Within the fires of my unrepentant rage that the wrong people keep fucking dying, I found out on Friday that Neal Adams was dead.
Volumes could be written about Neal Adams' talent alone. In an industry often derided for being mere kids' stuff, Adams was a seismic impact on the world of comic book art. His art was sleek and gritty, realistic and stylized, grounded and dynamic
Among his most famous work were his Batman stories in the early 1970's. He began his association with the Caped Crusader in the pages of Brave & the Bold, DC's Batman team up title where Neal would change any day time scenes to night time to restore mystery and power to Batman's image which had been eroded by the camp shenanigans of the Batman TV show. Adams would move over to Detective Comics and Batman illustrating scripts by Denny O'Neil that worked to bring the Batman back to a mood and style more in line with the earliest stories of his creation.
Volumes more could be produced about the impact Neal Adams had on the comic book industry and the oft overlooked and underappreciated talents who brought those comic books to life. That the credit "Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster" appears on Superman comics, TV shows, movies and more owes much to Neal Adams and his efforts to make sure they and other creators were credited and rewarded for their work.
At age 80, Neal Adams was still active and vital but that work, that life was cut short by illness.
Neal's life and work made a major impact on the world of comics that still resonates to this day.
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