“R.I.P. Neal Adams, one of the first and great stylists to push USA comics to a new level.” -- Guillermo del Toro

"Neal Adams is gone. He was the reason I drew Batman in every school exercise book. He reinvented the look of comics pages and characters, made me care about comics at the point where I didn’t care any more, and I wish I’d been lucky enough to write a story he drew." -- Neil Gaiman
“Neal Adams was an amazing illustrator, he changed comics. (...) When I was a kid, I idolized the work of Neal Adams. (...) He was a master at every facet of art—his range of expressions, the dramatic use of light and shadows, the seemingly facile command of anatomy, and of course, the trademark finger-pointed-in-your-face foreshortening was all just unbelievably next level." -- Jim Lee
"The world just lost an amazing artist, a brilliant storyteller, a wild creative force of nature. [Neal Adams was] a man who forever changed the comics medium and the culture of entertainment. His impact was beyond seismic; it also changed the course of my very existence." -- Bill Sienkiewicz

Neal Adams, one of the true living legends of comics art, died a week ago. I am very glad I got to express my admiration for his work last June, before he passed away. Too many of the greats sort of muddle through in obscurity in their later years without much attention from the fans they gave so much to. Thankfully, Neal was basically a rock star right up until his demise. He influenced everyone from Mike Grell to Howard Chaykin to Pat Broderick to John Byrne to Larry Hama to Bill Sienkiewicz to Frank Miller to Butch Guice to Todd McFarlane to Jim Lee...and on and on and on.

For those wanting a closer look at Mr. Adams' career, I suggest you check out my tribute post from 2021.

This post will look at Adams' sword-and-sorcery/heroic fantasy legacy. I have other posts on his Conan and Tarzan work planned for the future. A more general post on his heroic fantasy work seemed to fit this occasion better.

Neal was a long-time fan of such things. He grew up admiring the work of a guy named Frank Frazetta. The two men--both native New Yorkers and both artistic revolutionaries--would later become friends.

A rare Adams illo with a Barsoomian/John Carter setting.

Some of Neal's earliest work--like the Theseus illo he did for Eerie magazine back in 1967--had a heroic fantasy bent. Within a few years, he was painting covers and crafting interior art for Marvel's Conan the Barbarian, The Savage Sword of Conan and Savage Tales. All the while, he was doing barbaric art in other venues. To each of them, Adams brought a ferocity, dynamism and grimness not often seen then or now. The protagonists of those artworks exuded an attitude expressed by another New Yorker, Mike Tyson. Iron Mike said he went into every fight with "bad intention". Whether it was Conan, Ironjaw, Tarzan or Ka-Zar, Neal's heroes intended to win.

The gallery below includes a smattering of Adams' Conan and Tarzan work because...why not? They are excellent examples of S&S/heroic fantasy art. That said, the vast majority of the illos are non-Conan/Tarzan. We'll dig deeper into the other stuff in future posts.

I'll let Roy Thomas--who worked with Adams so much back when both men were just starting to build their respective legendary careers--finish this post with his comments on Neal:

"Neal was one of the handful of great comic book artists to come out of the 1960s… or, it could well be argued, out of any decade. (...) Realism, romanticism, dynamic… Neal had a full quiver, that never went empty of new arrows to amaze and astound us.
He’ll be missed, sure. How could he not be? He was, after all, a bit bigger than life, almost a force of nature. However, in another sense, it will be hard to miss him—because he’ll still be here, his artwork reprinted endlessly and deservedly, his influence radiating out directly and indirectly to affect new generations. He knew that, I believe, and so I cannot but believe that he went to his end a fulfilled man. None of us can ask for more out of life."

Adams’ rendition of Theseus and the Minotaur from a 1967 issue of Eerie.

‘The Battler’, from the 1970s.

The unused cover for Ballantine’s Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. It could easily be a Cimmerian versus an Acheronian cataphract.

Ka-zar from Savage Tales #6. Savage, indeed. Was this the first depiction of velociraptors in American comics?

Adams’ Zabu and Ka-zar, cropped out of another Savage Tales cover. I have zero doubt that work like this got Neal the job doing Tarzan covers for Ballantine just a year or two later.

A sketch for the Tarzan and the Lost Empire cover. Ballantine went with Boris. I’ll take this. This could easily be a Cimmerian getting ready to spear an Acheronian tribune.

The Ironjaw comic from Atlas had possibilities, but the writing—and interior art—was substandard. Cool cover from Neal, though.

I’ve always loved this cover. It’s just bad-ass…and Neal always knew how to bring the bad-assedness. Looking at this pic, you can legitimately think that Ironjaw has a chance against the bear.

Great Conan illo from the ‘70s. Menace galore. Adams even threw in his version of Barry Windsor-Smith’s horned helm from the early days of Conan the Barbarian.