Neal does read all the emails we get at nealadams.com. When he has time, he answers them and sometimes he will ask someone to answer them for him provided they have the proper information or a direct response from Neal.
Because the Science Project mail tends to be longer, we've made a separate page for it. CLICK HERE FOR THE SCIENCE DISCUSSION.

FAN PAGE

 From: Ed N.
Subject: A Concerned Fan

Dear Mr. Adams

I recently ran across your website. My comic buying habit died out in the mid 1970s through competition with the other issues of life such as marriage, children, a mortgage, etc. Prior to this, however, I spent a lot of time trying to emulate your style in my own artwork. I never quite succeeded in this as my own style tends towards the humorous (I found it far easier to emulate Jack Davis or Johnny Hart). While I once desired to be a comic strip artist or writer, I ended up as a graphic artist. That turned out to be just fine.

When my own children began buying comic books in the early 1990s, I discreetly "borrowed" them with anticipation of an enjoyable read. I was disappointed. While the art and technical reproduction has experienced tremendous growth, something seemed to be missing. At first I thought I had simply succumbed to maturity, but this proved to be incorrect. A few years later I experienced the following conversation with my youngest son. "Dad, these are just stupid." And then, something unexpected happened.

One of my younger brothers discovered a box in his closet that had somehow remained with him during several moves. It turned out to be a portion of my old comic collection, with specimens from the late 60s and into the early 70s. My youngest son read, and then read them againrepeatedly. I read themthankfully I had not succumbed to "maturity." They possessed the ability to draw one in. The art was not as glossy as today. The storyline could arguably be termed hokey by our presumed contemporary, enlightened outlook. Clearly, however, they were influenced by a different worldview.

If there is any truth to the notion that comics have a connection to the ancient tribal stories of valor, courage, honesty and honor, one's worldview certainly makes a difference. Every culture must have its heroes. While we realize that even heroes have flaws, they still manage to rise above circumstances. It IS worth it. Self-denial pays off in the end. These values appeared to be wholly lacking in comic's today, although I have read articles denying this.

 

It is difficult to discern differences between heroes and villains. Here are a few scattered examples. The Human Torch is no longer the Johnny Storm who flirts with girls and squires them around town in his sports car. He is the "notorious womanizer." He has ceased to be a hero. He's someone who preys on women.

Hank Pym is hooked on Prozac and in a drug induced rage kills his wife. This is the issue which prompted my 14 year old son's remarks, "Dad, this is just stupid."

I recently read an article concerning Dark Horse Comics publishing their rendition of Conan (I appreciated your past contributions, by the way). The article trumpeted the great news that the first printing had exceeded 50,000 copies and they were anticipating great things. An interesting juxtaposition occurred. Within a day or so I read an article about various efforts to revive the Doom Patrol. In context it mentioned that the 1960s Doom Patrol was cancelled because its circulation had dropped to less than 250,000. What merited cancellation in the 1960s would today be a cause for riotous celebration. And yet I read other articles noting the continual decline of comic readership.

It is also instructive to consider how the two most successful screen adaptations of Marvel characters (Spiderman and X-Men), to my eye were the ones who adhered more closely to the original characters. While people certainly want to be entertained, they don't mind seeing characters who believe in issues larger than themselves. Some may dismiss the statement, "with great power comes great responsibility" as hokey. There are, however, real people who actually believe and practice these principles.

To those who scoff at stories written by Horatio Alger and other pre- and early-20th Century writers, it is interesting to note that a number of companies have sprung up selling these same (now in public domain) books in increasing numbers. My father had a large set of "X Bar X" adventure novels which I read repeatedly until my brothers (and sisters) eventually wore them out. I have close at hand a book originally written in the 1850s which has been republished and is now in its third printing. Is it fiction? Yes. Would it be considered hokey by today's standards (or lack thereof)? Yes. Is it fascinating to read? Absolutely.

