| NEWS
January
31 2012
Exclusive Sketchbook
We've done a
new sketchbook that will be exclusive to our store at nealadamsstore.com.
It is 32 pages and is limited to 500 copies. It wont be available
in any stores or on line sites, and not at conventions. Just our
on line store. Order now to get your copy with a low number.
COMMISSIONS
For a long time, I didn't do commission drawings.
Organizing it was too complicated as well as pricing and my time
spent on them. So many artists have gotten bad reputations for the
way it has been handled, and at one point, it was too much bother
to do them. My son, Jason, (The sculptor) came up with a method
of pricing and handling with me, and agreed to handle the emails
for me to make commissions possible again. This method has been
working out rather well, but some people are still not aware that
I am doing them now.
Fans have asked for a variety of different types of art that they
would like done. A favorite character that I have never drawn. A
portrait of a girlfriend in a superhero outfit or just a translation
in my style. Your head on a super hero's body. From a simple sketch
card to a full color illustration. There is a price range for every
collector out there. Commissions are usually completed in under
a month. If you'd like to have a commission done, first take a look
at our store to get a general idea of what the costs are, then contact
Jason who will be able to give you an accurate price.
Contact: spyda@spydacreations.com
BATMAN
ODYSSEY #1 AGAIN
Batman Odyssey
is back and if you thought things were getting crazy before, check
out what is in store for the Caped-Crusader in this week's all-new
issue. Fear not though, things are coming together, all those seemingly
unconnected strings will start to weave together as we head toward
our huge climactic end! Keep your eye on the series as we will have
all sorts of surprises in store for you.
Haven't caught up with Batman Odyssey? Check your local comic shop
to keep up with the story. Check out the Neal Adams Store for very
awesome deals on Neal Adams' drawn Batman artwork as well as a great
deal on the Neal Adams' Batman Collections with a commissioned head
sketch for only $250. A great gift idea as we head towards the ever
expanding holiday season.
NY
Comic Con
NEAL ADAMS RISE OF MAGIC SONIC
Neal is very
proud to have been part of the Chevy Sonic project that took part
at the New York Comic Con. If you had the chance to swing by our
booth at Comic Con then you probably noticed the very sleek looking
Sonic parked right in front us emblazoned with both characters from
the Continuity Comics series Rise of Magic as well as the Dark Horse
Presents feature Blood. The car was designed by both Neal and Joel
Adams and if you ask any of the many, many fans who snapped pictures
of the car, it looked pretty darn cool.
The car itself is especially cool because it is an ultra-modern
yet cost effective American made car designed for today's tech-savvy
generation. Also working on the promotion was Toki Doki, Archaia,
and Dark Horse.
WHAT
WOULD JOSH DO AT THE NEW YORK COMIC CON? by Josh Adams
So New York Comic
Con has come and gone and with it another slew of unique experiences
had by all. This year, I was proud to be promoting my work on Doctor
Who for IDW Publishing. It seemed as though Doctor Who had a larger
presence than ever this year at the con and the fans wore their
pride on their sleeve, quite literally as they donned costumes of
the Doctor, Amy, Rory, as well as all sorts of characters from the
series. Every second I spent at the table I received a blitz of
Whovians eager to receive autographs and copies of the Doctor Who
comic.
As fun as it was spend time with all my favorite Whovians, I was
also taking part in another venture that bonds film and comics,
the Hero Factory! What is the Hero Factory? It's a new TV series
featuring yours truly as the host! I along with awesome crew and
Producer Dez Ryan spent the weekend tracking down all that is cool
and important in the comic industry and covering it while also giving
you, our soon-to-be faithful viewers all the info you would need
to be the next big creator in the comic industry! We nabbed names
like Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Joe and Adam Kubert and Todd McFarlane.
Sound cool? Stay tuned. - Josh
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CGC
investment.
Fans
have found that collecting Neal Adams art has been a great investment
over the years, and we try to provide the fans with new material
whenever we can. We also like to know what the people are interested
in as times change. The latest craze has been the blank cover variant
books that comic companies print so that artists can draw on them.
It's like buying your own one of a kind cover and original art from
your favorite artist. Sending them to CGC to be graded and sealed
in a CGC plastic case ensures that the book and art will maintain
it's condition.
With
Neal's new Wolverine series coming up, the Wolverine sketches on
the variant blank covers are disappearing almost as fast as we can
get them up. So, we're tip-toeing into his studio with artboard
and paper, with "Wolverine" written on the bottom. I think
he's taking the hint. That, or he's into Wolverine for the sake
of the series.
