Editing Neal Adams (section)

===Silver Age splash===
[[File:Strangeadventures207.jpg|thumb|''[[Strange Adventures]]'' #207 (Dec. 1967): One of Adams' earliest [[DC Comics]] covers, and his first for his signature character [[Deadman (DC Comics)|Deadman]], already shows a mature style and a design innovation for the time. It won the 1967 [[Alley Award]] for Best Cover.]]
Turning to comic books, Adams found work at [[Warren Publishing]]'s black-and-white [[horror fiction|horror]]-comics magazines, under editor [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodwin]].<ref name=ra>Arndt, Richard J. [http://www.vogworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines.htm "The Warren Magazines"] (2005 version with five interviews). Accessed October 11, 2009. Link updated November 16, 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717230137/http://www.vogworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines.htm WebCite archive].</ref> Adams debuted there as [[penciler]] and [[inker]] of writer Goodwin's eight-page story "Curse of the Vampire" in ''[[Creepy (magazine)|Creepy]]'' #14 (April 1967). He and Goodwin quickly collaborated on two more stories, "Fair Exchange" in ''[[Eerie (magazine)|Eerie]]'' #9 (May 1967) and "The Terror Beyond Time" in ''Creepy'' #15 (June 1967), and Adams reapproached [[DC Comics]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Roach |editor-first1=David A. |editor-last2=Cooke |editor-first2=Jon B. |date=2001 |title=The Warren Companion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ofd-XudNAcC&pg=PA218 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |page=218 |isbn=1-893905-08-X}}</ref>

With DC [[war comics]] stalwart [[Joe Kubert]] now concentrating on the comic strip ''The Green Berets'', Adams, despite his opposition to then-current U.S. military involvement in Vietnam,<ref name=cb2 /> saw an opening:

{{blockquote|I really didn't like most of the comics [at DC] but I did like war comics, ... so I thought, 'You know, now that Joe is not working there, they've got [[Russ Heath]] and they are plugging other people in where Joe used to be. Maybe I could kind of shift into a Joe Kubert kind of thing and do some war comics, and kind of bash them out [quickly]'. ... So I went over to see [DC war-comics editor] [[Robert Kanigher|Bob Kanigher]] and I showed him my stuff, and I did have that feeling that they were missing Joe – a guy who could draw and do that rough, action stuff. So he gave me some work".<ref name=cb2 />}}

Adams made his DC debut as penciler-inker of the {{frac|8|1|2}}-page story "It's My Turn to Die", written by [[Howard Liss]], in the anthology series ''[[Our Army at War]]'' #182 (July 1967). He did a smattering of additional horror and war stories, respectively, for the two publishers, and then, after being turned down by DC's [[Batman]] editor [[Julius Schwartz]], approached fellow DC editor [[Murray Boltinoff]] in the hopes of drawing for Boltinoff's Batman team-up title ''[[The Brave and the Bold]]''.<ref name=cb2 /> Boltinoff instead assigned him to ''[[The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis|The Adventures of Jerry Lewis]]'' #101 (July–August 1967) and its full-length story "Jerry the Asto-Nut", written by [[Arnold Drake]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=McAvennie|editor-first1=Michael|editor-last2=Dolan|editor-first2=Hannah|chapter= 1960s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page= 124 |quote = Adams commandeered his first DC work as a penciler/inker with 'It's My Turn to Die' a nine-page back-up tale written by Howard Liss for ''Our Army at War'' #182 in July [1967] ... The following month, ''The Adventures of Jerry Lewis'' #101 perfectly illustrated how Adams was equally adept at delivering the art of laughter.  In his first full-length story for DC, he provided writer Arnold Drake's space odyssey 'Jerry the Astro-Nut' with a photo-realistic flare not seen in comics.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url= http://cbgxtra.com/columnists/craig-shutt-ask-mr-silver-age/neal-adams-and-jerry-lewis |title= Neal Adams and Jerry Lewis|first= Craig|last= Shutt|author-link= Craig Shutt|date= July 3, 2005|magazine= [[Comics Buyer's Guide]] |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130208011551/http://cbgxtra.com/columnists/craig-shutt-ask-mr-silver-age/neal-adams-and-jerry-lewis |archive-date= February 8, 2013|url-status=live|access-date= January 11, 2012|quote= Adams took over Jerry's art (and covers) with #101.}}</ref> It became the first of a slew of stories and covers Adams would draw for that series and ''[[The Adventures of Bob Hope]]'', two licensed titles starring fictional versions of the TV, film and nightclub comedians.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Eury |editor-first=Michael |date=2006 |title=The Krypton Companion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fcm4JrX-F54C&pg=PA99 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |page=99 |isbn=1-893905-61-6}}</ref>

During this period near the end of the industry revival historians call the [[Silver Age of comic books]], Adams was soon assigned his first [[superhero]] covers, illustrating that of the [[Superman]] flagship ''[[Action Comics]]'' #356 (Nov. 1967) and the same month's ''[[Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane]]'' #79 (Nov. 1967), featuring Superman and a mysterious new costumed character, Titanman. Also that month, Adams drew his first superhero story, teaming with writer [[Gardner Fox]] on the lighthearted backup feature "The [[Elongated Man]]" in ''[[Detective Comics]]'' #369 (November 1967), the flagship Batman title. Shortly afterward, he drew Batman himself, along with the supernatural superhero the [[Spectre (comics)|Spectre]], on the cover of ''The Brave and the Bold'' #75 (Jan. 1968) – the first published instance of Adams' work on what would become two of his signature comics characters.  The first instance of Adams drawing Batman in an interior story was "The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads" in ''[[World's Finest Comics]]'' #175 (May 1968).<ref>McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 129: "1968 was the year when Neal Adams and Batman's fates became forever intertwined ... Adams tackled his first interior with Batman on Leo Dorfman's script for 'The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads' story in ''World's Finest Comics'' #175."</ref>

