Alter Ego # 195 September 2025 (magazine review)
It was hardly surprising to discover the paper edition Alter Ego # 195 sold out when it has ‘Neal Adams’ on the cover but so quickly in under 6 months? Although I have access to a digital copy, it’s a lot easier to read paper. There are copies out there, you just have to look around.
The opening interview with Adams was conducted in 2018 at the San Diego ComicCon by Alex Grand and Bill Field, looking over his early history in advertising, the likes of the Ben Casey newspaper strip and his early work at DC Comics where the pay was considerably less but he was bewitched by the medium. Did I say there was a lot of art samples here and throughout? His strength in layout is shown on their opening splash page of the Avengers in ‘The Inhumans’ story in Amazing Adventures # 8, in a three-tier design. I did have some wry amusement where Adams claims he has no opinions when he has plenty of them. It doesn’t say whether or not he was drawing throughout the interview but he gave some stark opinions of the comicbook industry at the time. The fact that DC Comics hadn’t employed anyone in ten years when he came along ignores the fact that the pros saw their industry was dying. Whether it would or not, things changed when Marvel Comics took off. Would it have survived otherwise, we’ll never know. If the Internet had existed back then, I wouldn’t have bet on it. I love his mentioning of the contrast of cartoon ‘big-feet’ and super-heroes ‘small-feet’, as a contrast in their illustrating, although this doesn’t place where the likes of the Hulk and the Thing fit into all of this.
The second Neal Adams interview was conducted back in 1999 by Emilio Soltero looking at his influences when young and how his mother influenced his basic talent. Its also interesting how Stan Drake’s use of polaroids did with his own on ‘Ben Casey’ which probably saved a lot of time.
Writer James Rosen article is more about how Adams DC Comics imagery was put onto various merchandise over the years and how he switched to collecting that after regretting selling his original comics after Adams modified the reprints. All three pieces come with a variety of Neal Adams artwork.
Under the ‘Mr. Monster’ section, Michael T. Gilbert looks at the various ‘Mr. Mystic’ logos which changed frequently. I think the reason why some, such as ‘Superman’, never changed was because it became instantly recognisable. In contrast to ‘The Spirit’, also in the same Sunday supplement, where the title was incorporated into the splash page, the shapes of the letters still stayed the same. Gilbert’s admiration for this letterers shows how much work was actually done that we take for granted.
In the Fawcett Collectors section, Shaun Clancy interviews Dennis Lieberson about his father, Will Lieberson, who was Fawcett’s editor-in-chief. Although he was too young to remember those years, he recounts what he can that fills in some gaps in Lieberson’s latter years.
People are obviously buying or bought this issue for the masses of Adams’ artwork but don’t forget to read the rest of this issue and I’m wondering how long before TwoMorrows do a book on Neal Adams and incorporate the material from here for those who missed it. Even so, be patient, the magazines will eventually get into the secondary market.
GF Willmetts
January 2026
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6890. Direct from them, you can get it digitally for £ 4.95 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=1820&zenid=tb66lit8d8k99jfapqke25ukd1