Because
every year the value of Neal's art goes up, more and more fans have
been coming straight to the source. Our web store nealadamsstore.com
has a variety of originals for sale with no dealer mark ups or middle
men. Our originals come with a certificate of authenticity signed
by Neal. And now with this latest trend in collecting, we are offering
sketches drawn on variant blank covers graded and cased by CGC.
Take a look at our store and see all the new items.
Drawn
in Books Page
Auctions on Ebay
In
our store, nealadamsstore.com,
we have a bunch of new items for you that came just in time for
the Holidays.
Of course, we have the new Manbat statue by DC
Direct for the Batman Black & White line. This just in time
for Manbat's appearance in Batman Odyssey. When you buy it in our
store, both Neal and sculptor, Spyda, will sign it for you on the
base.
Superman VS Muhammad Ali has finally been re-printed after
30 years. It was printed in it's originally intended larger size
10" x 13.25", which is called the Facsimile Edition, and
the Deluxe Edition which is comic size and has a few extra pages
of sketches. Both editions are hard cover and full color. of all
the work Neal has done, this is the story that Neal considers the
best.
The Art of Neal Adams is the best book ever printed
of Neal's work over the years. Every page of this book is exciting.
Savage II . For those who love Neal's Conan, Tarzan,
Savage, and barbarian art. The first Savage Sketchbook was wonderful,
but for this one, not only do we have all new black and white art,
but we've included 8 color pages in the center.
Back Issue #45. You see that cover? originally
it was done for a poster for the Warner Store. They decided not
to print the poster after Neal refused to alter the art in a way
that he felt would misrepresent his concept. So this is the first
time it has been printed.
There's tons of new Original Art, including new
color pieces.
Each of the Adams Boys has done a book of their own.
Spyda's Creations: A Study of Sculptural Method,
is a close look at Jason Spyda Adams' work in fantasy art sculpture.
In it he discusses anatomy studies as well as his own technique.
A good read for anyone interested in fantasy art of any sort.
Josh Adams has put out his own sketch book (Drawing Features;
Josh Adams) of professional work not only in comics, but
of work he's done for such companies as the Sci-Fi Cannel.
Joel Adams has published this book of his art of
the female form. Girls Girls Girls. While Joel's
work spans illustration, animation, comics, and commercial art,
his greatest number of fans are the ones who respect his mastery
of the pin up. This book
is dedicated to those fans.
Convention
Sketches, Not Just for Convention Goers |
Jan 22 2010
 
We've discovered magic to let you get Neal Adams sketches
at a price level that you can afford, here on nealadams.com
Drawing at conventions. Neal has limited time to do commissions.
For a while, Neal even had to just refuse to do them.
Our first solution was to bring a book of sketches with us.
That worked well enough, but many of them are for real collectors
looking to make an investment in something that costs a bit
more and increases in value. Also, fans really love to watch
Neal draw. So the next experiment was the sketch card. That
worked great because Neal could lay out a couple dozen in
pencil before the show, and when someone bought one, he'd
ink it right there in a matter of minutes.
It worked great, but some fans really wanted to buy a bigger
sketch to put in a frame. So, at the last couple of shows,
fans could purchase a bust drawing for about $400-$500. For
more money they could buy a more serious drawing, but that
would tie up Neal for a long time, so we tried keeping it
as detailed bust sketches.
By this point, a fan could come to a show and buy a sketch
card, or a bust, or a serious drawing from our book of sketches.
We wanted to try one more thing for the fans though. To provide
a sketch at about $200 at a reasonably large size. So we had
a little experiment, on either a blank cover comic, or on
a comic back board, Neal would do a quick profile sketch for
$200. They weren't as detailed as the framed pieces or the
more expensive commissions, but Neal could do them quickly
and at a lower price. The fans just loved it, and Neal must
have done about 20 per show between other commissions, and
he still found time to talk to his fans. Everybody wins.
So, we wanted to be even better prepared for future shows.
We printed up a drawing plate for Neal to draw on. It looks
just like a cover for a blank cover variant book. It's the
same size as a comic with a white space for Neal to draw in.
We used 2 ply Cougar paper to print on, which has a fantastic
drawing surface for pencil or ink. I think we have all the
bases covered now.
This week we decided that we'd like to offer some on our web
site. Some are done a little more detailed than others, since
neal is doing this in his free time, so we've gone over them
to determine their values, and we've put them in our store.
It'd be a shame if we didn't make the available to Neal Adams
fans who can't make it to a convention. So here you go. You
can find them in our store under Original Art Under $500.
