Neal Adams Treasury 1 (1974)

This fantastic reference to one of comics’ great artists features a previously unpublished muck-rocker that reminds me of a lot of Swamp Thing. The book provides much more, including my favorite, the Neal Adams index! A dream list for any Adams collector or completist.

The book features an interview with Adams, background experience and a slew of images, previously published and many unpublished. If memory recalls, it was the first of three Adams Treasury books.

I’ve done a whole lot of digging and I can’t seem to find this Power Records release. For those unfamiliar, Power Records published a  book and record series throughout the 70s. Getting a comic and a record to listen along was pretty cool and I enjoy coming across them. When I do, I tend to snatch them up because I don’t see them all that often.

I’ve asked Rob Kelly over at the Power Records Blog if it was ever released. I’ll get back to you with his response.

I image Stump the Swamp Child would be a blues metal band. Really sludgy and morose? He looks kind of bummed out.

Although I wouldn’t consider this a Swamp Thing sighting, Adams’ detail has the energy of Bernie Wrightson. The “Swamp Child” font looks very similar to the Swamp Thing logotype and when it comes down to it, it’s a really awesome illustration.

Swamp Child leads off the portfolio portion of the book

Neal Adams’ work was used on a number of Power Records releases. This b/w Planet of the Apes illustration appears on a few different record books.

The sketch below depicts the JLA, hot on the trail of the tiny Enterprise, crewed by tiny Captain Kirk… I’d imagine.

My favorite part of these types of artist profile books is the artist index/credits. This Treasury provides a comprehensive index of Neal Adams’ work up to this point. I’ve been looking for a number of the A.C.B.A Sketchbooks (listed below) for a while. There are some cool sketches of Swampy within them.

Below is one page of many, listing Adams’ work. It’s amazing to see how much work he accomplished prior to 1975. His life’s work up to today is pretty mind blowing; quantity and craft.