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2023

NO. 181

$ 10.95

AL
SPECI SUE!
IS

Featuring:
ADAMS
INTERVIEWS
CONDUCTED BY
HOWARD
CHAYKIN
BRYAN
STROUD
JAMES ROSEN
& RICHARD
ARNDT!
PLUS: RARE & NEVER-SEEN
ADAMS ART!
-
A FULLIBUTE
ENG TH TROMICS’
L
2
Characters TM & © DC Comics

E OF C ! S
TO ON TEST ARTIST
82658 00497

GRE A
1
Vol. 3, No. 181
May 2023
Editor
Roy Thomas
Associate Editor
Jim Amash
Design & Layout
Christopher Day
Consulting Editor
John Morrow
FCA Editor
P.C. Hamerlinck
Mark Lewis (Cover Coordinator)
Comic Crypt Editor
Michael T. Gilbert
Editorial Honor Roll
Jerry G. Bails (founder)
Ronn Foss, Biljo White
Mike Friedrich, Bill Schelly
Proofreaders
Contents
William J. Dowlding In Memoriam: Neal Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
David Baldy Stephan A. Friedt’s tribute to “an icon in illustration & creators’ rights.”
Cover Artist Writer/Editorial/Article: Neal Adams & Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Neal Adams Roy Thomas writes about his half-century pro & personal relationship with the artist.
Cover Colorist “I Listened To Stories” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Tom Ziuko Adams biographer James Rosen on his colorful subject’s childhood and origins.
With Special Thanks to: “He Is A Giant—And No Walk In The Park—
Alfredo Alcala, Jr. Jim Kealy But Yes, A Living Legend” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Heidi Amash Todd Klein
Howard Chaykin’s classic short interview with—well, you know!
Pedro Angosto Eric Jansen
Richard J. Arndt Zorikh Lequidre “Carmine Sent Me” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Bob Bailey Victor Lim Bryan Stroud speaks with Neal about his long career as a gadfly—and a great talent.
Alberto Becattini Art Lortie
Al Bigley Jim Ludwig Neal Adams Talks About “A View From Without.....” . . . . . . 54
Jackson Bostwick Glenn McKay Richard J. Arndt converses with the writer/artist about his powerful tale of the Vietnam War
Bronze Age of Patrick Moreau
Blogs (website) Mark Muller Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Michael T. Gilbert’s 2023
Gary F. Brown Ron Murphy Comic Art Portfolio, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Bernie Bubnis Mears Museum
Batman, Doc Stearn, and pretty much everything in between.
Mike Burkey NewText (website)
Nick Caputo Barry Pearl re: [correspondence, comments, & criticisms] . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Howard Chaykin Robert Policastro
Bill Crawford Reddit (website) FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #240 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Shane Foley James Rosen Some FCA regulars pay homage to Neal Adams—the man and the myth..
Joe Frank Alex Ross
Stephan A. Friedt Bob Rozakis On Our Cover: For some reason, DC Comics decided not to go with Neal Adams’ double-
Benito Gallego Joe Rubinstein psychiatrist’s-couch cover for what publisher John Morrow (who suggested it for this mag’s cover)
Janet Gilbert Randy Sargent believes was The Brave and the Bold #85 (Aug.-Sept. 1969), in which the artist introduced Green
Tony Gleeson Bill Sienkiewicz Arrow’s new, more Robin-Hoody threads. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time it’s ever
Grand, Alex Anthony Snyder been printed in color, with tints by Tom Ziuko! [TM & © DC Comics.]
Grand Comics Bryan Stroud Above: Neal Adams may have drawn considerably fewer pages for Marvel than he did for DC back
Database Dann Thomas in the day—but, all the same, every time he touched pencil or pen or brush to a character of either,
(website) Who’s Who of he made the artists, editors, and writers at both companies sit up and take notice. Like with this
Walt Grogan American Comic (commissioned?) set-piece of Thor confronting the Hulk. Thanks to dealer Anthony Snyder, who can
George Hagenauer Books 1928-1999 be dealt with at anthony@anthonysnyder.com. [Both heroes TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Heritage Art (website)
Auctions Marv Wolfman
Robert Higgerson Mike Zeck Alter EgoTM issue 181, May 2023 (ISSN 1932-6890) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing,
10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC.
Sharon Karibian POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Alter Ego, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614.

Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC
This issue is dedicated to the memory of 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT

Neal Adams to the editorial offices. Six-issue subscriptions: $73 US, $111 Elsewhere, $29 Digital Only. All characters are © their
respective companies. All material ©their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter
Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.
A CELEBRATION OF – PART TWO 3

writer/editorial/article

NEAL ADAMS & Me A Personal Remembrance by Roy Thomas

A/E EDITOR’S of comics professionals and

INTRODUCTION: No, you’re fans held at various people’s
not imagining things! I (Roy) apartments in Manhattan.
elected to relinquish the lead spot I’m fairly sure it was at the
this issue to Stephan Friedt’s domicile of fan (and future
obituary/tribute re the late great Charlton editor) Bill Pearson,
Neal Adams—since it needed to no later than summer of
be read before interviews with that ’67, since I don’t think I
supremely talented artist. Also, had yet seen Neal’s classic
for the second issue in a row, I’ve “Deadman”… and I myself had
utilized (and greatly expanded) been hosting those gatherings
my “writer/editorial” space until shortly before. I was
into an article. That’s because already vaguely aware of his
Neal Adams was my erstwhile work, having seen at least
colleague, my sometime friend, one war story he’d drawn for
and my more-than-occasional DC. While I recall little of our
sparring partner, and I wanted to exchange that night, I’m sure
set down my personal take on that I expressed admiration for his
relationship. My view certainly art (I’d been impressed by his
isn’t all sweetness and light—any draftsmanship, mostly), and
more than his would’ve been it’s inconceivable that I didn’t
concerning me, had he deigned say I’d love to see him drawing
to write one—but it’s as honest for Marvel sometime.
and complete as I can make it, at
least in the space I’ve allotted to Well, I suppose it wouldn’t
myself…. be all that surprising if Neal

