Trending

Neal Adams, ‘Batman’ artist and comic book legend, dead at 80

NEW YORK — Legendary comic book artist Neal Adams, whose photorealist stylings revolutionized the likes of Batman, Green Lantern, the X-Men and the Avengers, died Thursday at the age of 80.

>> Read more trending news

Adams died in New York of complications from sepsis, his wife, Marilyn Adams, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Adams was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, one of the highest honors in the comic book industry, in 1998. A year later, he was ushered into the Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, and he was honored in the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame in 2019, Variety reported.

According to THR, Adams influence crossed multiple generations, and he co-created such characters as Ra’s al Ghul, the Man-Bat and one of DC’s first Black superheroes, Green Lantern Jon Stewart.

Born in New York City on June 15, 1941, Adams cut his teeth drawing for Archie Comics in 1959, before landing a freelance gig with DC Comics in 1967, and later Marvel.

He also was a major “champion” of comic creators’ rights, helping to modernize the industry’s practices of returning original work to the artists and founding the Comic Creators Guild in 1978, Variety reported.

Adams is survived by his wife Marilyn; sons Josh, Jason and Joel; daughters Kris and Zeea; grandchildren Kelly, Kortney, Jade, Sebastian, Jane and Jaelyn; and great-grandson Maximus.