Golden’s run on Micronauts was ground breaking. It was just unlike anything in comics at the time. He also drew an issue of the first Star Wars run, that simply blew me away. I so wish marvel would release a digital remaster of the first 12 Micronauts issues. I’d love to see the artwork in its best version!
I had hoped that when Marvel and IDW (with the Hasbro license at the time) were making comics together, that we would see a rerelease of the old Micronauts.
Those "Golden age" Micronauts were the only thing touched by Bill Mantlo that I could actually enjoy. (Not sure if I had fully grown to despise him for what he did with Howard the Duc at that point already...)
@@M.E.plusminus no, i want a copy for my iPad- digital scans of the original line work, with new colors. I have the originals, in duotone, but to see MG’s original art, scanned digitally? That would be a treat!
I lucked into finding a copy of his Gumby Summer Special a couple years ago for $10 and enjoyed it immensely. It had a very Calvin & Hobbes-esque sensibility.
@@jonothanthrace1530 Oh, btw, the Winter Special by Steve Purcell/Art Adams is just about it's equal. The following miniseries by Burden and Rick Geary was pretty good too.
Adams did two Gumby one-shots. He did a Summer Fun Special, and a Winter Fun Special. Both of them are the greatest comic ever printed in this reality.
Arthur Adams' work is some of my earliest introduction to X-Men and comics, his iconic group shot of the whole team was a poster in my room for years and years. The story of the X-men and New Mutants in Asgard is pivotal in my love of comics, especially the What If tie-in issue he also drew for it.
What a treat! I picked up Longshot when it came out and fell in love with Adams’ art. I never realized that was his first work on full issues! He, Sienkiewicz and Simonson were the first artists whose styles I could recognize immediately and were foundational for me. Thanks for another great video and I’m really looking forward to getting the Vampira covers I ordered. Stay strong, you’ve got a lot of fans pulling for you!
I've been in animation for 35 years, started right out of high school in the late 80's. you and i must be of similar age, because i remember rummaging through comic shops back then and i remember those titles! I too wanted to do comics (strips actually) from a very early age, but i didn't gravitate towards super heroes, i liked funny stuff. mad magazine etc. but the guys who really blew my mind were the brush inkers like walt kelly and uderzo...(asterix) around 12 i found the preston blair animation books and that sealed the deal on my wanting to get into animation. i'm a story artist currently (have been a designer, animator, layout artist...) to this day even under tight deadlines i attempt to put an 'inked' look on my boards, just because it makes me happy... this guy you talk about here i can't say i'm a super fan of, his later stuff is definitely pretty nice... but as i said, super heroes just don't do it for me. however! glad to have found your channel, this was great to see!
Tremendous subject. Arthur Adams is one of the all time greats. Back in the 90s I purchased a cover from Adams with inks by Mark Farmer. Excalibur #47. The entire team is standing on a chess board and Captain Britain is musing that they might be manipulated. It's been hanging on my wall ever since. The contrast between the giant chess board and our heroes standing on it is gorgeous. Adams understood that heroes didn't alway have to be drawn doing something heroic to get his point across. Thank you Chris for recognizing this great artist.
For me, it was a cover of a Classic X-Men that I saw in a convenience store that hooked me on his art. Something about how he draws the lower legs of his characters in a stylized forced perspective way that just looks cool. You can see Liefeld trying to copy that (and failing half the time). His X-Men Annuals are still some of my favorites. Can't forget X-Babies!
I picked up Longshot #1 at the 7-11 when it first came out and was blown away by the art as a kid. I read it over and over. Glad you mentioned his attention to line weights. I think it's underappreciated when people do it. So many artists use the same line weight for everything and it flattens out the art.
One of my favorite comics as a kid was Action Comics Annual #1 from 1987. A story called "Cry Vampire" involving Batman and Superman with art by Arthur Adams. I didn't recognize his work at the time but it struck me as unique, detailed, and cool. By the time his short run on Fantastic Four rolled around, I realized that I'd seen his stuff before. One of my favorite comic book artists.