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The Baltimore
Comic Con - The Best! |
Nov 14 2009
By Jason Spyda Adams
I've been meaning to write something about
the Baltimore Convention that we Adams' went to a month ago.
We had heard about the Baltimore Con when
we were in San Diego. We'd just been doing San Diego and New
York, but talking over doing other shows. I was skeptical
about the Baltimore show when it was discussed. Someone mentioned
that the show was a lot smaller, I had to consider the tremendous
effort to ship, set up, take down, ship back, stand for days,
travel, and everything else involved with doing another show
where you spend more money to be there, than you make at the
show. Then the frustration of comic shows not being about
comics anymore, but instead, autographs from movie actors,
video games, card games, showbiz, and all that stuff that
fills up a bigger show. So, I have to admit, I wasn't thrilled
about going at first.
 My
girlfriend Bridget and I left the day before the rest of the
Adams group so I could set up. We took the Acela Train from
NYC which is far more comfortable than any airplane I have
ever been on. We'd both noticed that in the blink of an eye,
we were passing through Philly. Then, not long after, we were
in Baltimore. That was a good start.
The Baltimore train station was very clean
and comfortable. The trip to the hotel, by cab, took only
15 minutes. We stayed at the Marriott, which is always a comfortable
stay. Since we got there at a decent hour and were settled
in fast, we decided to jump back in a cab and hit a pub in
Fells Point, where Edgar Allen Poe use to visit. Along that
area are great places to grab a drink with friendly atmosphere
and great food. We had also heard that there was going to
be an event at the site of Poe's grave, but that wasn't to
be. So, it was back to the hotel.
The next morning was Friday, the dreaded
set up day. I expected the crushed boxes and moiuntain of
problem that have become familiar. However, my expectations
couldn't have been more off base. To my shock, every single
person at the show smiled, shook hands and kept repeating
those words you hardly ever hear at bigger cons, "Let
me know if you need anything." A crew of people brought
our boxes over quickly. Someone even offered to bring us sodas.
I was in a state of shock. As we looked around, everyone was
smiling. I kept looking over my shoulder expecting some horror
to happen, but nothing of the sort did. Before you knew it,
the set up was finished. My brother and his girlfriend showed
up at the end of the set up to help out, and before long we
were done.
Before we headed out, Bridget and I stopped and noticed something
we hadn't noticed at the 2 larger comic conventions. Something
that has been slipping away at comic conventions for years.
Comics!!! There were actually comics at this show. We couldn't
believe it. Comics and comic related items and nothing else!
It was beautiful. We walked quickly from isle to isle as people
were setting up to see if it were really true. It was! No
booths set up for Star Wars actors. No Nintendo Video Game
booth blasting terrible music. Just comics as far as the eye
could see. And T-Shirts with comic characters on them, and
comic action figures. I hadn't seen this since I was a kid.
And the place was huge! When someone had called it a smaller
show, I was thinking they meant small. This show was the perfect
size. Big!
I found myself, for the first time in forever, excited about
a show.
So Bridget and I decided that that moment, 4:00 was the only
chance we'd really have all weekend to see the town. We ran
out to the hot spot, Inner Harbor, where they have sail boats,
restaurants, shopping, and the Aquarium. We had a great time
there. Great food, and the new Jellyfish exhibit is a whole
lot more exciting than you would imagine it would have been.
We were back at the Hotel by 10:00 when the rest of our group
Neal(Dad), Marilyn, Kris, Pete, and Kortney showed up. Then
it was back to the Harbor so they could grb something to eat.
 The
next day was the first day of the show. The lines for Neal
were longer there than they were this year for San Diego.
He was having a great time meeting all the new fans and showing
off his pages as well as taking on commissions to draw at
the show. Once again, it was pointed out how nice everyone
was and what a great time everyone was having. We had gotten
so use to doing our 2 shows a year that we didn't realize
that all it takes is going to a new place, and you are surrounded
by people who haven't had the chance to meet you before. Somehow,
we just assumed that everyone goes to San Diego.
That
night was the Harvey Awards where Neal was to be presented
with the Humanitarian Award. Specifically, it was given to
him for his fight for artist rights, Jerry and Joe, and the
Dina Babbitt cause. Of course they were recognizing lots of
other things he has done for the industry as well. The show
was a lot of fun mostly because Scott Kurtz was hosting the
show. Turns out, Scott's not just funny in his web comics.
