Kirby's Kids Super Special: Neal Adams 2025 Celebration & Fantastic Four Week

July 23, 2025

Kirby's Kids Super Special: Neal Adams 2025 Celebration & Fantastic Four Week - Fantastic Four: Antithesis

Doc and Angus celebrate Neal Adams all year long in 2025 and in this fourth installment they reflect on Neal's later career and focus on his Fantastic Four collaboration with writer Mark Waid. This is the first full-length Fantastic Four story ever illustrated by Neal Adams! An unstoppable meteor of unknown origin has just erupted from hyperspace--and unless the Fantastic Four can find a way to stop it from hitting Manhattan, millions will die! All in celebration of The Fantastic Four's return to the big screen this week in The Fantastic Four: First Steps!

Fantastic Four: Antithesis

⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08923NL5S⁠

NEAL ADAMS 2025 CELEBRATION SELECTIONS:

1st Quarter: February

Batman vol.1; #232, 243-244

1st appearance of Ra’s Al Ghul

Batman vs. Ra’s Al Ghul (vol.1; #1-6) 2019-2021

Written/drawn by Neal Adams & it’s his last published story before his death in 2022

2nd Quarter: April

X-Men (vol.1; #56-63) 1969

#57-59: Sentinels

#60-61: Sauron

#62-63: Savage Lands

The Avengers (vol.1; #93-96) 1971

3rd Quarter: July

Batman vol.1; #251 “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge”

This issue is historically significant for the following reasons:

It marks the Joker's return to his violent roots. After having been portrayed as a mass murderer during the early years of the Golden Age, the Joker was reduced to being an annoying prankster during the late years of the Golden Age and in his scarce appearances during the Silver Age. With this story, many elements of the Joker's original portrayal were updated and still remain to the present day, a constant feature in the development of the character.

This story also makes relevant the fact that criminals like the Joker are held in an unnamed mental hospital for the criminally insane. While some Golden Age stories also mentioned mental hospitals for the Joker and other villains, the idea had been largely forgotten during the entire Silver Age and the concept is first revisited in this issue. Arkham Asylum would make its first official appearance as Arkham Hospital in Batman #258, only seven issues after this one.

This issue also marks the permanent return of Batman's Rogues Gallery after several years of absence.

Batman: Stacked Cards "Trumping the Joker"

This is a mini book and record set published by Power Records and how Angus was introduced to Neal Adams as a kid.

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978)

Fantastic 4 Week - Fantastic Four: Antithesis (vol.1; #1-4) 2020 Mark Waid & Adams

4th Quarter: October

Strange Adventures (vol.1; #206-#211

Adam’s may not have created Deadman but he started drawing him in his 2nd comic & helped define Deadman

The 1st story & all of the Adams stories were reprinted in 1985 as a 7-issue series

Spectre (vol.1; #2-5) 1967-1968

These issues don’t make a continual arc

In issue #2 there is a text page titled "Spectre interviews Neal Adams", which is used as a funny introduction of Adams into the art chores of the title.

Eerie Volume 3 Issue #125

Featuring the art of Neal Adams, this Warren issue collects earlier works from their various horror magazines. Specifically Vampirella #1, Eerie #9 and #10, Creepy #14, #15, #16, #75. Packed with seven Adams stories, this is the first compilation of the artist's work by the publisher.