I usually admired his artworks but....

[SquareChaos]

To me $30 for an Adams sig seems like a bargain :shrug:

 

The secondary market still eats up his books, his covers, and his sigs - why shouldn't he get some of that?

 

It doesn't entitle him to be an a-hole though, that's another conversation.

[JollyComics]

He was signing for $2 per comic at the Con I was at 3 years ago. He drew a profile of Batman for me on a 11x17 print I had. His charge was $75, but I thought it was pretty fair for a nice piece of original artwork. It was a dream come true for me! We chatted for awhile and he was patient and joked around too. If he's got a bad side I haven't seen it yet, although I wouldn't be shocked. In many articles/videos I've seen of him he can certainly be a bit arrogant. He's earned his place in the comic world, but still ...

 

Why the sudden increase in prices for sigs? I think he's seeing people making a killing off his sigs and he just wants his fair share. For example. You know all those Neal Adams covers variants that have come out in the past few weeks ... and still for sale for about $2.99-3.99? We'll you can already see the CGG SS of them on eBay for between $300 to $600!!! Wow. I'm stunned at what I'm seeing in the comic industry now that I've come back to it after more than a couple of decades. It's all about the $, and nothing else. Kinda makes me sad.

 

So who's the greedy one here? I think Neal is seeing this and figures he's due a bigger piece of the pie - and I agree. As always, market greed/speculation drives up the prices for the rest of us

 

I made nice profits upon his signatures for four years. He is probably grumbling about it. If he decides to drop to $10 per signature, he would get 100 signatures and $1000 cash in few hours. Last Friday, there is almost no line for his signatures. Just look at his booth.

[MR SigS]

Between people on this forum, fellow collectors in my area, vendors at other cons, and a couple local shop owners, I have literally never heard of someone having a friendly encounter with Neal Adams in the last few years.

 

He sounds like a very jaded man.

 

My brother and I had a very nice conversation with him last summer. I'm not disputing what everyone is saying. I'm just sayin'.

[JollyComics]

Love his art but I'll never waste another minute talking with him. Much like Sean Penn, I dig most of his movies growing up and think he's a great actor today but can't stand watching ten seconds of him in a personal interview.

 

Excellent comparison.

 

He met a drug cartel. What a way to go for him!

[MedicAR]

My first meeting with Mr. Adams was different. We met at a pastry shop before a Dallas show and he was trying to juggle a couple of portfolios, a box of art supplies, and his coffee. I immediately recognized him and since I was all but finished, offered him a hand. He was very thankful, so I offered him a ride to the show since he would be getting on a hotel shuttle and would continue trying to juggle everything. He politely declined and we went on our ways.

 

The next meeting came a year or two later and was consistent with the stories here. He was gruff to say the least and I believe his signing fee was around $20. I picked up a Green Lantern sketch cover and was tickled to get it. After the show, it sank in that he really wasn't what I consider "rude" but was rather what I consider a typical New Yorker. People from there are...unique...and similar to one another. I worked in air freight for a few years and one of the great things about that job was learning about people from all over the country. New Yorkers have their own way and many from elsewhere consider it rude, particularly those of us in the south. In reality, it's just New Yorkers being themselves.

 

The last meeting was very good. I remembered our previous meeting, saw him a New Yorker and it all went incredibly well. I picked up a Green Arrow sketch to compliment my Green Lantern. I showed him a picture of the GL he did a year before and he asked what I paid and he said "Wow, you got off cheap for one that big!" and proceeded to do a similar sketch for the same price. There was next to no one at the table at the time so I got some quality time and a great sketch. He even seemed surprised when I asked for him to personalize it. He asked if I was sure, I told him it wasn't going anywhere and he signed it to me, apparently happy to do so.

 

I like the guy and have nothing but respect for what he has done for creators, particularly his intervention on behalf of Al Plastino when his JFK story went awol. Mr. Adams put the pressure on DC and all others involved to get the art into the JFK Library on behalf of the then late Mr. Plastino. I mentioned this and he actually seemed a little embarrassed. I told him I was just happy that someone had the clout to make it happen.

[SuperZar]

My first meeting with Mr. Adams was different. We met at a pastry shop before a Dallas show and he was trying to juggle a couple of portfolios, a box of art supplies, and his coffee.......

 

That's was an interesting story and perspective on Neal. Thanks for sharing!

[Buzzetta]

Heeeeeey!

