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Mikael Bergkvist
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 29 May 2025
Location: Sweden
Posts: 4
Posted: 02 June 2025 at 1:14am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Can you recall the very first comic book story that convinced you that yes, this is my path. That really sold you on the idea of doing comics?

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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 03 June 2025 at 2:13pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Although I loved comics from my first encounter (as a child in England) it did not occur to me that I could make a career out of them until the College of Art published THE DEATH’S HEAD KNIGHT as a part of a show about comic art brought into the gallery by the director. That publication caught the attention of John Mansfield, a local (Calgary) fan, who contacted me to ask if I was interested in pursuing comics as my livelihood.

My response was something like “I can do that?”

So, I suppose somewhat ironically, it was that first limited publication of a comic I had produced that put me on a course to doing comics for a living.

54 years later, here we are.

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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3790
Posted: 03 June 2025 at 8:08pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

@JB: Once you made that decision to pursue it as a career, did you make a deliberate effort to learn more about the history of the medium?
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 03 June 2025 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I was already doing that!! :-)
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Paul Wills
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 18 August 2018
Location: United States
Posts: 931
Posted: 03 June 2025 at 10:04pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

So happy it worked out the way it did! Thanks John Mansfield to fan the flames.
(I wonder what the alternate timeline John Byrne would have been..)
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 04 June 2025 at 12:07am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Assuming no career in comics, I was aiming for advertising.
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Mark McKay
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2281
Posted: 04 June 2025 at 1:22pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

So you could have been Don Draper!
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 04 June 2025 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Art, not sales!
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3790
Posted: 04 June 2025 at 2:57pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

As someone nearly three decades into an advertising career, I can attest you made the right choice.
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 04 June 2025 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

More like the choice made me!

:-)

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Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8276
Posted: 04 June 2025 at 6:18pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

It's mind-boggling when I discover an old comic or magazine ad that I remember from childhood, only to find out years later that it was drawn by Neal Adams!!

Edited by Vinny Valenti on 07 June 2025 at 1:47am
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134510
Posted: 04 June 2025 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Kinda like when I learned the reprint Green Arrow stories I had read in the very early Sixties were by Jack Kirby.
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