With these thoughts in mind, it was grievous to read your comments following the recent election. Apparently you place some stock in the notion that "new ideas" will prove to be our salvation. I applauded your efforts to obtain recognition and some financial justice for Siegel and Shuster. You seem to be someone who believes in justice. I'm afraid that in today's politically correct atmosphere, you seem very full of old ideas.

 

 You mention senior issues. One must certainly have compassion for seniors facing retirement on social security alone. The name "social security" now seems to have become an oxymoron. I realize that when I reach 65 in less than 15 years, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that I shall reap even a fraction of what I have invested. Is that the fault of the current administration? Hardly. Do we then impose a series of increasingly draconian taxes to fund something bearing little resemblance to that which Franklin Roosevelt originally began and appears to be the equivalent of a fiscal black hole. Where is the accountability that is the bedrock of justice.

Do new ideas include increasing subsidies without accountability for our politically correct public education? My wife teaches third grade in a private Christian school. My oldest grandson spent one year in public school in our state capitol, Salem, Oregon. Part of the new ideas he was instructed with included "whole word" reading, as opposed to reading. As a result, he did not learn to read.

His father (my oldest son) married a lovely young woman who also happened to be a product of the new ideas of our 1960s Great Society. She is a second-generation welfare child. She is an example of new ideas in practice.
As a consequence my wife and I are raising some of our grandchildren and my daughter in law is struggling to become what her parents wouldn't and the state couldn't teach her. Whether some recognize these things or not, these are part of the baggage of "new ideas." Where are the "family values?"
Remember, Oregon went for Kerry. We're the enlightened ones.

One good development of a bad situation has been the enrollment of my grandson in the private school. He has been there a little over a month.
Although he lags behind his class he is rapidly learning to read. My wife and I educated our 5 children through a combination of public school, home schooling, and private Christian schools. My younger sister had at times expressed her skepticism at our approach ­ in particular the home schooling. Along the way, her oldest daughter became part of the first class to test the "Outcome Based Education" program (another new idea). When my sister (who is willing to confront) discovered that her daughter apparently was on longer learning mathematics, she set up an appointment with the school principal. In the principal's office she was told, "Mrs --------, your daughter Jennifer has decided she's not ready to be taught mathematics, she may never be ready. She has to find what's true for herself. And that's okay. Remember, when you drop her off at the school, she ceases to be your child and effectively becomes the charge of the state." My sister became a immediate convert to the "old ideas." If Kerry supporters can only wail about those who are too stupid to accept the enlightenment they offer, they are at best naive, and at worse out of touch with reality.

If we can understand these essential principles, we will understand why Kerry lost. People still care about issues, they still believe there are absolutes. If Halliburton can be proved to be guilty then it must be punished regardless of who may be within the net that bags it. On the other hand, the same individuals had very little to say about the misdeeds of Enron (other than to try to blame Bush) even though it was one of the biggest bankrollers of the previous administrations. Liberal icons and ice cream makers Ben and Jerry have been praised for their support of "new ideas," but when their worker sought to impose a union they crushed it with all the power of 19th Century robber barons. All hypocrisy must stop.

As I said, my wife teaches in a private, Christian school. The school building was built with private donations and much volunteer labor. The parents were involved. The same time that the Christian school constructed their building, the raised a school building of the same square footage. The Christian school invested $250,000 in their structure while the public school building cost a million and a half. Taking a tour through the respective buildings one would be hard pressed to find differences in quality of construction or facilities. What you would find in the private school is something that I can only quantify as "heart."

 

This brings us back to comics today. Admittedly I have not read all that is being published. Nor frankly, based upon my experience, do I desire to read more. Technically flawed, the 1960s and early 70s comics had heart. The fact that fewer people are reading today's offerings is simply confirmation of this fact. That is also what's wrong with the foundation of too many of today's new ideas. They have no true heart.

Thank you again for your great contributions to illustration. Thank you also for your willingness to fight for an absolute.

May God bless you,
Ed N.

