posted
Wow. The Vertigo characters have finally been set free? Awesome. Dare I hope that Hector and Lyta might come back?
IMO, Teen Titans' decline started even before Johns left. The time travel arc was the last one I liked (tellingly, it was after that one that Mike McKone left.)
quote:Originally posted by Officer Taylor: As we mention the 90s on the "Any Recommendations", I'm reminded of how much I enjoyed his work on Next Men. That was some A+ stuff! Dunno whether it ages well or not, as I haven't reread anytime this past decade, but I enjoyed the hell out've that one when it was published!
I have been re-reading Next Men with the IDW Hardcovers and would say that by and large the story has aged pretty well. The art however looked very good in the first book that was A4 size but the second collection is in Absolute size which is imo an enlargement too far especially as the story progresses and Byrne draws fewer and fewer backgrounds. Still a darn good read though.
Would also agree that The Hidden Years was a fine series ended before its time as was, from my recollection, his Spider Woman series of the same time.
From: Dorset, England | Registered: Oct 2008
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posted
Nice to hear, stew! Byrne was my favorite creator in comics for a long time and the first creator whose art and style I first noticed and recognized. Next Men was such good stuff and Byrne's profile so high that I find it hard to believe he couldn't continue it with such a rock-solid company like Dark Horse. Maybe the reality is that he either lost interest or, more likely, wanted the bigger paychecks the Big Two could give him.
I know Byrne's a much-loathed creator, but I'll never discount all the terrific comics he wrote and drew that helped make me the comic fan I am today.If he's got a comeback in him, I for one would welcome it.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
My Dad and Uncle are huge Byrne fans. They aren't much for internet message boards so they have no idea any of the whacky things he's said over the years and I don't ever want to bring it up (conversation killer for sure).
I think when Next Men debuted money was tight and my Dad never decided to collect it. Ipso facto, I've never seen a single panel of it.
Byrne should do what Grell has done and return to his independent creations at IDW or Dark Horse or somewhere. I'd certainly buy the first few issues.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Ok, Byrne has some issues with reality. But are critics of his comic output juding his work, or his behaviour? We all talk about his run on this or on that as good, but then in the same post mention what a jerk he's been.
Winnick takes a lot of bashing on these boards, but more for his viewpoint than his work. I always wonder if Byrne is the same way.
[ June 22, 2010, 12:44 PM: Message edited by: CJ Taylor ]
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Regarding John Byrne, they say if one has nothing nice to say, one shouldn't say anything at all.
So I'll say that I love most of his collaborations with Claremont, that his art on Marv Wolfman's Fantastic Four was solid, and that the first issue of Alpha Flight was good, and leave it at that.
posted
There aren't really any creators whose work I won't buy because I don't like them. Even recent travesties like Robinson's Cry for Justice doesn't mean I won't sample his other work.
It's really the higher-ups in charge of the company who become the focus of my rage and annoyance. Current major case in point: Dan Didio. Not that long ago, it was Bill Jemas.
(That won't stop me from aiming criticism at writer's however. I paid for the comics, I paid for the chance to give my thoughts on them.)
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I won't fault ya for tossing blame Cobie, some writiers deserve it (Andrew Kreisberg.)
I'm just hearing a lot of folks talk about some good Byrne comics and some bad Byrne behaviour. Not that I want this to delve into a list of bad comics, but just curious if there were Byrne books people didn't like.
I didn't enjoy NextMen. But other than that, I can't recall any of his work I don't like to some degree or another.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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His Spider-Man run in the late 90's was the worst era of Spider-Man history perhaps in the history of the franchise IMO. Thinking about it gives me both a stomach ache and a headache.
I also thought his Doom Patrol was pretty awful.
Other than that, I can't think of any others I really disliked off the top of my head.
(As I said, never read Next Men).
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Set
There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.
posted
I loved Byrne's Alpha Flight stuff (and hated what later writers did with those characters). I'm blissfully unaware of what sort of freakiness Byrne espouses in real life, so I can enjoy his work unencumbered by that.
I loved his clean art in the beginning, and that of similar artists who used that style (Karl Kesel comes to mind, but I have no idea, he could be a stand up comic, for all I know).
After awhile, the fact that it was pretty much impossible to tell his Cyclops from his Superman from his Guardian from that dude with the super-vision in the Next Men, because he drew all of their faces and bodies and square-jaws the same, dampened that affection.
His run on the Fantastic Four also had a couple of neat arcs, and I really liked how he made them more of a cosmic adventurer / explorer team and less of a traditional superhero group. The story that introduced 'Aunt Petunia,' for instance was totally cool, and self-contained. Ditto the bit where he introduced the concept of 'Skrull milk,' which has gotten a bit more play in revent events. Frankie Raye becoming the new Herald of Galactus, the Trial of Reed Richards, etc. There was some good stuff there.
On the other hand, while I started out loving his West Coast Avengers work (which included some of my all time favorite characters), his habit of dumping on Wanda quickly turned me off to that run.
It was the neverending cavalcade of crap that heaped on Wanda that opened my eyes to how so many female characters he worked on seemed to be more or less a victim of her powers, or in some way an emotional wreck. Tigra was turning animalistic and chasing mice around the compound. Jean-Marie was schizophrenic (and could less charitably be described as a virgin-whore archetype, both pure and brazen, in her different personas). Snowbird risked losing her mind if she stayed in animal form too long. Sue became Malice. Jean, well, we know what happened there, and who knows how much of that was Claremont. I can't blame Byrne for making Storm the only X-Man with a crippling phobia that reduced her to crying and screaming and flailing about in a panic, for instance, because that trait predated Byrne, IIRC.
Now, to be at least a little bit fair, *every* character gets dumped on. Spiderman's life has never been a bucket of roses, and Jenny Walters has, generally speaking, had a better time of it than her cousin Bruce (barring ever encountering that chode, Starfox...). But Byrne himself didn't seem to heap as much crap on the three Fantastic Dudes as he did as the Fantastic Gal (and when he did dump on Johnny and Ben, it was something to do with their relationships with Frankie and Alicia, which, again, ties it all around to those durn wimmin!).
I could deal with the occasional bit, because, as I said above, a heroes life is rarely pretty, but added up over a career, Byrne's treatment of his female characters began to look like an unpleasant pattern, and not 'comics as usual.'
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
Byrne's fanatical adherence to what he thought/thinks were Kirby ideals on Kirby characters really causes those books to stink. Thinking primarily of Demon and New Gods/4th World, but really any of his books that through elements of those things in there (Wonder Woman). Kirby was all about dynamic change and Byrne was about taking a snapshot of the King's work and not letting anyone touch it.
Alan Moore did a fantastic job updating the Demon and making him interesting (though admittedly hard to write for others) and Byrne tried to get it thrown out in favour of turning the character into a stale retread.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
One could argue Geoff does that a bit from 1980-1985 era of comics. Not me mind you (been there, done that), but if Reboot wanted to step in any time and make this arguement, it would be fun to read. (hint, hint)
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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(hint, hint)