I
This Beachhead Marvel! didn’t recall that evening’s
Writer/associate editor Roy Thomas (on left) and artist Neal Adams (on encounter, even though he was
n the more than fifty a cultivator of editors and by
right) in photos taken at the 1971 New York Comic Art Convention—apparently
years we knew each other, contemplating the splash page of The Avengers #93 (Nov. 1971). Far as we know, then I was Marvel’s associate
Neal Adams and I agreed the two weren’t participating in the same panel when these pics were snapped; editor, second only to Stan.
about many things—and but that July 4th Manhattan weekend took place not long after they’d teamed
we probably disagreed up to co-produce that epochal issue, which was destined to lead to considerable Be that as it may: On
concerning at least an equal animosity (intermingled, at least, with continued respect) between them. The the day Neal became X-Men
number. penciler, Stan informed him
inking of this best-remembered issue of the fabled “Kree-Skrull War” is by titanic
Tom Palmer. Special thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] I was the comic’s writer, and
Starting with… when we I was called in to meet him…
met. again. If Stan had really told him before I entered, as Neal says on
Neal stated, at least once, that he’d never even heard of me p. 44, that X-Men was due to be canceled “in two issues,” he was
before he waltzed into Stan Lee’s office around the turn of 1968-69 making no more than an educated guess, since in late 1968 it was
and waltzed back out with the assignment to pencil The X-Men. still very much publisher Martin Goodman who decided such
live-or-die matters, not Stan as editor. Stan would’ve kept X-Men
I’ve little doubt he believed that whenever he said it, but it’s going till MG pulled the plug. No Marvel title in that era was ever
not accurate. scheduled in advance to be canceled “in two issues,” as Neal says
Stan told him.
Some time earlier, the two of us had introduced ourselves
and carried on a conversation at one of the monthly get-togethers After Neal and I left Stan’s office together, I quickly
4 A Personal Remembrance By Roy Thomas

The next memory I have of Neal—not long afterward—he

dropped by Marvel to show me (and doubtless Stan) the start
he’d made on the 15-pager. I don’t remember how many pages he
brought in, but I vividly recall his sitting at a drawing board in the
bullpen while he tightened up the rough splash page pencils he’d
already begun, which featured the mammoth temple of Pharaoh
Rameses II at Abu Simbel. My synopsis had called only for The
X-Men to be flying over the Egyptian desert with the captured
Living Pharaoh (no relation) in tow; Neal had set that action at
the site of that ancient monument, which at that time was in
the process of being relocated, stone by stone, so it wouldn’t be
underwater after construction of the country’s Aswan Dam was
completed in 1970. (Since, as a then would-be Egyptologist, I had
contributed a few bucks to that relocation project back in 1963-64, I
was aware of the situation.)
What really impressed me that day is that, though Neal had a
small, curled-up photo of the temple tacked to the drawing table—
and it’s at least conceivable that earlier he’d used an “artograph”
machine to blow up that image and “trace” its general outlines onto
the original art page (or maybe he hadn’t)—he was now, before my
very eyes, just freehand-drawing in the details of the temple: the
giant carven faces, the time-worn columns—with a photographic
likeness and detail.

Neal Adams Goes To War

This story from Our Army at War #182 (July 1967) was the first thing Adams
drew for DC Comics, under editor Robert Kanigher. The script is attributed
to Howard Liss. This is only a few months before the artist’s groundbreaking
debut on the “Deadman” series in Strange Adventures—so this tale may
pin down the moment when Neal A. and Roy T. first met, after the one but
before the other had appeared. Thanks to Mark Muller & Jim Ludwig.
[TM & © DC Comics.]

volunteered—since I knew Neal had written a few DC stories

by then—to step aside and let him script X-Men. Of course,
Stan would’ve had to okay that; but I had little desire to scribe
X-Men, being busy with Avengers and other series. Neal, however,
immediately informed me that, no, he’d read some of my stories
and they were fine and he’d like me to remain as writer.
Now, how that squares with his later statement(s) that he was
totally unaware of me and my work prior to
that meeting, I couldn’t begin to say. I only
know what he said to me that day.
Perhaps, in retrospect, he later
regretted inviting me to remain on X-Men…
since when you got Roy Thomas the writer
you also got Roy Thomas the de facto editor. Give Me The Abu Simbel Life!
I wouldn’t be content simply to dialogue The first page of Neal’s that Roy ever saw in pencil form was an early
whatever story he handed me; I’d want to be stage of the splash for The X-Men #56 (May 1969), which left Roy the Boy
(and was) involved in the plotting process. uncharacteristically speechless. The inks are by Tom Palmer, seen at left
In fact, the first issue Neal drew—#56—he in a photo from the 1975 Marvel Comics Convention program book. Tom’s
landmark-studded comics career will be covered in depth in Alter Ego #184.
worked from a synopsis I’d typed up for
[TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
Don Heck.
 Neal Adams & Me 5

That was the moment I truly became a Neal Adams fan—and soon became the Code-approved Sauron. Neal says it was him,
I have remained one, at least in my own individual way, ever since. and it doesn’t even matter to me if he was right. I had to concur
(His fellow comics great Gil Kane always considered The X-Men, and then hammer out the plot with him, and I could’ve reined him
not Batman or Green Lantern/Green Arrow or The Avengers, Neal’s best in on anything I felt necessary. But such was his talent, and our
run of work in the field.) rapport at the time, that I rarely if ever overruled him. Why look
for trouble?
I wasn’t involved in Neal’s first dispute with Marvel—when
Goodman rejected the cover he’d prepared for #56, because he’d Neal was full of challenges to a writer using the ultra-
drawn the mutants shackled to the letters of the X-Men logo, successful “Marvel method.” A few examples:
making the latter a bit hard to read, which Stan was okay with
but which the publisher would not countenance, period. Neither • Double-page spreads like the one on pp. 2-3 of #58, where I
Neal nor I nor anyone else ever thought the replacement cover had to use all the skill I could muster to place my dialogue balloons
he drew was the equal of the original… and Neal later said that so they’d lead the reader’s eye in the proper sequence across the
after that experience he didn’t give as much thought to his Marvel pages. (Stan hated diagonally-angled panel borders, and I suspect
covers as he did to his DC ones. A short-sighted attitude, of course, they might’ve hurt us with younger fans, both in X-Men and in
since a comic’s success or failure was at least partly related to the Gene Colan’s and my Doctor Strange—but I liked them and strove to
impression its cover made on prospective readers… but that was make them work.)
Neal. • That title Neal pencil-lettered in for the story in #59—“Do
With the next issue (#57, June ’69), Neal and I cemented or Die, Baby!”—which I hated but went along with. When Stan
our working relationship for the remainder of our various wanted that title changed after he saw the story inked, I talked him
collaborations—X-Men, “Inhumans,” Avengers, “Conan”: Rather out of it, arguing that, while I agreed it was a poor title, it would
than have me type up a synopsis, he said he’d prefer we simply go needlessly annoy Neal if we changed it, so we shouldn’t.
out to lunch and talk out the story. As I had plenty else to do and • The blank space Neal left in the largest panel on p. 4 of #60,
that approach would simply relieve me of having to dream up one wherein he just lightly scribbled “Write pretty, Roy!” and I felt
more plot a month on my own, I was agreeable… since there was challenged to come up with a piece of narration that hopefully
never any discussion that he wanted any part of my scripting wage. wouldn’t derail the story’s pacing. We both agreed it worked out
(If there had been, I’d have said, no, thanks, and I’d have delivered fairly well.
him a several-page synopsis every month.) I knew that, in any
disagreement re the storyline, I had the final say; but I’d have been Naturally, the pluses with Neal far outnumbered the minuses,
hesitant about overruling him. Not because Neal might go crying far as I was concerned: the wonderful costume he came up for the
to Stan (who tended to back his editors), but because I figured mutant I’d named Havok, which used expanding and contracting
that almost anything the two of us came up
with would wind up looking powerful and
well-drawn on the page and would probably
be a pleasure to script. And that’s the way it
went, for the rest of The X-Men’s remaining
original run.
Except for the deadlines, of course.
Before I had any real concept of the
problems those would cause, I acceded to
Neal’s request to drop the title’s 5-page
backup stories so he could draw 20 pages
each issue. That, too, would unburden me of
a bit of work… or so I thought at the outset.
Very quickly, however, I realized
Marvel and I were at the mercy of Neal’s
other deadlines—not only re his DC work,
which he had no intention of dropping,
but also work in advertising, which, I
knew, paid far better than either comics
company. My sole concern was Marvel’s
deadlines, of course, not those of DC or an
ad agency. And that slowly led to rising
friction between us, despite all I could do
to alleviate the situation… e.g., by finally
commissioning Don Heck to pencil a story
introducing the Japanese mutant Sunfire,
published as X-Men #64 when the time The X-Men #56—Lost & Found!
pressures became just too great to ignore. (Left:) Neal Adams’ original intended cover for The X-Men #56 (May ’69)—not used back in the day, but later
colored (probably by Neal himself!) and since then popping up here and there. Actually, even if publisher
Along the way, though, there was fun Goodman had okayed that cover with its obscured logo, he would never have allowed anything like this
and good work to be had. I don’t recall metallic-looking coloring to see print in 1969! From the Internet.
if it was Neal or I who came up with the
(Right:) The published cover for #56; pencils and inks of both covers are by NA. Thanks to the Grand Comics
concept of the “psychic vampire” who Database. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
6 A Personal Remembrance By Roy Thomas