[jools&jim]

 

Several years ago at the Baltimore Con, there was NO line at all for Neal's table on Sunday morning. My daughter was I think 11 or 12 years-old at the time, and we were both standing in the middle of the main aisle at the front of the hall when we caught his eye.

 

Sitting in his massive booth all by himself, he smiled, waved, and motioned for us to come over.

 

We did, and for the next 5-10 minutes or so he chatted with both of us, talking about his days with Archie (my kid was and still is a big Archie fan), his work on Marvel's magazine line (esp. Deadly Hands of Kung Fu -- my personal fave), and other sundry topics.

 

He was friendly, gracious, and funny, and clearly knew that he had both a captive and a captivated audience.

 

In the end, I bought several of his DHoKF cover prints (which he signed for free and which still hang in my home office today), and both my daughter and I left with another special memory of a very fun day out together.

 

I've always been a big Adams fan; I was even a bigger fan after that...

 

 

 

 

[kav]

So Adams seems to be nice when he's not respected and mean when he is.

This mean something I'm sure.

[IntoAnother]

[fmaz]

So Adams seems to be nice when he's not respected and mean when he is.

This mean something I'm sure.

 

Can't speak to this directly about his personal perspective, or even specifically from the comic artist... but I have a lot of experience from the athlete side of this and see so much I recognize in what I've read above that I'm sure it's very similar.

 

These people know that signing for fans is part of what they do, but they're all sick of signing something for $20 at 2 pm and seeing it up on ebay for $100 at 3 pm. Even moreso the countless time when at 2 pm the reason they agreed to sign/draw something was because they were given some BS story about a big fan/sick kid/etc.

 

My point is, they're really jaded, and more and more, closed off. So when people say ... "He used to nicer" that's universal. Also, the surprise in Adams' reaction when someone wanted it personalized was genuine. He'd found an actual fan. I'm sure at that point he let his guard down a bit and had an honest interaction.

 

That's really the key to the whole thing. Are you able - in the first 10 seconds upon meeting them - to communicate that you're actual a fan, and not looking at this person as a revenue stream? If so, you'll probably get a good experience. Otherwise, probably not.

 

 

[entalmighty1]

It's good to hear that at least a few people had positive experiences with him. I'm debating taking something with me to a con this year that I know he'll be attending, just haven't decided yet.

[bababooey]

[PBK78]

Right now I won't pay that much but will eventually. Love hearing him on Fatman on Batman. Guy has some stories to share.

 

Peace and Love, Peace and Love.

[entalmighty1]

 

Very appropriate coming from Ta-Ta-Toothy!

[Buzzetta]

 

Peace and Love

 

Peace and Love

[StuporMan]

Flat earth society.

[MedicAR]

So Adams seems to be nice when he's not respected and mean when he is.

This mean something I'm sure.

 

It might mean he is tired of dealing with crowds but still values quiet interaction with fans.

 

I prefer not to wait in line for anyone if possible. I have found that a couple of minutes during an off moment generally leads to a much better overall experience. By the same token, I'm not approaching them away from the show floor, either.

[Psithyrus]

He was perfectly nice when I met him at Comicpalooza a few years ago. My brother has met him twice. I'll have to ask him.

[spideyfan68]

So this is an interesting thread. Neal is an odd cat and I've had both experiences with him. I met him in Dallas for the first time in 2012 and he was charging $10 to sign books for CGC grading. Ok fair enoiugh he wasn't overly friendly but not rude either just seemed to be going through the motion, signing my books and kinda tossing them on table back to me. A couple of years later he and his wife were at wizard world in San Antonio and there was literally no one at his booth. I went over and looked at some of his prints and while looking at them he starts talking to my wife and I and he couldn't be nicer. We talked about his thoughts on the expanding earth theory , Steve Ditko and his place in history in comics and it was a great 20 minute conversation. I came away liking him enough to buy six of his prints. A year later they were Dallas again but this time charging $30 a book but I was like ok he's a legend and if he can get $30 for his signature more power to him. I went up with my books and they were both just pissy I tried to make small talk with them and reminded of the conversation we had in San Antonio the previous year and they both just looked at me like i had told them to off. I was so taken aback I almost walked away. I get if you're having a bad day etc., but when you are charging people to sign books at least fake it like you halfway appreciate someone giving you their hard earned money. It's like they say be careful meeting the people you admire or look up to because they will probably disappoint you.