Information AboutJohn Byrne |
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John Lindley Byrne (born July 6 1950 , Walsall ) is a British -born naturalised American author and artist of Comic Books . Since the mid-1970s Byrne has worked on nearly every major American Superhero . His most famous works have been on Marvel Comics 's X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics 's Superman franchise. During the 1990s he produced a number of Creator-owned works including '' Next Men '' and '' Danger Unlimited ''. He currently continues to do work for DC Comics, on titles such as '' Action Comics '' and '' Blood Of The Demon ''. BIOGRAPHY Early life and career Byrne was born in England , but his family moved to Canada when he was eight. His first exposure to the American Superheroes that would dominate his professional life was reruns of American programs such as '' The Adventures Of Superman '' on British television. In Britain, he was able to read domestic comics such as '' The Eagle '' as well as reprints of DC Comics . Byrne Robotics Forum: " Journey Into Comics ". URL accessed on December 2, 2005 His first encounter with , August 22, 2000. URL accessed on December 2, 2005. Jack Kirby's work in particular had a strong influence on Byrne and he has worked with many of the characters Kirby created or co-created. Besides Kirby, Byrne was also influenced by the Naturalistic style of Neal Adams . In 1970, Byrne enrolled at the Alberta College Of Art And Design in Calgary . He created the superhero parody ''Gay Guy'' for the college newspaper which poked fun at the campus stereotype of Homosexuality among art students. ''Gay Guy'' is also notable for featuring a prototype of the Alpha Flight character Snowbird . While there, he also published his first comic book, ''ACA Comix'' #1, featuring "The Death's Head Knight". The John Byrne Gallery - " Images from John's College Days ". URL accessed on December 2, 2005. Byrne left the college in 1973 without graduating. He broke into comics illustrating a two-page story by writer Al Hewetson for '', and '' Emergency! ''. Marvel Comics Byrne's first story for Marvel Comics was "Dark Asylum" (written by David Anthony Kraft ), published in ''Giant-Sized Dracula '' #5. He began drawing Marvel's lower-selling titles, including '' Iron Fist '', '' The Champions '', and '' Marvel Team-Up ''. For many issues, he was paired with writer Chris Claremont . In 1978, he joined Claremont on ''''. In the early 1980s Byrne worked on a number of other Marvel books. His nine-issue run (#247-255) run with writer , became Marvel's first openly gay superhero. Though intended by Byrne to be gay from the beginning, his homosexuality could only be hinted at during Byrne's tenure on the book. After issue 28, he swapped books with Bill Mantlo , writer of '' The Incredible Hulk ''. According to Byrne, he discussed his ideas with editor-in-chief Jim Shooter ahead of time, but once Byrne was on the book, Shooter objected to them. Byrne only wrote and drew six issues (314-319) of the ''Hulk''. Byrne's most important post-''X-Men'' body of work was his six years on '''', vol. 2, issue 6, June 1999. URL accessed on December 2, 2005. Superman Near the end of his time at Marvel he was hired by DC Comics to revamp its flagship character Superman. This was part of a company-wide restructuring of the history of the DC Universe and all of its characters following the miniseries '' Crisis On Infinite Earths ''. Byrne's reworking of Superman in particular gained widespread media coverage outside the comic book industry, including articles in '' Time Magazine '' and '' The New York Times ''. '' #1, July 1986.]] At the time, Byrne said "I'm taking Superman back to the basics...It's basically as an influence (Byrne even used Reeve's face as the visual model for his Superman, mostly because Byrne found that he couldn't quite capture the face that the previous Superman artist Curt Swan had drawn). Byrne significantly reduced Superman's powers (though he was still one of the most powerful beings on Earth), eliminated the Fortress Of Solitude , Krypto , and his childhood career as Superboy , and had his foster parents the Kents still alive while Superman was an adult to enjoy their adopted son's triumphs as well as to provide him with support, grounding and advice whenever he needed it. One of the biggest changes was in Clark Kent, whom Byrne felt was the real personality while Superman was just a disguise, and that the heart of the character was not so much an outsider seeking his heritage but of a young man who grew up in the American heartland and embraced its ethics; Byrne wrote Clark Kent as having