SEMI-REGULAR MUSINGS FROM THE SEMI-REGULAR MIND OF WRITER J.M. DeMATTEIS
Friday, April 29, 2022
REMEMBERING ADAMS
There are few comic book artists whose work has echoed across the decades more than Neal Adams and it was a great shock to discover that this legend has passed away. His work with the brilliant Denny O'Neil on Batman redefined the character and the same team exploded the superhero genre (and my sixteen-year-old mind) with the "all new, all now" Green Lantern/Green Arrow series.
Adams was also a champion of creators' rights at a time when few, if any, others were taking a stand on that issue. Back in my journalism days, I interviewed Adams for an article in the long-defunct Soho Weekly News that focused on the fight to unionize writers and artists, and he provided the cover below.
Heartfelt condolences to Neal Adams' family and friends. His influence will be felt as long as there are comic books.
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Neal Adams is dead? That is...weird.
ReplyDeleteI COULD talk about how great his art was, but I will talk about two other things.
1. Neal Adams' father was in the military during WWII, and right after. He was in Germany during the clean up.
He was on w of the first people to see images of the holocaust, while under the age of 10. According to him, he did not speak to his mother for a week.
This was a test, to see what Americans could see, so they used GI families.
The experience...decades later... would push him to take charge of the "They Spoke Out" online series, which told stories of those who worked hard to get Jews out of Nazi Germany.
2. I talked to him once, and aside from not getting that I was freelance not work for hire, told me that one of the reasons he liked going to shows was that his kid was sort of in the industry as well. Having been an artist on King of the Hill.
He talked about how he enjoyed having some time to spend with his kid as they went to different shows.
Jack
I'd never heard that holocaust story, Jack. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as someone who often uses convention appearances as reasons to spend a fun weekend with the kids, I can totally relate to what he said.