“Write Pretty, Roy!”

(Above:) In an empty space that he indicated in the middle left of the penciled page 4 for
The X-Men #60 (Nov. 1969), Neal simply scribbled “Write pretty, Roy!” and left it to RT to
decide what (if anything) to write there. This perhaps suggests in a nutshell the somewhat
playful relationship the two collaborators had in their early days. Inks by Tom Palmer.
Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
(Right-hand side of page:) Three quotations from Neal Adams re collaborator Roy’s
work, from an interview conducted by Martin Pasko for Word Balloons #3 (March 1974),
published by Gary Groth. Thanks to Nick Caputo. (Incidentally, in the fifth line of the
second box at right, Ye Editor believes the word “can” is a mis-transcription of “can’t”;
the way it’s printed doesn’t make much sense.)
(Below:) Neal’s comment on two of his Silver/Bronze Age collaborators, from a 1978
interview conducted by Gary Groth for The Comics Journal. Thanks to Alex Grand. [All
typeset text in this art spot © Fantagraphics, Inc.]
A CELEBRATION OF – PART THREE 17

“I Listened To Stories”
The Childhood & Origins Of NEAL ADAMS
by James Rosen
[A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: Well-known journalist James Rosen is
currently writing an in-depth biography of Neal Adams’ life and career,
both in and out of comics.]

N eal Adams’ first paid work as an artist came in 1951, when

he was ten years old, at a Brooklyn saloon called Clark’s Bar.
He was there accompanying his mother, Lillian Rose Barry
Adams. Short, attractive, she had been orphaned as a child
and possessed only a third-grade education.
During the long absences of her husband, Army Sgt. Frank
Wayne Adams, then stationed
in Germany and never much
of a family man, Lillian,
“terrifically lonely,” basked
in the attention of Clark’s
male customers. “She went to
those bars not to get drunk
or to have an affair,” her son
said. “She went to those bars
to have comradeship with
people she could talk to and
tell stories with and laugh.”
Invariably, she brought
Neal along. “She took me,
in effect, for protection,” the
artist told me in one of our
lengthy recorded interviews,
more than twenty hours in
all, in October 2018. “What The Artist & The Arrow
could you do if a woman Neal Adams, as per his high school yearbook (class of ’59), and a Green Arrow
comes into a bar and she’s got sketch he drew for biographer James Rosen. [Green Arrow TM & © DC Comics.]
her son with her? You really
can’t go out. You really can’t shack up…. You can just hang out them... People got used to me there because I would draw their
because that kid is not going to go away.” profiles. I would draw their pictures on napkins and placemats and
they would give me a quarter so I could use it on the jukebox…. It
Young Neal found the scene at Clark’s “boring,” but Lillian gave me something to do.”
“would go to that place a lot… laughing it up and having a good
time… people buying her drinks.” At the end of these evenings, There was another skill he honed at Clark’s. “I became a
she would cadge $10 from strangers, enough to cover the cab-fare father confessor,” he told me. “Anytime there was somebody with
back to Seagate, in Coney Island, where she operated a rooming a sad story or a bad story and nobody would listen to them, they’d
house for boarders. Until then, Neal would stand at Clark’s jukebox trap me at some table and they’d tell me their story. And I guess
and memorize the pre-rock’n’roll titles he saw, songs like “Come I was a good listener, or I would give good advice, or I would be
On-A My House” and “Accentuate the Positive.” sympathetic… So they sought me out [and] I got to listen to lots of
stories. I became a great listener at ten years old to adults telling
In time the youngster “fell in love with” a record called stories…. And I’m still a pretty good—damned good—audience.
“Detour (There’s A Muddy Road Ahead)” by Patti Page (“Headed People like to tell me stories.”
down life’s crooked road/lots of things I never knowed”). But as
the Adamses were perennially “on the poor end of the spectrum,” An alcoholic, cheater, and deadbeat, Sgt. Adams abandoned
Neal couldn’t always afford the nickel Clark’s charged for the his family for good when Neal was thirteen. They saw each other
jukebox. Already aware of his exceptional drawing talent, he came one additional time, in 1960, when Neal was nineteen. Frank’s last
up with a remedy. words to his son were: “You know, I never liked you.”