a more aggressive and extroverted personality, even making him a top football player when he was in high school. Byrne also did his part to come up with explanations for how Superman's disguise works, such as indicating that Superman would vibrate his face via his super speed in order to blur his image to photographers and having Kent keep a weight training set around to explain how the human and presumably weaker Kent could have a frame as massive as Superman's. Byrne's Superman felt that his deepest roots were on Earth, and that his home planet of "Krypton is anathema to him." This can be seen as a reflection of Byrne's convictions concerning his own roots; although born in England and raised in Canada, he considers himself staunchly American. The new Superman debuted in the six issue miniseries '''' title beginning with issue one (January 1987) and '' Action Comics '', in which, beginning with issue 584, Superman teamed up with another hero or group. The original ''Superman'' book was renamed '' Adventures Of Superman '' and was initally written by Marv Wolfman and drawn Jerry Ordway , but the writing chores were taken over by Byrne after a year. Byrne spent about two years on the Superman titles before leaving. He cited the lack of "conscious support" for his work from DC Comics and the fact that the version of Superman that the company licensed for merchandise was different than his version in the comic books as the reasons for his dissatisfaction. He said "After two years of this nonsense, I was just worn down. The fun was gone". Return to Marvel .]] In 1989, Byrne returned to work on a number of titles for Marvel Comics. His work on '' West Coast Avengers '' (issues 42-57, soon renamed ''Avengers West Coast'') was contingent on his being allowed to do what he called "my Vision story". The Vision was a long standing Marvel superhero and member of The Avengers , an Android originally created by the villain Ultron constructed with the body of the original Human Torch . The Vision went on to join the team, marry his teammate the Scarlet Witch , and father two children by her. Byrne radically changed this, revealing that Ultron lied about the Vision's creation. The android Human Torch was found and joined the WCA. The Vision was disassembled and stripped of his emotions. The couple's twins were revealed to be pieces of the soul of the demon Mephisto . In addition to these changes, Byrne's run is remembered for the introduction of the Great Lakes Avengers , an eclectic group of new superheroes. On the request of editor . Byrne took over writing '' Iron Man '' (#258-277), which was drawn by John Romita Jr. and later by Paul Ryan . Byrne launched a second Armor War , restored The Mandarin as a major Iron Man nemesis and featured the 1950s monster Fin Fang Foom . Byrne also started a new series called '' Namor, The Sub-Mariner ''. Byrne's take on the undersea antihero Namor cast him as the head of a surface company, Oracle, Inc., and had him involved in corporate intrigue. Byrne wrote and drew the book for 25 issues, until new artist Jae Lee inspired a sharp change in the mood and plot of the book. Byrne wrote the book until issue 32. Creator owned works In the early 1990s, Byrne began creating a series of original, creator-owned works for publisher Dark Horse Comics . This was during a general trend in the industry for established creators working for Marvel and DC to bring their original works to other publishers or create their own companies to publish the works themselves. A number of these creators, including Byrne, Frank Miller , Mike Mignola , and Art Adams , banded together to form the Legend Comics imprint for Dark Horse. Byrne's first title for Dark Horse was '' Next Men '', a work he considered darker and more realistic than his previous work. The Next Men were five young people who were the product of a secret government experiment. Byrne said "I thought I would see what I could do with superheroes in the 'real world'" and " {Link without Title} xplore the impact their existence would have." Byrne's other Dark Horse titles were '' Babe '' and '' Danger Unlimited '', the latter about a Fantastic Four-like team of heroes in the future fighting an alien occupation of Earth. The ''Next Men'' lasted until issue 30 in 1994, when Byrne ended the series, intending to return "in no more than six months". However, Byrne says he "did not count on...the virtual collapse of the whole comic book industry, which seemed to occur at just the time I put ''Next Men'' on the shelf...In the present, very depressed marketplace, I don't feel ''Next Men'' would have much chance, so I leave the book hybernating until