Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Great krypton! hey Rao, me got a scoop! :shock:  :wink:

heard this direct last night from the horse's mouth ...  a new penciller on one of the Superman titles in 05 will be none other than JOHN BYRNE himself!

He's a pretty cool guy actually. :twisted:

GREAT RAO!

I'm sure that personally Byrne is a fantastic guy, but please DC, don't let him anywhere near a writer's desk!

Don't get me wrong - I loved his work on X-Men, FF, She Hulk, Hulk, Next Men, Rog 2000, etc.  But I don't think he should write a DC book at all.  An announcement that would make me really happy would be if he were talking over Thor or something.  Yes, reading Waid's FF and Byrne's Thor every month would be a blast.

His issues of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Generations really turned me off of DC big time.  Much too sick and twisted, with no heros anywhere in them.  I did like his OMAC and 4th world stuff, though, but those are really Marvel characters in everything but name.

My other fear is that given DC's apparent lack of editorial overship (and inability to decide just what Superman's origin actually is), we'll have Loeb in one title writing about a Superman with the Birthright origin, and Byrne over in another title writing about a Superman with the Man of Steel origin, while DC just claims, "Well, that way we have something for everybody, see!"  :roll:

John's not writing - just pencilling.  It's his idea of having fun. :D

Unless things have changed drastically in comicdom, Byrne can't help fiddling with any story even if he's 'just drawing' it.  He first achieved notoriety when he drew Wolverine killing a guard instead of knocking him out like the writer wrote it.

Byrne on a project in any capacity = Byrne mucking up the works.

Although Byrne's schtick, as far as I gleaned from recent reports of his convention actions, is to respect writing/editing and the current incarnation (costume, haircut, etc) of characters unless he has agreed to do a revamp (like in Doom Patrol).  It sounds like just a "mindless" illustration job to me.

I sure hope this isn't true.

What he said was that he "pencilling one of the Superman titles"..draw your own conclusions. :wink:

Well, the good news here is that DC seems to finally be bending their "no big names on the Superman books" policy.  This could lead to better things down the road.

I for one am not too worried about Byrne's possible addition.  DC is constantly shuffling the Superman creative team around, making announcements right and left, but it never seems to make any difference.  The books continue to be watered down pap.  I can't really see anyone having any influence in the current structure.

I'm not so sure Byrne is a "big name" anymore, honestly.  That may be one reason he's doing another job as penciller when he used to get whole books to himself.

It'd be hard to imagine a "creator" whose been a bigger disappointment to me that John Byrne.  In the post-Adams comics landscape, he was my next big hero with his work on X-Men and the FF, but things went downhill fast and once he hit rock bottom, he started to dig.  Bad writing is just one of his problems; he's also been in a steady decline artistically until now about the only thing of his I can look at is "Funky Winkerbean." (It's not a funny strip, but nobody's been murdered, raped or maimed lately so I assume he's not writing that, either).

Speaking of "raped, murdered or maimed', Nightwing, I dont believe he has anything to do with DC's current Identity Crisis....
Which i find partuclarly reprehensible BTW ...that the adult themes of life have to be found in "funny books".

 As for myself, i just saw a Jimmy Olsen annual on e-bay where he has some WEIRD transformations and that just smacks of enetertainment and escapism...and me likey a lot. :D

I wish comics were still for kids and not"dark" crap. :roll:

I've thumbed through a couple issue of IC, but that was more than enough.  I understand even the people who were psyched about it at first are now pretty ticked off with the ending, which is kind of a cheat (in terms of the killer's ID), short on action and, ultimately, doesn't really "change the DC Universe" as promised. In fact, except for some unlucky supporting characters it pretty much returns the DCU to the status quo.

The more I interact with fans who get some satisfaction out of watching tragedy, depravity and brutality visited on goofy characters in spandex and capes, the more convinced I am that fandom in general is an increasingly weird and perverse collection of oddballs on the fringes of society.  I mean, it just don't add up.  If your thing is tragedy, then why dress it up in bright colors and masks?  But if your thing is wild costumes and high adventure, why would you want to drag in acts of cruelty and ugliness?  That's why comics can't bring in new readers and keep them; people interested in bonafide, gut-wrenching drama will not waste their time on comic books, and people in search of fun and adventure will find darkness and a sick-minded outlook, and give up quickly.

It just don't add up.

Some interesting thoughts.  I largely agree with your assessment of fandom, with a few exceptions.

Of course, Sailor Moon and the animated Teen Titans and Justice League all wear costumes and are/were extremely popular.  Examples abound of costumed superheroes for a general audience with a huge fan-base that is not (any more than normal) sadistic.

It's totally official now. Gail Simone writing, Byrne pencilling, Nelson Decastro inking:

http://www.newsarama.com/DC/Superman/ActionSimone_Byrne.htm

Well you read it here first.

Another scoop for the kid from 2965. :wink:


BTW I agree with Nightwing.  Maybe ill start a rant later...... :roll:

I don't mind Byrne doing the pencilling chores for Action Comics ... and although I didn't like some of the stuff he did for Marvel, I thought his run on Superman was some very decent work.

Honestly, Byrne's art has been pretty subpar as of late, like he's just phoning it in. I really wish Ivan Reis and Matthew Clark weren't leaving the books. They're the two best Superman artists I've seen in a long time.

As for Identity Crisis; I just don't understand what's so "earth-shattering" about it. Basically, it's about a minor character who kills a bunch of other minor characters. I never heard of Sue Dibney or Jean Loring before now. I'm mystified as to why anybody should care about it.

Good scripts might actually tighten up Byrne's art.

Not holding my breath --I haven't read a DC hero book since Superboy 1 Million.

TELLE writes:



That's kind of my point.  When and where people do superheroes that are positive, emotionally secure, morally centered, confident and fun, people inside and outside of fandom respond in a big way.  Unfortunately, as you indicate, that tends to happen mostly in cartoons and movies now (the examples above, plus the Incredibles, for instance) and not so much in comics.  Comics editors and writers seem under the impression that such portrayals are quaint and old-fashioned at best, and childish at worst.  They bend over backward to prove how "grown up" they are and what "serious" storytellers they are by introducing misery and sadism wherever they can.  And all they do is look stupid.  

Much as modern writers like to pat themselves on the back for the infusion of pathos and sturm and drang into comics, the simple truth is that it's much easier to write stories about death and destruction -- cheap sales tricks ultimately -- than it is to write fun, solid, even uplifting stories about people we might look up to.  I'd be a lot more impressed with today's "superstar" writers if they could add to legends instead of tearing them down.  It may sell issues when you kill off a good character, but it takes a lot more talent to create one.  

Klar Ken T5477 writes:



Well, since you're from the future, tell us: how bad does Byrne's next run turn out?

 :)

Pretty good, Nightwing, but actually... I come from a parallel possible future so in my pocket universe it was darn fine. :wink:

I think DC needs to get back to basics - fun & escapism and something morally uplifting that we can all aspire to.

ARE YOU LISTENING PAUL LEVITZ?!!!!