If Neal Adams did Batman now???

[Joe Bullseye]

If Neal Adams did Batman now would it be as outstanding in todays industry?
His Batman is hands down my favorite. My first 2 comics were Neal Adams batman books and I still read books today because his works got me started. But I offen wonder if he was on the title now would it be as good as it was then? The way books are done now, I don't know if he would shine like he did in his time. What do you think of Neal Adams?

[Alex Dragon]

It would be hard to guess how well his Batman would sell. I think Neal still has his share of fans but I don't know if his art would be that big a deal for new fans who haven't seen much of his work. Back in the day one of the things that made Neal's art so appealing was that he was so much better (in my opinion) than many of the artists of that the time. He's still a great artist but lots of the innovative stuff he did back then is stuff other artists do all the time now. I'd love to see Neal do a Batman book. The only thing I'd like to see with his art is a "slicker" inker doing the inks over Neal's pencils Because Neal's stuff seems a bit "rougher" and "sketchier" to me now.

There was talk that Neal was supossed to do ALL STAR BATMAN with Frank Miller after Jim Lee leaves but I never heard any real comformation from Neal or DC if it's going to happen and there's now a rumor that The ALL STAR line is going away after the current runs are done and will revamped into something else.

[Infernorhythm]

Has anyone seen Neal Adams' Batman redesign?
http://www.nealadams.com/news/batdesign.jpg
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.

[Joe Bullseye]

Has anyone seen Neal Adams' Batman redesign?
http://www.nealadams.com/news/batdesign.jpg

I am so not into it. It looks like crap.

[lovefist911]

Neal Adams is the man, I would love to see him on All Star Bats.

[Paul Dee]

He's going to be doing a run called "Batman: Odyssey" at some point apparently Miller's also rumoured to be involved in some capacity

[Captain Jim]

It would be hard to guess how well his Batman would sell. I think Neal still has his share of fans but I don't know if his art would be that big a deal for new fans who haven't seen much of his work. Back in the day one of the things that made Neal's art so appealing was that he was so much better (in my opinion) than many of the artists of that the time. He's still a great artist but lots of the innovative stuff he did back then is stuff other artists do all the time now. I'd love to see Neal do a Batman book. The only thing I'd like to see with his art is a "slicker" inker doing the inks over Neal's pencils Because Neal's stuff seems a bit "rougher" and "sketchier" to me now.


I wouldn't say Neal's art was "better" than anyone else's at the time, but it certainly was much more realistic; that's what made it stand out. If he was doing his work today, I think it would still be well thought of (in the same sense that Jim Lee's is, for instance), but I don't think he would be the legend today he was in the '60's and '70's.

[mattx110]

Hey, without his previous work, he wouldn't exist!

That's as great an influence as you can have really.

[FCEEVIPER]

Neal Adams is the man, I would love to see him on All Star Bats.
I thought he was going that. :confused:

[Choppa]

Sounds like his revamp had a big impact on the 'BEgins' costume

[Joe Night]

Has anyone seen Neal Adams' Batman redesign?
http://www.nealadams.com/news/batdesign.jpg

I'm not a big fan of the bat symbol in the drawing and not sure if I get the thing about the fins while in water, but other than that its not a bad design.

If he started on Bats today I don't think there would be much fuss, or that he would make much of an impact. I see a lot of his influence in today's artists so it wouldn't be anything too different than is being done today.

[Chad]

He'd be competing against some pretty high standards - I mean just to equal the impact he had in the 60s/70s would mean once again drawing one of the greatest Joker stories ever told ("Five Way Revenge"), designing one of Batman's 10 greatest enemies (Ra's Al Ghul), and being able to reintroduce one of his greatest foes after a nearly 20 year absense (Two-Face). It really wouldn't be fair to hold him against these standards, but I see no reason why his quality shouldn't be the same. Here's a reason to be excited: We've never seen a Neal Adams Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, Scarecrow with the possible exception of maybe a pin-up or a Jim Carey Riddler for Batman Forever. Now's our chance.

I loved the job he did on the recent three volume Neal Adams Batman collection. There was bound to be some controversy about his retouching his older work but I mean if he's willing to spend months painstakingly working on just the colors of work he finished 35 years ago, imagine the effort he'd put into pencilling something new.

I think a great opportunity was missed however, by not having him inaugurate All Star Batman presuming that he would have done it with someone other than Frank Miller. Had they taken the same approach Grant Morrison took with Frank Quitely and attempted a definitive look at Batman, what better way than with the return of Neal Adams?