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Underground > Comic Books >

John Byrne

  
 
Alex's Grandma
21:04 / 02.08.07
What contemporary superhero/team should John Byrne 'do'?

He's not allowed to write Ultimate Valkyrie, but apart from that, anything goes!
 
 
Billuccho!
21:59 / 02.08.07
John Byrne should work on something creator-owned so that we can shove him off to his own little corner of the industry and never have to hear about him again.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
23:10 / 02.08.07
Listen, mate, I've just given Byrne a big chuck of change so he can draw me, from the photo, as Captain Britain. It was not cheap, so I'm basically not at home, at all, to comments in this thread, or elsewhere, which seem to even vaguely imply that John Byrne is a fat idiot.

Perhaps some of you JB haters could start your own thread, if you think he's such a clot. But as far as this thread goes, it's my way, or the highway!

I'll take the lorras you on!
 
 
Aertho
23:16 / 02.08.07
Mark, might you have any feelings about feminism, politics, or racism that could get you to post in the Switchboard?

I foresee some complications in this thread that might be answered by a quick stop there, followed by a subsequent discussion in Policy.

Would this be considered entrapment?
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
23:18 / 02.08.07
It may, for the sake of argument, be best to keep this thread strictly on topic, Bill, regardless of how one might feel about Byrne at present...otherwise, I'm not sure what the value would be.

For the record, I'd be curious to see how Byrne would handle the remnants of Alpha Flight, or its successor Omega Flight, given that he began them, way back when.
 
 
This Sunday
01:11 / 03.08.07
Northstar. No, really, it's something he can deservedly get all proprietary about and have it make half-sense. He's got a good handle, and presumably some unfinished business. Corrections that might not suck.
 
 
Mark Parsons
03:04 / 03.08.07
Wow. Hard to say really. I gather his X-Men: Hidden Years book was entertaining. I have not read any issues, but honestly, I have a hard time imagining it touching X-Men FIRST CLASS, which is just an old school joy to read (ie, a book that is about FUN and imagination).

The catch here is that I'd MUCH rather see Byrne the artist than Byrne the writer/artist. I've sampled all of his new books going back over a decades and, other than having some goodwill towards 4th World and WONDER WOMAN, I have to say that I've not cared for his output. I did love seeing him on ATOM, but that was not to be in terms of longevity.

How about Byrne on SON OF SATAN or another 1970s revival mini? Or an FF tale? Vision? Human Torch I? Invaders (WWII)? I think the nostalgia factor is definitely key. Wish I still has room for the curmodgeon for old times sake. Still, I'll give a looksee if he comes back to Marvel, which will be BIG news if it is true...
 
 
Gaixo
14:43 / 03.08.07
These were the titles Byrne suggested he had already been thinking of:
"
Doctor Strange
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
The Invaders (WW2)
Guardians of the Galaxy
Black Panther (bouncing between NY and Wakanda)
Ka-Zar (in New York)
The Black Fox (a cheat, I know, but I have not done him in his own title)
"
I can't imagine he has an interesting angle on any of these. I guess I'd choose The Invaders, a few good characters in there and he wouldn't have to deal with the state of the modern Marvel universe.

If we're to stray from the list I would also like to see Alpha Flight. I might actually buy that one, if only to see Byrne derisively undo the past twenty years of changes to the characters. Omega Flight would be fun for a similar reason, his contempt for that lot would be dripping from the pages as he dismantled them.
 
 
electric monk
15:57 / 03.08.07
I'm in agreement with Billucchio, actually. But to restate in perhaps a softer manner: I'd really prefer that he put his time, talents, energy, and money into his Next Men.

Because let's face it, this is really about finding a way for JB to be happy. And he won't be happy on a book put out by the Big Two. Ever. He's flung too much shit at them and their employees and freelancers over the past few years, and the books themselves are within a continuity that he no longer cares for. Maybe there are pockets within the DCU or MU that could be reserved for JB, I don't know. Even then, he'd need a clause in his contract stating that his book shall never, ever be referenced by any other book in the company's line and that his title is not subject to any company-wide crossover during his tenure. Basically, we're talking about where DC or Marvel should put the "John Byrne Only" paddling pool and triangulating how far away it should be from the communal pool. I doubt the Big Two are willing to give him that kind of free reign anymore. Which is tragic in a way. And also entirely justified.

No, what JB needs and what, I think, would make him a much happier man is if he started his own comic book company. Just full-on, Dave Sim, "Everybody else is stupid and wrong and I'm going to SHOW 'EM ALL!" And then show us. I'm sure that, with all his much-vaunted speed at the drawing table, he could easily crank out a page a day and still have time to fit in some commission pieces before bed. He would get to be his own editor (or a trusted friend like Roger Stern could play editor). He would not be subject to "interference" from other titles or creators. He would have full control over plotting, writing, pencilling, inking, and lettering. It would be, in theory if not in practice, exactly what his fans want from him and exactly what I suspect he wants for himself. He really has no excuse for not doing this, as far as I can tell.

I'm not saying I'd buy a creator-owned, independently-published Next Men. I thought it was shit when they were doling it out in eight-page installments in Dark Horse Presents. But someone would buy it. Probably a lot of someones.

Apologies, Mark, for straying from the parameters of your thread. I just feel that there's a larger topic surrounding this one and hopefully I've been clear in what I think that topic is and what it means. Just tell me to stuff it if I'm full of shit.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
23:02 / 03.08.07
Apologies, Mark, for straying from the parameters of your thread.

Not at all, EM. The broader JB situation (basically, that he seems to spend a lot of time sitting around the house in his Wolverine boxers) was always something that I hoped would be addressed in this thread.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
02:40 / 04.08.07
And not just because I'd like to own a pair of Wolverine boxer shorts myself.

Although I can't think of anything that would make me happier.
 
 
doctorbeck
08:49 / 04.08.07
i think the issue of JB sitting around in his boxer shorts all day shouting at people on his fan site was wonderfully addressed by Bendis in one of his Powers issues, some big fat beardie ex-hero living in the desert doing just that, being 'baited by hipster fanboys and loved by a few ass kissers', until someone dropped a nuke on him.

or was it just me who saw that as a JB dig?
him doing just that.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
11:16 / 04.08.07
No, what JB needs and what, I think, would make him a much happier man is if he started his own comic book company.

This is an idea that crops up every now and again on Byrne Robotics. However JB seems to feel (although I don't suppose he can actually come out and say so; he tends to cover himself with the 'it would be too much like hard work!' thing) that it might be a financial disaster.

I would love to read his take on 'Omega Flight' though.
 
 
DavidXBrunt
13:47 / 04.08.07
Since when have people been able to just throw a strop if the thread they start doesn't go their way and force apologies out of people for expressing opinions? I must have been away.

As for me I don't think I'd want him to do any contemporary team. I used to love his work but his style no longer appeals and, frankly, his online persona has poisened my opinion of him and his work irreprably.
 
 
Shiny: Well Over Thirty
19:52 / 04.08.07
Basically I'd like to see him drawing anything written by Gail Simone - I have no idea if either really enjoyed the experience of working together, but the teaming certainly produced the best John Byrne comics I've seen since about 1986, and it was nice to see a Gail Simone written book that wasn't mediocre at best on the art front.

If Byrne must write as well as draw then I agree with what others have said - definitely Alpha Flight characters in some shape or form - his original run marked a high point for his writing career in my opinion, and it's just possible he might be able to do something decent with his characters again. And if it wasn't decent, then well, for the more cruelly minded that might be sort of funny to watch as well, in a sort of Frank Miller's recent Batman work sort of a way.
 
  
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