And it just sold at auction, too!
I don’t think there’s any argument — at least not any legitimate argument — that there are any Bronze Age Batman/Joker stories that top Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge! in 1973’s Batman #251, and Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, and Terry Austin’s The Laughing Fish! two-parter that began in Detective Comics #475, about 4 1/2 years later.
Both were not just enormously popular, they’re among the most influential Bat-stories of the last five decades. You can debate which is better, but I think you can at least make a solid case that The Laughing Fish! wouldn’t have happened without O’Neil and Adams resetting the tone of the Clown Prince of Crime in The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge!
(Side note: Sadly, only Englehart and Austin are still with us.)
Now, Adams was a particularly proud guy. He was very quick to talk at great length about his favorite artists, particular those who had come before him, but he wasn’t known for homaging others’ work in his own. Adams, for the most part, did Adams, and that was that.
So it’s absolutely fascinating to see him homage Rogers — who came after him and who’s often considered second only to Adams himself when it comes to the Darknight Detective — in this undated original illustration that this week sold through Heritage Auctions:
What jumps out immediately isn’t just that Adams flopped the image, but that he stayed absolutely true to Rogers’ take on the Joker Fish and the Clown Prince’s body language from the cover of Detective #475.
At the same time, he kept the face his own, as if taken directly from the Batman #251 cover.
The final price? $4,500 (including buyer’s premium), which is a helluva bargain, even if it’s well out of my price range.
Note to our friends the Adamses, though: I certainly want a print of this.
Here’s the official Heritage description:
Neal Adams – Joker with Joker Fish Guns Specialty Illustration Original Art (undated). “All it takes is one bad day.” The Clown Prince of Crime flashes a maniacal grin while brandishing twin Laughing Fish guns in this wicked reinterpretation of Joker from the classic Detective Comics #475 cover by Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin, which introduced the Joker Fish.
This one really reels us in, with Adams making the gag even more sinister with deeper shadows across the Joker’s face and nastier grins on his finned sidearms. A defining Bronze Age artist, Adams helped restore Batman’s darker visual edge and brought a new realism to superhero comics through landmark work including Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
Created in ink over graphite on Bristol board with an image area of 8.25″ x 9.25″. Signed by Adams in the lower left image area. In Excellent condition. The original COA, signed by Adams, is affixed to the reverse and has a piece missing from the right edge.
—
MORE
— NEAL ADAMS’ Original BATMAN #251 Cover Art Sells for $600,000. Click here.
— SECRET ORIGINS: MARSHALL ROGERS’ Classic BATMAN Splash Going Up for Auction. Click here.
