Happy New Year!

Have you guys seen the Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett? I got it for Christmas and we've been watching it in a kind of marathon session of Batman pages and Sherlock Holmes. As much as I love the Peter Cushing episodes, there’s only a limited number of those shows available, and the Jeremy Brett ones seem to stick very closely to the original stories. What fun!

I just finished a New Cover for Batman #7. I'll try to post it here on Monday. It's very strong, and very revealing. Very, very revealing.

Well, I don't know how this stuff happens. But as much as I tried to keep it a secret where the “Blood” piece I put up is going to appear, “Bleeding Cool” got a hold of the information that it, (along with 7 other pages), is going to appear in the new Dark Horse anthology book, "Dark Horse Presents". Bleeding Cool says pages from Frank Miller’s “Xerxes” are also going to be in there, along with “Concrete”, and a bunch of other great stuff.

I can tell you this. I'm beginning to see color pages, and they are truly terrific. Not because I did it, but because of the coloring by Moose Baumann. I'm trying to think of how to show you guys some more of the story, but it's only 8 pages of the graphic novel, and each page is 1/8 of the job. I've got a full page of Lionel, the idiot savant, who’s had the living hell beat out of him, and it's really terrific.

Okay, here's a new piece of news. I've been asked to do the cover on issue #2. I suspect you can guess who's doing the cover for Issue #1. You’ve got to keep your eye on that Dark Horse.

On Batman Odyssey, pages are continuing to come in from Bill Sienkiewicz, and they are a treat. Other inkers? Stay tuned.

My son Joel and I, are working on a new webisode featuring Taco Bell's “Super Delicious Ingredient Force”. I'll tell you more about it on Monday.

Penciling Batman 12

Penciling Batman# 12 As usual, things are NOT what they seem. I don't know how he does it but Batman somehow keeps ahead of everyone, physically and mentally. I keep throwing stuff at him and he leaps ahead. When he acts like he's buying some cock and bull story from Talia, Ra's, Sensi,..BAM, he's got it knocked and we just shake our heads and watch him blast forward.
I even think he's running a scam on that interviewer, (The one with the Band-aid.) Oh, you haven't seen him yet? Sorry.
Who IS that guy?
Next cover is due. I'm trying to decide if we're/I'm going to show Batman's mount .

Yep, I gonna dood it.

BLOOD

BLOOD is coming.

There will be an 8 page preview. Well, hmmm, preview..? It's pretty nasty and in sequence for a Preview. We'll call it a teaser. Blood is a nasty guy. He's a cop, sure, but a very nasty piece of work. He will kill you. And he's not going to last. Likely he'll be dead before the titles. Too bad. They say he was a good cop.

Where will he show up.

Keep those antennae vibrating.

Since we're here talkin', Bill Sienkiewicz has been turning in inked pages... so, I sent him more. Imagine being me and watching my/your work take on a different flavor while still being 'your ' work.

Bill will be melding with me into the second half of the "Odyssey". Then... I don't know... other inkers... will be... um...

I have 5 penciled books ready to go. A few pages here and there? A whole book? A segment?

The story? Denser, and Batman will be going through... not hell... but very close to it. And I promise you, he will come out a changed man.

Geeks, out there? Hydrogen Power? Did you think H-Power cars would be MORE EXPENSIVE? Do you care?

Let's say you do. Not more expensive! Acquiring Hydrogen takes POWER. I know a company that puts scrap metal into a shallow pool. When iron oxidizes, (rusts), it throws off hydrogen Atoms. They siphon off the Hydrogen. Heh. How do you spell American Ingenuity?

What else is new? Later. Lots.
Neal

Guardian Project & Batman

Okay, you're right. But... I've been busy.
"Doing what?" you say.
heh heh.
Thirty covers of thirty new characters which represent all thirty teams of the National Hockey League. Is that cool or what?
can I show them to you? Ummmm.. Darn it, no. I'm sorry. As soon as I can, I will show you.
There's also a poster for the same project that I did that has all thirty characters on it a once. It was printed with the characters in shadow for a pre-publicity poster and given away at the NY Comic Con. Here it is.... with the shadow.