The Asgardian X-men graphic novel I had as a kid blew me away. Over time his heads get bigger and more manga-like, which isn't my thing...but still one of my favorite artists.
Just wanted to say I read Monsters, from your recommendation. Found it at my local library and instantly grabbed it. Now that Ive read it? Mind blown. Best comic Ive read in years. Easy top5 of all time. Just fantastic. I dont often reread comics. But this one I read two times back-to-back. I should go to my library more often :)
THANK YOU! I’ve been waiting for you to get to Art Adams. My favorite artist ✊🏿 His Classic X-Men covers got me into reading X-Men. (And I honestly believe he influenced Jim Lee)
I love when one of your videos reminds me of an artist I loved as a kid but never looked into since. Great to go "Oh yeah, that was an amazing piece of art!"
Arthur Adams drew the cover for Classic X-Men 1, which reprinted Giant Size 1 s as no added a bonus story to the back. I got that issue signed by Art Adams in the early 90’s. It’s not worth anything, but I love it.
Here are two NICE Arthur stories: 1) I "scripted" The Creature comic you showed at 11:10. I was going through a rough time and he knew it, so he asked me to do the writing for it. Well, all I did was stop my VHS tape of CFTBL over and over again, and just wrote down every word. (A reviewer even said my pacing was excellent, HUH?!) 2) After my self-published comic run was over, I was finding it hard to find work. So, Arthur, who was only drawing a single issue or X-Men Annual a year, drew me three pages so I could ink them and show them around. It worked and I inked for various companies for about a decade. Anyway, the point is, Arthur is a really, really nice guy!! Steve Moncuse
His detail and style stuck out to me when I was a kid with the 1991 marvel teasing card set. You could tell his work. I’d see the A/A signed at the bottom to make sure it was his work. He’s one of my favs. He drew wolverine how he’s supposed to look!
Longshot 1-6 were the first books I hunted down and collected all of physically. While taking on the entire Claremont era of X-Men. Nocenti’s writing was hilarious and Adams’s art blew me away. It jumped out as an instant favorite from all the stories of that era.
Absolutely beautiful episode, Chris. I'm a huge fan of Arther Adam's artwork too, so I really dug this deep-dive into his background. Being a mostly Marvel guy, I haven't checked out much of his other work, but maybe I should. My favorite poster was of his depiction of the whole 80's X-Men team. Just an incredible artist and I can see why it takes him so long to do his work. Absolutely worth it.
I also discovered Arthur Adams in my local comic shop with issue #1 of Longshot. It was like discovering John Byrne or Steranko for the first time. I did not know that it took two years for him to complete the series. It was definitely well worth the time he put into it. I always wanted to see a sequel to this amazing series. I also love everything Adams has ever done which is saying a lot. His Godzilla work has always kept a special place in my heart. The three-issue run on the Walt Simonson Fantastic Four is a high benchmark for anything done on the F.F.'s book, I could go on and on about all of his great work but you did such a fine job that I don't have to. As usual you have done a fine episode of one of my all-time favorite comic book creators.
This is really the first time seeing Arthur Adams work, i stopped reading Comicbooks from 1982 to 2014, over 30 years ,but now i am back, and i really like his art, and i agree, The Godzilla, and The Creature from the black lagoon is excellent, thanks for another fun and informative Comic tropes Chris!!!!!
I bought the Longshot series and loved it. I always wished they had kept his story going. Arthur Adams is absolutely my favorite comic book artist, especially his X Men work.
Wow, I literally read his Creature From The Black Lagoon yesterday! Got to love those coincidences. Great video made even better by having read that comic. Never stop reading comics.
7:37 Arthur Adams is one of my favorite artists. When I was a kid I taught my self to draw by studying comic books. I still have a sketch that I drew of the Rogue pictured here :)
@ComicTropes thank you for being concise, not screaming at over 9000 miles an hour, and for putting your ads in, in a prescient, natural way. It's so very rare on yt these days. Thank you.