Another signature character, in what would prove Adams' breakout series, was the supernatural hero [[Deadman (DC Comics)|Deadman]], who had debuted in DC's ''[[Strange Adventures]]'' #205 (Nov. 1967). Adams succeeded co-creator artist [[Carmine Infantino]] with the following issue's 17-page story "An Eye for an Eye",<ref>McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 125: "In a story by scribe Arnold Drake and artist Carmine Infantino, circus aerialist Boston Brand learned there was much more to life after his death ... In addition, Neal Adams, the artist who succeeded Infantino with the second issue, would soon become an industry legend."</ref> written by Arnold Drake, with [[George Roussos]] inking Adams' pencils. Adams went on to draw both the covers and stories for issues 207–216 (Dec. 1967 – Feb. 1969), and taking over the scripting with #212 (June 1968). The series became a fan sensation,<ref>{{cite book|last= Goulart|first= Ron|author-link= Ron Goulart|chapter= Adams, Neal (1941– )|title= Comic Book Encyclopedia|publisher= [[HarperCollins|Harper Entertainment]]|date= 2004|location= New York City|page= [https://archive.org/details/comicbookencyclo00goul/page/5 5]|isbn= 978-0-06-053816-3|chapter-url-access= registration|chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/comicbookencyclo00goul/page/5}}</ref> winning many awards and being almost immediately inducted into the [[Alley Award]] Hall of Fame, with Adams himself receiving a special award "for the new perspective and dynamic vibrance he has brought to the field of comic art".<ref name="Alley1969" />

Adams concurrently drew covers and stories for ''The Spectre'' #2–5 (Feb.-Aug. 1968), also writing the latter two issues, and became DC's primary cover artist well into the 1970s. Adams recalled that Infantino "was appointed art director, and decided I was going to be his spark plug. I also thought it was a good idea, and was promised a number of things which were never fulfilled. But I thought it would be an adventure anyway, so I knuckled down to things like 'Deadman', ''The Spectre'' and whatever odd things would come my way. I was also doing large amounts of covers".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Neal Adams Treasury|last=Adams|first=Neal|publisher=Pure Imagination|year=1976|volume=1|location=Detroit, MI|page=8|asin=B0006WZB2E}}</ref>

Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a ''[[Teen Titans]]'' story which had been written by then-newcomers [[Len Wein]] and [[Marv Wolfman]].  The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero but was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino.<ref>{{cite book| last = Cronin| first = Brian| title = Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed | publisher = [[Plume (publisher)|Plume]]| year = 2009| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SFgiXbVykSIC&q=Teen+Titans+Len+Wein+Marv+Wolfman+Joshua&pg=PT67| isbn = 9780452295322}}</ref> The revised story appeared in ''Teen Titans'' #20 (March–April 1969).<ref>{{cite journal|last = Evanier|first = Mark (moderator)|author-link = Mark Evanier|title = Spotlight on Nick Cardy: The 1998 San Diego ComiCon Panel Transcript|journal = [[Comic Book Artist]]|issue = 5|publisher = TwoMorrows Publishing|date = Summer 1999|location = Raleigh, North Carolina|url = http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/05cardy.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110514004444/http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/05cardy.html|archive-date = May 14, 2011|url-status=live|df = mdy-all}}</ref>

Adams' art style, honed in advertising and in the [[photorealistic]] school of dramatic-serial comics strips,<ref name=mendezphoto>Mendez, {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502003520/http://profmendez.tripod.com/html/photo2.htm |date=May 2, 2009 |title="The Rules of Attraction ... Introduction" }}. Archived from the [http://profmendez.tripod.com/html/photo2.htm original] July 9, 2007. Additional, July 16, 2009.</ref> marked a signal change from most comics art to that time. Comics writer and columnist [[Steven Grant]] wrote in 2009 that,

{{Blockquote|[[Jim Steranko]] at [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] and Neal Adams were the most prominent new artists of the late '60s to enter a field that had been relatively hostile to new artists ... and breaths of modernism, referencing advertising art and [[pop art]] as much as comics. Despite vastly different styles, both favored designs that drew on depth of focus and angularity that put the reader in the center of the action while slightly disorienting them to increase the tension, and placed special emphasis on lighting and body language as emotion cues. Not that these things were unknown in comics by any stretch, but publishers traditionally deemphasized them. As well, both were hugely influential on how a new generation of artists thought about what comics should look like, though Adams was arguably more influential; his approach was more visceral and, more importantly, he ran a studio in Manhattan <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Continuity Associates]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> where many young artists started their professional careers.<ref name=stevengrant>{{cite web|author-link=Steven Grant|last=Grant|first=Steven|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23316|title=Permanent Damage|website=[[Comic Book Resources]]|date=October 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018061918/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23316|archive-date=October 18, 2009|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}