Neal Adams Named New Guest of Honor at NYCC
Celebrated artist Neal Adams will be a Guest of Honor at New York Comic Con (NYCC) this year where he will be available to thousands of fans who are eager to meet the legendary artist. Adams is best known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman and Green Lantern among others. In addition to his Guest of Honor appearance, Neal Adams has also created the official artwork for New York Comic Con 2009 which will be highlighted in a unique poster featuring several heroes from DC’s Green Lantern Corps. The Green Lantern series was a breakout hit for DC last year with the "Sinestro War" storyline, and the Blackest Night storyline looks to be another huge success.
New York Comic Con is the second largest popular culture event in the United States and will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, February 6 – 8, 2009. Neal Adams will appear on panels as well as participate in autograph sessions throughout the weekend.
“Neal Adams is one of the fundamental forces of comics: he’s helped reshape the visual vocabulary of the field with his illustrative style, improved its business practices as a leading champion of artistic rights, and godfathered an entire generation of new talent as they entered our field,” said Paul Levitz, President and Publisher of DC Comics, “Comics wouldn’t have been the same without him, and he continues to focus on important new work to affect the future of the field.”
“I can’t begin to say how genuinely honored we are to have Neal Adams create this poster for New York Comic Con, to say nothing of having him appear at our show as a Guest of Honor!” notes Lance Fensterman, Show Manager for NYCC. “At the cusp of the 60’s, Neal and writer Denny O’Neil created some of the best loved comic stories featuring Green Lantern’s Hal Jordan, and the Green Arrow, as they tackled social issues of the day and set new standards with Neal’s photo-realistic artwork. The poster he has created is extraordinary and it allows us to stay at the forefront with original and innovative artwork for New York Comic Con. We are enormously grateful to Neal who has been a great supporter of our show from day one. This is a real collector’s item and a huge value for anyone who manages to ‘score’ one of these special posters.”
In commenting on the creation of the poster for New York Comic Con, Neal Adams notes: “Folks ask why I went all out on this poster for the NYCC? First, I’m a New Yorker, and this is my hometown. Secondly, I take tremendous pride in these characters. Especially, Hal Jordan and John Stewart.”
Convention officials note that copies of the Neal Adams poster are strictly limited and will be available only through the purchase of a VIP Package and through select giveaways on Fensterman’s blog, www.MediumAtLarge.net . More information about New York Comic Con as well as general ticket information and information about VIP Packages are available at www.nycomiccon.com.
NEAL ADAMS: Neal Adams’ comics career began in earnest as an assistant to Howard Nostrand on the comic strip Bat Masterson and an artist for Archie comic books. Neal co-created the comic strip Ben Casey based on the medical TV drama series in 1962 and this ran through 1965. In the mid 60s Adams came on board at DC where he did ground breaking work writing and drawing the feature "Deadman" in Strange Adventures, and then rapidly became the company’s premiere cover artist. In the early 70s, Adams and frequent writing collaborator Dennis O’Neil did a celebrated and controversial revamping of the longstanding DC characters Green Lantern and Green Arrow, teaming them in a long story arc in which the two undertook a social-commentary journey across America. Adams and O’Neil also created many of Batman’s most classic stories during this time, returning the caped crusader to his original dark night roots. Adams also did important work at Marvel Comics on the X-Men and Avengers.
Adams next formed Continuity Associates, a company that primarily created advertising art and storyboards. Continuity studio was a vital training ground for a new generation of comics talent. Also during the 70s, Adams was politically active in the industry and assisted in organizing and was Vice President of the Academy of comic book arts. (ACBA) His efforts helped lead to the modern industry’s standard practice of returning original artwork to the artist, who can earn additional income from art sales to collectors. Notably, in speaking about Neal Adams’ influence, Harlan Ellison once noted: "There are artists who come along who do wonderful work, innovative work, even stylistically seminal or germinal work, but they don’t change the face of the craft or the social conscience of the industry. Neal did that."
Adams has gone on to found his own comics publishing company and to build Continuity Studios into a bicoastal production and editorial house. He has returned to comics for select projects over the years, and is currently working on a new Batman series. For more information about Neal, go to www.NealAdams.com.
Love the ad. I 've never seen Adams draw any alien Green Lanterns before. Hes good.