I learn so much about comics from your videos. Things like techniques that I am aware of, but never knew the names of or the origin. Appreciate your channel and hard work. One of my favorite channels to watch on RU-vid.
Adams always draws my favorite Kitty Pryde. He’s just incomparable when it comes to her. As far as his modern work, I STILL can’t believe how amazing his War of the Realms covers are. That final issue in particular belongs in a museum!
I saw him in at a comic con, I saw him draw Godzilla, and then Nightcrawler, and then he drew for me a crazy cool gorilla with a scar on his eye. Seems fitting since your comic book cover is on point with Art Adam's tastes. Oh btw, Steve Pucell posted a photo of Art Adams and Mike Mignola drinking beer and hitting the cans with a baseball bat in a early print of Sam and Max, it inspired his comic "fizzball."
Love Art Adams! Fell in love since I saws Longshot for the first time. He was my first comics artist superstar for me. Long before there was a Mcfarlane, Silvestri, Liefeld, and a Jim Le for me to be obsessed over.
Oh, that 1st issue of Micronauts...I can still have the flashback feelings from the late 70's when I was reading that. I get why AA was so inspired by it! Thanks for video!
I stumbled across Comic Tropes a short bit back and have been enjoying it...which is odd, as I don't generally care for comics. I think this episode made the reason behind my enjoyment of this series click, though. I was never particularly drawn to comics, though there have been some comic stories that I have enjoyed, but being a teenager in the early 90s, and having a lot of friends who insisted that I HAD TO be into comics because I enjoyed a number of other nerdy past times (reading science fiction and fantasy, table top role playing games, etc.) kinda' killed it for me. But somehow RU-vid directed me to Comic Tropes. And in this episode, you explain why you find Arthur Adams art so enjoyable. I have to admit, his art didn't do a lot for me, but between your explanation and the examples that you showed, I could absolutely understand why you liked his work, and why he influenced other people. I could see that while I subjectively wasn't keen on his work, he absolutely has skill and a style that would inspire others. It was so much better than the "you have to like Liefeld because his art is bad-ass" "explanations" that I received in the past. I came away from this actually appreciating the art of Arthur Adams even if it isn't my cup of tea. Plus, you have this very enthusiastic delivery that is just a joy to watch coupled with a tone of voice and body language that seems to say "this is what I love, but if it's not your thing, that's okay, too!" Anyway, good job on these videos. You have managed to make comics interesting in a way that hundreds of fanboys never did. I really appreciate having someone make me look at something in a new way.
Thanks Chris !! After watching this video I instantly became a fan of Arthur Adams. I read some of his books and didn’t know it, like Long Shot and some of those X-Men books. I guess back in those days I didn’t care who wrote or drew the book I just read because it looks cool. Thanks
Adams defined the way I perceived comic art. His style was the defacto style in my head when I thought about proportion and line work, he was definitely one of the greats. Great video Chris!
I’ve got an original page from Creature from the Black Lagoon framed on my wall for the last 25 years or so. Adams must still live in the greater SF Bay Area, as I’ve been fortunate to meet him at local comic shows several times. I got sketches of Monkeyman & Obrien back when those were new issues on the stands and the last time I saw him (2-3 years ago) he’d been compiling a lot of his private… splash pages? commissions? into books he sold at his table. Perfect! Instead of a single sketch he has to sweat over before the con ends, he’s got 30-40 of ‘em in a book you can get right then and there. These have all the detail you’d expect and of course they’re packed with mutants, monsters and mademoiselles. ;-)
I discovered comics because of Arthur Adams. I have been trying to draw like him my whole life, eventually growing into my own style. My top favourite artist , hands down.