“I would find a way to draw somebody’s picture, and they That was made clear to Neal early on. Once, when he was five
would be stunned and happy by it because it looked just like or six and the family lived in Troy, New York, eight miles north of
A CELEBRATION OF – PART FOUR 21

“He Is A Giant—
And No Walk In The Park—
But Yes, A Living Legend”
HOWARD CHAYKIN Interviews NEAL ADAMS
[NOTE: This interview, which was conducted in August 2020, originally later. But the comicbook work that began to flow from Adams flabbergasted
appeared on the NeoText website and is © Howard Chaykin.] me, just as, at the same time, the small cadre of comics enthusiasts who

I
were my friends reacted with dismay to this material—with what can only
NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: I first became aware of be called the shock of the new.
Neal’s work in the pages of Scholastic and Boy’s Life, in his work His work was so
shilling for GE. I had radical a departure from
no idea who he was—I what we were used to—
was just a kid—and the the Gil Kane, Carmine
work made little or no Infantino, Murphy
impression on me. Anderson, Joe Kubert
stuff—that it demanded
I first met him in the
an entirely new and
1960s, when DC Comics
different way of thinking
was still conducting tours
about comics.
of the office. He was slim,
and good-looking, and a It’s been mostly
good ten to twenty years forgotten over these
the junior of everybody many years, but those
else in the office. This early jobs were often
was before I’d seen met with hostility from
what would become his fans who, even then,
comicbook output—and were constricted by a
before I’d seen and studied conservative shortsighted
the brilliant Ben Casey constipation in their
newspaper strip. preferences.
Like most kids, I had What struck us
no eyes, so that brilliance was the alarming(!)
I mention above didn’t and eccentric approach
impress me until much

Neal Adams & Howard Chaykin

Two singular comicbook artists—and a color commission by Adams
of his early signature character Deadman. Courtesy of Heritage Art
Auctions. [Deadman TM & © DC Comics.]
22 Howard Chaykin Interview’s Neal Adams

a typically sniffy dismissal of Neal’s stuff from the typically sniffy Gil
Kane—another mentor of mine, by the way.
“Neal Adams makes comics safe for commercial illustration,” he
said, unwilling to or perhaps incapable of getting past that old-school
traditional approach to comics.
In short order, of course, Neal developed followers, fans and acolytes.
I was one of the latter, and after assisting Gil Kane, and ghosting a strip
for Wallace Wood, Neal got me my first actual assignment at DC—for
which, to be sure, I was utterly ill-equipped.
To be specific, and to be clear—he got my professional, signing-my-
own-work career underway. He carried that much weight at DC.
We went our separate ways in the late 1970s, seeing each other
inadvertently at conventions or social gatherings. All the while, via his
studio, he attempted to reignite and keep alive the sort of commercial use
for comics that he learned at Johnstone and Cushing, where he produced
that GE stuff—and which he left to do the Ben Casey strip, months
before he turned twenty-one, and thus had to have his mother sign his
contractual release.
I’m an old man now, and Neal’s got a decade on me, but we’re both
still working. He’s moved from those razor-sharp pen lines of his youth
to a more organic, and frankly baroque approach to the rendering of the
figure, a figure which still retains that propulsive dynamism that defined
the shock of the new for comics enthusiasts over a half-century ago.
He is a giant, and no walk in the park, but yes, a living legend.

HOWARD CHAYKIN: When and where’d you spend your childhood?

NEAL ADAMS: Since I’m an Army brat, my childhood was on
the East Coast of the United States, including the Bronx, New York
This Is The Life! City, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and towns up and down the East
Coast, and for a time Germany and finally Brooklyn.
Neal Adams illustrated the Chip Martin comic strip for Boy’s Life magazine
from 1960 to 1966—which is where many youngsters first encountered his art. HC: Where you a fan of comics—either newspaper strips or comicbooks?
Scripter uncertain. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] If so, which?

to layout and picture-

making, not to mention the
predominance of pen work
over brush, pen employed in
a series of techniques that
bore no resemblance to what
we identified as traditional.
It wasn’t until a
few years later, with the
development of those eyes
mentioned here, that I and
others were able to draw
the line from his drawing
and rendering to the work
of Stan Drake [artist of The
Heart of Juliet Jones] and
the like—which illuminated

The Doctor Is In!

The Adams-drawn Ben Casey strip
for March 6, 1966. Script by Jerry
Caplin. Neal was 24 years old
at the time he did this Sunday.
Thanks to Heritage Art Auctions.
[TM & © NEA Syndicate or
successors in interest.]
A CELEBRATION OF – PART FIVE 28

“Carmine Sent Me”

NEAL ADAMS On Being A Gadfly—
And A Great Comics Artist
Interview Conducted by Bryan Stroud

I NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION: My lifelong best

friend had begun The Silver Lantern, a website dedicated to
documenting the Silver Age of DC Comics that we’d loved
so much as boys… and, thanks to some lucky breaks and a little
boldness on my part, I started reaching out to creators from that
period to interview. This began in January of 2007 with a call
to letterer Gaspar Saladino. I thought I’d hit the pinnacle with
interview #4, with Carmine Infantino, in May of that year.
During the conversation he asked, “Have you talked to Neal?”
“Well, no.” “Tell him I sent you.” Who was I to argue with
Carmine Infantino? So I sent an e-mail to Neal Adams through
his webpage, which I titled “Carmine Sent Me.” Neal responded,
agreed to the interview, and it took place on May 28, 2007, as only
the fourth one I’d conducted over the phone. I was on my way. Neal & Friends
Neal Adams contemplates
BRYAN STROUD: When did you start at DC, exactly? his cover for Batman #251
(Sept. 1973). Although
NEAL ADAMS: Golly. There must be some historians others from Bob Kane
around who can tell you that. I don’t know. It was in the ’60s. through Jerry Robinson,
I’m sure some geek around will know exactly when that was, Dick Sprang, Lew Sayre Schwartz, and Sheldon Moldoff
probably the month and the day. [INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: had made significant contributions to the Caped Crusader’s artistic look over the
Wikipedia tells us it was 1967: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ preceding three decades, it was Neal who restored to the masked hero the visual
Neal_Adams.] aspect of the “Darknight Detective”—on his way to becoming the grim “Dark Knight”
of the 1980s and beyond. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © DC Comics.]
BS: Oh, no doubt. Carmine was telling me that he knew more than
one person who worshipped the ground you walked on. Seduction of the Innocent came out [in 1954]…
ADAMS: That’s ’cause I walk in very special places. I don’t walk BS: Ah, yes, good old Doc Wertham…
along those cold cracks. [chuckles]
ADAMS: Many, many artists had to desert the field, or were
BS: He also told me… this hidden among the cracks and crevices in various places, like Al
one kind of surprised me… Williamson was doing, I guess, ghosting for certain comic strip
he said he first discovered artists, and I guess he would do a comicbook every now and then,
you in the bullpen working and Alex Toth went to California to do animation, and all these
on Jerry Lewis [comics], of guys really disappeared, and the few guys that were left were the
all things. Is that true? guys at DC Comics. There was Joe Kubert, there was Russ Heath,
there was Carmine, there was Gil Kane—Eli Katz was his original
ADAMS: No. I was
name.
first introduced to
Carmine… Carmine And Carmine had a very unique style. He was then doing The
was, of course, as with Flash, and his style kind of got covered up, but I was a fan of his
many comicbook original style when he was doing “Pow-Wow Smith” and some of
artists, a bit of a hero ofthose other things, so as a fan, you know, to meet Carmine… and
mine, because when the Carmine was actually working on staff… not really staff, he had
s**t hit the fan in the a desk in with the romance editor… what’s his name? Miller. Jack
country when the book Miller. Jack Miller and his girl assistant, and he was in there when
I first came to DC Comics. I came to DC to try to get
work with Robert Kanigher. The “much-beloved”
A Jerry-mandered Cover
Robert Kanigher.
Neal got a chance to draw the madcap
comedian plenty of times on the cover of BS: Sometimes referred to as “The Dragon”?
The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #104 (Jan.-
Feb. 1968). Courtesy of the GCD. (P.S.: ADAMS: Who was a beast in human disguise. And
Carmine Infantino you’ll see in a little I got to work with Bob, partially because he had lost
bit!) [TM & © DC Comics.] Joe Kubert because I had recommended Joe to do
 “Carmine Sent Me” 29