 Neal's Response Missing

 

From: Ed N.
Subject: Re: A Concerned Fan

Hello,
Thank you for your kind response. You certainly may reprint the email. I stand corrected, yes there was a lot of junk in the Silver age, etc., and certainly the "good old days" (speaking of life in 1960s America) were not the mythic golden age. I guess my thoughts were influenced by our current situation. We are currently having our second go round with parent raising our oldest son's four kids. He married a second generation welfare child (I hope that's the proper term). She is a lovely girl, but the system has destroyed her dignity, worth, and left her with no life skills. She's currently accused of "criminal neglect," and I have to give the authorities some credence. I'm not letting my son off the hook. He married her during what we affectionately call his "five year fling." The principle of "sowing and reaping" is certainly applicable. Although he's buckled down and has done quite well at work, he's been reaping quite a few unforeseen circumstances.

I agree with your comments on the current struggle with militant Islam. I have some good friends who are refugees from Islamic countries. They had converted from Islam, which can be a death penalty in many countries. Khahan has since taken his family into Pakistan with a goal towards eventually returning to Afghanistan. My friend Abhdul managed to escape from the cell where he was being held prior to his execution. His story would make a good graphic novel if he could be persuaded to tell it. He was formerly the director of Air Traffic Control for his nation's Air Force.

I also have a son who returned from a tour in Iraq and may go back in February of 2005. He was in the Kurdish area and had several Iraqis ask him, "You aren't going to leave us are you?" Much as the U.S. Invasion allowed the Marsh Arabs in the South return to their ancestral homelands, the Kurds in the farming community of Daquq have reoccupied their farmland.

Thank you for sharing your life experiences. I guess I must consider myself very fortunate. We were dirt poor farmers in the Central Oregon High Desert. The benefit of being on a farm must be acknowledged. One you expended the effort to extract it from the cow, we always had fresh milk on the table. If you were willing to run down a chicken, we always had meat. I was at a family reunion this past August. My father came from a family of 14 children raised on a ranch near Havre, Montana. At the reunion, one of my uncles very seriously told me, "look at you, your mom and dad raised 7 kids and you had nothing when you were growing up...and yet every one of you has a job, has kept your nose clean, and don't have many of the problems some of your cousins have." Yes, I am blessed. Forgive me, I'm attaching a photo of the kids. This was the occasion of my daughter's wedding. We had just completed our house and the photo was taken on the back deck. Progress will come, however, as the area up to the base of the butte will fill with homes.

Keep promoting your ideas on education and parental involvement. I have spent a number of days down at my wife's school adjusting and bolting up desks, assembling displays, and sometimes doing chapel or vocational talks on graphic arts for the high school journalism class.

Have a wonderful day.
Ed N.

 

 Mr. Adams,

You are no doubt aware the Geoff Johns is writing a comic story that will bring back the Hal Jordan Green Lantern character by early next year. Once this is done, will us fans have the chance to hear more details about your alternate idea that DC apparently rejected?

Regards,

Xum

Neal,

That sounds reasonable enough. Let's see...

Blue and yellow make green.

Blue may represent the Guardians, or the Oans, or
Krona, the renegade Oan.

Yellow could represent the impurity in the ring and
lantern, or Sinestro, who was also one of Jordan's
"victims" in the "Emerald Twilight" story...

Hmmm, the impurity/weakness was removed from the ring
after Jordan destroyed the battery. We're still under
the assumption the Hal Jordan himself became Parallax,
right?

Parallax view... only seeing half of the picture...
the killing being no different than killing in a war.

A war with the Guardians... or some force controlling
them, perhaps? Sinestro's done it before. So has
Krona...

I should probably wait for more clues before I end up
reading too much into what little I know.

Awaiting the next "feeding time" -- and I thank you.

