Not to suggest I think I am "great" (old timers on this Forum know that is far from the case!), but this is something I point out often to civilians, and it is always fun to see the lightbulb come on over their heads as they realize just what goes into the production of what they had, until that moment, thought of as "just comicbooks".

Yes. Plus, a few years back Paul Kupperberg gave me a large German
edition of a whole lot of Neal's Batman, black and white and printed about
2/3rds of the size of the actual art. Very nice.

*****

How does 2/3 of the actual art size compare with the size of the printed page?  (Originally printed page, I mean.)

It's difficult for me to articulate the power of Neal Adams' artistry. For most of my life I've just felt it. Looking at his work is a visceral experience. My first memory of seeing his work was his iconic Batman pose from "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge." I believe I saw it in a Treasury Edition in the 1970s. I must have been about 10 or 11. That drawing etched itself into my memory. I'd never seen the character portrayed as dynamically as that before. It is, to my eyes, the definitive rendering of Batman.

Years later I'd become ga-ga over artists like Byrne, Miller, Aparo, Sienkiewicz, Newton, Bingham, etc. But it wasn't until recently I realized that I was reacting to memories of Adams from all those years ago. Those artists, while original in their own right, seem to me to have been directly influenced by Adams. Their art carried that same dynamic flair, that same ability to meld realism with the fantastic. I realized that Adams had set the artistic "template" in my mind.

To this day, only Adams-styled comic art truly excites me. I can appreciate other styles, sure, but for me, it all starts and ends with Neal.

Enjoy, Brad! You're holding magic in your hands.

 

I have a lot of Batman books (like No Man's Land, Knightfall, etc) that I'm no longer going to be able to read again, because Batman no longer looks "right" in them the way he does in the Adams book.

I'm telling you, that's power. A guy who's work I'd never really read before has now become the definitive Batman artist for me, and I'm starting to feel embarrassed that I own some of the books that I do with Batman in them.

Why? Why did it take me this long to 'get it'?

Also, as JB pointed out about the chronological aspects of Adams development, I must point out I've only read THREE stories in the HC. Just finished the Deadman/Batman team up. This stuff gets BETTER?

The industry was in much better shape when the latter was the rule.