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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133474
Posted: 01 April 2019 at 3:30pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply
I was chatting with Walt Simonson t’other day when he mentioned a writer of our mutual acquaintance who’d recently pitched a miniseries. In this story, it was explained how a particular character had managed to become an underworld “kingpin” without any indications of such connections in his earlier stories. I chuckled. “You realize he’s probably been chewing on that particular bone for fifty years, ever since the underworld connection was introduced!”

All Ts must be crossed!!!

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Darren Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 22 April 2004
Location: Scotland
Posts: 6025
Posted: 02 April 2019 at 4:33am | IP Logged | 2 post reply
Somethings are better left as a mystery. Incomplete. Unsaid.

I feel this way about Wolverines past/origin. The mystery was the very thing that made him cool. 

However beautiful Barry Smiths art is, I really could have lived a life where the series Weapon X just never happened. (Same story about some villain ripping him open to study how it was done, wouldn't have been so bad!)

A wise man (JB) once said that the key thing is to place all the toys back exactly as you found them.

Now the mantra appears to be, 'Change them as much as you can and your star will burn brighter!'

Modern characters are like a clay model that has been over handled. Covered head to foot with everybody's fingerprints, so much so that the once sharp defined characteristics are dull and somewhat homogenised, difficult to be entirely sure what separates it from all the other clay models.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
Posted: 02 April 2019 at 9:45am | IP Logged | 3 post reply
The thing which really drives me nuts is when “archaologist” writers dig deep into the lore, pull out obscure stories and moments, then completely knock over all the applecarts whilst hiding behind that archaology so as to somehow legitimize the whole thing. Making deep-cut references whilst cutting old characters and stories to pieces.

And, in the case of X-MEN, there’s a lot of weird continuity stuff in that vein. Which is why a JB series unencumbered by all of the accrued nonsense which came later would be such a breath of fresh air!
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133474
Posted: 02 April 2019 at 10:14am | IP Logged | 4 post reply
The thing which really drives me nuts is when “archaologist” writers dig deep into the lore, pull out obscure stories and moments, then completely knock over all the applecarts whilst hiding behind that archaology so as to somehow legitimize the whole thing. Making deep-cut references whilst cutting old characters and stories to pieces.

••

Doesn't just happen in comics. Many a moon ago, when I was grumbling about the casting of Henry VIII on THE TUDORS--short and dark haired--one poster pulled out a single picture of young Henry with dark hair to justify the casting.

One picture, out of hundreds of paintings and references to him as a ginger!!

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Rich Marzullo
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 13 January 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 2747
Posted: 02 April 2019 at 10:25am | IP Logged | 5 post reply
"I was chatting with Walt Simonson t’other day..."

I want your life.
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Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
Posted: 02 April 2019 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply
Doesn't just happen in comics. Many a moon ago, when I was grumbling about the casting of Henry VIII on THE TUDORS--short and dark haired--one poster pulled out a single picture of young Henry with dark hair to justify the casting.One picture, out of hundreds of paintings and references to him as a ginger!!
+++++++++++

The classic comic example would surely be Batman using a gun and/or killing in his earliest stories as a license to make him a killer, despite literally decades of a non-killer Batman after that initial period of "finding" the character.

And don't even get me started on Zack Snyder's recent garbage comments, where he said that people who think that Batman and Superman wouldn't kill are "living in a ****ing dream world".

What else IS this genre, if not a dream world, and escapist fantasy?


I look forward to seeing a book where the only potential killer in the X-Men is Wolverine!

Edited by Greg Kirkman on 02 April 2019 at 3:20pm
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Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8140
Posted: 02 April 2019 at 8:41pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply
Mind blown....I just realized that it was 18 years between UXM#143 and X:HY#1. X:HY#22 hit the stands in July 2001....also (soon to be)18 years ago.
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Sean Sullivan
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 26 November 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 96
Posted: 03 April 2019 at 1:06am | IP Logged | 8 post reply
What else IS this genre, if not a dream world, and escapist fantasy?

Well said Greg
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133474
Posted: 03 April 2019 at 9:41am | IP Logged | 9 post reply
What else IS this genre, if not a dream world, and escapist fantasy?

••

Never say it! Superheroes are grim and gritty and reveal the very darkest nature of humanity!

After all, if they did anything else, they'd be (o my god!) BETTER than us!!

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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133474
Posted: 03 April 2019 at 9:53am | IP Logged | 10 post reply
Speaking of imagination, I've been amusing myself picturing the reactions from some quarters should this actually become a real series, published by Marvel. Even setting aside the "fact" that I am the Great Satan, I suspect we can look forward to some of this kind of chatter:

• Your old stuff was better! (Well, how could they resist? It's been the go-to move for decades, no matter what the actual quality of the work!)

• It needs Terry Austin! (Even if Terry was interested, which I doubt, our styles have diverged too much in the forty years since UNCANNY.)

• It needs Chris Claremont! (Sure, like I need my toenails pulled out one by one.)

• It's not Historically Accurate! (No matter how many times I say this is not MEANT to be a literal "alternate history", there will be those who will compare it, panel by panel, to what was actually published, and cry foul if it doesn't match up. Since I want this to be accessible to everyone, not just the archeologists, well, no "homework" will be needed!)

• The characters are being portrayed incorrectly! (Darn tootin'! Cyclops is not a dick, and Magneto is a full-on badguy. And I'm not even going to THINK about some of the twists and turns the other X-Men went thru!)

• Kitty's power is being used incorrectly! (Well, it's being used as I, the creator of the character, intended. Is that "incorrect"?)

• You're doing stuff with Jean that you couldn't possibly have done in 1980! (Again, darn tootin'! Although I am mostly ignoring what happened to the characters after I left the book, there is at least one element introduced later that is irresistible!)

• You're not showing how this changed timeline impacts on the rest of the Marvel Universe! (Again, accessibility!!)

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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31235
Posted: 03 April 2019 at 10:19am | IP Logged | 11 post reply
I would love to see Terry on the book. Even with both of your growth as artists since the UXM days. I’ve loved every single collaboration I’ve seen by the two of you. 

Upon your first posting of the first few pages, I really wanted to see Simonson ink it. With more pages and tighter pencils, I don’t think he would be the right fit anymore. Terry would look nice. I think Scott Williams would do a bang up job. As would Trevor Scott. Someone with a nice, clean line. 
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Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8140
Posted: 03 April 2019 at 10:31am | IP Logged | 12 post reply
My personal choices - Scott Williams, Mark Farmer, Dan Green.
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