Batman
I've been working with Bill Sienkiewicz on the inking of book 6. Pretty interesting experience. What a talented guy.
Batman has been battered for 5 issues and has seemed to be in control. But, as we are finding out, "Control" is a matter of perspective, and opinion. Now, in issue #6, things go from surface difficult to very dense... and dark.
If you haven't read each and every issue, I suggest you catch up NOW.

Going to the New York Comic Con

No Big Apple show for me. All of our focus is on the New York Comic Con. Seems like the Big Apple show has gone back to the Penta Hotel, or the Pennsylvania Hotel, aka “the Pennsylvania 65000.” The big convention that was on the pier, which seemed like a big success to me, just didn’t washout. So it’s back to the Penta, where the focus seems to be on Hollywood and not so much comics. They’re having actors downstairs and fewer dealers upstairs. I don’t exactly know what the plan is, but the very next weekend is the New NY Comic-con. So, that’s where were going to be with bells on.

This year the Comic Con’s taking over the Javits Center 100%. Pre-tickets sales have more then doubled, but there’s a whole lot more room, and the focus is on comic books. Word to the wise: if you have extra money in the bank, and you don’t want to spend it all, hide it! You will be tempted to spend it, as there will be entertainment, and my newly published, The Art of Neal Adams book. Orders have been good and people seem to love it. They love it because of the design (the arts okay, but the design is killer!). It’s not an artsy-fartsy book, but rather it’s jammed full of wonderful images from cover to cover, and I say that in spite of it being my own stuff. My son, Jason, designed it and his marching orders were to make it fun. And boy is it fun. You can’t put this thing down. However, if that doesn’t strike your fancy we’ll also have the new Savage #2 sketchbook at the table as well.

Now here’s a new one: we won’t be selling just any copy of my Batman Odyssey…well be selling Issue#1, with an exclusive Batman sketch on the cover, in silver pen, and an autograph for $50.00! This started at Dragon Con, in Atlanta, when we had a few copies left and someone requested it. We’re making sure to bring as many extra copies as possible for the NY Comic-con, so be sure to check it out.

So, in conclusion: #1. Spend your money wisely. #2. Make sure you have it all with you by the time you get to our booth. And #3. Please have an amazing time at the NY Comic Con, at the Javits, October 8th-10th.

Neal

Oh, and one more thing, I’ll be doing sketches!

Adams' Books

This has been a very special convention season for us, here in the Adams family. All four of the Adams Men have received attention from fans and convention organizers. The San Diego Comic Con was the first to make all four guests of the show. For this occasion, we were sure to create a special item for collectors. The 4 Adams' book. This book consists of images of all 4 artists work. It has been a big hit at the cons. This came out just as Jason's book on sculpting was released. Jason Spyda Adams has been working in the fantasy statue, and toy market for almost 20 years now. This is his first book and it came out beautifully. Anyone interested in anatomy or sculpture, should pick this up. This is the second year for Joel having a book of his own. Last time it was his Lilz sketch book. This year, it is his pin up work taking center stage. Another first, is Joshes sketch book. Josh is the youngest and he started working in comics while still in college. His sketch book has great examples of his own directing in the comic world.

Comic Con 2010 - Part 2

This was the year of the Adams family, and though everybody knows us, never before has is been so clear to people that beside myself, there are three more, actually four more Adams's creating entertainment of the fans. The most important of all who only made it on the last few days was my daughter, Kris (Adams) Stone, who everybody knows and loves, who along with Marilyn represents Continuity on all creative ends, and who had the greatest time of all. She was seeing to it that our comic book properties are going to get to the comic book stores in the coming months. We will be making announcement as to all the work she has done in this area.

The next Adams is Joel who was there with his license characters Lilz. Joel has been a lead character designer for animated TV Shows like: The Hulk, Nascar Racers and King of the hill, doing style guides and more. Joel is putting his Lilz characters on skate boards, cups, t-shirts and anything else he can print on. Of course Joel will be working on a comic book project with his characters that you will be hearing about in the coming year. Joel's Lilz project is the favorite project in the Adams family, and as you see more of it I am sure you will love it as much as we do

The middle son, Jason, is the sculptor who's work you have seen on creepy crawlers, Biker Mice from Mars, and others and most recently on the Black and White running Batman based on an iconic drawing of mine. Hot on the heels of that, Jason has done the Manbat character that I created for DC comics. Jason will also have another book out soon on building Step by Step anatomy for sculptured figures.

