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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. .

His first encounter with Marvel Comics was in 1962 with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four #5. He later commented that, "the book had an 'edge' like nothing DC was putting out at the time." 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".

Byrne left the college in 1973 without graduating. He broke into comics illustrating a two-page story by writer Al Hewetson for Skywald Publications' black-and-white horror magazine Nightmare #20 (August 1974). He then began freelancing for Charlton Comics, making his color-comics debut the E-Man backup feature "Rog-2000". This starred a robot character he'd created in the mid-1970s that colleagues Roger Stern and Bob Layton named and began using for spot illustrations in their fanzine CPL (Contemporary Pictorial Literature). A Rog-2000 story written by Stern, with art by Byrne and Layton, had gotten the attention of Charlton Comics writer Nicola Cuti, who extended Byrne an invitaiton. Byrne went on to work on the Charlton books Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, Doomsday +1, Space: 1999, 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 The Uncanny X-Men with issue 108. Their work together would make them both fan favorites and the X-Men became one of the industry's best-selling titles. Byrne has repeatedly compared his working relationship with Claremont to Gilbert and Sullivan, and has said that they were "almost constantly at war over who the characters were." Byrne became "increasingly unhappy" and left the title with issue 143. He has described his current relationship with Claremont as "cordial" but said it would be "too frustrating" to work with him again.

In the early 1980s Byrne worked on a number of other Marvel books. His nine-issue run (#247-255) run with writer Roger Stern on Captain America included an issue (250) in which the Captain was nominated for the US presidency. Marvel persuaded Byrne to write and draw Alpha Flight, a Canadian superhero team who were first introduced "merely to survive a fight with the X-Men" . The book was popular (its first issue sold 500,000 copies ) and well regarded, but Byrne has said the book "was never much fun" and that he considered the characters two-dimensional . One of those characters, Northstar, 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 The Fantastic Four (#232-293), considered by many to be a "second golden age" on that title. Byrne said his goal was to "Turn the clock back...Get back and see fresh what it was that made the book great at its inception." However, he also made a number of significant changes to the title: the Thing was replaced as a member of the quartet by the She-Hulk, while the Thing had adventures in his own comic (also written by Byrne), and his longtime girlfriend Alicia Masters left him for his teammate the Human Torch; the Invisible Girl changed into the most powerful member with her heightened control of her refined powers and the self confident assertiveness to use it epitomized by her name change to the Invisible Woman; and the Baxter Building, their headquarters, was destroyed and replaced with Four Freedoms Plaza. Byrne has cited multiple reasons for leaving the book, including "internal office politics" and that "it simply started to get old".

Superman

Near the end of his time at Marvel he was hired by DC Comics to revamp their 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.

At the time, Byrne said "I'm taking Superman back to the basics...It's basically Siegel and Shuster's Superman meets the Fleischer Superman in 1986" . He also cited the Superman films starring Christopher Reeve 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. And, most importantly, Byrne's Superman felt that his deepest roots were on Earth, not Krypton.

The new Superman debuted in the six issue miniseries The Man of Steel, which described his origin and early career. Byrne wrote and drew two monthly Superman titles with the hero's current adventures: a new Superman 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 Mark Gruenwald, Byrne wrote and drew a new series, the Sensational She-Hulk. Gruenwald demanded that it be significantly different from the character's 1970s series, the Savage She-Hulk. Byrne's series was comedic and the She-Hulk, who was aware she was in a comic book, regularly broke the fourth wall. Byrne left after writing and drawing the first eight issues; he later returned for issues 31-50.

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 brought the 1950s monster Fin Fang Foom into the Marvel Universe.

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.

Later works

In later years, Byrne has done titles for both Marvel and DC. In the early 1990s, he conceived, wrote and drew several creator-owned titles published by Dark Horse Comics under the Legend imprint. Danger Unlimited followed two teams of superheroes, one of which was reportedly how Byrne would have liked the Fantastic Four to be handled. Next Men and Babe were likewise considered Byrne's variations on the X-Men and She-Hulk.

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 (Marvel: The Lost Generation), or alternate timelines (DC's Superman & Batman: Generations); a common feature is to have characters who actually age during the course of the series unlike typical characters in ongoing comics.

