Customer Reviews

Batman Illustrated, Vol. 1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Outside of perhaps only Jack Kirby, there is no doubt in my mind that Neal Adams is the most influential comic book artist in the history of the genre. Even now, some thirty plus years after I began reading comic books I can still recall the issue numbers of so many of those classic Neal Adams issues...The battle against the Sentinels in X-men numbers 57 through 59, the Kree-Skrull war and that great cover from Avengers #96, Green Lantern #76, the first issue of his memorable run, etc... While Neal never stayed too long on any one title, he left an unforgettable imprint on every book he worked on, whether it was the socially conscious stories on Green Lantern, or his one issue fill-in on Conan #37. Which brings us to the character the Adams is perhaps most associated with, Batman. In the first of a three volume set, DC Comics is re-printing in chronological order, all of the Batman stories and covers that Adams did. The stories not only will include the Batman and Detective Comics stories, but also stories from World's Finest and The Brave and The Bold.

In fact the first story in this volume comes from Worlds Finest # 175 from 1968. In a story called "The Batman Superman Revenge Squad" two groups of villains plan to take out the pair of heroes as they are engaged in their annual battle of wits. While the story may seem somewhat corny in this day and age Adams always had the ability to bring a story up a few notches by just his style alone and make it seem more serious. This is especially true in a story from Brave & the Bold # 79 as Batman meets Deadman for the first time as Boston Brand is searching for the man who murdered him, and Batman is on the trail of the brother of the man who killed his parents. This is about as grim as it could get in 1968. In another Brave & the Bold story, Batman teams with the Flash against a two-bit hood named Bork who suddenly has gained tremendous strength and total invulnerability. While Batman tries to hold him in check, the Flash races around the world to try and find the source of his new found powers.

In other stories in this volume, Batman teams with The Creeper, Sgt. Rock, The Teen Titans, and Green Arrow in a series of stories that helped take Batman back to his detective roots. One can certainly make the argument the gritty, dark atmosphere of Adams' art helped bring Batman out of the doldrums of the early and mid-1960's. Adams was one of the first artists to truly take a cinematic approach to comic art, using his panels as a camera lens and approaching the action at odd angles and perspectives never seen before in comics. His oddly angled geometric panels with the action bursting outside the borders became an Adams trademark. I honestly cannot wait until the next two volumes, especially to read again the great Batman stories that Neal did with Denny O' Neil in the early 1970's, especially Batman # 237 with that grim reaper cover that still sticks in my mind all these years later.

Adams provides an introduction to the book where he deems himself unworthy of a book with a $50 price tag. I'd say that's chump change compared to the many years and pages of joy and wonder that he has given his legions of fans over the past 40 years. A magnificent edition to add to your library and long overdue! Now I just wish I could get my hands on Superman vs. Muhammad Ali again!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

It reprints all of the Neal Adams stories in chronological order. Volume #1 includes reprints of Batman #200,203,210, Brave and the Bold #75,76,79-85, Detective Comics #370,372,385,389,391,392, and World's Finest #174-176,178-180,182-183,185,186.

It's the character that made Neal Adams a hot artist among the comic book fans & community. With Carmine Infantino and Irv Novick, Adams is one of the first artists to bring the Batman back as the dark knight avenger of crime.
It's interesting to see Adams early attempts at drawing him in World's Finest comics during the TV Batmania craze. The first two issues show him as an adventurous carefree individual. While the character poses look awkward and page composition a little inconsistent, Adams illustrative style is an eye opener; there was nothing quite like it at the time.
Things start to change when reading the Brave and the Bold issues. Batman comes out into the night more often; he mostly works alone now. Adams is getting better; The changes are small, but you get to see improvements in the stories. The characters look better, pacing and layouts are smoother.
Half of this book has been recolored and retouched by Continuity Studios. The new coloring may look amazing, but I've seen the originals to some of these stories and they were done quite well despite the technical limitations at DC during that time. The retouching was not necessary, like making Batman's ears longer for example, don't look that great. Thankfully it's not very distracting.
The reproduction of the artwork is ok. Adams did good job of giving quality prints in the first half; the reproduction of the work there is top notch I can't say the same for the other half. A lot of the details are missing in the artwork & the lines looking a little heavy in some parts.
While it's not as great as the Deadman Collection, Batman Hardcover should make some Neal Adams fans happy.

It's the character that made Neal Adams a hot artist among the comic book fans & community. With Carmine Infantino and Irv Novick, Adams is one of the first artists to bring the Batman back as the dark knight avenger of crime.
It's interesting to see Adams early attempts at drawing him in World's Finest comics during the TV Batmania craze. Those first two issues show him as an adventurous carefree individual; not the brooding type you see later on. While the character poses look awkward and page composition a little inconsistent, Adams illustrative style is an eye opener; there was nothing quite like it at the time.
Things start to change when reading the Brave and the Bold issues; ie Batman comes out into the night more often; he mostly works alone now. Adams is getting better; The changes are small, but you get to see improvements in the stories. The characters look better, pacing and layouts are smoother.
Half of this book has been recolored and retouched by Continuity Studios. The new coloring looks amazing, but I've seen the originals to some of these stories and they were done quite well despite the technical limitations at DC during that time. They should've left it the way it was printed when it first came out. Same goes for the retouching; it's just not necessary, like making Batman's ears longer for example. Thankfully it's not very distracting and it's not bad, but I just wish it was left alone.
The reproduction of the artwork is ok. Adams (and DC?) did good job of giving quality prints in the first half; the reproduction of the work there is top notch. I can't say the same for the other half; A lot of the details are missing in the artwork & the lines looking a little heavy in some parts.
While it may not be as good as the Deadman collection, the Batman collection should make some Neal Adams fans happy.

