The Mutants, Monsters, and Mademoiselles of Arthur Adams

►Get my limited Vampirella cover and rare add-ons: www.indiegogo....
►Support this channel on Patreon: / comictropes
►Support this channel by becoming a KZbin member:
/ @comictropes
►Donate a one-time tip: www.ko-fi.com/...
►Check out my weekly live show: / prosandconslive
Arthur Adams has been producing delicate, detailed, action-packed and sexy comic book pages since the 1980s. This episode breaks down the evolution of his artwork and the techniques he uses to create his recognizable artwork. From Longshot to Godzilla to Monkeyman and O'Brien to Jonni Future, Arthur Adams has influenced many.

[@Neilios1000]

A conversation scene drawn by Art Adams will be more visually exciting than an action sequence drawn by most of his contemporaries.

[@travispardy8649]

I feel that only Art Adams could win an Eisner drawing Gumby.

[@kenlieck7756]

It's his Burden to bear...

[@jonothanthrace1530]

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.

[@travispardy8649]

@@jonothanthrace1530 nice!

[@socialmedia4637]

Probably because that's exactly what happened 😅

[@kenlieck7756]

@@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.

[@allendean9807]

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!

[@jeffeppenbach]

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.

[@capsjukebox]

I may be misremembering, but could swear Adams was part of the redesign for Godzilla for the Millennium series of films in the 2000’s

[@kenlieck7756]

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]

@Allen Dean "...in its best version!" you mean, digitally recolored-to-death (on glossy paper)?

[@allendean9807]

@@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!

[@Oddlogical]

Excellent show, Chris! I love Art Adams' work. His detail work was always a joy to look at.

[@Tazirai]

He was the guy who created Psylocke's original outback body armor. To me, it's still her best costume. 😊❤❤❤

[@andykuhn9798]

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.

[@Grizzlox]

Yeah no this is not a joke. They really may be some of the best comics ever printed.

[@andykuhn9798]

@@Grizzlox Correct! :)

[@Mireille7458]

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!

[@BertRamDam]

AA has been an all star since day one. Very recognizable style, beautiful and full of detail. It stops you in your tracks and forces you to admire it.

[@JoeJoe-lq6bd]

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.

[@anslemrichardson7836]

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)

[@nicksavia3581]

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.

[@markvachon3341]

I loved that poster, I also had it on my wall as a kid.

[@Ultr4l0f]

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 :)

[@mikecargioli3030]

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.

[@joeb6656]

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.

[@LeifMaelstrom]

Never knew how much this guy influenced my own art! Thanks for history lesson!

[@darktoylord]

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 :)

[@skyounkin]

I ADORE Arthur Adams take on Julie Adams in Creature from the Black Lagoon. Just stunning!

[@oliverortiz5226]

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.

[@lynx0093]

Easily one of my favourite artists ever. apparently there's a Marvel Art Adams omnibus coming out later this year. I'm pretty excited.

[@rick-kf8fn]

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!!!!!

[@literallyunderrated]

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

[@themangochannel]

Thanks for highlighting his art. I think my first experience of him was on the X-men Asgard story. At the time, I read it soo many times

[@WANNABESSJ4]

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!"

[@chardrive]

same! i must have seen that fantastic four cover countless times but never gave it much thought

[@kevinpillar6934]

What a great artist! It's awesome that he's still drawing

[@blayzej]

Great review. Read again Longshot recently, and the art is still vastly superior than 98% of what’s being done today.

[@markvachon3341]

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!

[@GOTAisMe]

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.

[@razorwolfetheoriginal5385]

That cover is by Alan Davis. As well as the interior art.

[@AndrewJohnson-oy8oj]

I adored everything that Adams did. I bought the entire Longshot series solely for his art.

[@k-cx7137]

Thank you for this comic tropes 😁 Art Adams is one of my favs and it was a pleasure hearing you break down his career!

[@EdgeOfEntropy17]

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 KZbin.

[@_o_]

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.

[@eddiee8478]

I see Art adams, I click the like button.

[@zainmudassir2964]

Me too

[@madj.7379]

@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.

[@hp932]

I became familar with Art Adams' work while reading Longshot and MAN. I was taking pictures to show all my friends just how down right COOL everything looked. I also feel like no other artists has ever gotten the "just-this-side" of uncanny valley for the character of Longshot which really made him seem like an alien's IDEA of a human. And of course- His Rita and Spiral were gorgeous. Plus, he made it seem realistic for spiral to have six arms

[@bloodofmyenemies]

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.

