New/Old Superman Artist!

[nightwing]

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).

[Klar Ken T5477]

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.

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

[nightwing]

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.

[TELLE]

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.

[RodOdom]

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

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

[Klar Ken T5477]

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:

[Bill 9000]

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.

[GeorgeKirk]

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.