such time as the market improves." Later works In later years, Byrne has done titles for Marvel, DC, and other publishers. His post-2000 works have often gone off the beaten tracks of the DC and Marvel universes and filled in characters and events in time periods mostly skipped by other comics (''''); a common feature is to have characters who actually age during the course of the series unlike typical characters in ongoing comics. Byrne's online column and message board Byrne has developed a noticeable online presence, with his own website and forum, on which he is a participant and moderator, and a column, titled "In My Byrne's reputation for such statements can be traced back at least as far as 1982, when during a panel discussion at the Dallas Fantasy Fair , Byrne made unflattering comments about Roy Thomas . After a transcript of the panel was published in '' The Comics Journal '' #75 (September 1982 ), Thomas threatened a Libel suit if Byrne did not apologize. In a letter printed in ''TCJ'' #82 (July 1983 ), Byrne retracted his statements, claiming he was only repeating information from Wolfman and Wein and wrote "I acted only in the office of a parrot". qtd. in Rodrigo Baeza, " Acting in the office of a parrot ". URL accessed January 31, 2006. In the 1980s, when Byrne was seen as playing the role of Marvel corporate booster, Steve Gerber and Jack Kirby lampooned him in '' Destroyer Duck '', drawing him as a character called Cogburn, possessing a removeable spine and existing only to serve as a cog in the mammoth corporation that owned him. ''Destroyer Duck'', Eclipse Comics , 1981-83, issues 1-5; the letters page to issue 5 discusses the physical likeness and similarity of names, and acknowledges that the character is a response to comments Byrne made in the fan press. Awards He received the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Penciller in 1986 and 1998, and the Squiddy Award for Favorite Penciller in 1993. For his writing, he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Writer six times. For his work as an artist, he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Cover Artist five times. For his work as an inker he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Inker three times. For his work as a penciller, he was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Penciller three times. ART STYLE Byrne has stated his major influences on his art style are Jack Kirby , Gil Kane , Steve Ditko , Neal Adams , and Jean Giraud (best known as Moebius), as well as British Comics artists Frank Hampson and Frank Bellamy and cartoonist Giles . He later described himself as "a Frank Miller sponge," and told several interviewers of his desire to incorporate influences from Miller and Gene Colan into his style. He has also cited science fiction artists John Berkey and Syd Mead as contributors to his style. Byrne's original work has been noted as being rough, with his drawings emphasizing curves over straight lines. Byrne has himself admitted to straight lines being "his least favorite artistic element."John Byrne, ''Learn To Draw Comics'', p. 46, Collins, 2001. ISBN 0004134117. Ron Goulart has called Byrne's artwork "an eminently acceptable mix of bravura, complexity and storytelling clarity". Ron Goulart , ''The Great Comic Book Artists'', pg. 18. St Martin's Press, 1986. ISBN 0312345577. In and Jim Lee , making the point that Byrne's line style is naturalistic without being overly detailed. Byrne is, in 2005, an accomplished comic book creator, and is capable of producing virtually all aspects of a book, although he does still produce work in collaboration. The one exception is Coloring , as Byrne has admitted to being Color-blind . He has problems distinguishing between some shades of green and brown and pencilled Iron Fist for a year believing the costume was brown. While he experimented with his own hand-developed Lettering fonts in the early 1980s, he now utilizes a Computer Font based on the handwriting of the letterer Jack Morelli . Byrne Robotics FAQ: Creative Process . URL accessed on December 2, 2005. Byrne's artistic style, his layouts and his storytelling have been sources of instruction and inspiration to many comics artists; .Scott Beatty, " Behind the Scenes: Words and Pictures with Marcos MartÃn! ". URL accessed December 2, 2005. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY A complete bibliography of Byrne's comics work is maintained at the Byrne Robotics Checklist . Marvel Comics
DC Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Novels
Webcomics
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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