Arlen’s Events Blog

New York Adventure Club announces its “GREAT COMIC BOOK ARTISTS OF THE SILVER AGE” summertime webinar series starting July 6!

Some of the greatest comic book artists of their gen eration created some of their greatest works during The Silver Age of Comics (circa 1956-1972); they not only drew definitive versions of the industry’s greatest characters— the same ones featured in today’s blockbuster Hollywood movies and tele vision series—but also set trends in the art of comic book storytelling itself!

And now New York Adventure Club is offering a brand new summer time webinar series by noted comic book historian Arlen Schumer, based on the eight great comic book artists in his award-winning book, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art!

So whether you’re a longtime comic book reader who’s familiar with the original comics, or a newcomer from the films and TV shows based on them, Schumer’s dynamic displays of comic book covers, pages, and panels, coupled with his witty and trenchant pop culture commentary, will make you look at, and enjoy, the works of these great American artists as if for the first time!

REGISTER for the ENTIRE webinar series and get a DISCOUNT!

TIX & INFO: https://bit.ly/3OslCSP

•••CAN’T make it LIVE? A ticket allows you to watch a recording of each webinar for up to a week after!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR #9 of 9:

NEAL ADAMS’ ECLECTICA Part 2 (1972-2022)!

During NEAL ADAMS’ peak years in the comic book industry (circa 1967-78), he was probably the most in-demand freelance artist in New York City, with not only the two major comic book companies, DC and Marvel, vying for his services on both covers and interior stories, but so were the black and white Warren magazines, National Lampoon, Playboy, and all the major advertising agencies as well, who hired Adams and his studio, Continuity Associates, for comp art, storyboards, and animatics–all while Neal was raising a family of three!

(How did he do all that work, and at such a high level? Rumor was he didn’t need to sleep like the rest of us mortals!)

Ergo it would take more than even 9 webinars to truly document all the amazing artwork Adams produced in that period that hasn’t already been covered in all the previous webinars; as it is, the greatest of Adams’ ECLECTICA had to be split into 2 webinars, with Part 1 covering the years 1962 (the debut of his Ben Casey comic strip) through the end of 1971, and Part 2 picking up in 1972, continuing through his peak period, and finishing with the best of his 21st Century works!

So join comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) as he dynamically displays and discusses some of the more eclectic works of Adams’ formidable career, and though lesser-known and lesser-seen, are certainly not of lesser pedigree, as they’re all part of the great tapestry that is the multifaceted career of Neal Adams!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/39nps09

MEETING ID: 897 3002 6152

PASSCODE: 446563

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR #8 of 9:

NEAL ADAMS’ ECLECTICA Part 1 (1962-71)!

During NEAL ADAMS’ peak years in the comic book industry (circa 1967-78), he was probably the most in-demand freelance artist in New York City, with not only the two major comic book companies, DC and Marvel, vying for his services on both covers and interior stories, but so were the black and white Warren magazines, National Lampoon, Playboy, and all the major advertising agencies as well, who hired Adams and his studio, Continuity Associates, for comp art, storyboards, and animatics–all while Neal was raising a family of three!

(How did he do all that work, and at such a high level? Rumor was he didn’t need to sleep like the rest of us mortals!)

Ergo it would take more than even 9 webinars to truly document all the amazing artwork Adams produced in that period that hasn’t already been covered in all the previous webinars; as it is, the greatest of Adams’ ECLECTICA had to be split into 2 webinars, with Part 1 covering the years 1962 (the debut of his Ben Casey comic strip) through the end of 1971, and Part 2 (next week) picking up in 1972, continuing through his peak period, and finishing with the best of his 21st Century works!

So join comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) as he dynamically displays and discusses some of the more eclectic works of Adams’ formidable career, and though lesser-known and lesser-seen, are certainly not of lesser pedigree, as they’re all part of the great tapestry that is the multifaceted career of Neal Adams!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/39nps09

MEETING ID: 852 4722 8230

PASSCODE: 771522

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR #6 of 7:

SUPERMAN v MUHAMMAD ALI!

In 1978 DC Comics published what one man in particular believed was the crowning achievement of legendary comic book artist Neal Adams’ career, the tabloid-sized, 73-page epic, Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. That man was Neal Adams himself!

Yes, Adams went on record as saying that he thought the offbeat, unique, one-shot extravaganza that was Superman/Ali was his best single comic book work–which was of course saying a lot, as Adams’ career was star-studded with so many spectacular works of groundbreaking comic book art that it’s taking more than seven separate webinars in an impossible task to spotlight them all!

So join comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) as he not only takes you through a tour of the classic Superman/Ali book–interspersed with behind-the-scenes thumbnail sketches, pencils, and inked pages–but also covers Adams’ significant body of Superman works that preceded Superman/Ali, which include some of the most recognizable and beloved images of Superman ever created!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/3m2n9SX

MEETING ID: 889 8292 5745

PASSCODE: 957409

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR #5 of 7:

THE MARVEL WORKS!

In the spring of 1969, NEAL ADAMS had just finished knocking DC Comics’ readers for a loop with his bones-making DEADMAN run of the previous year, as well as wowing every Bat-fan with the BATMAN work he was still doing in their Brave & Bold team-up title, which was redefining the character as a creature of the night, after the campiness of the TV series had run its course. So it surprised everyone when Adams would next take his prodigious, promethean talents over to Marvel Comics, DC’s arch rival! And what Marvel book would he draw? None other than one of the company’s lowest-tiered titles–in fact, one on the brink of cancellation–THE X-MEN!