I love how well you've mastered through the years how to carry an episode here on RU-vid that is equal parts academic and entertaining on a topic like comics. I truly think there's nobody else on this platform that can inform an audience so well about artists, works and techniques and make transmit that much appreciation for the artform in itself, words that clearly come from a fan of the medium, but an educated and insightful one, not bogged down by fanboyism but aware of what he likes and why he likes it. I don't have anything by Arthur Adams myself, even though I have read some things here and there, but now I think it's a bit of a crime not to, as you've made me appreciate his truly spectacular art that much more. I was completely unaware that that Ultimate X cover was an homage to a previous cover of his until I saw it here and I think I was just remembering that Adams did in fact do something related to Shirow's art before you just mentioned how indebted he is to the mangaka (in fact, it turns out that what I was trying to remember were the American covers for Appleseed for the Eclipse editions, but there are more drawings that he did, like a pinup of Motoko Aramaki from Manmachine Interface... I thought I remembered another Briareos probably aiming a heavy machinegun, but can't find it, so maybe that's by another artist). Great episode! On a completely unrelated note, I wonder if you've read anything by my fellow-Spaniard Paco Roca and if it would be an appropriate study subject for this channel. He is best known for his comic on Alzheimer's disease, Wrinkles, which was adapted into an animated movie, but he's got some more comics that have been edited in English. The House, Regreso al Edén (Return to Eden), or Twists of Fate, which is about Spanish Republican soldiers who fought in the liberation of Paris are all great reads. The Winter of the Cartoonist may fly well over the head of everyone not somewhat familiar with what comics were like in Spain during the Franco years, as the main characters are real life cartoonists from the era like Vazquez (about whom you can also learn something from watching the film The Great Vazquez (2010)).
Art Adams is amazing. One of the first comics I'd read was the "X-Men: Asgardian Wars" trade, which featured his X-men/New Mutants crossover annual, and it was just stunning work. He defined those characters for me going forward.
We must be about the same age. Like you, I discovered comic books in the mid-80s. I purchased the longshot trade paperback from a local comic shop and instantly fell in love with Art Adams. It was difficult to find projects that he was working on. I also purchased his first Godzilla book and was just blown away by the artwork. While I typically only see him on cover art these days, I love everything that he puts out. He does, indeed, draw beautiful, voluptuous women, and fantastic monsters. At some point, I’d like to see you do a spotlight on Frank Chou, another artist who loves to draw women and monkeys and monsters.
Art Adams was the first comic book artist I learned by name. I believe it was an ad in a Marvel Comic, the iconic pose of Wolverine that was in this vid.
When I read Longshot, I had little to no idea about superhero comics.While Marvel Comics were translated, they reduced the size of them which resulted in reduced and cut dialogue, which made them barely readable. Longshot was the first that I saw in it's original format and while it astonished me in several ways, it also threw me for a loop as I could barely follow the story. I rediscovered superhero comics again years later with Uncanny X-Men #271, the Extinction Agenda crossover. After buying a few from a book store that sold second hand English novels, I got referred to a comics shop that imported the originals from the USA. Arthur Adams was one of the few artists that were hard to follow and it was difficult to get information in those pre-internet days. However, when I noticed his work, I was never disappointed. One thing I always liked (aside from the obvious mentioned in the video) were his vehicle designs. Some were similar to others known, yet different. Like the starship of the Froglodytes. It looked like a Star Trek design and yet so different.
Longshot 4 is one of my all time favorites. So much action with no background and Longshot sent flying off the page. Love it! Edit: Don’t forget his great covers for the X-Men Classic series
Great video, as always! What about the art of Irv Novick? I think he has been forgotten by everyone. I really liked his artwork during the seventies and eighties.
I haven't had one of your vids pop in my feed in 6 months. Just looked at the last one. I have some catching up to do. So happy it popped in mine today.
you've introduced me to a lot of artists and Stories that have become favorites, but this one has to be the best. Really a mix of everything I love to see in Comics!
Thank you so much for this episode. Adams has always been one of my favorites. Like you, I wish he’d do more interiors, but I’ll take anything I can get from him.
Art Adam's. He's one of my favorite artists. I have almost the whole Longshot run. I used to relax by reading and admiring his books over and over. I'm also a huge fan of Michael Golden. His work I n the Micronauts had me looking for anything that he did. I have an issue of Batman by him and a Star Wars issue. I also have a couple of covers from him for ROM the Space Knight. He's awesome.
