Scans From The Seminal ART of John Byrne Book

 Thanks to the huge success of the latter 70's X-MEN stories, John Byrne became a HOT commodity in the comics world for awhile there, and at the height of the craze came a book that every fan needed to grab, THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE book released in 1980!

Oh MAN, there wasn't a kid around who didn't want a copy of this- not only for all its awesome art and insight, and all those AWESOME X-Men sketches!!!- but MOSTLY the inclusion of the mature sci-fi "Critical Error" story which featured a gorgeous Byrne Babe in ALL her natural wonder!

Scanning some illustrations for the John Byrne facebook page, I was taken back by how great these drawings still are- some consider 1980 PEAK John Byrne, and as these illos can attest, make a good case!

John Byrne's Intricate Artwork: Avengers #189

Have always loved artist John Byrne's attention to details in his ilistrations, and a great example of this is in Avengers #189, depicting bowslinging Avenger Hawkeye's apartment!

 You get it all: the shabbiness of it, the broken windows, the dinky television set (with tinfoil wrapped around the antennae), the pin-up of Wanda over the bed and of course the picture of Falcon with darts in it!!

As a kid I cannot TELL yoy how many hours I spent poring over this and his many other drawings throughout- such fine attention to details, no WONDER he is always regarded as one of the all-time best!!

Hellboy Omnibus, Volume 1

This was a bit of fortuitous timing!!! I was JUST telling Gerg the other month that I wanted to start reading Hellboy, and wanted to know which books to start from. Going online, I was THRILLED to find that they were gonna release an OMNIBUS of Hellboy's entire run in a few months time!!!

As soon as I saw this baby on the shelves at Gecko's I grabbed it up and blew through it in record time! Now time to wait for the future Omnibuses to follow!!!

John Byrne's IDW Titles!

Been re-reading John’s awesome IDW titles and wanted to know- which series is YOUR favorite? For me, it HAS to be TRIO…as a long-time fan of Marvel Comics, his satirical re-imagining of the “Marvel Universe” is a JOY to read and re-read over and over, and it’s one title I’m hoping he continues to write and draw someday!

Uncanny X-Men #125

My very FIRST X-Men comic, the one that introduced me to those Uncanny heroes, and WOW, what a issue to start off with! Not only was I introduced to all the X-men, but also Moira MacTaggert, Phoenix, Beast, Havok and Polaris AND the Danger Room! EVERYTHING was in this issue!

And if that weren’t enough, this was the first part of the incredible PROTEUS storyline, the beginnings of the HELLFIRE CLUB storyline and, of course, the seeds of what would eventually become the “DEATH OF PHOENIX” saga!

To this day this run remains the title that all others must compare to, and John Byrne and Terry Austin are STILL my favorite Artist/inker combo of all time!

John Byrne's Cold War

Another short mini-series John Byrne did for IDW. Not Bad for an evening read.

The High Ways 1-4

John Byrne's Triple Helix 1-4

John Byrne's Doomsday.1 #1-4

Another John Byrne reboot series which I rather enjoyed, mostly because of its single issue story format, each issue  (of the four in a series) contains one full story of the survivors after doomsday.

John Byrne's Next Men #31-44

Yep, we're still on a John Byrne kick here, and this time I decided to re-read his 2010 continuation which was chopsocky and erratic but still retained the intrigue that the original series had.

John Byrne's Trio #1-5

Well, we're still in a John Byrne kind of mood here, and so I thought I'd give his short-lived series TRIO another chance. Didn't like it at all the first time I read it,a nd even this time it was filled with Byrne redundancies, echoing stories from his Fantastic Four , X- Men and Alpha Flight runs.
Then I happened to read this essay by Doug Zawizsa on the CBR on forum, and realized I'd missed the point: this was SUPPOSED to be an OBVIOUS nod to his earlier creations!

From CBR:

A quick check of our solicits for this book revealed that it was being marketed thusly: “Fans of Byrne’s Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight especially, this is for you!” That is exactly what this book is: a remix of Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight with one of the goofiest basis for a comic team ever. Although they are initially referred to as Three, Two and One, the titular trio of this book is really Rock, Scissors and Paper.

Rock is an allegorical combo-deal of Thing and Puck, Scissors is a guy who can form supersharp metallic blades from his hands and Paper is a lady who is more reminiscent of Flatman from the Great Lakes Avengers than any other character (save possibly Byrne’s interpretation of Madame Rouge from the Doom Patrol). While Rock is fun in the same way both Puck and Thing are to their respective teams, this issue doesn’t give us enough revelation on either of his teammates save Scissors has a bit of a temper to go with the sharp blades at the ends of his arms. Hmmm. That seems familiar.

Byrne overwrites quite a bit through narration boxes, and in doing so also overuses the phrase “the next instant.” I’m not calling it lazy storytelling, mind you, but I would certainly expect more visual storytelling from an industry legend like John Byrne. The narration boxes seem like overly convenient shortcuts in some spots and unnecessary filler in others.

Byrne’s art is as good as it has been in recent years, rife with detail and filled with expressive characters. Some of the drawings are less about composition and storytelling as opposed to the cool shot, but if anything Byrne’s years of comic creating have earned him the right to have a little fun in his work. The coloring is on par with superheroics: lots of odd color combinations, like bad guys wearing green and purple together and metallic backgrounds soaked in various shades of blue.

Diehard John Byrne fans will absolutely adore this book as they’ll undoubtedly see it as an opportunity for Byrne to write and draw “Fantastic Four”-like stories without being burdened or restricted by a shared universe. Casual comic book fans unfamiliar with Byrne’s work might not see anything spectacular, while veteran readers looking for a retroactive title just might be pleasantly surprised.