Fast but not least, Josh Adams, who is creating TV presentations for the Scifi Chanel before he was out of high school as an intern. and later as a paid freelancer. is now a comic book artist doing an independent a 3 part story called Spit. The script is by Larry Hama.

All three Adams boys had a printed sketchbook of their work at the San Diego Comic Con, but the most popular item and yes you can get it on our website, is a Sketchbook that has work from all four of us. everybody seemed to love it. I guess people will be keeping track of the Adams boys for a long time.

Batman Odyssey 2 is out. Hope you guys are pre-ordering!

Comic Con 2010 - Part 1

If you missed the San Diego Comic Con this year, you really missed a good convention. Hollywood was there in force, but the comic book people don't hate them anymore anywhere near as much as they did last year. That doesn't mean that there isn't some residual resentment. There is, but there is this feeling now, that Hollywood is part of the mix, and it is not going away, so we might as well deal with it. I think next year, redistribution and better planning will set in, and the mix will rock together. Those folks aren't going away, and comic book folks sure aren't going away. The weird thing was, that business wise, that making a buck, was great on Wednesday night and Thursday, dwindled on Friday, was totally crap on Saturday, and it jumped back up on Sunday.

The Hollywood feeding frenzy however has changed it's tone. They are looking at everything, but they are no-longer making stupid deals and optioning everything in site. Hollywood is starting too get it. Even so, it's a great time for independents because, as you know, DC and Marvel are pulling in all of their properties to be done in house, and what's left for the rest of Hollywood is the independents. All this has happened over the last year, and so everything about the tone of the convention was different. For continuity of course, it was great. But of course, we will have to see how it washes out. Everybody at the convention has always treated us at continuity very well. For us it is like a family, but that will lead me to our next blog....

Book 1 of Batman Odyssey, is at your stores now. I did a signing at Mid-Town Comics today Saturday, a few hundred people came.

Most had more than one copy. Heck, most had more than three copies. We talked about all the clues and delayed fuses that were set in Book 1.

1. Who was the new Manbat? Clues are everywhere.
2. Why did Batman say, "We will face this Riddler?" Why did he phrase it that way?
3. Why has Batman chosen to go to the Piers, instead of the Mint? Was there something in Riddler's poem/riddle, that we didn't get?
4. Why does Batman say, that his story begins on his very first case?

These and other mysteries, will have to be cleared-up. But here's an interesting gag in the first book, that only one person on the signature line, picked-up on. If you flip the cover up and down to page one, you'll quickly see Batman's identity.

Now this one is between you, me, and the fencepost. Way back in the day, Ras Al Ghul greeted Batman in the Batcave, and revealed he knew Batman's secret identity, which apparently, he did. I would argue this. There's absolutely no way, that after all the hundreds of attempts, that even a brain like Ras Al Ghul, could figure-out Batman's secret identity. I just don't believe it. But let's take the high road, and assume he could figure it out. Would he also somehow, have the ability to figure-out how to get into the Batcave? When in fact, there woud be no reason to suspect that such a thing as a Batcave actually existed. I don't buy it for one minute, and yet, there he was, with Ubu, big as life, standing in the Batcave. Totally wrong. So how did he get there?

One more little question. Who is Bok?

Guys and Gals. This story lays down clues to what you're going to discover, like the first episode of "Lost". As you read the 12 issues of Batman Odyssey, you will see what I mean. Welcome to my adventure.

Does this count as a blog?

San Diego Comic-Con

Okay, two days before issue 1 of Batman Odyssey, Thursday July 8th, and I have to admit, I am a bit excited. From what's in Issue 1? Yes. But also, because I'm in the midst of drawing a battle between trolls and Deadman, and I know that before long, Batman will be joining the fray. The shadowy figures behind the plot are becoming just a little bit more distinct, and only I know who they are, and what's up.

