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Koroush Ghazi
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 October 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1646
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| Posted: 17 October 2019 at 8:13am | IP Logged | 1
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John Byrne wrote:
| ...my father brought home a roll of transparent, self adhesive wallpaper, which we then started using to "laminate" the dust jackets on our hardcover books. |
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Your father must have chosen wisely, whereas I must have cheaped out because it doesn't look that great now, especially along the spine. Hard to see in these photos, but it gives the covers a stippled texture from micro-bubbles:
 
Also, I just realised that I would blow my younger self's mind if I could go back and tell him I'd one day be discussing my much-loved Dark Phoenix with John Byrne. He'd then yell at me when it turned out the discussion was largely about what a crappy job he did laminating it :)
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 17 October 2019 at 8:36am | IP Logged | 2
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The stuff my Dad brought home had a slight texture to it, too. Nothing too intrusive, tho.Recently I found a similar product and used it as a kind of "rtestoration" on the dust jacket of an ancient copy of ON THE BEACH I'd picked up years earlier from a second hand book store. The dust jacket was pretty bashed about, but applying the wallpaper smoothed it out and patched the folded edges. (Unfortunately it creased slightly, so there is now a ridge across the front cover. If only I'd thought to start from the back!)
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Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
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| Posted: 17 October 2019 at 10:19am | IP Logged | 3
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ITEM: Congratulations, Mr. Byrne, on the anniversary that you never intended to be anniversary-worthy!
ITEM: Maybe somebody decided to leave out the background on that Marvel import? I think it was a mistake, even though that art is quite pretty.
ITEM: I looked at those covers, and... what the hell? The covers seemed to recap/review some of the events of the Dark Phoenix saga, but I didn't see very many showing Dark Phoenix. Of course, I may have missed the point.
ITEM: One of those covers shows Cyclops in a relatively normal outfit. However, less is more; and I think you still can't beat his original non-school uniform. YMMV.
ITEM: One wonders, were those muscles needing stretching, what Mr. Byrne's anniversary cover might look like.
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Scott Sackett
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 405
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| Posted: 17 October 2019 at 6:22pm | IP Logged | 4
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I laminate a lot of my books and have for years. This is my copy of The Dark Phoenix Saga.
I bought it my senior year of HS when I wasn't buying any comics. When I got married it when my only comic in our apartment and when I went to art school I carried it with me everyday. After I graduated it became a permanent fixture in my backpack.
This isn't the best printing of this comic, the colors have the ben-day dots and later printings have sharper ink lines. But this is the book I carried with me for years that has gotten pretty beat up. Look how round those corners are.
A few years ago I had to stop carrying it with me because...
It got signed at NYCC!
Now it sits on my drawing table permanently. I've since found an identical (sans sigs) to replace it in my backpack.
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Joe Murray
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 February 2009
Location: United States
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| Posted: 18 October 2019 at 2:34pm | IP Logged | 5
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X-Men #5 cover by Kris Anka Excalibur #5 cover by Philip Tan New Mutants #5 cover by Juan Jose Ryp X-Force #5 cover by Russell Dauterman Fallen Angels #5 cover by Scott Williams
X-Men: Elsewhen #5 cover by John Byrne??
Just kidding, I know there aren’t ELSEWHEN covers, but I just found it interesting that everybody’s on issue #5.
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Koroush Ghazi
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 October 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1646
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| Posted: 18 October 2019 at 7:07pm | IP Logged | 6
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When I look through my Dark Phoenix graphic novel/tpb, I'm still in awe of the beautiful way the story and art seems to flow naturally from one issue to the next. It's a true 'saga', and it's made even more amazing by the fact that I now know what went on behind the scenes; that it wasn't all meticulously planned to end up where it did.
It's a shame that movies have repeatedly plundered the character and the storyline. Give it a few years' breathing space, and then, hopefully, something like a two-season Netflix animated TV series might do it justice on the screen and also get more people interested in the source material, the way film adaptations of the works of Frank Miller and Alan Moore work have done for example.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 18 October 2019 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | 7
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Or———could we just forget about it? Forty years! That’s ten years longer than I’d been ALIVE when this story first came out. Like an old soldier, let it fade away.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 7610
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| Posted: 18 October 2019 at 8:55pm | IP Logged | 8
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Can't agree to that JB - that, for me, would be like asking for other classics to just fade away. This is a classic in my eyes.
I was about a year/year and a half into your stories that were being reprinted in Rampage in the UK when Dark Phoenix was printed in America. These stories became my touchstone for what a great story was and formed the basis to which I would compare most other stories going forward.
I remember having conversations with friends at school who would question my reading of comics. My reply would be along the lines of 'You're watching Coronation Street. I'm reading about beings that eat stars, killing 5 billion people. The stakes in the stories I read are way beyond what you watch'.
That's what Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jim Starlin, Yourself and many others did for me when I was young - you taught me that in these great, cosmic stories, it was still the individual who mattered.
I'll never let that pass.
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Tim O Neill
Byrne Robotics Security
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 19 October 2019 at 10:45am | IP Logged | 9
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I completely agree with you, James - very well said! This
is just as much a classic as the best novels and movies
that stay with us for years. I think what really gives the
trade collection its lasting impact is the episodic build-
up of tne story. Because X-MEN was a monthly book, Dark
Phoenix developed and simmered while the characters worked
their way through other adventures, and then the story
climaxes fully focused on one of their own - the only
fightbthat can't win. It ends with one of the emotionally
charged finales in literature. Jean's sacrifice is
tragic, particularly after the brawl that preceded it
featuring the characters we grew so close to in the
previous issues.
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Koroush Ghazi
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 October 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1646
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| Posted: 19 October 2019 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | 10
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I don't think of the death of Jean Gray as the key attraction of the Dark Phoenix saga. Honestly, the journey in getting there is what I remember, and re-read it for - the different settings, from suburbia to nightclubs to outer-space, to the continuous stream of interesting characters, great costumes, the atmospheric artwork. There's so much going on and so many interesting 'moments' in it. That's what makes it a saga.
It's just one of many from JB. A long multi-issue buildup isn't even necessary to create a memorable journey; The "Too Many Dooms"/"This Land is Mine" Dr Doom tale in Fantastic Four #246-#247 is a master class in telling a poignant story, that's also filled with action, adventure and beautiful artwork.
Just think of those 10 page royalty statements you get for some piddling amount as our way of still saying "thank you" JB :)
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Michael Penn
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Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
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| Posted: 19 October 2019 at 7:39pm | IP Logged | 11
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QUOTE:
| Like an old soldier, let it fade away. |
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I'm for that. It is a classic, no doubt. But by this point it's best honored by being allowed to rest in peace.
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