At Wizard World Reno Comic Con, PopCultHQ got the opportunity to sit down with one of the legends in the comic business, Neal Adams, to discuss some upcoming plans and projects he has in the works. With a slew of iconic and notable covers, plus his being a part of the revamping of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series in the 70’s, Neal is still going strong to this day. Considered to be one of the greatest comic artists of all time, his legacy will never be forgotten.
Owner and EIC of PopCultHQ did an article as well. This article focuses primarily on his current work and future projects. Read more to hear about Neal’s own story he created entitled Superman: Coming of the Supermen, a never before created moving 3-d lenticular TPB with Dark Horse, and a set of 26 variant covers Neal has done for DC Comics.
Note: One of the 26 covers has still yet to be revealed by DC Comics. Take a look at the bottom off the page and see if you can determine which book will be featured (I’m guessing Harley Quinn).
PopCultHQ: Thanks for seeing me. So these new 25 tribute covers that are coming out with you recreate your famous works.
Neal Adams: “I’m doing 26 of them.”
PopCultHQ: 26? Okay.
Neal Adams: “They’re done by some comic artist. I’ve never heard of him.”
PopCultHQ: Oh really? Nice.
Neal Adams:” Yeah, some asshole. He doesn’t care at all. He’s arrogant and apparently there is no satisfying this total asshole.”
PopCultHQ: So how were you approached by DC Comics to recreate these covers?
Neal Adams: “Wanna do 26 comics books?“
PopCultHQ: Okay, that’s pretty cut-and-dry.
Neal Adams: “That’s pretty much how the comics business is.”
PopCulthq; Just straight out…
Neal Adams: “Yeah, what the hell. There’s some right there (pointing to his selling table)”
PopCulthq: Yeah, I got to look at them on your website. That’s where I saw them.
Neal Adams: “And DC Comics website.”
PopCultHQ: Is it already?
Neal Adams: “Yeah, yeah.”
PopCultHQ: I’ll definitely check that out. You have a project coming on that you are working on creating… Superman: War of the Supermen. My boss Manny feels the New Gods will be all up in it.
Neal Adams: “They totally are. No, absolutely. All I care about is playing with Jack Kirby’s characters. I’m not changing them. I may be drawing them a little better but I’m more of a draftsman that Jack Kirby was but that doesn’t make it any better. That just makes them a little better drawn but I think that I’m not changing it. The costumes are the same but of course Jack changed them as he went along a little bit, but essentially I’m not trying to reinvent them, I’m not trying to make them different, I’m not giving them new powers or anything like that, just new Jack Kirby’s characters.”
PopCultHQ: I think that’s a good thing.
Neal Adams: “Yeah, I think so.”
PopCultHQ: What can you tell me about the project? What does the story involve?
Neal Adams: “People have theories about things: planets, where mankind came from and all of. that One of those theories is that’s there’s a planet on the other side of the sun called Nuburu. It’s sort of a twin planet to Earth, maybe a little bigger, but we can’t see it because it is on the other side of the sun. So Superman, in this story, decided he would land and populate this planet with people essentially from the bottle city of Candor, Kryptonians. And so he landed them there. Unfortunately, the dark side of the apocalypse decide they want to land there and take it over. Unfortunately, the Supermen (Kryptonians) are stronger than them, but being that apocalyptians are kind of assholes, and they are to do things and just because they are rotten and jerky, they actually do work at making a new Krypton. So the denizens of New Krypton feel that maybe Superman can help them out. So they send three Supermen to take his place so he can come and help the planet. So that’s sort of the basis for the story. Really big surprise at the end. Really big surprise.”
PopCultHQ: Okay, we’ll be looking out for it for sure. I can’t wait. And that’s February that’s coming out?
Neal Adams: “February/March”
PopCultHQ: Do you have any other upcoming projects.
Neal Adams: “I have a thing at Dark Horse called Blood, in which it’s a collected group of segments in a graphic novel. The cover of which will be a fully-animated, first-ever, never existed before moving 3-D cover. Using lenticular technology, but nobody has used lenticular technology to fully animate something. That’s what’s happening. Never been done before.”
PopCultHQ: Do you see this as a possible trend for the future? Is this possible of how are comics going to the next level?
Neal Adams: “No, this is me just doing something new. As usual. It’s what I do.”
PopCultHQ: Setting the bar! Right on. Well thank you Neal. I don’t to take up too much of your time. It was a pleasure to meet you.
Neal Adams: “Pleasure to meet you too.”
The variant covers below are scheduled for a February release. For more on Neal’s new series Blood, check out the info at Dark Horse’s page. It is scheduled for an April 6th release and can be pre-order for $14.99 straight from Dark Horse themselves.
Who knows which these covers are a tribute to? Leave your answers in the comment section below.
You can visit Neal’s website , follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook.