Regards,

Xum

 Hey Neal,
loved your run on greenlantern green arrow. I got the graphic novels and couldn't put them down. I'm 16 and have always loved to draw, and since the spiderman movie, I've been drawing mostly comic art. Right now, I know some basic anatomy, and I'm working on foreshortening, but I still need to establish a rendering style (I either use chunky black shadows, or a more liney comic style). I just wanted to know how you learned to draw, and what got you into comics.
Hope I haven't wasted your time or been too much of a kissarse,
Ed

  Xum,

How about I feed you bits and pieces. What colors make green?

-Neal

 

Ed,
Get my sketch book on my website and xerox 150% comic book pages you like. Trace them on a lightbox nd ink them with a number two red sable brush or a 160 pen point or others and try to reproduce lines. This will give you a good feel for it.

-Neal Adams

Dear Neal,

Your Batman book is just a gem. Certainly, the recoloring makes it all the
more luscious. I for one, however, don't really mind the unrecolored
one-third of the book, as it enables me to see your beautiful line art all
the more clearly. While Cory certainly weaves a gorgeous tissue around your
art, sometimes one likes to see bare sinew, too. A lush symphony orchestra
may be higher art, but stripped-down punk rock has its aesthetic, too.
While I understand an artist's irresistible perfectionism (at least my own),
I really don't think you should feel bad about 1/9 of the book giving it a
touch of rawness. The Japanese call those accidents "Wa-bi" (I believe).

Actually, what I regret is that you could not resist re-inking, and
correcting, your earliest art. For crying out loud,  Neal, we know you're
great! We know you draw flawlessly. I personally want to see your early
awkwardnesses (as few and far between as they may be). It shows me and

 
other artists that you didn't just hatch out of the brow of Zeus fully
formed, that you had to learn as you went along, too. Heck, I wish my early
mistakes were as slight and subtle as yours. Anyway, the book is a real
treat, just beautiful.

Marco

 

Dear Marko,

At the risk of sounding arrogant, please let me point out that before I did even the World's Finest Batman/Superman books, I had done 3 and a half years of the Ben Casey syndicated strip. I had done two dozen Chip Martin College Reporter pages, the Flash Farrell ads, tons of Boy's Life pages. National ads in major magazines and most of the work I did for Warren was done before that DC stuff. I was a mature comics illustrator.

Remember, Dick Giordano wasn't used to inking the work of a syndicated comic strip artist. He had just come from Charlton, where page rates were half of DC rates and standards were quite low. Lettering at DC was substandard and coloring was primitive and crude. My letterer at Warren and my strip was Irving Watanabe, one of the very best in the business!

 

I blame myself for some of the poor quality, because, to be honest, I didn't intend, at that time, to stay in comics. Even so, my pencil work was not reflected in the finished pages. I tore my hair out at how my pages were being ruined and thanked my stars that I would soon be rid of this horror in my life.

For me, it was impossible to teach these people all I had learned doing "professional" work.

Then the worst thing happened. I fell in love with doing comic books.

So, I decided, by example, by argument, by trickery, by guile, by every weapon, that I would drag this craft, this comic book business into the 20th century.

What you see in the Batman book is how simple and minor effort could make such a difference.

Fact is I changed so little actual art that it doesn't amount to 5 percent. If you examine the line work, most of what you think is changed is simply colored better.

Neal Adams

 Hi I was wondering if you could answer a question or provide information on a piece of artwork Neal did for The Comics Journal. This was a backcover illustration in response to a cover illustration that Bill Sienkewicz did for issue # 54. It featured Moon Knight pushing Batman aside with the caption "Out of my way Old-Timer". Neal did a back cover response that had Batman flinging a batarang at Moon Knight tripping him and Moon Knight falling over with Batman saying "Well Excuuuuuuussssseeee Me!" It also had two little characters in the foreground saying "Who is this guy? He draws just like Bill Sienkewicz!" "Ya! What a rippoff!"
I am desperate to find the issue number that illustration appeared in or to get a scan of that cover art. I think it would be a GREAT piece to feature on your website exspecially due to the Illustrated Neal Adams Batman being released!
BTW the coloring by Corey Adams was FANTASTIC!!! Just Gorgeous!!!! It really was a shame the whole book was not colored the same. I have the book and it is eye-dropping and then the cheap coloring begins and finishes off the book.
Thanks for any info you can give me on this!
Eric