[@philly_634]

I've loved Adams since the X-Babies / New Mutants issue. Have you done a deep dive on Kevin Maguire?

[@carlgibson285]

I'd love to see a deep dive into Kevin Maguire's work, especially his Strikeback! series. It was such a fun series full of great ideas and amazing character designs. I'm still gutted we never got a sequel.

[@philly_634]

@@carlgibson285 I too was a big fan of Strikeback!

[@de5096]

Excellent content! Top notch creator! So thorough, fresh, in-depth, and entertaining! Oh yeah, and Arthur Adams always produced such great work!

[@andersonic]

Arthur Adams wasn't on my radar so this was a delight. It's hard to not end up liking anything Chris likes.

[@eddy9524]

Love seeing the artists that give respect to mangas like Battle Angel, Akira, and Ghost in the Shell...such a fun subgenre of comics those titles are.

[@timogul]

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.

[@Shockwave-ob2tx]

Adams has long been a favorite. I saw his art first when he had done a page or two in Secret Wars #12(the original 80's one)

[@Chris.Mc83]

Loved his work on Dark Horses Godzilla and Creature of the Black Lagoon!

[@CB-ke7eq]

I remember buying copies of Classic X-Men reprints, even though I had the originals, just for the Art Adams covers.

[@jdsantibanez]

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.

[@cha5]

I always loved his Golden Age art.

[@kevingross4141]

His Dirty Pair work was top notch.

[@snakeeater6738]

I’ve been waiting years for a Norm Breyfogle episode. He really deserves it. Hope to see it one day

[@808v1]

I approve of the full rack of Vampirella covers! Congrats buddy :)

[@tomowens7499]

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!

[@theajshow]

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.

[@Superpicl]

Woah! I have that issue of Godzilla! Didn't even realize it! Loved it as a kid!

[@ricconway8719]

Great episode Chris! Adams was also a huge find for me when I discovered a Longshot trade in a book store. Been a fan ever since!

[@netherjosh]

Great episode! I think my first exposure to Art Adams was when I saw a Wolverine standee at my local comic shop, some time in the late 80's or so. And of course the X-Men in Asgard story was my favorite X-Men art until Jim Lee's run.

[@pencilpauli9442]

Shout out to the colourist in the Godzilla books.

[@BionicRambutan]

I love it when the subject of the episode is a comic creator!!! My favorite KZbin channel by far.

[@DanielLopez-mo9hz]

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.

[@brandonandcharlene9527]

Art Adams Godzilla art is always amazing!

[@smacksalad]

Thanks Chris, I love Adams, him doing gorillas in particular, of course. Great choice of subject.

[@iancowan3527]

Lol... My very first comic... Was Longshot #3! And it was because of him that I found the X-Men when he was added to their team!

[@Shinmsl]

Love of Arthur Adams work, there's so much to learn from his art, apart of just appreciate it of course. I gotta mention that Marvel for some reason used him for the relaunch of Ultimate X-Men (after Jeph Loeb's Ultimate massacred 99% of the Ultimate comics characters) and for a few issues it was interesting but of course he fell behind because he can't do a regular book for that long, which they should know better by then. The art was great and some ideas were cool but I think with all the delays (and I imagine Loeb's incarceration for that God-awful books😅) Marvel just abandoned the book , which is such weird phenomenon probably unique to comics to just leave the stories and never concluding without even a formal cancellation...

[@vidvicious]

I used to love Monkeyman and O’Brien.

[@wewalkamongyou]

I loved his three issue run on Fantastic Four.

[@lverdugo1791]

I really wish he'd make new stories featuring MonkeyMan and O'brien, i love that series

[@EricBinford]

If not for Art Adams, I might've missed the best X-men years.

[@astrocitizen]

I hunted down and collected AA;s sketchbooks online. Haven't done it in years though. Perhaps I should start again. One set had prints of model sheets he made for a proposed Hulk action figure line which included one of my favorite depictions of the Absorbing Man. His artwork does tend to have a cheesecake factor 🤩 One of my favorite stories by him as a result is a Jonni Future story where she investigates a literal Disney World that's run by a death cult while disguised in this Red Riding Hood fetish outfit... and I refuse to be ashamed of that fact.

