The Incredible Hulk – Arthur Adams

9" x 12"

It seems amazing to me that this year marks 39 years since what is generally considered to be the comics debut of Arthur Adams with Longshot (he might have had some minor pieces appear in earlier titles). If Arthur Adams had merely maintained the artistic ability displayed in Longshot for the subsequent period then comics fans would have been content but not only has he retained that standard but he has improved on it; he keeps on getting just better, when contemporaries of his in 1985 have retired or long ago hit their peak before starting their gradual descent, which would be the understandable natural order of human creativity. It is still something of an occasion when someone on CAF posts a newly-produced cover or commission by AA. I forget if it was Bill, Mikail or someone else who said during the CAF awards this year that in order to stop AA monopolising every category in which a work by him is entered his dominance should be restricted to a new category of “Best Arthur Adams Piece” in order to give every other artist a fighting chance of winning. It is a shame that we see so little interior work by AA nowadays – we know he has the chops for it – but it seems to me that it could be likened to those team sportspeople who retire from international duty in order to concentrate on, protect and prolong their club-level career. None of us begrudge them that.

I won this Arthur Adams Hulk off of eBay around about 20 years ago, so shortly after it was created, for such an unexceptional final price that I have no recollection of what it was. I was fortunate to do so then as I am pretty sure I would not now be able to come up with the cash to acquire this or its present-day equivalent. I don’t know what it is like in the rest of the world but for some time now and partially because of the indolence, venality, mismanagement and incompetence of the sitting government over the last 14 years the UK is currently in the midst of a “cost of living crisis” or I could rephrase this for anyone reading as a “cost of collecting crisis”. I am not being flippant when I say that because from what I understand there are many OA obsessives out there who forgo the normal trappings of modern living such as a new car every five years, or two holidays abroad annually or maybe live an ascetic, hermit-like existence to subsidise/fund their Original Comic Art habit.

I am at a loss to explain the longevity/excellence of AA’s career unless it owes something to the “behind every great man …” adage, in which case I can claim a tiny, an infinitesimal contribution to AA’s success – did I ever tell you I had an aunt who shared the same name (kind of) as a famous comic artist? I don’t know if AA is planning anything to celebrate his Ruby Anniversary in comics but on the evidence of the way things are going I can guarantee that whatever Arthur Adams is working on then will be totally off the chart.