 Hi Neal,
 Big-fan-since-I-was-eight-years-old you-must-have-heard-this-a-zillion-times.
I've just been perusing my copy of the Neal Adams Batman (as if there is another one, suck, suck) and I really, really enjoyed the new colouring. Man, can anyone explain to me why a midget like Dark Horse can afford to completely re-colour Barry Smith's Conans and yet DC can't afford to recolour classic stories by one of comicdom's all-time greatest artist featuring an internationally recognised icon like Batman. What kind of sense does that make. End of rant.
Here's hoping DC get its act together and do volume two right.
Anyway I noticed you also touched up the art on the recoloured pages. I was wondering how you do that.
Another question. I'm considering buying the Marvel tradepaperbacks of your Avengers and X-Men work and getting them bound even though the production values aren' t that good. What do you reckon? Any chance of getting Marvel to a large-size, recoloured hardcover.
Can't wait to see the "Monsters". Bout bloody time!
Has Comic Book Marketplace: #105 appeared yet. Really enjoyed your interview in #104.
Cheers, David

 Such great news to see the Monsters book coming out. All the extras just
sound fantastic! My only reservation is that sometimes computer coloring
obscures the lineart, and I've always felt that Frank/Wolf/Drac was some of
Neal's best inking EVER! One way or the other, I'll be sure to get my copy-
thanks for keeping us posted at the site.
Jason
PS: When's the Creation of the Universe novel due out? The piece in CBA just
helped to make me still more anxious to get my hands on it.
Jason M.

The computer color doesn't seem to hide the inking but you be the judge.
The Creation of the Universe? Soon. Well we're putting some other stuff out, along with D.C. Wizard and others to raise awareness as to how big this is. And it is big. We catch Neal watching Discovery and quietly chuckling and shaking his head and when we ask him if something's wrong, he just looks up innocently and says "Nope, nothing." Then smiles.
Jason S. Adams

 Here it is Eric. I don't remember the issue number.

Spyda

 Marvel? Love'em. They actually re-colored one version of my X-men with no supervision. It was an abomination! As an apology, they re-printed the old colors with the cover as I intended it. What I'd like to do is re-color, touch up the inking and blow out the art as today's tech allows. That would be cool.
On Batman Book 2. There's a lot less retouching because the art improved. You'd be amazed at how much work we did and still kept the integrity and intent of the original. Amazed for example, on some stories we re-inked nearly 100% of the balloon shapes.
Thanks for the email.
Neal

 Hello,I just wanted to say hello and tell you artistically that you are one my idols. Admiring your artwork is what made me make the choice of pursuing the career of an artist myself.

I also was a tremendous fan of continuity comics. The characters that you developed were amazing. Are there any plans on bringing back Armor, Megalith, or Silver Streak back into comics, TV, or cartoons if not please find a way. I haven't picked up a comic book since then but if you and those characters come back I will support every issue.

Well thank you for taking the time to read my e_mail have a blessed day.

Ralph

 Neal, glad to see your art back in the comic marketplace! I've just finished the Comic Book Marketplace and the Comic Book Artist. Neal and Alex Ross,two of my favorites! Your depiction of our heroes captured their spirt, that is what attracted me to the art. I forgot how much I enjoyed your take
on the DC characters. I remember buying the first Action and Superboy covers you drew in 1967! Wow, who is this new guy? To this day you are one
of the best artists to ever draw in the medium! Hope to see you doing more current things in comics.Thanks for the great memories! !
Bob

  Dear, Mr. Adams

I just recently got your X-MEN visionaires collection. All I can say is thank you for Developing Alex Summers into Havok. I'm not sure if Roy
Thomas created him, but Havok has always been my favorite member of the X-MEN since he always had to keep everything in check. I think Alex
represents all of us when the stress and tension buid up and we just realease. Sometimes we hurt others by accident and I feel that this represents.