a comic strip called The Green Beret “Goddess From The Sea”
that I had been asked to do, and the Splash page drawn by Neal Adams for
comic strip people had no idea who Warren Publishing’s Vampirella #1 (Sept.
1969). Script by Don Glut. Thanks to Jim
the good comicbook artists were,
Kealy. [TM & © New Comic Company.]
and when I realized that I really
couldn’t do the strip… I was doing
Ben Casey and I couldn’t handle two strips… I took the people from the
syndicate and the writer down the path of possibly recognizing that there
was such a thing as comicbooks, and rather than try to find somebody in
the Ozarks, perhaps they ought to go to some of the best artists that were
left in comicbooks, among whom was Joe Kubert, who was the perfect guy
for the strip.
BS: Oh, sure. All his war-comic experience.
ADAMS: Yeah. So, I recommended him for The Green Beret to Elliot Caplin,
the writer of the strip. [NOTE: Neal misspoke. The writer was apparently Jerry
Caplin, the brother of Elliot—and of Al Capp (nee Caplin).] They interviewed
him, and Joe worked on The Green Beret for the longest time; and Bob
Kanigher, coincidentally, was a little short on artists. I had ended my
syndicated strip, which was based on the Ben Casey TV series, and things
were just a little bit slow for me. I had been doing some stuff for Jim Warren,
and I realized I was putting way too much effort into that and it wasn’t
worth it to me, and I thought maybe I’d give it a crack at DC Comics, in spite
of the fact that, when I was a teenager and I’d left school, they wouldn’t even
let me in the door.
It was a very bad time then. An old fella came out to meet me, a guy
named Bill Perry, and I showed him my samples, just to try to meet an
editor, and he told me he couldn’t even bring me inside. It didn’t matter if
my stuff was good, it didn’t matter anything. They weren’t interested.

BS: That’s
surprising.
ADAMS: No,
not at all. For
those times
it was very
typical. Not
enough work
to go around,
The Caplin Brothers and they were
(Left to right:) Elliot, Jerry, & Al Caplin, from feeding the
a 1940 issue of Newsweek magazine. They’re mouths that
examining a toy image of a Shmoo, the were faithful to
creation of Al (as “Al Capp”) in his ultra-
them, and they
popular comic strip Li’l Abner. Thanks to Art
Lortie.
just weren’t
interested.
Nobody really
got in easily. Once in a while
some guys broke through, like
John Severin did a little work
for a while, but it didn’t seem
like that lasted and I guess he
found something else in Crazy
[sic—Neal clearly meant Cracked]
magazine. But when I went
there as a teenager, this very
How Green Was My Beret nice old guy just told me I’m
wasting my time. As far as they
Joe Kubert’s 12-3-67 Sunday strip for the feature whose actual title was Tales of the Green Joe Kubert
Beret. Script by Jerry Caplin, though the official writer was book author Robin Moore. were concerned, any minute the
[TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.] comicbook business would end.
30 Neil Adams On Being A Gadfly—And A Great Comics Artist

Things were not so good. The end of that story is: Years later, I made my way into
comics and the world of comics had changed, the revolution was
BS: That just blows my mind to consider it. on, Neal had established himself as a gigantic pain in the ass, but
ADAMS: Well, I’ll tell you another story that is actually a sufficiently talented pain in the ass that they put up with me,
coincidental to that story. Timely magazines, which later became and I was fighting for the return of original art and royalties and
Marvel, really wasn’t doing anything, and you didn’t even know all the rest of it, and I was helping various people… I don’t know
where they were, and I was this 18-year-old kid who was trying if I helped Jerry [Siegel] and Joe [Shuster] at that time or whatever.
to get some work, so I thought maybe I could go to Archie Comics Anyway, I was up at DC, for whatever reason, and I’m talking to
and work for Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, who at that time were editors and people that I know, and apparently Joe Simon was up
doing The Fly and The Shield for Archie Comics. there, and the word was that he was fighting a battle over Captain
America and some other things, because he felt he owned certain
So, after failing at DC and searching around for nothing… I properties and under certain circumstances, blah, blah, blah.
didn’t know where anybody was… I went over to Archie Comics
and I showed my samples. The Archie guys obviously felt sorry for Apparently, he was looking for Neal Adams. He was down the
me, because I was foolish enough to want to do comics. Nobody hallway somewhere, so I sought him out and introduced myself
did. Nobody was showing samples. It was a dead field. So they and he said, “Listen. Can I talk to you? I really have to get your
suggested I come back with some samples of The Fly, and they’d advice on something.” And I said, “Well, DC has a coffee room.”
introduce me to either Joe Simon or Jack Kirby. So, I came back a So, we had a cup of coffee and Joe explained to me something of
week later with my samples and it turns out neither one of them his situation with Captain America and the various characters he
was there. felt he had a right to, and I said, “Well, first of all, I can give you
these two lawyers and I can give you this person here who seems
So I showed my samples to the guys at Archie, and they to be fighting for graphic arts and I can tell you that you should
looked at them sympathetically with kind of a sad look around begin by sending bills in and making a paper trail and establishing
their eyes, an embarrassed look, and they said, “Well, why don’t yourself with the people that you work with and the people who
we get Joe Simon on the phone for you?” And so they did. Now, it are in charge of the people that you work with as requiring and
turns out they had shown Joe Simon the samples I had brought in demanding that you didn’t have contracts; you have rights to these
previously. Joe said to me, “Neal… young man, your samples are things, you have to create paper, and then you can go and see
good. I’d use you on stories, but I’m going to do you a really big these people, although most lawyers won’t think much of this…
favor. I’m gonna turn you down, kid, because this is not a business but there are a couple lawyers that you can talk to and also people
to be in. It’s gonna fall on its face any day now and everybody’s who are associated with the National Cartoonists Society that you
gonna be out looking for other work and you want to get a job should talk to.”
doing something worthwhile, so it may not seem like I’m doing
you a favor, but I’m turning you down, and it’s the biggest favor So, I wrote down a list and we got up. He said, “Thank you.
anybody could ever do for you.” “Gosh, thank you, Mr. Simon.” You have no idea how much I appreciate this.” I said, “I have a
pretty good idea.” And so we shook hands and he was gonna
BS: How very gregarious. leave, and as he was about to leave I said, “Excuse me, Mr. Simon.”
He turned around, he said, “Yeah?” I said, “I’d like to introduce
ADAMS: So, the guys at Archie said, “Well, Neal, do you want to myself. My name is Neal Adams.” He said, “I know.” I said, “Well,
do some samples of Archie? Maybe we can give you some work let me tell you a story….” He had no idea, no idea that this was the
doing our joke pages or something.” So I came back with some same person that he had spoken to. Absolutely
samples, and in the end I did work the “Archie” joke pages for a no idea.
couple of months, and that’s how I got my first work in comics—
because Joe Simon turned me down.
Joe Simon
in later years. Adams recounts two meetings with the
legendary artist/writer/entrepreneur, perhaps a decade
or more apart.

