Neal Adams, the artist who brought Batman back to popularity, has died at the age of 80

Legendary comic strip artist Neal Adams passed away on April 28 at the age of 80. During his career he worked for DC Comics and Marvel, touching on properties like the X-Men, The Avengers, among others.

Adams is best remembered for his time drawing Batman comic strips in the 1960s and 1970s with writer Dennis O’Neil, which allowed the character to break out of the more kitschy environment of the Adam West-starring series into the kind of dark stories that now they characterize the ‘knight of the night’.

Among the most memorable creations of Adams and O’Neil are Man-Bat and the villainous Ra’s al Ghul, who has become one of the most recurring opponents of the comic strip hero. The duo also brought back the dark side of villains like Joker, putting a deadlier side to the character whose portrayal by Cesar Romero had been taken from him.

Batman wasn’t the only character Adams left his mark on, and he and O’Neil created Green Lantern John Stewart in 1971, one of the first African-American superheroes.

Adams’ influence was also felt in the comics business and in 1971 he founded, together with Dick Giordano, the influential studio Continuity Associates, from which renowned artists in the industry such as Trevor Von Eeden, Bob Wiacek, John Fuller, Joe D’Esposito, among many others. Adams was also a mentor to artists like Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz.