This ink line-art sketch, made by Arthur Adams in 1988, was for sale on eBay in an auction ending 21 July. You can see a far larger version, which the seller sent to me, by clicking on the small one below.
It certainly is striking, with a rarely seen view of Dawnstar in what seems to be an attack, in fury or on somebody. The seller has no feedback yet and, being new, had some hyperbole in billing it as a "collector's dream." Nonetheless, it finally sold for $202.50, far too pricey for me right now.
What I'd like to know is: Who on Earth is Arthur Adams? Did he ever have a connection with the published Legion stories? And is this some special talent I ought to have heard about? I don't recall this name at all. [Or I hadn't connected memories of his art when I posted this.]
[ July 23, 2003, 07:53 PM: Message edited by: Greybird ]
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
He's currently drawing the stunning JONNI FUTURE series in ABC's Tom Strong's Terrific Tales. He was also the artist on the recent Authority story that featured a LEGION homage/rip-off.
He's mentioned in past interviews that he's a big fan of DAWNSTAR.
posted
Hey Rhino (my favorite all time cubby by the way):
I would like to inquire more about the Authority/Legion homage story. Has it been collected in TPB? If not, what issues does it cover? Is The Authority any good? Should this homage be considered part of the anal retentive list of legion appearances?
Thanks.
-------------------- Something Filthy!
From: NOVA by way of NOIN | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by minesurfer: Hey Rhino (my favorite all time cubby by the way):
I would like to inquire more about the Authority/Legion homage story. Has it been collected in TPB? If not, what issues does it cover? Is The Authority any good? Should this homage be considered part of the anal retentive list of legion appearances?
Thanks.
I can't really answer the question of The Authority being any good as it is quite violent. I did enjoy the issues I read. I also don't know if it has been collected into a TPB or if it is planned but I do know that any AR collector should have the issue in question. If I can find the image of the spread I'll post a link.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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The issue mentioned is "Authority" 27. I saw a scan of the art, but I didn't keep it ... the Authority takes on a Legion analogue, and as with all other such teams, it -- including its Dawnstar analogue -- gets hacked to pieces. I had enough of that with "Bounty," thenkkew ...
Rhino, do you know where I might find such an interview with Adams? I found the ArthurAdams Yahoo! Group, and made a request there as well. (I should know that a Group exists for nearly everyone in comics these days!)
Thanks for the above and any other info, folks. You get exposed to something new every day, if you're lucky.
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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The Authority pretty much craps in the face of whatever ideals the Legion stands for. The book features carnage on a planetary scale with the protagonists not being all that much better than the bad guys. Their job seems to be to whip everyone in line and if you don't behave, you'll get a boot up the ass (literally). The "homage" depicts the Authority beating the shit out of a group of characters that resemble the Legion.
Regarding Art Adams, he gained widespread popularity drawing for Marvel in the late 80's I think, gaining notoriety on the X-books. He was one of those guys that got so famous so fast, he hasn't had to do a regular book in ages (he's also very detailed and as a result, too slow to do his best stuff in a monthly). It is a collectable because Adams' work is fairly rare and he is a fairly big name. Whether it's worth the asking price is up to you.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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Not for a single pen-and-ink sketch, it's not. For $200-plus I could get one newly commissioned by any of several artists who are both more appealing to my tastes and have drawn or inked serial-story art for the Legion.
The new one by Bruce Patterson (see other thread in this section) only cost me $56, and that's a full-color portrait in inks, pencils, and watercolor.
"Names" as such don't attract me or whatever cash I can get my hands on. One of the best Dawny portraits ever is one I bought from Jerry Loomis (SatyQ). Unless you go to a few of the esoteric Yahoo! Groups such as erotic-comic-cartoons, you'll never hear of him.
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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Here are two black and white previews of the Authority #27 featuring their version of the Legion. The id's are made by Jim Drew from the Legion Pics group.
I've given links since the images are a little bigger than I want to post here. The first one is about 170KB and the second is about 121KB.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Art Adams was Jim Lee before there was a Jim Lee. He's a superstar artist, empathesis on super. There once was a time when everything he touched turned to gold, almost literally. If Art Adams drew a comic, it sold through the roof. The only knock against him is that he's slow, which isn't a knock at all these days. Marvel just put out a collection of all of his X-Men stuff, and if I haven't screwed it up, the cover should be right beneath this.
A good analogy is that he was to the X-Men what Steve Lightle was to the Legion, except that a lot more people know Art Adam's name (sorry, Steve). Both had relatively small page counts, both became cover artists because speed was an issue, and both were popular around the same time. Remember "Heroes For Hope," Marvel's version of Live Aid back when everyone was concerned about starvation in Africa? Adams was so hot that he got the cover, which was so hot that it later became a poster. That was the biggest of all big league assignments at the time, outside media coverage and all.
Adams was interviewed in Comic Book Artist # 17, parts of which can be found here. There should be enough there to refresh anyone about his career.
Sigh... I guess ten years from now, people are going to be asking, "Who is Jim Lee?"
-------------------- My powers are Legion!
Registered: Jul 2003
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Art Adams also did a really cool Superman / Batman vs. vampires story in Action comics way back when... I don't know what other DC stuff he's done.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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I think one of the things that set Art Adams apart back in his heyday was that he was one of the first Marvel artists to skew towards a flashier cartoonish style art when the Marvel house style was still pretty firmly in the "realistic" style that Shooter had set up. I still have good memories of Adam's New Mutants annual in Asgard.
By the way, thanks for posting that piece Grey, I don't think I've ever seen any Adams Legion pieces before so that was a treat for an 80's Marvelite.
From: Douglasville, GA | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by DrakeB3003: Art Adams also did a really cool Superman / Batman vs. vampires story in Action comics way back when... I don't know what other DC stuff he's done.
He also did a chapter in Batman # 400 around the same time.
Funny, I never used to think of his work as cartoony, just different. Maybe it was because he was the only one drawing that way back then.
Ahhh... for the days when you knew that you'd get a double-sized Art Adams X-Men story every summer...
-------------------- My powers are Legion!
Registered: Jul 2003
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