD New York 1997).
- ^ a b Gustines, George Gene (August 8, 2008). "Comic-Book Idols Rally to Aid a Holocaust Artist". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
- ^ Rafael Medoff; Neal Adams; Joe Kubert; Stan Lee (August 8, 2008). "Story of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt" (PDF). Comics for a Cause. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2008.
- ISBN 1-56584-415-7.
- The New York Jewish Week, Vol. 222 No. 46, April 16, 2010
- ^ "They Spoke Out: American Voices Against the Holocaust". The Walt Disney Company. n.d. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ "1967 Alley Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012.
- ^ "1970 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012.
- ^ "1971 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012.
- ^ Bails, Jerry (n.d.). "Adams, Neal". Who's Who in Comic Books: 1928–1999. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
- ^ "Dennis O'Neil on teaching a ten-week course at NYU". The Comics Reporter. September 3, 2009. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
- ^ "Inkpot Award Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
- Eagle Awards. Archived from the originalon April 4, 2012.
- ^ "Eagle Awards 1978". Eagle Awards. Archived from the original on February 6, 2011.
- ^ Marx, Barry, Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Neal Adams The Advent of Realism" Fifty Who Made DC Great, p. 38 (April 18, 1985). DC Comics.
- ^ Tapp, Tom (April 29, 2022). "Neal Adams Dies: Comic Book Legend Who Revitalized Batman, Fought For Artists' Rights, Was 80". Deadline. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- ^ Almmond, Bob (April 13, 2019). "2019 INKWELL AWARDS VOTING RESULTS AND CEREMONY". First Comics News. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- ^ "Neal Adams Growing Earth". YouTube. Retrieved January 30, 2013. "Neal Adams Growing Earth"
- ^ "Neal Adams – Science: Part 07 – Proton Created Before Your Eyes!""Neal Adams – Science: Part 07 – Proton Created Before Your Eyes!". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ O'Brien, Jeffrey M. (March 2001). "Master of the Universe". Wired. Vol. 9, no. 3. San Francisco, California. Archived from the original on July 28, 2009.
- ^ "The Skeptics Guide podcast: Episode 51, July 12, 2006". Theskepticsguide.org. July 12, 2006. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
- ^ Fowler (1990), pp. 281 & 320–327; Duff (1993), pp. 609–613; Stanley (1999), pp. 223–226.
- S2CID 129874595
- S2CID 4340130
- ^ "NealAdamsDotCom". YouTube. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
- ^ Adams, Neal. "New Model of the Universe". NealAdams.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ "Coast to Coast with George Noory: Guests – Neal Adams". Coast to Coast AM. n.d. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Novella, Steven (December 24, 2007). "Debate With Hollow-Earth Proponent – Neal Adams". NeuroLogicaBlog. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- Japan Times. Archived from the originalon February 2, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Ogrisseg, Jeff (November 22, 2009). "Dogmas May Blinker Mainstream Scientific Thinking". Japan Times. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Ogrisseg, Jeff (November 22, 2009). "Our Growing Earth?". Japan Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Novella, Steven (November 23, 2009). "No Growing Earth, But a Growing Problem with Science Journalism". Skepticblog.org. Archived from the original on November 1, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
- ^ Hudson, Laura; Wolkin, David (October 13, 2014). "Finally: The Complete and Utter Insanity of Batman: Odyssey, Part 6". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
Batman (or as we dubbed him in his shirtless days, Nude Bruce) is forever telling a mysterious Exposition Hostage a long series of a stories that jump forward and backward in time to other stories that seem to have little or no connection to each other, and often involve Adams' deeply held pseudo-scientific belief that the earth is actually hollow and expanding. For the purposes of the comic, the hollow center of the Earth is where Neanderthal Batman lives.
- ^ "Dark Knight's kind of town: Gotham City". MSNBC/Associated Press. July 20, 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
- ^ Chiu-Tabet, Christopher (April 29, 2022). "Neal Adams, Legendary Comic Book Artist and Writer, Dead at 80". Multiversity Comics. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ Josh Adams at the Grand Comics Database
External links
- Official website
- Neal Adams at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- "DC Profiles #20: Neal Adams" at the Grand Comics Database
- Continuity Studios
- Neal Adams at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
- Internet Broadway Database: Warp
- Neal Adams bibliography at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
- Neal Adams at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Podcast Interview with Neal Adams – The Paracast April 22, 2007
- "Neal Adams". Official transcript, Sci Fi Channel chat. April 26, 2002. Archived from the original on October 31, 2002.
- Neal Adams discography at Discogs
- Neal Adams at IMDb
- Entry at isfdb.org