Editing Neal Adams (section)

==Creators' rights==
{{Main|creator ownership}}

During the 1970s, Adams was politically active in the industry, and attempted to unionize its creative community. His efforts, along with precedents set by [[Atlas/Seaboard Comics]]' creator-friendly policies and other factors, 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. He won his battle in 1987, when Marvel returned original artwork to him and industry legend Jack Kirby, among others.<ref>{{cite journal|title= Marvel Returns Art to Kirby, Adams|journal= The Comics Journal|issue= 116|page= 15|publisher= Fantagraphics Books|date= July 1987|location= Seattle, Washington}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= Neal Adams Receives Art Without Signing Marvel's Short Form|journal= The Comics Journal|issue= 116|pages= 15–16|publisher= Fantagraphics Books|date= July 1987|location= Seattle, Washington}}</ref> Adams helped lead lobbying efforts that resulted in [[Superman]] creators [[Jerry Siegel]] and [[Joe Shuster]] receiving decades-overdue credit and financial remuneration.<ref name="TCJ263Dean">{{cite journal|last1=Dean |first1=Michael W. |title=An Extraordinarily Marketable Man: The Ongoing Struggle for Ownership of Superman and Superboy |journal=[[The Comics Journal]] |issue=263 |pages=13–17 [16] |date=October 14, 2004 |url=http://www.tcj.com/263/n_marketable.html |access-date=January 14, 2012 |volume=49 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201110153/http://www.tcj.com/263/n_marketable.html |archive-date=December 1, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Inker [[Bob McLeod (comics)|Bob McLeod]] recalled in the 2000s the unique place Adams held in the industry when McLeod entered the comics industry in 1973:

{{blockquote|[[Pat Broderick|Pat [Broderick]]] told me I really ought to meet Neal Adams, whom he had met at DC. ... At that time, Neal held a position of respect in the industry that no one in comics since then has achieved. He was the single most respected artist in the business. ... Neal looked at one of my samples and asked me what kind of work I was looking for. I said, "Anything that pays." (By that time, I was down to my last $10. ... ) He just picked up the phone and called the production manager at Marvel and said, "I've got a guy here who has some potential as, well, some potential as an artist, but I think he has a lot of potential as a letterer." I was immediately hired at Marvel in the production department on Neal's recommendation, and they still didn't even want to see my portfolio. If I was good enough for Neal, I was good enough for them.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bobmcleod.com/start.html|title= untitled|first= Bob|last= McLeod|author-link= Bob McLeod (comics)|date= n.d.|publisher= BobMcLeod.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071231075140/http://www.bobmcleod.com/start.html|archive-date= December 31, 2007|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

In 1978, Adams helped form the '''Comics Creators Guild''', which over three dozen comic-book writers and artists joined.<!--Follow laundry list is suitable for Comics Creators Guild article if it's ever written: members of which included Adams, [[Terry Austin (comics)|Terry Austin]], [[Mike W. Barr]], [[Cary Bates]], [[Rick Bryant]], [[Michael Catron]], [[Howard Chaykin]], [[Chris Claremont]], [[Tony DeZuniga]], [[Steve Ditko]], [[Peter B. Gillis]], [[Michael Golden (comics)|Michael Golden]], [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodwin]], [[Klaus Janson]], [[Joe Jusko]], [[Alan Kupperberg]], [[Paul Levitz]], [[Rick Marschall]], [[Roger McKenzie (comics)|Roger McKenzie]], [[Bob McLeod (comics)|Bob McLeod]], [[Frank Miller (comics)|Frank Miller]], [[Michael Netzer]] (Nasser), [[Martin Pasko]], [[Carl Potts]], [[Ralph Reese]], [[Marshall Rogers]], [[Josef Rubinstein]], [[Jim Salicrup]], [[James Sherman (comics)|James Sherman]], [[Jim Shooter]], [[Walt Simonson]], [[Roger Slifer]], [[Jim Starlin]], [[Greg Theakston]], [[Len Wein]], [[Alan Weiss]], [[Bob Wiacek]], and [[Marv Wolfman]].--><ref>{{cite journal|last= Groth|first= Gary|author-link= Gary Groth|title= Birth of the Guild: May 7, 1978|journal= The Comics Journal|issue= 42 |pages= 21–28|publisher= Fantagraphics Books|date= October 1978}}</ref>

Also during the 1970s, Adams illustrated paperback novels in the ''[[Tarzan]]'' series for [[Ballantine Books]].<ref>{{cite web|title = Interview with Neal Adams|publisher = Tarzan.cc|date = May 28, 2005|url = http://users.aristotle.net/~skyman/tarzan.cc/int-nealadams.html|access-date = January 14, 2012|archive-url = https://archive.today/20070518141016/http://users.aristotle.net/~skyman/tarzan.cc/int-nealadams.html|archive-date = May 18, 2007|url-status=dead|df = mdy-all}}</ref> With the [[independent-comic publishing boom]] of the early 1980s, he began working for [[Pacific Comics]] (where he produced the poorly received ''[[Skateman]]'')<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.toonopedia.com/skateman.htm|title= Skateman|first= Don|last= Markstein|year= 2009|publisher= [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]|archive-url= https://archive.today/20140602213828/http://www.toonopedia.com/skateman.htm|archive-date= June 2, 2014|url-status=live|quote= In Skateman, Adams created what is one [of] the least-acclaimed heroes of all time.}}</ref> and other publishers, and founded his own [[Continuity Comics]] as an offshoot of Continuity Associates. His comic-book company's characters include [[Megalith (comics)|Megalith]], [[Bucky O'Hare]], Skeleton Warriors, CyberRad, and [[Ms. Mystic]]. He and fellow artist [[Michael Netzer]] entered into a dispute over intellectual property rights to Ms. Mystic, a character they had worked on jointly in 1977, which Adams had published under the Pacific Comics and Continuity Comics imprints, leading to a lawsuit against Adams in [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|United States District Court]] in 1993.<ref name=CJ1>{{cite journal |date= October 1993 |title=Adams Sued for $20 Million in Libel/Trademark Suit|journal= The Comics Journal|issue= 162 |pages=7–11 |publisher= Fantagraphics Books|location= Seattle, Washington|url=http://www.tcj.com/archive-viewer-issue-162/?pid=16307 |access-date= January 14, 2012}}</ref> The case was dismissed in 1997, citing the [[statute of limitations]].<ref name ="963 F. Supp. 1308">{{cite court|litigants = Netzer v. Continuity Graphic Associates, Inc. |vol = |reporter = 963 F. Supp. 1308 |opinion =  |pinpoint = |court = Dist. Court, SD New York|date = 1997|url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6766083424571867676&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr}}</ref>