| Author |
|
Sergio Saavedra
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 August 2007
Location: Spain
Posts: 102
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 4:25pm | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
It's a little frustrating, but although Superman has always been my favourite superhero, it's been years that I can't hardly enjoy his stories.And it's John Byrnes fault. When I first read Man of Steel I was really impressed. His take on the character, all the changes he made, everything seemed taylor made according to my tastes and opinions. It's not because I was one of Byrne's fan that I liked his ideas so much, but the other way; I didn't know him before MOS, but he's my favourite since then. I must confess Roger Stern made me miss Byrne less than I thought, but after him, well, I can really fully enjoy one of Superman's stories very rarely. I like to read Action Comics and Superman because I like the character, and the secondaries, and his world, and I'm longing to read something that I really like. When I read the new Action Comics, I liked the fresh atmosphere I could feel, and I liked the dynamism of the character and of the stories. But when I saw the Golden Age Krypton again, even with a kind of superdog, and the city into a bottle, and Superman's badge being a Kryptonian badge instead of our letter "S" (ugh) and so on, well, I thought I could just ignore it and enjoy the stories. But now I begin to have the impression that that dynamism leads to no particular place, and I'm growing a little fed up of reading again and again that Superman is an alien.
When I read Trio #2 I fully realized that even though one can have his personal favourite characters, in the end is a nice art and specially a good story that makes you enjoy the experience of reading a comic, even though the characters are not so familiar.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Michael Hogan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1351
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
Amen. JB proved to be a tough act to follow on the Man of Steel
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| email
|
| |
Pete Carrubba
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 June 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2457
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
JB is a tough act to follow on ANYTHING.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| email
|
| |
Didier Yvon Paul Fayolle
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 January 2005
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 4726
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
Agree with that !
I discovered Superman with JB...
The other artists after tried their best... In vain !
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Dale Gonsalves
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 April 2004
Location: Jamaica
Posts: 466
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 5:42pm | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
I left X-Men years after Byrne left, as a matter of fact hung around until Chris Claremont left. I followed Superman for years after Byrne left but the one series that Byrne spoiled for me forever is Fantastic Four.
I read it in pieces when it came out, and around issue 300 went back and got an entire Byrne run and read it over a two weeks period, and that was it, neither Claremont & Alan Davis or Jim Lee or Dale Eaglesham or anyone ever got me back to reading FF on an on-going basis. I have heard good things about Mark Waid and Mike Weiringo' run, have'nt read it yet, should look into it, see if the jinx can be broken.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| email
|
| |
Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 5274
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 6:32pm | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
There is that strange paradox that the better someone is on a title, the more likely they are to 'ruin' it for you once they leave. In the sense that once the high watermark is set everything else is usually a disappointment.
Certainly JB's runs on FF, Incredible Hulk, Alpha flight, AWC and Namor all left me unable to follow the titles in the immediate wake of his departure, such was the gulf in quality in that which followed from that which went before.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Cole
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 March 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 190
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 10:22pm | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
JB Just has respect for every character(s) he's ever worked on and it shows in all his stories.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| email
|
| |
Aaron Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 10030
|
| Posted: 15 June 2012 at 11:25pm | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
JB Just has respect for every character(s) he's ever worked on and it shows in all his stories *** That's what makes JB the only creator in comics that I truly trust anymore when it comes to Marvel or DC characters. While I'd love to be able to follow the work of Alan Davis or Walt Simonson or various others, Marvel and DC are just too $%#&ed up now to risk time and money on. I know JB won't work for them under current conditions. If he ever did work for them again, I know it would be safe to follow.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
| email
|
| |
Sam Karns
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7074
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 1:34am | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
One of the reasons why I like Byrne's stories is he respects the characters, and his stories always felt they were well thought out. As if there were an end game to his run. I can't think of another writer/ artist who can do that.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Jeff Dyer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 January 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 73
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 6:31am | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