Neal Adams is a genius and his Batman work from the late 60s is unmatched. But why did nobody stop the man 'update' his original artwork with cheesy new computer coloring? It's so bad, I can't read this, as much as I want to. The pencils & inks are dynamic, stylish and great as ever, but the new coloring makes everything look like a kiddie manga. This is so sad!

I Love Neal Adams, Really I do...
I probably wouldn't be an artist if it weren't for this man's awesome art!
That said I couldn't give this book 5 stars for a couple of reasons.
First off the price, OUCH. Come on DC,
Quit gouging us! I Bought "Mythology, The Art Of Alex Ross" For Under $25 Bucks From Amazon, And Let Me Tell You, It Shows You how you can sell something of extreme excellence & not gouge someone. (The Book Is SO amazing!).
Second off, I wasn't happy with some of the redone art.
This art is carved into the History that is comics, & it would be like going back to a museum and seeing a beloved piece of art revamped. There is some re-inking that appears to be rushed. (If I'm Wrong Than forgive me, I'm a fan not a Historian). The Format of the book is really nice.
But I still think that it could have been delivered at a slightly lesser price.
And now a review of Amazon.com, GOOD WAY TO DROP THE BALL ON THIS ONE!
YOU LISTED THIS BOOK AS A PRE-ORDER, & NOW IT'S "THIS TITLE IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE"! WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP. This book is very hard to find. Luckily I was able to find it at a comic book store. But I think that Amazon should have enough clout to have been able to snag a few of these books. Not sure what happened but I'm sure I'm not the only one to get crapped on by Amazon's inaction on this one.
. To sum it up, Great Book, Little pricey, & get it together Amazon.

This is a beautifully-illustrated, wonderfully-reprinted collection of some fun old comics with art by Neal Adams. Be warned, though, this edition does NOT contain any of the classic O'Neil/Adams Batman stories. Those start with Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2.
A fun book nonetheless, but not exactly what I thought I was buying.

Like other comic book collectors, we could never afford the original comics in the condition we would like when these stories first came out. So this hardback, which reprints of Neal's first work with DC, is a fine alternative. All but two stories are by Bob Haney, Neal's partner when he first joined DC. Some may be a little dated, but the best ones are still a joy to read. My favorite story in this era is "Punish Not My Evil Son". I am fortunate to own the original issue of Brave and the Bold where this first appeared. I read this story over and over again. It was because of my familiarity with the story that I noticed that the editor of this hardback edition changed one line of dialogue. Now this being a reprint, it should be an ACCURATE reprint. This was the 1960's and yes, there are examples of sexism and sometimes racisism in the comics. So when I read this story again, I immediately noticed they changed one line of dialogue. In the original issue Wonder Girl makes a statement to Robin. This statement is answered by Speedy in the following manner. "Score one for the pretty young thing with the big blue eyes." Sure this dialogue is a little sexist, but it was the way things were written in the 60's. So when they reprinted this story, it now reads "Score one for Wonder Girl." Sure a minor change, but a change nonetheless. So which makes me wonder if there are OTHER changes here. I do not own all of the originals reprinted here so there is now way for me to check. If any other readers out there have noticed any changes, please respond to my review as I would like to know about it. Now this aside, the new coloring looks great. Nice and vibrant. Such a huge departure from the old style of coloring. I know my other readers here did not like it, but I think it looks great. I realize that Bob Haney's stories are sadly over looked as compared to Denny O'Neil. But do not sell this guy short. Haney was a master and I'm sure that with out Bob Haney, Adam's wouldn't have had such a marvelous start with DC. So if you love Neal Adams, you will most definitely enjoy this book, save for that one change of dialogue.

The color is awesome. Neal Adams art is at his best. Great co-starts in this volume. And I love those crazy weird 60's stories. For example, Batman drops an atom bomb on Superman as a joke, more or less... and Jimmy Olsen and Robin are shown laughing on the next island over, in the shadow of a mushroom cloud. Heh. Da good old days.

I ponied up a nice chunk of change for this hardcover sight-unseen, thinking "It's Adams! How could I go wrong?"

Well, there are a couple of big problems.

First, a lot of space is devoted to covers that Neal rendered. It was a common tactic at DC to have Adams do a cover for a book whose story was illustrated by an inferior artists. They generally promise a story with far more gravity than what's actually presented inisde. An extra story or two could have easily been squeezed into that space.

Second--and most disappointing--is that Dick Giordano inks most of Adams' illustrations, and his thick-stroked style does not merge gracefully with Adams' organic and graceful contours. The end result is that instead of enhancing Adams' pencilwork, he often just drew right over it. Thus, a great deal of the illustrations here don't resemble what fans have come to recognize as Neal Adams' handywork.