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Neal Adams Talks "Dumb" Variant Covers, Getting Namedropped On Arrow, BvS And What Happened At The End Of Batman: Odyssey

Published Mon, 04 Apr 2016 08:00:30 -0500

Jonathan Rich writes for Bleeding Cool,

Saturday was veteran comic book artist Neal Adams'first convention appearance in South Carolina, but shortly before the crowds filled the TD Convention Center for SC Comicon 2016, the man responsible for some of comics most iconic covers (and their recent reinterpretations for DC Comics) took time to speak with Bleeding Cool about those images, the critical response to Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and even what happened at the conclusion of his controversial work Batman: Odyssey.
Flanked by tapestries of his recent work and piles of reprinted comic covers ready for sale, the 74-year old said he was surprised when DC offered him a chance to revisit some of his most memorable work in a new way.

"It was the dumbest thing I had ever heard of," Adams joked. "DC Called and said, 'Neal, would you like to do 26 variant covers for popular titles which would be imitations of a legendary artist.' I said, "Sure, who's the legendary artist?' They said, 'You!' I said, 'That's really dumb. Why would you have me do that?' and they said, 'Well, we'll have you put different characters. Instead of Superman throwing Batman off a building, we'll have Wonder Woman throwing Superman off a building. We'll just switch them up.' I said, 'It doesn't stop being dumb there, but I can do that. I won't have to lay them out again; I already know the layout.'"

Regardless of Adams' whimsical take on the idea's initial merit, he said the project quickly grew in size due to response within the industry.

"We started doing it, and they were giving them out to inkers and the pencilers said, 'I've been waiting to ink Neal's stuff for 30 years: I want to do one of those things.' Suddenly Jim Lee inked one of them, Walt Simonson inked one of them, Frank Miller inked one of them, and Kevin Nolan inked three of them. (Bill) Sienkiewicz just did JLA and the poor inkers are left out in the cold. I think we're going to have to do another batch for the inkers. Right now we are at 28 covers. I got them done pretty quickly because I didn't have to get any layouts approved. It was kind of like I got it right the first time!"

With some of the covers coming out at the same time as Adams' new Superman: The Coming of the Supermen series, the artist chuckled the release dates inadvertently turned March into "Neal Adams month" and reproductions of the original and finished covers are selling well on the convention circuit.
"Some people like to compare the pencils with the finished product," he said, straightening his Spider-Man tie. "It's artsy, but nice and I like it."

Another recent item of Adams interest was when he was mentioned by name by a character on the CW TV series Arrow, though not a direct connection with the Oliver Queen the artist drew during his iconic run drawing the emerald archer and his power-ring wielding partner.

"I get name dropped all the time," Adams laughed. "The thing is in comic books, we earned our way with a lot of hard work for a long time. If someone calls us 'legends,' we are able to wear it better than movie stars because we come to the conventions and are treated very well. I talk to the actors all the time at these things and I tell them they have it great but I have it a little better. I get to go to a comic convention and be treated just as well as you, but then I can walk out on the street and nobody knows who I am. Nobody will follow me into the bathroom or bother me at a restaurant because the average person doesn't know who the hell I am. It's the perfect life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Maybe Stan doesn't get that, I bet people probably have followed him into the bathroom, so in that respect, I have it better than Stan."

While Adams may not be ready to switch places with Marvel's esteemed editor emeritus just yet, he did share a distinct perspective on the criticism leveled at DC Comics regarding Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

"My friends have seen it. I haven't seen it, but everybody says it is terrific even though it has shortcomings," Adams admitted. "But honestly, we don't expect more from DC than that, do we? The fact of the matter is DC Comics is trying to climb up to where Marvel is at the movies. They have set the standard and right now it seems Marvel just can't miss with one hit after another. DC has to climb that ladder, and so far, they just haven't gotten there yet. But, considering the action, they have made a step forward, certainly better than the last Superman movie. We're looking at an advance, and certainly the film people are starting to pay more attention to the comic books a little more and that certainly is the way to go, isn't it? If you pay attention to the comic books, you're likely able to do a good movie. The next Green Lantern movie will probably have John Stewart in it, because everyone knows John Stewart is Green Lantern right? What the hell was that about?"

That's not to say Adams is not appreciative of the work he is doing now for DC on Superman and a few upcoming projects featuring other characters.

"I will be doing a Harley Quinn 38 pager and probably one of the Kamadis , but I can't tell you which number," he said with a sly smile and a glint in his eye. " It's hard for them to decide, because they pay me good money and put me on stuff that makes money and is very exciting."

Circling back to the topic of Batman and criticism, Adams offered more questions than answers regarding the end of the series which left many readers wondering what transpired at the end and why.
"You have to read it from beginning to end… did you go to the end?" he asked. "Did you read it all the way through as a graphic novel?" he continued pressing as he turned to a pivotal moment in the series which is collected in the recent "Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Omnibus."

"Eight pages before the end of the story, that's Batman with the leader of the League of Assassins.. and he's being shot through the chest," he said pointing at the image. "How the hell did that happen? Did Neal go crazy? I've been working on Batman for 35 years. Look at that.. what do you think that means? That picture it now tattooing itself on your brain right now. You need to read the last six pages. That's what everybody missed. They didn't pay attention to me saying 'This is a book, not a collection of comics.' When the internet started attacking it, the brass said 'Don't say anything, just let them talk" I didn't and that was a mistake and it is a mistake I will never make again. I was listening to the advice of my keepers and it was a mistake. Half of the books were printed four months apart and nobody remembered reading the first half of the book. You have to read it as a book, not a series of comics."

Whether you view his work as a book, a series of comics, or just focus on one of his awesome covers, Neal Adams clearly knows what he is talking about when it comes to comics, the industry, and what it takes to make all of it interesting.

Jonathan Rich is a freelance journalist, high school educator, and self-professed comic book nerd working in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. He writes about entertainment and pop culture for various print and web publications, including bleedingcool.com.

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