Well a few more folks, but very few. And on Saturday, July 10th, between 2 and 4, I'll be signing books at Midtown Comics, on 40th St. and 7th Ave., and trying to avoid telling people all the secrets of the 12 issues. I know you guys are used to this, and it's no big woof for you. But it's been a couple of years for me, and I'm having a great time.

We'll try to announce stores that I'll be signing at, as we firm them up, and Cons that we'll be appearing in. But that's not the Big News.

THE BIG NEWS

The Big News is, most of the Adams Clan will be showing up in San Diego as guests of the convention. My 3 sons, Joel, Jason and Josh (with the 4 Adams' Sketchbook), my daughter Kris and Pete Stone, the beautiful Marilyn, and girlfriends, will all be there to do business, to sign sketchbooks, and yes, we will even be doing sketches.

Yep, we worked-out that "doing sketches stuff". So we'll all see you there. Bring your Batmans. If you don't have a good time, it won't be my fault. We will be having a GREAT time.

Neal

My First Blog

This is my first BLOG. I’ll try not to be too wordy, but there’s a lot to talk about. I’ll do bits and pieces.

1. The “OIL SPILL”.
(Oh, horrors. Not comics,…Sorry, it’s on my mind, for a good reason.)

Oil and water don’t mix. That’s the first thing to remember. So the spill can and will get cleaned up. Unfortunately for LIFE, things are not so good. That stuff that makes your head greasy will mix with oil. That stuff that stops ducks from sinking is OIL. So, we’ll lose a lot of life. Not you,…the duck.

Another fellow and I, are working on a system to help Shrimp Fishermen make back their losses. Some shrimp/other nets are a fine mesh. Drag them through oil pods, and the mesh will let oil and water through, but properly treated, the mesh will clog with oil as the water goes through. When enough oil is collected a second and third boat can siphon off the oil, and sell it back to BP.

Why will they buy it all corrupted like that?

They are responsible.

It’s time, in my opinion, that everyone takes responsibility for our environment. What that means is NOT sit back in frustration thinking, “What can I do? I’m just one, frustrated and helpless individual”.
Write a letter to BP. Maybe they won’t READ it. Maybe they’ll just weigh it, but maybe that’s enough! BE the straw that broke the camel’s back. Become informed. It will put a smile on your heart and BRAIN!

O-KAY! Comics. So Batman gets thrown off the T-REX! No, that was last issue.

Let’s see,….I just finished the preliminary Martial Arts battle between Batman and ………. And witnesses ‘think’ The Batman has won. Only two people know the truth.

Something else that’s NOT KNOWN is that Robin has entered the underworld, against Batman’s direct orders. (Who will pull the safety line now, if it’s needed?) This is not looking good.

Batman’s resolve to never use guns, and never to kill, has been tested and tested, again and again. THIS however, could be bloody and mortal war. Will Batman just walk away? What then of Talia? And Tat? Who? O-kay, it IS 12 issues, and covers a lot. Next blog, I’ll focus on the specific-next-to-be-published book.

MOTION COMICS. Will they ever make money?

NO!

Heh, heh,.. of course they will. COME ON! Take for example, Our/MARVELS X-Men. Joss Whedon’s and John Cassaday’s, “Gifted”. As time goes on, Marvel finds more and more venues for it. First it was the internet in it’s various and sundry. Now, the Video is being packaged with the Graphic Novel. (Which would YOU buy, the Graphic Novel, or the Graphic Novel with the Motion Comic?)

Another company is selling the Graphic Novel as a DVD, with other add-ons. (Vid interview with Joe Quesada and ‘Yours Truly’.)

What’s next?

iPod? Smart Phone? iPad? Laptop? Sure, all of them. Next? Cable sale? Sure. Many cable sales. T.V. special on cartoon network or others? Sure. Disney Channel? Of course.

Isn’t a Motion Comic the same as/ but different than, an animated film, if done well?

Like anything NEW, it has to be chewed and chewed-over until it WORKS. And as with anything, it BEGINS WITH QUALITY! There’s a lot of crappy motion comic “STUFF” out there, but like FILM, we just have to focus on QUALITY. Just like FILM. Poor quality HURTS US. Good quality HELPS us. OR,…Good quality makes money! Duh.