An EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT from Back Issue Annual #1…
The first-ever Back Issue Annual is out Wednesday, July 15, and it’s billed as “The Best of the Neal Adams Issues!” And that’s exactly what it is — a Neal Adams smorgasbord covering a huge swath of his career, all in one place.
Editor Emeritus Michael Eury has a new column in the issue that explains how Adams inspired Back Issue to begin with.
This EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT from the mag presents the column in its entirety. (And you can find a piece by BI Publisher John Morrow over here. Plus, click here for a SNEAK PEEK at the ish.) — Dan
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By MICHAEL EURY
Back Issue magazine owes its existence to Neal Adams. And I, like so many others, owe my career in comic books to him. It all started with Batman #232…
You probably know it as the issue that introduces Ra’s al Ghul, by the dream team of writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams, with inks by Dick Giordano. Its shocking cover has become an unforgettable piece of comics iconography.
When Batman #232 hit the stands in April of 1971, I was 13, no longer punch-drunk with the Batmania that had so radically altered my life some five years earlier when Adam West popularized the Caped Crusader on television. My interests were maturing into new activities such as studying music and reading literature (oh, yeah… my hormones were raging back then, too). I still picked up an occasional comic book, but believed I had outgrown my childhood hero.
Then Neal Adams showed me how wrong I was. And he recruited me to Batman—and comics—fandom for life. With a single issue.
I’m unsure of how Batman #232 found its way into the Eury home. I don’t recall buying it, and my brother, then age 5, was too young to have done so (although he grew up on Batman reruns, which were still fresh at the time), so I suspect it might’ve been purchased by our father as a “funnybook” for his two boys who liked Batman on TV. But perhaps it was Fate instead that plopped this comic book onto our coffee table.
It captivated me. Issue #232’s “Daughter of the Demon” wasn’t a kooky campfest like the other Batman stories which had earlier regaled or amused me. It was the most mature comic-book story I had ever encountered, evoking the atmosphere of an international espionage tale penned by Ian Fleming, with a somber Darknight Detective supplanting Agent 007. Plus, it featured a moody Batman origin retelling and the introduction of a serious romantic subplot.
Holy Makeovers! Batman’s stint at summer “camp” was over.
It captivated my little brother, too. Batman #232 helped him learn to read. It was such a beloved comic between us that the cover was soon battered and abandoned, months after the issue had disappeared from the stands. I so loved the issue that I borrowed a friend’s copy and photocopied the cover as a replacement for ours.
Denny O’Neil’s moodier interpretation of Batman was clearly a motivator, but it was the photorealistic artwork of Neal Adams that made me cherish Batman #232. And anticipate every single Batman (and other) cover—or story—his pencil would grace.
That passion opened my eyes to a fascinating four-color medium that offered much more than juvenile page-turners.
Soon I was reading books about comics history and studying the artform, eventually marching into a career as a writer and editor—including TwoMorrows’ Back Issue, which launched under my watch in 2003. If not for Neal Adams’ work on
Batman #232, I might’ve drifted away. Thanks, Neal, for anchoring me where I belong.
And while I certainly won’t assume that someone else could not have helmed this magazine from its first issue (as Roger Ash is so ably proving as Back Issue’s current editor), I still contend that Back Issue owes its existence to Neal Adams. He not only revolutionized the comics world (both creatively and commercially) and inspired a legion of artists, but torchlit BI’s realm of the Bronze Age while doing so.
How appropriate, then, that Back Issue’s first-ever Annual should present the highlights of our Neal Adams coverage from our archives.
It is with pride and unending respect that we dedicate this special edition to the man who, for my generation, will always be its rock star.
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Back Issue Annual #1 is out Wednesday, July 15. You can get it at your comics shop or directly through TwoMorrows. The 100-pager lists for $12.95. Click here to order.
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MORE
— Why THE NEAL ADAMS COLLECTOR Never Happened, by TwoMorrows’ JOHN MORROW. Click here.
— EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEAK: Inside BACK ISSUE ANNUAL #1 — The Best of NEAL ADAMS. Click here.
July 12, 2026
My path to Neal Adams was nearly identical as my longtime friend and partner-in-crime Michael Eury. Michael and I co-wrote the TwoMorrows’ book THE BATCAVE COMPANION, I was Michael’s cover designer for BACK ISSUE (I’ve designed over 150 covers for BI) and I wrote many stories for the magazine. I first saw BATMAN #232 at a 7-11 when I was 8 years old, and it literally changed my life. Because of Neal, I became a comic book reader/collector, and his work set me on a path to not only pursue my interests in comics, but also in art. This first BACK ISSUE Annual contains my lengthy interview with Neal about every Batman story he drew, from “Track of the Hook” to “Moon of the Wolf.” I spent two solid days interviewing Neal at Continuity. They say “never meet your heroes…” well, that wasn’t true when it came to Neal. He was an incredible person to interview in person—passionate, honest, funny, and charismatic. He talked to me despite having to work on multiple deadlines, he sketched for much of the time while we talked in Continuity’s conference room. Neal bought me lunch and we had lengthy discussions about our favorite Hammer horror films and favorite Spielberg film (which most people wouldn’t believe). It was a dream come true to discuss Batman with Neal! The interview was originally for COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE Magazine, but, honestly, the interview was really for me. The interview has been published numerous times: in THE BATCAVE COMPANION and in two issues of BACK ISSUE, and I’m proud that John Morrow chose to include it in the first ever BI Annual.
July 12, 2026
Michael, my experience with Neal mirrors yours. He was incredibly generous with his time and answered every question I ever had. That he wrote guest pieces for 13th Dimension was a tremendous honor and one of the absolute highlights of doing this. Perhaps even the highest.
July 12, 2026
Michael, thanks for sharing your inspiration for Back Issue magazine which has been and still is such a joy to read over the years. I came to Neal Adams work quite a bit later than all of you, but I fell hard for his stuff in the mid-80s when I was trying to piece together my collection of the Brave and the Bold with Batman, so his Green Arrow and Deadman issues really stood out for me and I have been hooked ever since. I now have all of his Batman work and I had the privilege of meeting Neal at a convention in Montreal in 2018 and he graciously signed my second copy of Batman 251, which I proudly display on my shelf.