Comments offline and online: In his own opinion

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 Humble Opinion" (sic), which has run at both Slush Factory and UGO.online. His comments and statements, both online, and through the years in print, have gained Byrne a reputation as a controversial figure. Whilst noted as "one of if not the most longstanding and prolific writer/artist in comics today" , Byrne's expressed opinions have led to him being described, along with Peter David, as "jackasses of the highest order", by Dirk Deppey, , whilst Dave Cockrum, whom Byrne succeeded as X-Men artist finds Byrne "an arrogant, first-class jerk". Byrne has also gained a reputation for engaging in feuding with other comic book creators, being accused of getting into such conflicts with Peter David, Jim Shooter, Joe Quesada, Mark Evanier and Marv Wolfman . In the wake of the destruction of the World Trade Center on the September 11, 2001 Byrne revealed his own thoughts on terrorists and how to deal with them, although inaccuracies regarding the IRA were challenged by Rich Johnston.

Dallas Fantasy Fair

At the Dallas Fantasy Fair, during a panel discussion Byrne made unflattering comments about a number of industry figures, including Gene Colan, Lynn Graeme, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, and 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. He claimed he was only repeating information from Wolfman and Wein and wrote "I acted only in the office of a parrot".

Erik Larsen

In 2003, Byrne and Erik Larsen got into a feud that started when Larsen offered his opinion on the art of George Perez. Exchanges went back and forth between Byrne and Larsen's forums, with Byrne claiming, "you can tell when Erik is saying something stupid -- his lips move" and Larsen calling Byrne "a habitual liar". Richard Johnston has noted the feud as ending with Byrne issuing a "non-apology apology".

Byrne, moderation and Mark Waid

In the middle of 2004 Mark Waid reportedly responded to an anecdote Byrne had used in illustrating comic book terminology, Byrne recounting "...when Mark Waid stuck up his hand at a convention Q&A to ask me if 'we can have the real Superman back'...", by accusing Byrne of fabricating the story: "This, by the way, never happened, even though it's become one of Byrne's new favorite anecdotes."

Waid then went on to question Byrne's impartiality as a moderator on his message board, noting "I'd gladly refute it more directly at the message board on which it was posted, but--at least in my experience--those who attempt to correct John's delusional statements and borderline libels are quickly booted.", further clarifying "I have already been banned." Waid went on to explain that a previous attempt at extracting a clarification or retraction from Byrne in reference to another matter had ended with Byrne removing Waid's message: "... I registered, posted a response, and within ten minutes it was deleted and my membership was cancelled."

Christopher Reeve

In 2004, four days after the death of actor Christopher Reeve, Byrne commented on the actor's paralysis, saying:

"I have noticed that people have begun referring to Christopher Reeve as a hero. I do not wish to take away one iota of the courage he must have needed not to wake up screaming every single day, but the hard truth us there was nothing heroic in what happened to him or how he dealt with it.......In fact, as far as how he dealt with it he didn't even have a choice. We could imagine he spent every hour of every day when not in front of the cameras begging family members to simply kill him and get it over with---but none of them did so he had no choice but to deal with each day as it came*.

Heroism I believe involves choice."

"* Not in any way suggesting this is what was happening, just in case there are those who are paralyzed from the neck up who might be reading these words. . ."

However, during a question and answer panel at the Mid Ohio Convention, (29-30 November 2005, Columbus, Ohio), Byrne, in reference to the online response to his comments, expanded, noting "I’ve gotten tired of people calling Christopher Reeve a hero. A really terrible thing happened to him and our society can’t deal with it when terrible things happened so we try to make out that it isn’t a terrible thing - ‘It’s an uplifting thing. He’s a hero.’ He’s not a hero, he’s in hell." Newsarama quoted this statement in an online report, with writer TJ Dietsch also noting "Byrne went on to clarify that he was not attacking Reeve, but the misuse of the English language."

Byrne and Misplaced Pages

In 2005, Byrne complained about his Misplaced Pages article, claiming it was full of "opinion, rumor and borderline libel" but did not specify what he objected to within the article. He attempted to "delete lies and troll-fodder" by removing most of the article , but it was soon restored. The article was revised following a complaint from Byrne to Misplaced Pages founder Jimmy Wales.

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 (aka 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."

Ron Goulart has called Byrne's artwork "an eminently acceptable mix of bravura, complexity and storytelling clarity".

In McCloud's book Understanding Comics, Byrne is charted, along with other comics artists in the "Big Triangle". McCloud's placement of Byrne within it identifies his style as contemporaneous to Gilbert Hernandez 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's artistic style, his layouts and his storytelling have been sources of instruction and inspiration to many comics artists; George Perez , Jim Lee , Todd McFarlane , Bryan Hitch and Marcos Martín have all cited him as influences on their work.