And just as Adams’ Batman became the modern standard, influencing Frank Miller years later to do The Dark Knight Returns, which in turn has influenced the movie portrayals ever since, making Batman DC’s franchise character, so too did Adams’ X-Men, with far less fanfare, go on to become the new model of the characters, influencing generations of Marvel artists and writers to create their own versions of the group based on his. Adams’ Batman and X-Men are the twin pillars upon which today’s DC and Marvel rest. Like his contemporary Jim Steranko, Adams’ relatively small body of Marvel works (though he did a lot more than just The X-Men!) stands in converse proportion to its enormous influence.

So join comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) as he’ll make you look at Neal Adams’ marvelous Marvel works as if for the FIRST time!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/3LvQfUV

MEETING ID: 810 2004 3538

PASSCODE: 916939

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR #4 of 7:

GREEN LANTERN-GREEN ARROW!

At the dawn of the 1970s, legendary comic book artist Neal Adams forged brand new artistic identities for several mainstream comic book characters, including Batman and The X-Men, as well as two distinctive DC heroes, Green Lantern and Green Arrow.

Adams’ photorealistic visual acuity enabled he and his writer/collaborator, Denny O’Neil, to break new ground telling the kinds of reality-based stories that could be told in “superhero” comic books, and in doing so, made their Green Lantern-Green Arrow run of (only) 13 issues one of the most honored and esteemed, memorable and influential in comic book history!

So join comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) as he’ll make you look at those great Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics as if for the FIRST time!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/3yLWjWz

MEETING ID: 816 7420 3362

PASSCODE: 904642

THURSDAY, MAY 19 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR SERIES #3 of 7:

BATMAN-part TWO (1971-74 and beyond)!

Following the previous evening’s Adams’ BATMAN webinar part ONE, which covered his Bat-works from 1968 through the end of 1970, comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) picks up in January 1971 with Adams’ third Man-Bat adventure, and continues through to the spring ’74 release of his last Batman story (of the 20th Century), the classic “Moon of the Wolf”! The balance of Adams’ Batman oeuvre follows, which includes his collateral Batman advertising art, sketches, and new Batman art in the 21st Century!

Even if you’re a fellow Adams- and Bat-aficionado, you’ll STILL see this timeless art as if for the FIRST time!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/3NiUAMH

MEETING ID: 850 5537 0406

PASSCODE: 720339

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR SERIES #3 of 7:

BATMAN-part ONE (1968-70)

In the summer of 1968, three months after the campy BATMAN TV series was cancelled, comic book artist NEAL ADAMS (1941-2022), in one single issue, rebooted Batman back to his original roots as a creature of the night, transforming the “Caped Crusader” into the “Dark Knight” we have known and loved ever since!

Teamed with DC Comics writer Denny O’Neil and others, Adams’ dynamic draftsmanship and visual virtuosity birthed a body of Batman stories that many consider the definitive version of the character–in comic books or any other media–as well as perhaps artist Adams’ most memorable and impactful works of his entire Hall of Fame career!

So join comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) as he revisits, and rejoices in, Adams’ historic Batman works of 1968-70; part TWO of this ADAMS’ BATMAN webinar tomorrow night will cover 1971-74 (and beyond)!

Even if you’re a fellow Adams- and Bat-aficionado, you’ll STILL see his awesome Bat-oeuvre as if for the FIRST time!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/3MeJLLp

MEETING ID: 872 0607 2182

PASSCODE: 223195

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11 @ 6:00pm EST:

NEAL ADAMS MEMORIAL WEBINAR SERIES #2 of 7: DEADMAN

The year was 1967–the year of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s, psychedelia, and The Summer of Love–and in the comic book field, artist/storytellers Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko were creating mind-blowing sagas that made Marvel Comics surge past rival DC Comics, the lumbering, slumbering industry giant who could no longer count on the Batman TV series to bolster its faltering superhero line, as the bubble of Batmania had long since burst. DC desperately needed someone, something, to somehow stay on a level playing field with Marvel.

That “someone” was 26-year-old wunderkind artist NEAL ADAMS, and the “something” was a brand-new, offbeat “superhero” named “DEADMAN,” a daredevil circus acrobat who is shot mid-swing, and falls to his death–but then miraculously lives on as a ghost with the power to take over living bodies, in order to find his killer! Adams inherited the feature with its second issue, and immediately stunned the comic-reading audience with his startling combination of dynamic, cinematic page layouts and photo-realistic drawing, the likes of which made DEADMAN, ironically, more “alive” than any other comic book character at DC…OR Marvel! When the dust cleared a year later, Adams had made his bones with DEADMAN.

So join comic book historian (writer/designer, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art) and Adams aficionado (editor/designer, The Neal Adams Sketchbook) Arlen Schumer (who also worked for Adams at his Continuity studio, and moderates the Facebook group Neal Adams Almanack) as he takes a deep dive into DEADMAN! Even if you’re a fellow Adams aficionado, you’ll still see his DEADMAN works as if for the first time!

ZOOM MEETING: https://bit.ly/37q31GM

MEETING ID: 839 7266 4790

PASSCODE: 070669