In Praise of Neal Adams, the Reigning King of Comic Books

[Mark Trail]

Interesting article, interesting publication in which to find it.

I didn't realize Adams had fallen ill. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

[Phoenixx9]

Interesting article, interesting publication in which to find it.

I didn't realize Adams had fallen ill. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

Definitely well-wishes and glad he is doing better!

[Johnny Thunders!]

He is the only comics creator I have ever met. I showed up early to a comic signing he was featured at. I tried to take a picture of myself with him in the background. He saw me and called me over, “Come on let’s do this the right way!” He shook my hand and I got a legit picture taken. He signed a bunch of books and I bought some posters from him. I told him that I have spent hours flipping through boxes to find books with covers he’s done and he just chuckled and said “That’s all right!” There is a comic book Madmen type show waiting to happen. He was like a real life Don Draper then. When he finallly went on to speak, he came on stage singing along to the Stones Paint It Black.

[Robotman]

He’s definitely a character. Always very outspoken even at age 80. I know there are all sorts of stories about him (good and bad), but every time I’ve gotten to meet him at cons he’s been very friendly.

The work that he and Denny did in the 70s is some of the most important work in the history of comics. Just bringing Batman back to his Dark Knight roots alone is huge. We just take for granted that Batman is the dark brooding avenger jumping off rooftops, but that may not have happened without these guys. Bats was super campy in the 50s, 60s, and even into the 70s. That was what generations people thought of when they pictured Batman until O’Neal and Adams’ run.

He also went to war with DC to get them to acknowledge Siegel and Shuster and allow them to finally get some royalties.

[batnbreakfast]

A few years ago I came across NA's interview on Fatman on Batman. It seems he is one of the good guys, a huge talent and did a lot to make the lives of many artists better.