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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136853
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 12:11pm | IP Logged | 1
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Came upon a TikTok thread (not something that I normally follow) discussing the Claremont/Byrne run on UNCANNY and declaring it to be “old fashioned”.A fifty year old series. Do people even understand the words they use?
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13338
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | 2
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You mean in 1988, you didn't dismiss Action Comics #1 as old fashioned?
Edited by Michael Penn on 17 August 2026 at 1:26pm
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 2:02pm | IP Logged | 3
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Looking up on the internet about this (and now I need a shower), it seems the majority focus of this "old fashioned" comment is directed at Chris Claremont's dialogue and "dense" writing overall.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 2:28pm | IP Logged | 4
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Yes—neither of which were considered “old fashioned” at the time. “Old fashioned” is not even a term that can or should be used to describe something existing in the Past—unless what’s being described is somehow deliberately old fashioned in context. Say, someone in the 12th Century choosing to wear clothing designed to look like the 5th. But what CC wrote—and by extension what I drew—was not “old fashioned” in the Seventies and Eighties. It was simply how things were done. (If ELSEWHEN was deemed “old fashioned” I would not be inclined to quibble. More likely take it as a compliment— tho probably unintentional.)
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 2:57pm | IP Logged | 5
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Relatedly, "dated/outdated" can be similarly used in a vague, lazy, and dismissive (etc.) manner. Can't take the past for what it was? Move on.
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Peter Hicks
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 2160
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 2:58pm | IP Logged | 6
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JB - By the time X-Men got to the death of Jean Grey, you are Chris had brought back all the original 5 X-Men...except Iceman. Was there a particular reason he was not brought back to the lineup?
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Matthew Nelson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 July 2026
Location: United States
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 3:11pm | IP Logged | 7
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Not really a question this time, more just wanted to share something. Went through #137 with my son a while back, the Phoenix death sequence, and he went completely silent for a solid minute after the last page. Didn't say a word, just sat there staring at that final panel. That silence is still the best review I've ever gotten of anything I've shown him. Been thinking about how much of that is the pacing into it, the choice of what to show full-page versus what to hold back. Anyway, credit where it's due.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 3:30pm | IP Logged | 8
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By the time X-Men got to the death of Jean Grey, you are Chris had brought back all the original 5 X-Men...except Iceman. Was there a particular reason he was not brought back to the lineup?••• I wasn’t happy about the way I drew him.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 4:09pm | IP Logged | 9
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Inside baseball question: since you were the co-plotter, JB, did that give you more leverage than an artist would typically have had back then with Mr. Claremont as the writer, and I suppose also with Editor Jim Shooter, to be granted a request to not include Iceman?
[I don't know how strict or not Marvel was (and maybe DC was different).]
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Rob Fronczak
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | 10
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It's hard to read dialogue written 50-60 years ago through current eyes. Stans "hip teenage language" in the original ASM is cringeworthy if you look at it with today's sensibilities. Read the Teen Brigade dialogue in the early Avengers stories and you will just shake your head. But that was acceptable dialogue back in those days. What I enjoyed reading when I was 9-10 years old is not enjoyable to a 70 year old reading it. But as John always says, those books were not meant to be read by anyone older than a teenager, which is why that dialogue does not hold up today.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 17 August 2026 at 4:41pm | IP Logged | 11
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But as John always says, those books were not meant to be read by anyone older than a teenager……••• When did I say that? These books are meant to be read by anyone who can accept them as is.
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