As a MAJOR Superman fan (got a tattoo on my 40th birthday of the S-shield!) I have to say that John's run on MAN OF STEEL, SUPERMAN and ACTION are among my favorite of all time. Those books hit at just the right time for me. I first discovered JB's work on FANTASTIC FOUR. I remember how amazed I was by the artwork. "Who is this guy?" was all I could think. Then, just as I was falling in love with his art, he switched from Marvel to DC...and to my favorite character of all time who desperately needed a refresh. If you were reading Superman at that time, Julius Schwartz (God rest his soul!) was editing the books and they had slipped into formulaic short stories. JB's MAN OF STEEL was perhaps (even to this day) the most anticipated comics release for me. I remember vividly reading the articles in Comics Buyers Guide with the headline: "Byrne to revamp Superman", "Story begins all over again with Volume 2, Number 1". It was absolutely the most exciting thing I could imagine as a Superman fan. Then it came out! I believe it was 4th of July weekend, 1986? I was 15 years old. The stories were exciting and beautiful and so so much fun. I wish JB's Superman had lasted longer than 22 issues, but when you factor in all the other Action stories and stuff, I think JB wrote and drew the equivalent of 4-5 years worth of stories in those two years! Following JB, I have to say there were several creators who did a fine job. Jerry Ordway and Dan Jurgens certainly come to mind. Years later, I loved the Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness Supes. DC needs to find a creator (or writer and artist) to stay on the book for a good long run and produce some great stories, the same level of quality established by Mr. Byrne! So thanks, JB, for your Superman...still memorable after all these years! Quick sidenote: I remember JB's text page in MAN OF STEEL #1, talking about how (in 25 years or so) someone else might refresh Superman. It's hard to imagine that's been TWENTY-SIX YEARS since that seminal work! Wow. And he was right...Supes has been refreshed (by Grant Morrison, etc.) for the New 52!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Aaron Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 10030
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 8:09am | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
Still my favorite cover ever. 
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
| email
|
| |
Joe Hollon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 11276
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 9:56am | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
That SUPERMAN #1 cover would be a neat one to commission artists to do homages to replacing Superman with various heroes and Metallo with various villains in the same pose! I like that idea if I do say so myself!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
| email
|
| |
Jeff Dyer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 January 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 73
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | 13
|
|
|
I love that cover, too! BUT...I remember seeing it and being very surprised. It's not what I expected for a "First Issue Cover"...y'know, Supes standing with hands on hips in an iconic pose, ala George Reeves in the opening of his TV show. And for a while I felt SUPERMAN #1 "deserved" a more traditional debut issue cover. Then I realized MAN OF STEEL #1 was JB's first issue and THAT cover(s) was certainly VERY iconic! Both versions of MOS #1 were fantastic, but I'd give the slight edge to the close up of the S-shield. It's one of only two books I have personally signed by JB (back around 1998 in Chicago, I believe)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Juan Jose Colin Arciniega
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7761
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 1:56pm | IP Logged | 14
|
|
|
I don't blame JB...I blame the ones that came after him...
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
| email
|
| |
Stephen Churay
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 5136
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 8:58pm | IP Logged | 15
|
|
|
I don't blame JB...I blame the ones that came after him...
====
Sadly, we've become a society that doesn't use excellence as a
benchmark to be reached. We seem to be just fine with mediocrity.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| email
|
| |
Jean-Francois Joutel
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 November 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 181
|
| Posted: 16 June 2012 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | 16
|
|
|
Still my favorite cover ever.
------------------------------------------
Only thing, IMO, that would improve the cover is to get rid of the text. It's as if someone thought having empty space is a sin.
"You know what this great cover needs? MORE CLUTTER!"
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Petter Myhr Ness
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 July 2009
Location: Norway
Posts: 1544
|
| Posted: 17 June 2012 at 3:52am | IP Logged | 17
|
|
|
I agree in the sense that JB's run is one of my favourite Superman runs ever. But I'd been reading Superman for a few years before JB took over the title(s), and I read him for many years after. There was always much to enjoy.
However, the last few years have taken its toll on an old fan. The constant need to "re-invent the character for a modern audience" saw DC dwelling more and more on the origin aspect, apparantly without being happy with the result. Like just writing Superman stories was too hard. Or that the character had been around for 75 years wasn't proof enough of his durability.
There are interesting contrasts from MAN OF STEEL and to what they've been doing for the last few years. MOS was a reboot, but JB stripped away a lot of unneccesary things while remaining true to the character. The character of Superman was wholly intact. What DC's been doing since 2004's BIRTHRIGHT, has been all about changing the character. And of course bringing back a lot of the unnecessary things that JB removed.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Topic Closed)
