Ha! Great story!

what an uberdouchey way to test one's committment to one's art.

Dottie, I think you've got better taste than THAT! (But thank you.)

I sat next to Neal @ Continuity for years and heard him critique dozens of portfolios including Frank Millers. He was rough on everybody- but, he took the time to go over the work and would often tell people to "come back in a year." The ones that came back (and had improved) got a boost into the biz directly from Neal. And, Jahfurry: Why is it being a douchebag to take up one's precious time to give honest criticism? Most people will tell you "that's nice," but they don't pick up the phone and get you a gig. Neal did that all the time.

Some people want to assume the worst. I get the same response when I tell people what Wally Wood used to say when I asked him to critique my work:

"I'll tell you when it stops sucking!" (And I was working for him at the time!

I initially had the same type of reaction from Bill Pearson, and it kind of confounded me: because on one hand, Pearson has never really been noted for his own art, but on the other hand, he knew how to get the best from the best as editor of Witzend. It also probably didn't help that the stuff I was showing him was my clumsy, third-rate imitation of Wally Wood. Long story short, I started developing my own style, and less than a year later, Bill published some of my work in a hardcover book along with folks like Dan Adkins, Ronn Sutton, and Michael T. Gilbert, and we'd become friends alomg the way.

I'm so glad you were resilient enough not to take his advice! I was always too easily crushed and I'm afraid I would have been devastated by such a comment.

I have to say I completely understand why Adams would say that. If someone is going to get put off by that kind of crit then they really shouldn't be in comics anyway and he's doing them a favor. This business grinds through talent and spits it out, part of being able to survive and even thrive in it is the ability to be brutally honest about your own work. If you know exactly how good/bad you are then nothing Neal Adams is going to say is going to change your mind that much. It might be dispiriting, but the determination to prove him wrong is what you took away from this and that's often all that will pull you through the bad times. So win for you! ...and for us :)

Great story, Scott, well told! I love Kris and the mercurial Neal. One must never forget how much he bravely championed creators' rights to the (temporary but potentially permanent) detriment of his own career in the comics field.



We came from roughly the same generation. Your story and your response to Neal reminds me of the joke (which I find particularly self-descriptive):



Why did the hippie cross the road?



Because someone told him not to.



A more apt ending to this joke (that more directly relates to us and your story) would be:

Because someone told him he couldn't.



PS: And thanks for that new addition to my vocabulary, Jahfurry: "uberdouchey".

Good story, I can commiserate...

my Dad said the same thing to me...

fortunately, he was just referring to my whining about not being able to watch "Animal Kingdom" while he was watching the football game.

Great story!

What a way to test one´s resolve!

As an art director who has spent a 27-year career in print media—rock magazines, comic books, book cover design—I can assure you the method Neal employs is not evil or negative, it's REAL. The commercial art industry as a whole is a tough business, and not for the hesitant. All the positive feedback in the world will only get you so far—it's the negative feedback that will help you grow, or turn you to a new path or career choice (as sooner or later, you'll need to pay the rent). If you want hearts and flowers from every single critique you are being unrealistic and vain. When I was in magazines people would send me their work all of the time who obviously never took a look at the mag or the calibre (or styles) of the artists who were in it. I'd throw "blind" samples away, and if a portfolio was dropped off I'd tell them to do some research and not waste my time. Was it harsh? Sure, but it was REAL. It isn't an "attitude." You earn your place in the industry and how to work in it. I've broken-in as many new talents in as worked with established ones. Really, really great art talent is a dime a dozen. You have to work hard just to get noticed and it's not for the faint of heart. Sorry. Just the facts.