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Paul Wills
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 18 August 2018
Location: United States
Posts: 833
Posted: 30 April 2022 at 2:56pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply


Neal cited Joe Kubert and Mort Drucker as influences. Look at his early days and the work does look a bit like Kubert inked by Drucker.
-------------------------

Yeah - I can see it!

Edited by Paul Wills on 30 April 2022 at 2:56pm
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Mike Norris
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4274
Posted: 30 April 2022 at 5:03pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Interesting to know. I always saw a hint of Kubert in Neal's work. 
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John Popa
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 20 March 2008
Posts: 4360
Posted: 30 April 2022 at 7:17pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

My first exposure to Neal Adams's art was a glossy reprint of some of his X-Men stories. I was pretty new to reading comics and I saw that art and immediately knew 'ok, this is DIFFERENT.'

Of course it was different, it was just that good.

I had a really nice chat with Neal at a con once about a mutual friend who doesn't work in comics. He always had a smile on his face at cons. 

What can you say about Neal Adams? The work more than speaks for itself. 

I'll miss seeing him at cons, for sure, too.
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Wilson Mui
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Joined: 27 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4521
Posted: 30 April 2022 at 9:00pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

For me, it was reading the reprints of GL/GA, which I didn’t know they were
at the time. The art was so good and stories left a strong impression on me.
Hard to believe there were only eleven issues.
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Andrew Bitner
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Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7465
Posted: 30 April 2022 at 9:32pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Immensely lucky to have had the chance to interview him one-on-one for COMICS SCENE at the Continuity offices in maybe... 1990? He was truly larger than life and was warm and friendly whenever I saw him afterward. Truly saddened at his passing.
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Mark Haslett
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6059
Posted: 30 April 2022 at 10:18pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

JB: Neal cited Joe Kubert and Mort Drucker as influences. Look at his early days and the work does look a bit like Kubert inked by Drucker.

**

This is surprisingly clear when you look for it. I think Neal's inking became less like Drucker's over time, but I've seen Drucker inked by Adams and it's almost impossible to see any Neal in there.

I also read an interview where Neal talked about his time on Ben Casey as a friendly competition with Stan Drake and Dan Barry. He said he picked up inking techniques they were doing that he never saw in comic books.

Then, when he used them on superheroes, he said, he would get credited for an innovation that was really just doing what the best guys in dailies were already doing.

I loved the way Neal talked about people he admired.

Edited by Mark Haslett on 30 April 2022 at 10:21pm
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Eric Ladd
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Joined: 16 August 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 4506
Posted: 01 May 2022 at 7:14am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Josh Adams, Neal’s son, posted a very nice sentiment yesterday on his FB feed. I recommend everyone read it.
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132129
Posted: 01 May 2022 at 7:30am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

I’m remembering talking with Denny O’Neil about that first GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW. It was written full script, and Denny had assumed Gil Kane would draw it, as he had the previous issues.

Then Denny saw the art as it started to come in from Neal, and realized the whole industry was about to be burst at the seams.

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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132129
Posted: 01 May 2022 at 7:44am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Not yet a Pro, I was asked by Steve Englehart to do some audition pages for a Captain America story. Cap was going to head north of the 49th Parallel, and Steve thought it would be appropriate to have a Canadian artist draw it

I turned in a few pages, swiping Neal at every turn. When he saw the work, Neal said “This is pretty good ME, but what can HE do?”

Important lesson learned.

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Glen O'Brien
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1125
Posted: 01 May 2022 at 8:11am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Gut wrenching news. Legend, titan, master of the art form.
I saw him once or twice at a local convention and never
stopped. I just didn't know what to say Neal Adams! I wish
I had, just to tell him what his work meant to me.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 30832
Posted: 01 May 2022 at 9:04am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Josh Adams, Neal’s son, posted a very nice sentiment yesterday on his FB
feed. I recommend everyone read it.



*******



Is it something that can be copy/posted here? Not all of us have FaceBook.
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Paul W. Sondersted, Jr.
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 276
Posted: 01 May 2022 at 9:36am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

For those that can't or won't access Facebook. Here is Josh Adams post in its entirety...

-----

Josh Adams
April 29 at 10:35 AM

"What is it like having Neal Adams as your dad?"

I can't tell you how many times that question has been posed to me since I was little. How the heck could I answer that question? At a certain point it actually made me frustrated. He was my only dad. I didn't have some sampling of fathers to compare him to. He wasn't Neal Adams to me. He was dad. Was...

Around 2:00AM on April 28th, 2022, Neal Adams, my dad, passed away. It was my birthday.

I'm reminded of a scene from Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom." Feel free to leave your critique of the show to yourself. Jeff Daniels' character, Will McAvoy, is anchoring a broadcast while his father is in the hospital, dying. The chaos of anchoring the news provides McAvoy with every opportunity not to call in to speak with his father until finally he relents and decides, during a commercial break, to call in to the hospital only to discover that his father has already passed away. The commercial break ends and McAvoy is lost in the moment, disregarding the prompter, the camera, and the producer in his ear. After what feels like an endless pause he looks into the camera and says, "Well, I guess it's just us now."

Well, I guess it's just us now.

The scene has everything and nothing to do with what I'm feeling right now.

My father was a force. His career was defined by unparalleled artistic talent and an unwavering character that drove him to constantly fight for his peers and those in need. He would become known in the comics industry as one of the most influential creators of all time and champion social and creator's rights. When he saw a problem, he wouldn't hesitate. What would become tales told and retold of the fights he fought were born out of my father simply seeing something wrong as he walked through the halls of Marvel or DC and deciding to do something about it right then and there.

But growing up in the late eighties and through the nineties that isn't the Neal Adams I knew. I knew dad. He worked in commercial arts and ran a studio. He worked hard but always made time for family. We would do family activities nearly every weekend and for the most part he was how I imagined every dad, except he knew how to draw.

But there were clues. Things I noticed but didn't yet understand. We would occasionally go to a comic convention and while there I would see these interesting people who would treat my father with such reverence. Names I would come to know and idolize: Neil Gaiman, Dave Stevens, Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, Larry Hama and so, so many more. There was something interesting about these interactions. They were...familiar.

It wasn't until I was in my early teens that I really started to gain a perspective on who my father was to the comic industry. It didn't change who he was to me. He was still dad. I just got to understand what he was to other people a little bit more. Still, there was something about the way all these people treated him that was so familiar. But I couldn't put my finger on it.

Dad would hate me for sharing this but I can't keep quiet about it anymore: he was SO generous. He gave of himself, both time and money, without question. He gave without ever asking for anything in return, and never bragging a word of it to anyone.

As I grew older and was trusted by him to be in the room when important conversations were had and deals done, I saw the side of him that earned him the status of living legend. With a phone call to Marvel or DC he would start a young talent on their career, and with a confident smile he could send corporate lawyers running to hide behind the fallen cards that they once believed was a sturdy house. Still, there was something familiar.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I truly got it. It wasn't until I sat at tables at conventions next to the same people I would watch treat my father with such reverence that I understood. He was their father too. Neal Adams' most undeniable quality was the one that I had known about him my entire life: he was a father. Not just my father, but a father to all that would get to know him.

And so I come back to that question that I've been asked my entire life: "What is it like having Neal Adams as your dad?" Don't be silly. To know Neal Adams is to know what it's like having Neal Adams as your dad.


Edited by Paul W. Sondersted, Jr. on 01 May 2022 at 9:44am
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