Neal Adams was a comic book artist known for his work on characters including Batman, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow.
- Died: April 28, 2022 (Who else died on April 28?)
- Details of death: Died in New York of complications from sepsis at the age of 80.
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DC Comics and beyond
Adams got his start in the comics industry drawing gag pages for Archie Comics. He later made his way to DC Comics, where he initially worked on war comics and Superman series. He received attention for his award-winning work on Deadman in the late 1960s. Adams was perhaps best known for revitalizing Batman, bringing the character back to his dark, gothic roots after years of campy portrayals thanks to the popular ‘60s TV series. He went on to revamp Green Lantern and Green Arrow, bringing social commentary to the heroes’ stories. Adams created characters including the supervillains Man-Bat and Ra’s al Ghul as well as pioneering Black superhero John Stewart. He also worked briefly at Marvel Comics, on X-Men and Avengers series. In addition to his work as an artist, Adams was known for his effective campaign to bring creators’ rights to comic book artists. As he did so, he spotlighted the work of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, who received new attention and financial compensation for their groundbreaking work. Adams was a co-founder of the Comics Creators Guild, and he founded Continuity Comics.
Notable quote
“I think the role of comic books is to be the adults while we’re being children. We have to look to our children, at our children growing up and what kind of world they’re going to be in, and try to reproduce that world in the art that we do so that the world will get there. If we don’t show some of that world, then our kids will never get there.” —from a 2014 interview for Print
Tributes to Neal Adams
Full obituary: Comicbook.com
