I always use images from my favorite comicbook artist JOHN BYRNE and FRANK MILLER when I am discussing comics and their storytelling, but I have only hinted at the artist that gave birth to both of their styles. NEAL ADAMS was one of the great graphic storytellers that comics has ever known. He took the art to another level from the classic predecessors JACK KIRBY, JOE SIMON and STEVE DITKO. He was the pioneer that took comicbooks from being campy kids play into the aspect of adult entertainment.
I first found NEAL ADAMS work during my X-Men collecting heydays. He drew a series of books before the original title was put on hiatus. His details were so fucking killer. He would draw a close up of a character yelling and you could see the linework in the character’s teeth. NEAL ADAMS also broke through the traditional story board framework that comics employed by illustrating characters stretching and arching all over a page. His work suggested movement like no one else did on a flat two-dimensional plane.
The other thing that NEAL ADAMS did with his writing partner DENNIS O’NEILL was to bring current adult themes into their storylines. Batman became darker and more brooding. Green Arrow and Green Lantern weren’t just fighting super-powered bad guys either. They were battling drug dealers and racism. ADAMS brought his sense of politics and justice into his art way back in the 60’s. FRANK MILLER would do the same almost twenty years later.
NEAL ADAMS touched all the iconic heroes that DC Comics had under their banner. He drew tons of Green Lantern Green Arrow issues and even did some work on Superman. Though I am mostly fond of his Batman artwork which went against the campy, clownish Batman character that was popular during the 1960’s due to the televison program. NEAL ADAMS’ Batman was a dark, determined bruiser. The Joker character under ADAMS became more of a violent sociopath as well. This theme inspired future artists and storytellers to design these iconic characters as complex and conflicted individuals. No one surpasses MILLER’s treatment of Batman in the ‘Dark Knight Returns’ series, but you can see how he literally and figuratively used NEAL ADAMS’ pencil lines to trace the outline for his epoch epic.
true that!
Damn… That Green Lantern strip with the old head was crazy. I never got into comics like that. Maybe to shark a character or two from my old graf days. But I’ve heard that alot of social issues were addressed in comics. Dallas or anyone else if you got other examples or links hit a brother off!
Mannn. What about my boy Todd McFarlane? He drew my all time favorite comic, Spawn. He took comics to a whole new level to me. Image and Dark Horse dont get enough shine. IMO.
1 hunned.
1. R.I.P. – Marshall Rogers
2. The Neal Adams drawn “Superman vs. Muhammed Ali” = CLASSIC!
I got a couple Adams myself.
I found it funny how they addressed racism in Green Lantern, but people got miffed when they used the soul brother for the Justice League cartoon.
Re: EReal
I was done with Spawn when they made that lame ass excuse for a movie. That shit was terrible.
Image Comics was all art no story.
Image comics partially killed the industry in the 90’s, but that’s a whole different story.
And yea, that Spawn movie was trash bags.
HA! Combat Jack ain’t never lie.
The Neal Adams cover art from the super size issue of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali was put on a t-shirt by Supreme clothing co. Unfortunately for me Supreme is the hipster streetwear spot so no shirts were larger than XL.
40,
C.J. put me on to the about to be released Daredevil Omnibus by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson. I copped two from Amazon. You should copp at least one. I’ll drop a post as to why in a few days or so…
EReal,
Search Todd McFarlane on my site and you’ll see your boy gets his props. The Spawn flick was trash though.
Wow thats some serious cake for a book, but I’ll take your word for it. A good read is a good read. Appreciate the info…
On a side not I’m tickled by the perfect balance of tragedy & comedy of being an AIDS Walk sponsor for a friend… It was listed “In Memory of Eric “Eazy-E” Wright…”
*bumps “8-Ball”*
once that image bs came out the prices of comics started shooting through the roof. i just had to give up altogether rather than suffer through being poor and not being able to afford all the comics which i had been reading on a regular basis. gotta say i never really got into dc comics.
^ I just ordered the X-Men Omnibus written by Grant Morrison. If you think $62.99 is a lot for a book, I decided to go the Amazon route since the book retails for a whopping $100.00. I aint never spent a buck on one book.