The Dark Knight Neal Adams likes TDK; takes issue with villains triumphing

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/07/neal-adams-on-t.html

Comic Con: Neal Adams on ‘The Dark Knight’ and the comics industry
01:38 PM PT, Jul 26 2008
Who is the greatest living comic book artist?

As I’ve said before, my vote is for Neal Adams, so it was a real treat to join him and his family for a big pasta dinner at Buca di Beppo in downtown San Diego last night. Before we even got to the table, I had to ask him if he had seen “The Dark Knight.” “I did and I thought it was great,” Adams told me. But he did have some reservations about the body count in the Christopher Nolan film and the fact that, in his view, the villains seem to triumph in the film. “Batman fails and fails and fails,” said the artist who drew the Batman so definitively in 1970s.

Adams is a champion of artist rights through the decades and we talked a lot about the wear and tear of the comics industry on creators through the years. Adams, who is a portrait of clean living, also talked about the casualties of drinking and drugs in the business, such as the late Marshall Rogers, who “just got eaten up” by his addictions. A brighter note was a great yarn he told me about a trip to Spain with his wife, Marilyn, and sitting watching the setting sun with the late Will Eisner. “It was such a great moment, a great day.” Adams talked about a book he wants to do with Batman, Deadman and the Joker crossing paths in an intriguing way. After way too much food, we walked over to the DC Comics party, where I got to introduce Adams and his son, Josh, to filmmaker Zack Snyder. The two immediately hit it off and talked intently about motion-capture technologies and the state of CG special effects in Hollywood. It was a real treat to listen in and inspiring to hear two guys so passionate about their crafts. The brawny Adams is a locomotive guy and he expects others to keep up. The last thing he said as he headed back to his hotel: “Work hard.”

-- Geoff Boucher
 
I actually think Batman triumphed in his own way. He saves the lives of the hostages wearing clown masks at the end of the film, not to mention Gordon and his family. By taking the blame for Dent's killings, he also preserves "the soul" of Gotham that Joker so desperately wanted to corrupt by making Dent look fallible.
 
No villains triumphed in TDK. Perhaps hes just taking issue with the fact that theres never a "happily ever after" ending.
 
joker '89 killed more people and everyone harvey killed was corrupt.
 
No villains triumphed in TDK. Perhaps hes just taking issue with the fact that theres never a "happily ever after" ending.

To an extent Joker triumphed in TDK. He corrupted Dent even though seeds of destruction were already in place and killed Wayne's beloved Rachel, not to mention numerous cops and civilians. Adams isn't used to seeing a comics to film adaptation where a hero doesn't always save the day or protect the damsel in distress from harm. Nolan did what few directors involved with films of this genre have the courage to do - he broke the mold.
 
Reguarding Neal Adams, Ive noticed that more than ever before, this movie in particular is bringing out small oddities in opinions about fiction. Now because Batman deals with a struggle that isnt always straight forward as the other films and it takes a little time to unravel, its pessimistic heh.

Id hate to see what happens when they get their next supermarket bill screw up and need to sort it out at the long customer service line ;)
 

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