A Fly In The Ointment

(Above:) In another interview, Neal said that, although Joe Simon wasn’t
around to go over his super-hero samples for “The Fly” series in 1959, the
Archie group editors who were there that day preferred the above panel of his
to one drawn by another artist (unidentified in the Grand Comics Database)
for The Fly #4 (Jan. 1960). So they pasted his version of Tommy Troy’s
insectular transformation over the other guy’s—and it became Adams’ first art
ever published in a comicbook. Thanks to the Reddit site.
(Right:) Neal’s humor work initially saw print in Archie’s Joke Book #45 (March
’60). [TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]
40 Neil Adams On Being A Gadfly—And A Great Comics Artist

I said, “No, no, that sounds great. If I’m going to have to do two might have thought.
green guys, it doesn’t really matter where I’m going. Let’s get
crazy.” So essentially all I gave was approval. Denny went off and So, we got into a number of issues, but we were starting to get
started writing very, very socially conscious stories. He knew that into overpopulation by that point, and I was getting a little antsy
I would carry them through. It’s sort of like a writer and director, because I don’t consider overpopulation to be what you call your
you know if the director is going to do the job, then you can “issue.” It’s a phenomenon and people have to deal with it, but if
basically focus on the story. So that’s what Denny did, he really you have Americans getting vasectomies while Indians are having
focused on these stories and we did some pretty darn good stories, as many as 10 to 12 children in a family, this is not the solution to
in my opinion, until we got to the drug thing. the problem. Not a good direction. So, people who can afford it not
having kids—it’s just stupid.
BS: Yeah, I imagine the Comics Code kind of tripped that one up a bit.
Anyway, so I was feeling, we’re coming to the end of this
ADAMS: Not really. What happened was, we were going along run here, but you know what we haven’t done? We haven’t done
and Denny did a number of good issues. We attacked President anything on drugs. And it was a big issue, and the state of New
Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew and that got a letter from York came to DC Comics and they wanted to do a drug comicbook,
the Governor of Florida telling us that if we ever do such a thing and Denny was asked about it and I was asked about it, so Denny
again, he’s going to discontinue distribution of DC comics in did an outline and I did an outline of what kind of book it could be
Florida. Florida has managed to keep that reputation, even up to and they didn’t like our outlines, [laughter] and we had taken a lot
recent years. So, we managed to ruffle some feathers along the way, of time. Both Denny and I had gone to Phoenix houses and we had
but essentially nobody actually knew what we were doing until we talked to the guys and you know the s**t that you hear isn’t exactly
were about into our third issue and then everybody liked it. the s**t you hear from the guys who are really junkies. Very, very
different. I was also the president of the local board of our drug
My good buddy Carmine will tell you he knew what was addiction house in the Bronx.
going on, but he had no idea. That was the good thing about it: No
one was paying any attention, so we actually got really into the BS: So, you saw it all.
meat of it before anybody kind of woke up, so we were into our
third or fourth issue by the time everybody goes, “Whoa! What’s ADAMS: I saw it all, had some experience, and I was taking guys
going on here? This is like cool, or awful,” or whatever the hell they down from 42nd Street with their noses running on their bellies
and locking them away into our local, what was originally a
nunnery, and getting people
in who were banging on the
doors, and it was just like…
nuts. Anyway, I knew a lot
about it.
So, because I had a lot
of experience, I had an awful
lot of knowledge, and things
were not, you know, “Oh,
just stop. Just tell people no.”
That’s not the way it is when
you have a kid coming home
from school at night and
he’s got a load of homework
to do and a load of things
to do and he wants to enjoy
himself and hang out with
his friends but he can’t
because he’s loaded down
with homework and his dad
comes home, kicks his shoes
off, smokes a cigar, gets some
booze and sits in front of
the television, and yet he’s
treated like a king and this
kid is treated like s**t. A kid
can get annoyed at that and
perhaps unhappy, and if he
hasn’t got too much to go to,
there’s a very good chance
Before People Was Even A Magazine… that he will go to drug
(Left:) Neal didn’t really identify with the “overpopulation” theme of GL/GA #81 (Dec. 1970), which was probably partly
addiction. I can’t imagine
inspired by Paul & Ann Ehrlich’s 1968 book The Population Bomb, whose first two sentences predicted (quite inaccurately, as why…
it turned out) that hundreds of millions of people would starve to death during the 1970s.
BS: [laughter] Yeah, go figure.
(Right:) The cover (and interior) of issue #83 (April-May 1971) used a visual image of Vice President Spiro Agnew as the villain,
and resulted in a threat from Florida’s governor to block distribution of DC’s comics if such a thing happened again. Courtesy ADAMS: So, the problem
of the GCD. [TM & © DC Comics.] with society, both of us,
46 Neil Adams On Being A Gadfly—And A Great Comics Artist

You Ain’t Nothing Like A Hound Dog!