He turned out to be a fantastic host. Neal has been familiar
with Scott's Player VS Player comic for years now because
of his Grandaughter Kortney, who years ago made Neal promise
to draw a cover for PVP is Kortney could set it up. A promise
she intends to make him live up to. The experience, like everything
else in Baltimore, was an absolute pleasure.
 The
second day of the show was as enjoyable as the first. And
then, sadly, it was time to go home. Usually, by the end of
a convention, I can't wait to get home. I think the rest of
the Adams' will agree with me that this was a fully enjoyable
show. And, perhaps, our favorite this year for many reasons.
We'd all like to thank 3 people in particular.
Marc Nathan, Michael Finn, and Brad Tree. These three people
make an artist feel like the stars of a comic convention are
truly the people who make comics. Looking forward to seeing
you all next year. |
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Join Neal's
Facebook Fan Page. |
The facebook Bug got us too. We've started a page for Neal's
fans that Neal can slip in and make comments on when he
has a moment during the day.
Click 
to see the page.
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|
 Michael
Eury and Michael Kronenberg did a great job with this book.
For you Neal Adams Fans, you can't go wrong. Aside the fact
that there's a great Neal Adams Batman cover, I'd say about
20% of this 240 page book is full with Neal Adams Art and
interviews. Clearly the writers are big Adams fans. Lots
of great stuff. The writer/editor of the critically acclaimed
The Krypton Companion and the designer of the eye-popping
Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy
team up to investigate the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman
comic books in The Batcave Companion! Two distinct sections
of this book follow the Dark Knight's progression from his
campy "New Look" of the mid-1960s to his "creature
of the night" reinvention of the 1970s, through art-jammed
interviews with and examinations of the work of Carmine
Infantino, Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Len
Wein, Steve Englehart, Elliot S! Maggin, Walter Simonson,
Jim Aparo, Irv Novick and other fan favorites. We don't
have many copies so, get your signed copy now! We also have
this book available with a sketch inside (Shown Above) by
Neal Adams
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Enemi Entertainment
/ Haven Distribution |
 We
were very delighted at Haven Distributors new catalog/ magazine.
Haven , Partnered with Enemi Entertainment, is a new distribution
opportunity for small press books, artists who do sketch
books, and any publisher or self publisher who would like
to get their books into stores.
This week, we got our copies of the first catalog/magazine.
It is a wonderfully put together magazine with full color
glossy pages and an interview. They were sure when they
put this book together to use large images, so that every
product in the book is displayed attractively. The 5 page
interview with Neal is in the front of the magazine with
lots of images. Oh, and the Neal Adams cover is awesome
as well.
If you're a store who'd like to carry our sketch books please
order. Haven Distributors can be contacted through their
site at http://www.havendistro.com
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Preview The
Neal Adams Interview By Batman Producer Michael Uslan |
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Site Update. |
 We've
taken some time to update the Check List page this week.
We will be doing more soon. Our check list has been helpful
to fans, not only to check up on what's missing from their
collections, but also to see what books might show up in
a check list that was not actually done by Neal. For example,
it was rumored that Neal worked on the issue of Jonah Hex
that the image on the right shows. But as you can see above
it, the image was just re-drawn by another artist who was
copying Neal's work. This sort of thing happens a lot, and
fans can be fooled because of it.We've taken some time to
update the Check List page this week. We will be doing more
soon. Our check list has been helpful to fans, not only
to check up on what's missing from their collections, but
also to see what books might show up in a check list that
was not actually done by Neal. For example, it was rumored
that Neal worked on the issue of Jonah Hex that the image
on the right shows. But as you can see above it, the image
was just re-drawn by another artist who was copying Neal's
work. This sort of thing happens a lot, and fans can be
fooled because of it.
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New Exciting
Original Art in our Store |
 In
order to get Neal to make new original's for the site whenever
we can, we have to let him let loose and have some fun.
Not just drawing black ink on white paper. But that works
out well for everyone because he ends up making really fantastic
pieces for us to sell. A few months ago, he did a series
of busts on grayish stipple texture paper which he then
did some marker coloring on, just for fun. Because he can
do markers much faster than painting, we were able to keep
the prices down. The result was, they sold out fast. He
hasn't had the time to do it in a while, with all the work
going on at his office, but we managed to finally get some
time out of him, and he created the four pieces to the right.
One of them sold with in 6 hours of offering them. The others
are sure to go soon. You can find them in our store
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Batman Black
& White Statue in COLOR!! |
This was done just for fun. We've had so many N.A. fans
tell us they'd love to see a color statue of his Batman.
