Neal Adams Batman Illustrated books,...which to keep?

[Mace Dolex]

I just hate this practice of every comic publisher releasing both hardcover and softcover of their books.

So around 2004 when the Neal Adams Batman 3-book set were released they were all Hardcovers and pretty pricey at $49.99 each because like a dumbass I'm thinking this is the only way of obtaining these classic Batman stories and while they look cool and all on mybookshelf they are a bit wide and cumbersome (meaning they take up space), and I'm afraid the card stock rough paper could eventually turn yellowish over time.

Well so then a few years down the line DC decides to release them again only as softcover Tpb's and with the shiny slick paper and because of the switch to glossier paper the books are much more slimmer taking up half space of what the Hardcovers do and yeah I double dipped and bought them.

So my question is which should I keep of the two versions, the rough cardstock paper ones or the shiny glossy ones? I mean which ones would look more presentable if you were to introduce a newbie to some great Neal Adams Batman?

[MajorHoy]

I just hate this practice of every comic publisher releasing both hardcover and softcover of their books.

It's the way of the world, though. They often go hardcover first because they can charge more / potentially make more. After that, if it seems like there might still be interest, they then go with a less-expensive softcover version which more people who couldn't afford/didn't want to pay for the hardcover version might consider buying.

[JBatmanFan05]

Keep neither. Those recolored sometimes redrawn monstrosities belong in no one's collection.

I custom bind and I'm making my own Neal Adams collection, not with that recolored garbage not true to the 70s at all.

[Nick Miller]

Keep neither. Those recolored sometimes redrawn monstrosities belong in no one's collection.

I custom bind and I'm making my own Neal Adams collection, not with that recolored garbage not true to the 70s at all.

This.

Also there is an adam's omnibus coming out, hopefully with original colors

[Billy Batson]

This.

Also there is an adam's omnibus coming out, hopefully with original colors

Recolors are more likely since Adams has been recoloring his past work for new editions and it'll have Odyssey that was done with the same coloring.

[banky]

Some further clarification is necessary rather than taking an extreme opinion against the Neal Adams books. The original hardcovers are pretty much the worst option, Adams has admitted they were an inferior product in interviews. Not simply because of modern recoloring but because of the over saturated inks and conventional matte, paper stock. If I were to recommend the option to keep, I would say the TPBs until the omni is released. The modern recoloring definitely has its fair share of detractors but it is not the complete abomination many critics will have you believe.

This is a cool link to compare the modern with old: http://junkfoodforthought-krisshaw.b...eal-adams.html


If you look at the original panels of the werewolf you see the limitations of the old letterpress process for coloring (two-toned). The modern recoloring is a more realistic version in this case. That said, there are several examples where not only the modern recoloring but the updated choices for inking (under Adams' supervision) are glaringly inferior to the originals. One particularly bad example is the Night of the Reaper story where the choices made do nothing to help the drama of the story. The modern version of the reaper looks more like a joke novelty skull head rather than the effective original. My point is, YMMV with regard to the modern recoloring choices. There's some bad , some good.

Also, agreed with Billy Batson that it should be noted there has been no indication that the upcoming NA omnibus will have original colors. That would be a step backward, imo. The best case scenario is that they retain the modern recoloring for the majority of pages but restore the splash pages and large images (like the reaper) to the original color scheme.

[Nick Miller]

Recolors are more likely since Adams has been recoloring his past work for new editions and it'll have Odyssey that was done with the same coloring.

yeah i figured, darn it.

[Nick Miller]

thanks for sharing those pages banky.

the old coloring is still superior in each example, in my opinion.

[mtop2036]

Maybe its because im a newer reader and never read the original material but I think I prefer some of the recoloring not all of it but definitely some.

[dancj]

Looking at the samples, the new recolouring looks good to me - but the redrawing is terrible.