Caped Crusades Exclusive Neal Adams Interview

This past weekend at Wizard World was a pretty big deal for me, not only did I get to interview the extremely nice Athena Finger, I also got one on one interviews with Batman comic artists Neal Adams and Greg Capullo, as well as Dr. Travis Langley the author of Batman and Psychology A Dark and Stormy Knight.

I will admit to being less prepared for my Neal Adams interview than I had planned to be, mostly because when I checked his website it said that his current Batman project was Batman Odyssey. I did not realize that this information was more than six months old as Batman Odyssey’s graphic novel came out six months ago. This is of course my bad, as I should have double checked what he was working on.

Can you tell me a little about what you are currently working on?

I’m working on a thing called Superman, the tentative title is The Arrival of the Supermen, where a bunch of Supermen come to Earth and take Superman’s place. We are bringing to the story almost immediately Jack Kirby’s New Gods. Its a six issue mini series with the total intention, at least in my mind, not to be one more guy to ruin Jack Kirby’s New Gods, do them justice and we can maybe see a revitalization of Jack Kirby’s New Gods.

I know that in the past you have had some involvement in the fight for creators rights

Involved? I think I did it.

Are you doing any of that now?

That’s an odd way for you to put it but I’ll forgive it, but I am always involved in creators rights, but most of the battles that we had, I won. After you win the battles, the battle is done. So yes if there are certain areas, the problem of creator rights has as much to do with the federal law as it has to do with anything. We have a federal law called the work made for hire provision of the law which says that a company that hires you in effect owns you as if you were an employee without giving you the benefits of being an employee. That’s a very bad law. There’s no other country that has a law that’s that bad. We think of America as being the most democratic country in the world, well in certain areas we’re not. So that’s a very unfortunate law, that battle has yet to be won, eventually I’ll win it, I hope. But relative to creators rights in general, you have to understand that a publisher is just like everybody else that you’re opposed to will push back, sooner or later and with greater or lesser strength. So I’m always ready to push back ahead, but there are now a lot more people who are conscious of their own rights, and are much more willing to fight for their rights. So as Harlen Ellison would say, its not so much that Neal Adams has disappeared as it is that the sons of Neal Adams are always out there.

Are you reading any Batman comics currently?

I try to read everything that comes out.

Do you have a favorite?

No, I would have to say no I don’t have a favorite. I think everybody is moving around the edges of Batman trying to find their way. We run into problems when Joker’s face is taken off and sewn or stapled back to his head. Obviously that’s physically impossible so I have a problem in that area of non-reality. So I would prefer that at least we obey the laws of physics and reality and not in fantasy because Batman is hardly a fantasy character.

I actually met and interviewed Athena Finger today, and I was wondering have you met her, and do you know much about what is going on with her trying to get her grandfather his recognition for co-creating Batman?

I have met her, I don’t know what she’s doing, what she’s trying to do. I can’t imagine what part of maybe what she is trying to do is missing. I don’t remember Bill Finger fighting for any rights, or demanding any rights, or insisting on any rights. So I don’t know exactly what…

I think she is just trying to get him some recognition,  in part because growing up people thought she was lying when she said that her grandfather helped create Batman.

Well then I think that its time for DC Comics to step forward and to give him some credit, I hope its not a battle I hope DC Comics has the common sense to recognize her and his position as a co-creator of Batman. And with courtesy let that happen and cause that to happen. They really have a responsibility to see that that happens. More than anybody else I would hope that they would have the graciousness to do that. If they don’t they’re gonna make me mad, and its probably not very good for me to be angry.

I want to thank Neal Adams for the interview and apologize for being so nervous during it. We want to hear from you! Want more Batman? Subscribe to the Fansided.com newsletter; download the Fansided app for more Batman news! Don’t forget to like Caped Crusades on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!