Selected bibliography

A complete bibliography of Byrne's comics work is maintained at the Byrne Robotics Checklist

Marvel Comics

• Alpha Flight (1983-1985; co-creator)
• Avengers and Avengers West Coast (1989-1999)
• Captain America (1979-1980)
• Fantastic Four (1979-1986)
• Iron Man (1990-1992)
• Marvel: The Lost Generation (2000-2001)
• Namor the Sub-Mariner (1990-1992)
• She-Hulk (1989, 1991-1993)
• Uncanny X-Men (1977-1981, 1991-1992)
• X-Men: The Hidden Years (1999-2001)

DC Comics

• Action Comics (1987-1988 as writer and artist; 2005 as artist)
• Blood of the Demon (2005-present)
• Doom Patrol (2004-2005)
• The Man of Steel (1986; limited series)
• Jack Kirby's Fourth World (1997-1998)
• JLA (2004; Tenth Circle story arc, with Chris Claremont)
• Legends (1986; limited series)
• Superman (1986-1988, Volume 2)
• Superman & Batman: Generations (1999, 2001, 2003; Volumes 1-3)
• Wonder Woman (1995-1998)

Dark Horse Comics

• Babe (1994)
• Danger Unlimited (1993)
• John Byrne's 2112 (1991)
• John Byrne's Next Men (1992-1994)

Novels

• John L. Byrne's Fear Book (1988; ISBN 0446348147)
• Whipping Boy (1992; ISBN 0440211719)
• Wonder Woman: Gods And Goddesses (1997, ISBN 0761504834)

Webcomics

• You Go, Ghoul!' (2004)

References

1. "Byrne Robotics: Journey Into Comics". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
2. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
3. "The John Byrne Gallery - Images from John's College Days". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
4. "Welcome to Slushfactory.com: A Pop Culture Extravaganza". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
5. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
6. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
7. "Byrne Robotics: FAQ". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
8. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
9. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
10. Frank Plowright, ed. The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide. Aurum Press, 1997.
11. Current Biography, 2000. H.W.Wilson, Co.
12. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
13. "Sequential Tart - A Comics Industry Web Zine (Volume II, Issue 6, June 1999)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
14. qtd. by Peter Sanderson, Amazing Heroes #96, June 1986. Excerpted here.
15. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
16. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
17. "Comic Book Resources - CBR News - Features (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
18. "Byrne Robotics: FAQ (See above)". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
19. "The Superheroes' Mr. Fix-It". Sequential Tart - A Comics Industry Web Zine (Volume II, Issue 6, June 1999). January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
20. "Tuesday, January 6th, 2004 - In Other News". The Comics Journal: ¡Journalista!. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
21. "Comic Book Resources - Comic Book News, Reviews and Commentary - Updated Daily!". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
22. "Topic: John Byrne doesn't want you to read this!". Comicon.com Message Board. February 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
23. "Acting in the office of a parrot". Comics Commentary. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
24. "Erik Larsen speaks about George Perez!". The John Byrne Forum Archives. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
25. "Comic Book Resources - Comic Book News, Reviews and Commentary - Updated Daily!". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
26. "Comic Book Resources - Comic Book News, Reviews and Commentary - Updated Daily!". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
27. "A DC Character has H.I.V. (spoiler)". Via Internet Archive. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
28. "John Byrne's Q&A Panel At Mid-Ohio". www.newsarama.com. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
29. "Topic: Misplaced Pages". The John Byrne Forum. January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
30. "http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=John_Byrne&diff=23225889&oldid=23225741". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); External link in |title= (help)
31. . ISBN 0004134117. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
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33. "The Big Triangle". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
34. "Byrne Robotics: FAQ". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
35. "Titans Tower: Comics Feature 19". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
36. "GELATOMETTI: 3 Doors Down". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
37. "SPAWN.COM". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
38. "Welcome to Slushfactory.com: A Pop Culture Extravaganza". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
39. "BATGIRL: YEAR ONE Character Sketches". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
40. "Byrne Robotics Checklist". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
41. "Byrne Robotics: Web Comics". December 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)

External links

• Byrne Robotics - Official Website
• The John Byrne Forum
• John Byrne's IMO - An opinion column at the UGO web portal.
• Lambiek Comiclopedia
• Byrne interview on his early career, Comic Book Artist #12, 2001
• Roger Stern interview re: Byrne, Comic Book Artist #12, 2001

Template:Persondata

• 1950 births
• West Midlands
• Canadian cartoonists
• Canadian comics artists
• Canadian comics writers
• American comics artists
• American comics writers
• X-Men writers
• X-Men artists
• Atheists
• Spider-Man artists