 |
| © DC Comics. Splash Page to 'Tec #416. |
Neal Adams is justly celebrated as pre-eminent comics penciller and inker of his generation, but his talent as a colourist is often overlooked. The power of a colourist to set and change the mood of a comic story is not generally recognised ; there are some great talents today (Jacob Philips’ exemplary work on That Texas Blood comes immediately to mind, as does Greg Smallwood’s current work on The Human Target mini-series) whose colouring skills raise the quality of the underlying pencils to new heights.
But back in the Bronze Age, the colourist was often not credited. And that was the case with Detective Comics #416, Man-Bat Madness, written and drawn by Frank Robbins, and coloured by Neal Adams.
Adams and Robbins had jointly created Man-Bat with editor Julie Schwartz , and until this point Adams had pencilled each story in Detective Comics featuring Batman’s misunderstood foe. When Frank Robbins wanted to pencil his new Man-Bat story, Adams volunteered to color the issue.
The was to be the last time that Neal Adams worked on Detective Comics in any capacity until 2014, and for my money, is the best, most evocative coloring job on a Batman story in the Bronze Age. As far as I’m aware, it is the only time Adams is credited as coloring another artist’s work in the Bronze Age. I absolutely love the color scheme - greens and yellows and grays with splashes of red - which really add to the eerie vibe of the story.
 |
| © DC Comics. |
I remember being shocked and dismayed to open Detective Comics #416 in 1971 and saw artwork that I then considered a mess, so far removed from the lithe athleticism of Adams’ own pencils. The subsequent letters page in Detective Comics #420 commenting on this issue pretty much split 50/50 for and against Frank Robbins’ artwork, and the editorial response to one letter pointed out that Adams had colored the issue. At the time, I sided with those deploring Robbins’s style, but now I see it as so revolutionary, Robbins’ pencils and inks so full of life and dynamism, and understand how the colour choices added so much to the mood of the comic image.
 |
| © DC Comics |
I think the page above is my favourite image. This page of Batman pursuing Man-Bat on the Gotham subway is a prime example. Batman highlighted in the yellow glow of the subway car is particularly striking.
Robbins went on to draw four more issues of Detective Comics in the Bronze Age, plus one more unpublished Batman story - a drugs issue - but the coloring never again reached the heights of Detective #416.
© Ian Baker
Didn't Adams do colour guides for his own strips for colourists to follow, B? I'm sure I've seen one or two of them in various places over the years. True, not the same thing as colouring another artist's work, but it shows that colouring was important to him. These pages you show look great.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them, Kid. Yes, Adams did do colour guides for his own work, and I've seen a few for sale on the web from time to time. Looking back at his early work in Brave & Bold's and Strange Adventures, I can't fail to think that he coloured them himself. I think the use of yellow and orange for reflected light, or greys and purples for areas in shade seems to be consistent across his early work, and is perhaps his "tell". His first wife Cory was a colourist, and I wonder if she participated in colouring his later work at DC and/or Marvel when he provided colour guides.
DeleteGlad you were able to secure a copy of 'Tec 416...I think you'll enjoy it.
In fact, I liked the look of them so much that I've just bought the issue on eBay. I might've had this comic at the time, but won't know for sure 'til it's safely in my hands.
ReplyDeleteI remember getting this comic at the time and I thought they had printed the rough layout art in error as it looked so awful. Now Im a big fan of Robbins art and his pacing of the story etc. It wasn't until he drew the Invaders at Marvel that I started to appreciate his style ( although I liked his Shadow work at DC). So glad I held onto most of my Robbins drawn Detective comics.( Just need issue 421). I wasn't aware Adams co!I used this comic although I knew he was a big fan of Robbins.
ReplyDeleteI think I tolerated (rather than liked) Robbins' art style on The Shadow (again - I wanted more Mike Kaluta), but it was only when Robbins took over the art chores on Captain America around issue #182 in late 1974 that I really acquired a taste for his work. I think if I'd been aware of the work of his major influence Milt Caniff, I'd had appreciated his work earlier.
DeleteGo and get that Detective issue #421! It's a brilliant story, and I love the splash page.
No worries about the typo, McScotty...I peered at it with bleary eyes on my iPhone this morning before twigging to what you meant. I spend half my time correcting my iPhone/Macbook to override the US spellings on this blog, to try to be consistent for UK readers, but looking back I see I did a mix of colour/color in this past blog anyway.
Last line was meant to read " I wasn't aware Adams coloured this comic... " sorry.
ReplyDelete