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Topic: "Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams" (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Andy Mokler
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Posted: 25 December 2007 at 10:12am | IP Logged | 1  

Something that NA's always been deserving of credit for is/was his ability to draw the characters how they should look.  His earlier versions of Superman are just too darned good in most cases.

In this particular comparion though, I wonder why he chose to go from Superman standing tall and looking "super" to leaning forward to flex his ab's?  I realize that some things just have to be accepted in comics, big muscles being one of them, but in this case I really think NA went from right to wrong.

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Jason Fliegel
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Posted: 25 December 2007 at 1:16pm | IP Logged | 2  

Whether you like it or hate it or land somewhere in the middle, when
characters end up with completely different faces, that's "new stuff". It
doesn't even take side-by-side comparisons to see that Neal's current
version of Superman, to pick one, is a different "model" from the older
version.

***

I see your point, but what I was trying to say is that these pages don't (I assume) represent the way Neal would draw those pages today if he were starting from scratch.  They're a strange hybrid between his "old stuff" and his "new stuff," in some sense neither fish nor fowl.

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John Peter Britton
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Posted: 25 December 2007 at 3:07pm | IP Logged | 3  

I had those comics when they first came out and i like what Neal Adams has done with them now they look great.
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Glenn Brown
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Posted: 25 December 2007 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | 4  

I don't recall there being any redrawing in the GL/GA hardcover.  In fact, the reason I didn't buy it was that I was underwhelmed by the print quality.  My set of Baxter reprints looked every bit as good to me, although the larger size of the collected edition is a plus.
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Brian Hunt
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Posted: 25 December 2007 at 8:51pm | IP Logged | 5  

I think that redrawing and recoloring is considered OK if the majority of the audience is expected to be new to the material.  If you grew up reading the issues in question you probably don't want the changes.  I could understand updating the coloring because the current process is so much better, but a lot of the redraws are not improvements. 
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Flavio Sapha
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Posted: 26 December 2007 at 7:55am | IP Logged | 6  

I don't recall there being any redrawing in the GL/GA hardcover
+++
I´ll sleep better, now, thanks.

I agree, the Baxter reprints were great.  I did get the HC, but I confess I have yet to spend some quality time with it.
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Peter Svensson
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Posted: 26 December 2007 at 1:55pm | IP Logged | 7  

He did some art touch-ups in the Deadman collection, inking the first issue over his pencils (rather than who originally inked it.) It's his vanity project, and like many artists he's never satisfied.

Also, only the first chunk of the first volume is as garishly recolored. DC didn't pay enough to cover "remastering" the entire first volume.
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Jason Czeskleba
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Posted: 27 December 2007 at 11:14pm | IP Logged | 8  

The Lucas analogy is sadly on point here.  I took a look at the Brave and Bold Showcase at my library today, and saw that it features the redrawn/reinked versions of the Adams stories.  That is really sad.  It's one thing to put redrawn versions in a special edition that is advertised as such, but the Showcases are supposed to be archival editions.  So it seems the redrawn versions are now the "official" versions which will be used in reprints henceforth.  

Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 27 December 2007 at 11:15pm
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Flavio Sapha
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Posted: 27 December 2007 at 11:24pm | IP Logged | 9  

Unbelievable! I was just gonna buy the Showcase...
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Francesco Vanagolli
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Posted: 28 December 2007 at 2:16am | IP Logged | 10  

I have the Italian edition of the b&w books.

That's my Batman! I'd be glad to buy the new edition, so I would have all the stories, but they're so expensive...

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Al Cook
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Posted: 28 December 2007 at 8:21am | IP Logged | 11  

"It's his vanity project, and like many artists he's never satisfied."

I totally understand this mindset. What I don't get is those who keep going
back trying to get it right. (Adams, George Lucas, etc.) What any artist
produces at any period is of that period -- it is a reflection of their skill,
experience and mindset of the time. Good artists -- ones who are driven to
constantly improve and do better -- can't wait to get on to the next
project so that they can outdo what they've done before. I think that going
back is, by its very nature, death to this drive. "I don't need to do better
next time 'cause I can just go back and fix this one"
...
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Aric Shapiro
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Posted: 28 December 2007 at 8:25am | IP Logged | 12  

The redraws of Superman drove me insane, so much so, that I found the book unreadable.  In one page he had Superman with totally different hairstyle than another non redone page right next to it. I do not favor touch ups on classics. 
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