William, perhaps it’s time to go back to issue #1 and take time to enjoy the series again. There’s a lot of good story and art to feast your eyes on during the pause : )
Wishing you an easy, productive surgery and a super fast recovery, my liege. We'll dip back into the world of Elsewhen whenever it works for you, and hopefully we'll appreciate it even more.
"William, perhaps it’s time to go back to issue #1 and take time to enjoy the series again. There’s a lot of good story and art to feast your eyes on during the pause : ) "
I so agree, Steve, i love re-reading the stories and the wonder that was created here. don't get me wrong, I'm extremely thankful what Mr. Byrne is doing for us the fans and us the budding artists. Its the illustrator in me that wants to see new work and its the X-Men fan in me that goes back and enjoys all those pages so far. I wish i could afford to print them all out and book them, but I'm sorta of a traditionalist and want to keep them stored in my computer ,as i do like to try and ink and color some pages. Please, however, my request for more Easter eggs does not undermine my appreciation for all the past pages of X-Men ElseWhen Mr. Byrne has done for us. I have thanked him several times and will continue to do so. I don't see many other professional artists doing stuff like this for the fans and let alone for free. I'm just very curious on the ideas and structures of the compositions of the next pieces. (And I love his FF & Dr, Doom too) Thanks Steve. Best Bill
Just finished a re-read of all the issues up to this point. What an absolute fantastic body of work. I know that for years know, I’ve wished JB would give us more COLD WAR and Michael Swann, but like everyone else here, I never imagined a return to the X-Men. And especially not a return like this. I’m currently in the middle of re-reading the original Claremont/Byrne/Austin run and it’s been highly entertaining to think forward to ELSEWHEN while reading them. And to see the leaps and bounds of improvement in the art has been especially rewarding. For reasons unknown, I keep thinking of where Kirby was at the age JB is now and how “Jack the Hack” was used to describe his work at the time. Absolutely no one could hang that moniker on JB and this work he’s producing. You are at the peak of your powers, JB, and I’d like to thank you for allowing us to have this access to your “experiment.” It is truly a treat. I don’t know how the term “published” would be used here, but I sincerely hope that people don’t simply dismiss it due to a lack of tangible pages because if they are, they’re depriving themselves of some of the finest comic book work out there today.
(I still want to see it inked by Walt. Except for that page with the fox and the bear. That page has Sienkiewicz all over it.)
The Image boys “adopted” Kirby as their mascot, McFarlane in particular proclaiming they had been “ripped off” by Marvel just like he’d been.
This helped turn a generation of fans away from pantomime vomiting at the mention of his name, and restored him to something more closely approximating his proper position.
Okay, you beat me to the punch in what I was able to find out, thanks for the info! :)
And kudos for recognizing when good is done, even when done by those of whom you may not be particularly fond.
It is very tricky to evaluate an artist's legacy of any genre by the output of their later years. So many factors are in play both personally and professionally that don't necessarily apply at the "height" of their earlier work. It would be a worthy topic for its own thread.