[@samwill7259]

This channels focus on looking at the lesser known creators in a medium where creators are either totally unknown or world conquering rockstars is a service to the entire medium

[@brendathorpe6179]

Art Adams is my absolute favorite, and Longshot is what drew me to him. He will always be one of my favorite Marvel characters because of it

[@dwaynemuth8775]

As always a great video! I wish Art would do more of Monkeyman& O’Brian, at least to finish the story! I’ve been enjoying his work since Longshot and the New Mutants Special Edition and impressed with his intricate drawing/story narrative! The homage of Fantastic Four 100 based on Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott but a moment later with every character that appeared in the first 100 issues! Amazingly detailed with Moleoids stopping to gawk at the Skrulls❤! Keep up the great work ⚡️👍🎯

[@brendoncameron1791]

I would like to see more of his art because it looks strange yet full of life.

[@odracircomix7359]

MY FIRST INTRODUCTION WAS HIS RUN ON THE ALL NEW FANTASTIC FOUR OF WOLVY GHOSTRIDER SPIDY AND HULK

[@willc3900]

Honey wake up, new Comic Tropes

[@bobbyhulll8737]

You can def see the early Golden influence ..and one could argue Golden is one of the best cover artists ever

[@cultofj3777]

Congrats, the cover looks amazing!!

[@johnb3948]

Good stuff. Gonna have to dig out my Longshot comics out

[@matthewhood7844]

Somehow my friend and I starting talking about Monkeyman and O'Brien a few days ago and then you do this video. Nice timing! Also nice job on the video as always.

[@dmonvisigoth1651]

Yeah, his X-Men work was inspirational.

[@crithon]

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."

[@martins2246]

He basically created the entire Image style. If he could have done a monthly book, he would have been a founder.

[@TheArcSet]

Thanks for this.

[@brucegrossman3531]

AA draws the best monsters mixed in with his good girl art. Love his stuff.

[@eozoon]

Have you seen Nick Bradshaw's art? Obviously influenced by Art Adams.

[@SteveMoncuse]

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

[@jimschleich8753]

Another great episode on a great creator!! A.A. is every bit as amazing and instantly recognizable as you say. Thanks again for all your great work and super fandom!

[@nagilumsnangilima]

I remember Uncanny X-Men Annual Issue 14 catching my eye at a 7-11 in August of 1990. It was a terrific cover by Art Adams- not to mention a great story by Chris Claremont and interior art by Art Adams himself (pun intended).🥴

[@CardinalLaw9]

I’d love to see a video about Blacksad - that series is awesome

[@ComicTropes]

You’re in luck. I did one.

[@joellbaldonado1263]

Keep up the great work Chris! You inspire me with every video especially when I’m faced with writers block

[@afarensis16]

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 KZbin 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.

[@RansomeStoddard]

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.

[@JohnAquariusPodcast]

I always thought 🤔 longshot resembled lamahl never had that confirmed 👍. I loved Mr. Adams work collected many of his comics, Oh and X babies was an awesome issue. Great vid literally had me walking down memory lane

[@stevenboyd3756]

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.

[@jflack6]

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!

[@pauldigscomics7810]

Happy to see a new video Chris. Hope you're doing well.

[@ShawnALLWorld]

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

[@coledavidson5630]

Omg no way, you got to draw a genuine gorilla cover?

[@ComicTropes]

I did!

[@betsyduane3461]

I thought Adams was terrible, some of the weakest comic art ever. Just ugly.

[@theenchiladakid1866]

I have all the issues you mentioned, i was excited when you said them

[@rixu4738]

Always loved Adams, Especially Longshot, Excalibur and X-Men. Combined with Claremonts writing many of those stories are just immortal in my head.

[@pengwin_]

such an amazing and talented artist, great episode chris!

[@PinkDevilFish]

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.

[@HankChinaski27]

I was brought to Adams through Monkeyman and O'Brien which I still love. I'd seen his art around before but this book is what really got me to love him. I'd always wished he would have done more with the characters. It had all of that big comic energy I love. And man...maybe I'm a fossil, but cheesecake art done well will always be welcome by me. I think this whole "that might make someone's pee pee hurt" reality we live in currently is straight garbage.

[@kle2217]

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.

[@johnnydropkicks]

8:12 I own that Gumby comic!