So, what I'm tring to say is thankyou to yiou and Roy Thomas for a comic that has provided me with a place to run too when the world gets crazy. p.s Did you ever have any other plans for the X-Men besides that lost graphic novel.
The Blunt Master has spoken Neyeah.

 Hello Neal!
I just wanted to say "congratulations" on this week's release of the Batman hardcover! I'm really looking forward to it, though I tracked down most of the issues last year - it'll be great to see your work on nice paper and re-colored (half, anyway - I'll buy it again if you convince DC to do the whole thing)! I don't have a lot of your covers-only books, so those will be new to me.
It's great that newer readers will finally be able to see what all the fuss has been about. Thanks for all the hard work and great stories over the years!
Oh, and can you remind DC to include the Power Records Batman stories you did? As a kid, I loved "Stacked Cards" with Batman, Robin and the Joker. It took me forever to figure out where that story from my memory was!
Your pal,
Jim
PS - you know what else would be cool? A Neal Adams Daredevil story! I bet Bendis would jump at the chance!

 Hi Mr. Adams:

I just want to say NICE WORK on behalf of you and the Continuity staff on the first 2/3rds of the your DC hardcover Batman book. The stuff looked
damn good and Cory's coloring really added value and drama and excitement to the storytelling. It is truly unfortunate the DC did not allow Continuity
to finish the rest of the book.

I am not old enough to have enjoyed any of those stories during the first go-around, so I am glad to be in for such a treat. Since I've been able to
identify various people's art styles, you've been at the head of the list of folks who I think do a damn good job with the storytelling and drawing!

I continue to look forward to your upcoming projects and wish you well in all future endeavors. I will be there, as a fan, supporting you in anyway that I
can...

Excelsior!

Matt

    Dear Neal,

The Batman book is terrific. I love the cover art and the recolored half is fantastic. Cheers to Cory for a job well done.
That said I have to admit that having the recolored half only makes me wish all the more that the other half had been redone as well. Here's hoping that the future books will all be completely recolored as the new color does bring a fuller richer dimension to the art.
I have always been a fan of your comic book work and only a few months ago visited your website for the first time and found out about the Batman book being released. After my reservation my local comic shop had two of the books on reserve, one for me and one for the shop owner, but there was a lot more demand for the book once it arrived and people saw it. The owner has already sold out of the four copies he ordered initially (giving up his own to a customer that wanted it) and reordered more because of demand from those unaware of the collection coming out.
I also ordered the Superman poster that was for sale on your website. I was very impressed by the overall quality and I had it dry mounted and framed professionally so that I could hang it up on the wall. My girlfriend thinks it is great.
As I was saying I've been a comic book fan from way back and I think I first encountered your artwork in a black and white pocket sized book collection of some of your Batman stuff. It is one of the few black and white comic reprints that I can evoke from memory because of the vivid detail in the penciling. I have it stored away somewhere in my boxes of books. I must say that it is sort of unfortunate that the comic companies don't produce inexpensive pocket sized reprints of stories as they did back in the seventies. I guess the demand isn't there for it, but I have a ton of those that I wore out as a kid.
Quick note: I'm particularly astounded by the combination of your penciling and Alex Ross' painting for the cover of the latest issue of Comic Book Artist. Awesome combination! I also love the painted pieces you have done that are displayed on your website, but until I get a few more dollars saved up I'll have to stick with the low ticket items.
If you happen to be passing through the Connecticut area feel free to check out the local comic shop that I go to in Norwalk. The web address for the shop that has their info is
http://www.hauntedchapelnorwalk.com (nothing too special on it though).
It's a quick hop off of I-95 or the Merritt Parkway. The owner is a big fan and I'm sure would be happy to have you drop in.
Thanks for reading my long winded fan letter
Sincerely,
Harvey