(Above left:) The other best-selling X-Men issue in the
Adams run was #65 (Feb. 1970)—but, although Neal both
plotted and penciled the latter yarn, editor Stan Lee
wound up having Marie Severin pencil that particular
cover, to be inked by Tom Palmer. Whether Neal still
intended, at that point, to do any further penciling for
the series is unclear. Courtesy of the GCD.
(Above:) Surely, one reason for the Severin-penciled
cover is the fact that Lee wanted a more humanoid alien
monster than Neal had penciled on p. 12 of #65, so that he
had previously instructed Mirthful Marie to totally redraw
that creature in both panels. Script by Denny O’Neil; inks
by Palmer. Thanks to Barry Pearl.
(Left:) Jon B. Cooke printed, in his and TwoMorrows’
Comic Book Artist #3 (1999), this unused set of panels Neal
penciled for X-Men #65, p. 12, but which Stan rejected.
When he scripted these pages, Denny O. must’ve agreed
that the alien creature looked very canine, as per his
dialogue in the biggest of the two panels. Those lines got
left in the issue, even after the monster was redrawn to be
far more humanoid. Thanks to Nick Caputo for finding this
for us! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]
A CELEBRATION OF – PART SIX 54

NEAL ADAMS Talks About

“A View From Without.....”
A Story Of The Vietnam War
Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Richard J. Arndt

I NTERVIEWER’S INTRODUCTION:
In 1971 Neal Adams produced and published
one of the hardest-hitting Vietnam War stories
to appear in the genre. Entitled “A View from
Without…..,” it debuted in an independent black-&-
white magazine called Phase.
This 2015 interview, which features Adams
talking about that story, ended up considerably
different from what I had initially imagined. I had
prepared a list of questions dealing with his obvious
attempt to use this tale as a showcase for various art
approaches to telling a comic story—since nearly
every panel featured a different artistic approach or
technique: straight pen & ink; pencils only; shaded
charcoal; even a panel on every page in fumetti
style, starring Adams himself as an alien narrator.
I particularly wanted to discuss a tribute panel to
Joe Kubert that appeared in the story, featuring
an African-American soldier standing over an
American grave, with the slain soldier’s rifle and
helmet as a grave marker—a very familiar Kubert
image for those who read his DC war tales.
However, Adams was completely uninterested
in discussing any of that. He wanted to talk about
Vietnam, his feelings and perceptions about the
war, and the way it was ultimately published—in
an early independent/ground-level (and vastly
overpriced for the day) magazine. It was the only
war story in the magazine, which featured largely
fantasy, science-fiction, and underground-type
stories intended for adults. Adams’ desire to point
the interview that way was, in my own opinion,
entirely correct.

RICHARD ARNDT: You published “A View

from Without…..” in 1971, but you’ve mentioned
elsewhere that you wrote and drew it some years
earlier than that.
NEAL ADAMS: Yes, I did.
RA: Was there a particular magazine or project you
were doing it for?

“View” Point
The wordless “Prologue” page of “A View from
Without…..” Written & illustrated by Neal Adams. Thanks
to Glenn McKay & Art Lortie. [© Estate of Neal Adams.]
 Neal Adams Talks About “A View From Without.....” 55

and it got in the palm of your hand it was

best for you to let it eat through the hand
and fall out the other side rather than try to
get it off, because it would melt anything it
touched.
It was pretty firm in my mind that I
was not going to do this comic strip, so
I recommended Joe Kubert as the artist
for the strip. Still, there were things that I
was learning about Vietnam, which was
essentially a civil war. The Vietnamese
civilian population was embroiled in a
conflict between opposing Vietnamese
soldiers. Whichever side the civilians were
on, they were pretty much grist for the mill.
So, having heard these stories, I decided
to draw a story dealing with that kind
of event. A little story, with one person.
So I did, and I was thinking of sending it
off for the possibility of publication. But
this was some time before things like the
My Lai massacre had been revealed to
the American public. [INTERVIEWER’S
NOTE: The My Lai massacre occurred in the
Our Army At War—Vietnam Edition Vietnamese village of My Lai on March 16,
One of the things interviewer Richard Arndt had wanted to discuss with Adams was this Joe Kubert 1968, committed by American troops, who
homage panel from the fifth page of the story—but the artist (who had himself photographed in “alien”
killed 504 civilians, including 182 women—17
makeup to narrate the yarn) had other ideas. Thanks to Art Lortie. [© Estate of Neal Adams.]
of whom were pregnant—173 children, and 53
infants. The news of the massacre was covered
ADAMS: I was contacted, in 1965 or so, by the brother of writer
up and didn’t become public knowledge in the States until November
Jerry Caplin, who wrote the Ben Casey comic strip I was drawing
1969.] Certain other atrocities that had been taking place were not
at the time. Jerry was a brother of Al Capp, the creator of Li’l
common knowledge.
Abner. But this brother was Jerry’s other brother—Elliot Caplin
[INTERVIEWER’S NOTE: the original family name]—who was At that time, to put out that particular story without the
more of a professional writer and was doing something like four general public having that knowledge, I thought, would perhaps
different comic strips at the time. Elliot had the opportunity to be a danger, not only to myself, but to my family. My family was
do the Tales of the Green Beret comic strip, which was based on the my biggest concern. I thought, “I’ve drawn it. It’s pretty good, but I
best-selling book by Robin Moore. In fact, Moore’s name was on don’t want to do this.” I didn’t want to get hit by it.
the strip, but Caplin actually wrote it. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE:
Whichever Caplin brother Neal met with, comic strip expert Alberto About a year or two later, some of that stuff started coming
Becattini informs us it was Jerry Caplin who actually scripted the early out, becoming
Green Beret strip.] general
knowledge.
I really couldn’t do two strips at once, but Elliot arranged Villagers were
that I have lunch with Robin Moore and I did. I guess because being killed. Some
I was “gung ho,” [laughs] he talked a lot about things that were were castrated, etc.
happening in Vietnam. Some of them, the things he described as It was only after
going on, were from my point of view quite disturbing. I was also that that I had the
in touch with certain newspaper folk because I was a syndicated balls to see about
strip artist, so I had access to certain things that I might not getting the story
otherwise have access to. Things that many people at the time may in print. It was
not have been aware of. because the truth
of those things I
As I said, the lunch was very disturbing, and I think that
was writing and
it went on for nearly three hours. I found Robin Moore to be
drawing in that
thoroughly reprehensible. He seemed to glory in the horror that
particular story
was going on in Vietnam. It was one thing to have a war. My dad
were finally being
was in the Army. He fought in World War II. When I was a kid I
reported for the
heard a lot of stories about war. There was the dark side to it, you
general American
know, and a noble side. The dark side was pretty rough.
public. I cursed
It was the “dark side” that Robin Moore focused on. The myself for being
idea of wearing a string of people’s ears around your neck was the coward that I
was for not putting Robin Moore
delightful to him. I also heard things throughout during that
conversation with Moore that made me aware of some of the things out the story earlier. Author of the memoir/history Tales of the
that were going on in that war—even as early as 1965. Things like Maybe I might have Green Beret, and generator (and official
writer) of the comic strip inspired by the book.
the use of napalm—and white phosphorus, which if you handled it saved some lives. You
 59

[TM & © Michael T. Gilbert.]

