NEIL ADAMS

Neil Adams is a great super hero artist, no doubt about it, but I prefer a simpler approach, probably because I come from a comedy background. The superhero artists I like include people you probably never heard of, in fact, I don't know some of their names myself. 

I like the artist who did this panel, above. I'm guessing it's Jack Cole. I love the way the character takes giant Kirbyesque strides as he walks, but his torso is fairly normal. He's talking to the camera, but it's easy to imagine that he's talking to a friend who's taking giant strides beside him. I'd like to see walks like this animated. 

Here (above) a different artist suggests a wonderful animated walk. The pipe smoke makes it even better. 

Who did this one (above)?  It's one of my all-time favorite comic book runs. We're told the character is frightened out of his wits yet his lower body seems to be calmly standing in place. Does it work? Mmmmm....I have to admit that for me...it does. 

I'm guessing that the artist posed in a mirror for the picture, but the mirror was one of those tiny medicine cabinet mirrors and he couldn't see his lower body. 

In art school they always emphasize strong silhouettes, but this artist (above) prefers the opposite. His character's pointing arm is lost within his overall shape. A mistake? Maybe...but it's kinda' funny.

Maybe evil characters should have to earn their earn their silhouettes. A certain kind of character (above) could start a story with arms tucked inside his body shape then acquire stronger silhouettes as the story deepens.

This character's (above) great! His neck seems to be broken so his head stands perfectly upright even though his body leans forward. I like it, though. It makes him more interesting. I also like the way the guy's head sits on his right shoulder. Genius!

Check out the way his head (above) turns to face the woman beside him. It's the Exorcist method of head turns where the body faces forward while the head rotates to a profile. 

Above, the guy in the airplane is back again, this time with a flat body and a volumetric head. Veeery nice!

The kind of artist I'm talking about relishes unconventional fight poses. He experiments with all sorts of ways to give and receive a punch. 

When fisticuffs don't work the characters might resort to biting and strangle holds. Hey, nobody said the superhero life is a bowl of cherries. 

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