Customer Reviews

The Deadman Collection

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a gorgeous volume, beautifully reproduced on hard stock paper, and it definitely belongs in the library of all comic book fans. Seeing Neal Adams' work reproduced with high quality printing is a real treat -- it's as if we'd only ever seen the art through a dirty window. If there's one problem, it's that the newly inked version of the second story which Adams did especially for this book makes one wish he had done the same to all of his art. For those unfamiliar with "Deadman," it's a classic revenge story with a supernatural angle: acrobat Boston Brand is murdered by person or persons unknown to him; he's allowed to come back from the dead to track down his own killer. But there's a catch: Brand is a spirit, and has to take over the bodies of living people in order to pursue his quest; the people he possesses have no memory of what happens while they're possessed. Created by Arnold Drake in 1967, the stories (by several writers) are solid and hold up well, and are given their real power by Adams' incredible art. The drawings crackle with energy and emotion, sometimes literally breaking out of the panels. Adams set new standards for comic book art and story telling when he did this work, and it's easy to see how he influenced the next generation of artists. DC Comics is to be highly commended for putting together such an outstanding volume.

The Deadman Collection is a beautiful high quality format that is appropriate for these wonderfull examples of comic book art. Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams, Robert Kanigher, Bob Haney and George Tuska, these are the iconic names of the silver age of comics. They combined to make the creation of Arnold Drake's Deadman a high point in the history of DC. A slip covered hard bound that looks wonderful on the shelf next to the Legion Archives and Marvel Masterworks, I can recommended it strongly to anyone interested in the adventure comic genre. My only critisism is that the story from Strange Adventures #206 was re-inked by Neal Adams. George Roussos' orginal inks apparently were a dissappointment to Adams. The new inks look much too different from the other contempory Deadman stories and somehow slightly taints the flavor of the series for me. However this is a small thing and does little to diminish the importance of this book to me nor my delight at reading these stories again after so many years.

If your a fan of Neal Adams art then this is a must get. Yes it is quite expensive, but its worth it. The series retains it original colors (wich were remastered when given it's first reprint in the early 80's)only one story is completely redrawn (and recolored?) by Mr. Adams himself and I have to say that it looks really well done. The rest however is untouched and looks even better now then it ever had when it first came out in the sixties. other artists are also on display here as well like Carmine Infantino (the first deadman story), George Tuska (Challengers of the Unknown story) and an uncredited Jim Aparo (Aquaman backup stories). The latter Two stories just mention shows more work by Neal Adams and are reprinted for the first time in this collection; deadman related of course. Great writing and great artwork this is propably the finest collection on Neal Adams work ever printed.

Don't be fooled by the description of the newly "inked" story in the other reviews. Neal Adams has completely redrawn and RE-COLORED (using a jarring computer coloring style) the first of his stories in this volume. It destroys the narrative flow completely. The revised version looks like one of his bad Conitinuity titles from the 80's. Remember those? Yeah--his art wasn't in top form then, was it? And remember the bad coloring on those books? That's exactly what he did to the story in this hardcover. It doesn't fit into the rest of the book and drags the whole thing down with it. For a fancy archival edition, DC really messed up here by letting Adams tinker with his own work.

As bad as Lucas tinkered with the original Star Wars trilogy, this is worse. It's as inappropriate as if Lucas had not only added bad CGI, but also replaced all of the actors, altered the camera angles, and changed the colors of every costume. That's, in essence, what Neal Adams has done to his own work. I recommend 90% of this book. But the other 10% really ruins the whole package.

I love the package of this Hardcover collection. Great way to get your hands on the early Deadman stories. If you are a Deadman fan this is a must.
This would have been a 5 star review but the newly inked story really takes away from the flow of the stories (kind of like Captain America 112 in the middle of Steranko's run).

"Deadman" ushered in a new age in comics, initiated by Carmine Infantino but ultimately solidified by Neal Adams. The big change was a comics character that wasn't a crime fighter battling supervillains, but a high-wire aerialist who seeks his killer.

Every issue showed him aiding innocent victims from evil people that exploit them. There was even an episode about illegal aliens being transported across the border and planned for extermination.

If there are any negatives to this series it was:
1) The re-inking of the 3rd episode is too busy to the point of distraction and actually spoils the story for me.
2) The climax of the tale still looks sloppy. First there's one killer, then the killer has another killer after him, and Deadman chases both, and it never really reaches a satisfying conclusion. The person that really needs to get waxed doesn't, and it's even messier than it reads right here. Terrible conclusion, just disappointing.

These comics haunted me when I first read them in the Sixties and to this day they still do. Deadman pretty much made Neal Adams a star. Not bad for a ten-page feature in "Strange Adventures".