In addition to his artistry, Adams was a major champion of comic creators’ rights and helped modernize the industry’s practices of returning original work to the artists. They created Green Lantern’s John Stewart, who was one of the first leading Black superheroes in comics launched the then-controversial storyline that Speedy, Green Arrow’s sidekick, was addicted to heroin and redesigned Green Arrow to give him an updated costume and his iconic goatee.

O’Neil and Adams also teamed up on the successful “Green Lantern/Green Arrow” series, where they tackled real-world issues like racism, drug addiction, pollution and more. After collaborating with writer Dennis O’Neil on an “X-Men” run, where they brought Professor X back to life, Adams and O’Neil worked together most notably on the “Batman” series, where they revitalized the iconic character and brought the Caped Crusader back to his darker, broodier roots.Īdams helped bring to life some of Batman’s most recognizable villains in new storylines, like Joker and Two-Face, and co-created Ra’s Al Ghul and Man-Bat. In 1969, Adams began freelancing for both DC and Marvel, where he drew the X-Men and the popular Kree-Skrull War storyline of the Avengers series. He also took over drawing the hero Deadman, a ghostly character who could possess people and who became a hit with readers. He drew Batman and the supernatural hero the Spectre, two of the most iconic characters featured in his long career, in early 1968.

It was during this Silver Age of Comics, where the medium was pushing artistic boundaries and finding financial success, that Adams’ career began to take off.

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