Not easy to do, but our friend Dan Jorgensen managed to
take apart a statue, get the black and white paint off and
repaint the statue in full color.We love it! Thanks Dan!
Click the images below to see them bigger.
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Neal Adams
Original Art Club |
 We
started a little club for our repeat customers who buy original
art from us. It works very simple. When someone buys an
original from us for the first time, we send them an email
inviting them to be included in a special mailing list.
It costs nothing.When Neal finishes an original or two,
we offer it to our club members for one week at 10% off.
if no one buys it in that week, it goes up on our web store
for the full price. This gives repeat customers, not only
a chance at a discount, but also, fisrt crack at new work.
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Dina Babbit |
 This
is an article we'd really like everyone to read.
Read
Article
After you've read the article, please download
the 6 page story Neal did. It's free.
Download PDF
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Comic-Con Set
Up. |
 This
was one busy convention at San Diego for the Adams's. So
much work to do and fans to see that little play was done.
However, we did manage to get some photos taken of the set
up of the show that you might enjoy. Click the picture to
the left for more.
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February
2008 Update
New Batman & Robin Alternate
Cover
Well. This is the cover sketch Neal didn't
use, in favor of this one... |
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People have
asked about BATMAN,and if I redesigned him |
 If
I redesigned Batman, I wouldn't exactly redesign him. I
would revamp him. I would find the perfect story to do this
in and I would attempt to correct errors made along the
way as well as make the costume do the work better.I would
take disadvantages of the old costume and make them into
advantages.
1. The fins on the gloves should not be fabric, but pointed
and sharp. The blade should be hidden and pop out with a
muscle twitch.
2. Batman's Belt. The old capsules ceased being effective
25 years ago. No, they never were effective, nor is a World
War 2 garrison belt. But a utility belt, as in a carpenter's
utility belt that holds weapons, grapplers, guns and crime-fighting
paraphernalia as a uniquely designed true utility belt would
be perfect.
3. Boots are thick soled ninja boots with wraparound flaps
velcroed up his leg. In the shank, weapons.
4. Costume. Bulletproof and watertight, thermal coils and
refrigerant coils throughout, acid resistant, padded at
the shoulders and riddle with structural supports for (if
needed) a kind of super strength.
5. Cowl is pulled over a face plate containing radio, infrared
biometrics and night vision as well as video feed. A waterproof
breathing mask slides and seals over the face for breathing
underwater. (Oxygen in utility belt.)
6. Bat symbol subtle but bold. Dark against dark.7. Cape
stiffens for flight. Acts as fins underwater.
Same ol' Batman. Man of tomorrow.
Neal Adams
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BLOOD |
 As
you may have heard, Neal has been working on a new graphic
novel called BLOOD. We're not giving away the plot at this
time but Neal asked us to give you a sneak peek at a few
of the pages. Click on an image to make it bigger.
  
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An Open Letter
to DC and Marvel |
Our business must focus a broader audience or we will be
shaved to a smaller and smaller audience. The Jim Lee Batman
sold to a broad audience and maintained this audience through
12 issues.
What this broad appeal series does and can do is bring
new and extra audiences into the market. Joe tells Tom,
Tom tells Frank and Frank for the first time in 15 years
goes to a comic book shop to buy Batman.
What's bad? Bad is tons of spin-off titles that sell ten
thousand copies.
This only appeals to our limited inbred community of fans
that actually have 30 to 70 bucks a week to buy comics.
We must make newsworthy, well crafted product. Product
that will attract outside readers. A broad range of readers
and we must reach out to these readers.
We think the Jim Lee/Jeph Loeb Batman was a big success
and puffed out our comics community chest. But outside the
community, I saw nothing.
My own Batman reprints are a good example.
Are they advertised to the general public? The battle over
the new seps, finally turned positive, but this was an inner
industry bit of business did DC present this as a premiere
product to the general public? No, they printed 5000 copies
and they were shocked when they sold out in days and they
had to print more.
Did the general public know of this product? Would they
want to have known? Would they buy if they knew?
If a promotion worked, how many copies at $50 per pop could
DC have sold? How many old/new customers would have come
into comic book stores to buy it and other product.
It's not me, folks. I'm immaterial, 3 near legendary books
of works on Batman, a world-wide icon namely, Batman. What's
the potential?
Marvel's Ultimates by Bryan Hitch talked about on TV and
radio. Worth talking about? Sales would increase 10 fold
and those same people will buy other product.
We need a broader audience, not narrower!
WE MUST WAKE UP!!
Sincerely and with respect,
Neal Adams
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