60 Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Michael T. Gilbert’s 2023 Mr. Monster: Sushi For Supper!

The 2020 Mr. Monster commission below was unusual in two
Comic Art Portfolio! respects. First, I had never drawn my hero fighting an underwater
monster, nor had he encountered a sexy mermaid during his travels.
(Part 2) I had fun with both. Gotta love that creepy Skull-topus, too!

I
Beyond that, I wanted to try my hand at a horizontal layout,
created Dr. Strongfort Stearn way back in 1983, and have been something a bit unusual for me. I subsequently colored it in
writing and drawing my monster-fighting hero ever since. In Photoshop, hoping to achieve an underwater feel.
the course of doing so, I experimented with a variety of art
and writing styles. Such is the case with the drawings in my Mr. Destructive Comics!
Monster “portfolio.”
Many Alter Ego readers, like myself, started collecting comics
I’m hoping our “Crypt” fans will enjoy a sneak peek at some of in the late 1950s. And many of those kids (though they didn’t know
my more recent Mr. Monster pin-ups and such (most of which have it at the time!) were Shelly Moldoff fans. That’s because Bob Kane
never previously seen print!). Let’s start with… made sure his signature was the only one on all comics featuring
Batman.
A Perplexing Mystery! But if you were reading the silly sci-fi era Batman, or the great
For some reason, Mr. Monster’s never tangled with one of H.P. fantasy-oriented stories of the ’50s, chances are they were written by
Lovecraft’s murky eldritch monsters––most famously, the ancient Bill Finger and drawn by either the great Dick Sprang or the more
god Cthulhu. I decided to rectify that oversight with the picture that cartoony Shelly Moldoff.
graces this issue’s intro page. Hopefully, Mr. Monster will figure out
That was the era when Batman would become a Zebra Batman,
the subtle clues concerning the gruesome demise of the bow-tied
or a Giant Batman, or a Merman Batman, or even… a Mummy
chap before it’s too late!
Batman!

If You Knew Sushi Like I Know Sushi…

Michael T.’s “Sushi For Supper,” flanked by another spicy dish! [TM & © Michael T. Gilbert.]
A CELEBRATION OF – PART SEVEN 73

FCA’s Farewell To
NEAL ADAMS
Fans Of The Original Captain Marvel Pay Homage
To The Artist’s SHAZAM! Art
FCA EDITOR’S
INTRODUCTION: We
celebrate artist Neal Adams
with tributes from four past and present FCA contributors:
Zorikh Lequidre, a graduate of the School of Visual
Arts, who has worked for the Big Apple Comic Con since
2003 and is currently writing Captain Marvel Culture,
a definitive history of all the characters with the Captain
Marvel moniker… Mark Lewis, 20-year veteran animator
for numerous Hollywood studios, as well as being FCA’s
cover coordinator … Eric Jansen, a writer/artist who has
produced Christian tracts distributed all over the world,
including half a million copies of his Paraman mini-comic
… and finally, Alex Ross, master comics painter who
powerfully rendered Captain Marvel in DC Comics’
Kingdom Come, Justice, and Shazam: Power of Hope.

I myself was one of many who were enthralled with

Neal’s superlative renditions of Captain Marvel for DC
Comics products and licensees in the 1970s. His clear
understanding of the character’s true essence shone forth in
those illustrations that skillfully assimilated Cap back into
the modern world.

If only Neal had been given the opportunity to draw

a full Captain Marvel story! Alas, such an addition to his
long list of awe-inspiring achievements can now exist only
in our mind’s eye. —P.C. Hamerlinck IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW,
CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS
Can You SpellISSUE
“Iconic”?
IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT!
ZORIKH LEQUIDRE: As you’ll see in this edition of FCA, fans—and pros—are still talking about this perfect image of
Captain Marvel and Billy Batson that Neal Adams drew for the 1976 Super DC Calendar. Inks by
I got to see Neal Adams regularly, and we became Dick Giordano. [Billy Batson & Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]
friendly acquaintances through my work with the Big
Apple Comic Con over the years. I’ve been a fan of
as he fought for the rights of creators and artists to be adequately
Neal’s since the 1978 release of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali [All-New
compensated and appropriately credited for their work, he had
Collectors’ Edition #C-56].
strong opinions about the whole business regarding Marvel’s hold
In my research on the many on the Captain Marvel name.
Captain Marvels, I’ve sought out
At the Big Apple Comic Con in 2008, he gave me just over a
anyone who has done any work
minute of priceless video footage. His statement, for the record, in
on any CM, and that included
its entirety, was as fine a piece of direct talk as there ever could be:
Neal. For Marvel Comics he
drew “Kree-Skrull War” stories “For anyone who is interested in my opinion, and I don’t feel it’s
in The Avengers that featured required that you be interested in my opinion, I think it would be very,
Captain Mar-Vell …and he also very nice for Marvel Comics to encourage
ALTER EGOthe#181
Special NEALthe ideaISSUE,
ADAMS withinfeaturing company
in-depth interviews with
did illustrations for DC that that Captain Marvel should be knownNeal byas the character
HOWARD that isSTROUD,
CHAYKIN, BRYAN essentially
and RICHARD
included the original Captain owned by DC Comics now, shouldwith
ARNDT. Also: a “lost” ADAMS BRAVE & THE BOLD COVER
beBatman
calledand Captain Marvel
Green Arrow, on the
and unseen cover
Adams of
art and
Marvel. He said that the “real” the comicbook. For the sake of copyright protection,
artifacts. Plus FCA (FawcettforCollectors
the sake of ego,MICHAEL
of America), for
Captain Marvel was “the Big Red T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Edited by
the sake of competition, Marvel Comics
ROY THOMAS.has, in effect,
(Plus: made
See BACK it #143!)
ISSUE impossible to
Cheese” and that he didn’t really call Captain Marvel ‘Captain Marvel.’ We are aFULL-COLOR
(84-page family business.magazine)We are a
Zorikh Lequidre count “the other guy.” And, just
$10.95
mom-and-pop business. That’s a stupid attitude (Digital to take. I don’t
Edition) $4.99care whose
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