“Trio” stands out on the new comic racks largely due to the fact that this, like his “Next Men,” is John Byrne doing what John Byrne wants to do. In a time of infinite crossovers and unnecessary reboots, John Byrne’s latest comic book is a twisted interpretation of previous works polished up to seem new. That apparent newness is enough to bring eyes to the book, but it might have to work on being legitimate newness in order to keep them here. I’ll be back for the next issue, but I honestly am uncertain if that’s because of the creator’s name on the book or the fact that this story actually interests me.

John Byrne's Doom Patrol 1-18

John Byrne's doomed Doom Patrol reboot. Like most of his reboot stuff like Superman, Wonder Woman and OMAC, his tinkering with the originals must be taken with a grain of salt, but all of them (Wonder Woman aside, which I think is his worst effort) are good reads, comics that you want to read over and over again, and Doom Patrol was yet another satisfying re-read series.
Byrne has a real gift for storytelling!!!

The Untold Legend of The Batman #1-3

This mini series was the first  comic to tell me the awesome tale of batman's origins, and to this day it's still the one I consider the "true" telling of his history, despite many, many takes on it later.

OMAC #1-4 (Complete Run)

One of John Byrne's lesser-known efforts these days, but still very interesting mini-series to dig up and re-read every now and again! I've heard that fans of the original series (as well as creator Jack kirby himself) have expressed displeasure with this reboot, but having not read any of the comic's original stories, I find this one a rather good read.

Memories of Uncanny X-Men #111

The first time I laid eyes on the Chris Claremont/John Byrne classic UNCANNY X-MEN #111 was at the house of my friends Larry and James., and this was a beautiful new mint copy, as well!!Featuring the hypnosis mutant MESMERO, this issue was key in starting a globe-trotting epic story that would conclude years later in X-Men 121! 

Oh, how I gushed about their new aquisition, wishing I had a copy of it, but at the same time lucky I was able to read their copy so I’d at least know the story- but my jealousy only grew when my friend Herbert got a copy of X-Men 111 shortly thereafter from a classmate at school, too!

To be fair, Herb’s copy was really beat-up, but hey, he got it for free from his friend, and I would have done anything to have it as well!! Luckily for me, fate would soon step in when Me, Herbert and our friend Jas went to the local swap meet that weekend at the Waialae Drive-In. I didn't expect to see anything I liked, so I didn't bring any money with me...

So when we got there, there was a guy selling a copy of X-Men 111 for three dollars, and it was in great condition, too! Desperately, I asked Herb if I could borrow the three dollars and pay him back when we got home. He looked at that perfect condition copy and then thought of his beat up copy at home, and said, I'll make a deal with you- I'LL buy this one, and then I'll sell you MY copy for 3 dollars.  

WELL, that was better than nothing, and at least I would have a copy of my own, even though it was a beat-up copy!

Next day at school I gushed  to my classmates about how I scored my very own copy of X-Men 111, and when Larry and James heard about it, James came up to me and said, “Hey, can I come over to your house and see your copy?” I was like “SURE!!!”, proud to show it off!

He came over after school and I brought it out for him, but after only glancing at it for a minute, told me I could put it away.

We later met up with Larry and he nodded to James as if to say, “Well?” to which James shook his head, “Nope.” Ehhh? what was THAT all about?

Turns out that Larry and James had misplaced their copy of X-Men 111 and, upon hearing that I somehow got my hands on a copy, came to the conclusion that I must have STOLEN theirs!

Larry had ordered James: “Go to Z’s house and see if he has our X-Men 111”. Of course, when James saw that sad , beat-up copy of mine, he knew instantly that it wasn’t their near mint one! This was one time having a poor copy saved me! 

Funny thing is, in the years that have gone by, both Lar and Herb have long since sold off all their X-Men comics and have lost interest in comic collecting in general, and I'm the ONLY ONE who still has his copy and cherishes it like the day I first got it! Man, I should have been the one to get the nice condition one!

The Sensational She-Hulk #1-8, #31-50

 Hahaha, Oh my do I LOVE re-reading this one! John Byrne really had FUN doing this re-boot of the original "Savage" She Hulk comic, and it shows! Very imaginative poking fun at all the cliches of Marvel's Silver Age era and beyond!

John Byrne's Next Men #0-44

John Byrne's next men sure had its ups an downs but I read it religiously from its initial 30+0 issues with Dark Horse and through its new IDW series in 2010 and concluding series Next-Men: Aftermath (retroactively numbered as 31-44), 

While it didn't end on a very strong note (quite frankly, more of a whimper) it still is a series with characters I really, really love and care about and I will always take Next Men out and read again from time to time.

Captain America #225-255

I first got into Captain America with the infamous Roger Stern/John Byrne arc starting in issue #247 and loved it so much that I eventually collected every issue all the way back to issue 225 and even now and then I love taking this run out and re-reading them again. Some highs, some lows, but all great reading and the Stern/Byrne issues #247-255 are some of the best comics ever made!

X-Men: The Hidden Years #1-22

I'll be the first to admit that John Byrne's series about what took place between the cancellation of X-Men #66 and the restart with the new X-Men in Giant Size X-Men #1 is hit and miss, but hey, where else are you going to see Byrne drawing our favorite mutants again? For me it was worth it and despite mis-steps like placing the storyline in current 2000's timeline and creating potential paradoxical situations (like having them team up with Storm months before Professor X even discovered her), it's still a fun read and besides, no one can draw the X-men like Byrne!

Alpha Flight #1-28

Although almost completely overshadowed by his work on the Uncanny X-Men, John Byrne's Alpha Flight run from issue 1-28 are, in my opinion, some of the finest stories he's written, with strong and imaginative characters, groups, powers and plot devices, the only drawback being that he left right in the middle of its final arc! Nonetheless, It's till a series run I love taking out and reading again, so, so good!