If you were a John Byrne fanatic back in the early 80s, you may have picked up this Alpha Flight poster...
Just what you always wanted: a giant Puck hanging in your nerd room! Kind of funny, right? Vindicator, way cooler, flying over Puck's head. You would think that guy would have been front and center.
Through the miracles of Facebook groups, I saw the original art to this poster the other day...
Vindicator was added on top of the original image as an afterthought! Weird huh? Well maybe not so weird. At the time Byrne did this poster, Alpha Flight #12 had already been published where (SPOILERS for 1984) Vindicator died at the very end of the story. I recall the poster coming out around the same time or shortly after. So possibly in Byrne's mind, Vindicator was no longer part of the team and not in the poster. But someone made him put the character back and was added on top of the original image.
I remember seeing this in the 1970s, but not where it appeared: the Marvel Universe stars from that era by John Byrne.
Hard to place the year as Omega the Unknown is there--he debuted in 1976 along with Nova. Yet the original X-Men are there and not the new X-Men. Was it a poster? A Marvel Age thing or a house ad? Perhaps you know! Nuff Said.
A couple of Silver Surfer team-ups with DC Comics, from John Byrne...
Silver Surfer and The Flash. Norrin Radd has no problem keeping up with Barry Allen in this scene. Could the Surfer, who probably travels at light speed, be fast enough to enter the Speed Force?
Silver Surfer and The Black Racer! Entirely appropriate since both characters were created by Jack Kirby. I always thought the Racer had a relationship to the Surfer because of their travel gimmick. Nuff Said.
I can spend hours looking at scans of John Byrne commissions that he has done over the past few years. This one of Doctor Strange will make any fan of the mystic master pay attention...
Doc's most vital scenes played out in this fantastic montage: the Ancient One, Clea, Dormammu, Baron Mordo, the Defenders, etc. Priceless! Nuff Said.
Over the years I've posted over 25 Silver Surfer illustrations...here are five of my all time favorites.
Jack Kirby, the co-creator of Norrin Radd, of course is the grand master of drawing this character. While I love a lot of the Fantastic Four covers, this illustration, inked by Al Gordon, knocked me out when I saw it on Al's Flickr page.
John Buscema drew the Surfer in a more sleek, stylized way...in truth, I saw Buscema's version first and regarded it as the model. It took me quite a while to appreciate Kirby's approach. But my all time favorite Buscema drawing is this cover to Silver Surfer #3, where he fought Thor on the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard.
John Byrne only drew the Silver Surfer a few times, most notably in this 1982 Silver Surfer one-shot special. I thought this was a great story, wrapping up several years of continuity, and it was the first time that Byrne had worked with inker Tom Palmer. The cover is magnificient--the Surfer longingly gazes at the cosmos in the way that Jeff Spicoli looks at the waves in Malibu.
Marvel Fanfare #45 from 1988 was a special issue devoted to pinups. Editor Al Milgrom picked some notable artists to contribute this stellar issue. Michael Golden’s Captain America pinup here is a prime example. How many times have you seen Cap take down Hydra agents? Many times, but never like you see it here in Golden’s pinup.
Brent Anderson contributed this pinup featuring Ka-Zar, Shanna the She Devil, and Zabu in their native Savage Land. Zabu is stealing the spotlight here. I hereby declare Anderson to be the definitive artist for Zabu!
Paul Smith drew this excellent illustration of the Green Goblin flying above Manhattan on his glider. Love the angle of this picture.
Here is the cover to Marvel Fanfare #45, featuring Al Milgrom lining up all the Marvel Universe stars (featured in this issue) for their portraits to be taken. I’ll share some more pinups from the issue tomorrow. Nuff Said!
Mighty Avengers has been recreating a number of classic covers for this series of stories during the Secret Invasion. The cover to Mighty Avengers #14 has Marko Djurdjevic recreating one of my favorite Avengers covers of all time...
Avengers #57 cover by John Buscema, inks by George Klein. What a dramatic way to introduce a new character! Is he friend or foe? The answer was not obvious, as the Vision was sent to destroy the Avengers by his creator, Ultron. He was able to defy Ultron, which led to the Vision becoming a full fledged Avenger. He was a unique character that was created solely to be in this team book, unlike the other Avengers, who had all been created elsewhere. His origins and behavior were shrouded in mystery which provided a meaty subplot for the next five years worth of stories.
West Coast Avengers #45 cover by John Byrne. Notice Byrne's signature on the lower left, giving credit not only to John Buscema, but to George Klein as well. This is a philosophy that both John Byrne and Walt Simonson shared, giving credit back to the original artist when recreating a famous cover. I just thought both of them were complete gentlemen for doing this.
Mighty Avengers #14 cover by Marko Djurdjevic. It's a shame that credit was not given to Buscema on the cover or inside the credits page. I cannot fault Djurdjevic, it seems to be a corporate policy now at Marvel. Djurdjevic follows the original composition by Buscema very closely. Note the position of the four figures (Black Panther, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Wasp) are exactly the same as the original.
While I've come to really love Bendis' Avengers, I cannot forgive him for destroying the Vision back in Avengers #500. I know he's still running around in Young Avengers, but without his memories or the Human Torch's body parts, it ain't the same. I was really hoping the Vision who came out of the Skrull ship in Secret Invasion #1 would be the real deal. Alas, as this cover indicates, Bendis robbed us again. Nuff Said!
The 1979 book The Art of John Byrne featured a couple of nifty illustrations for that era of the Marvel Universe...
This one in particular is a joy, capturing my favorite X-Men and Avengers teams, with the Fantastic Four thrown in for good measure. Byrne wouldn't take over the FF until two years later in 1981--this was a harbinger of things to come!
The cover to this book featured Byrne's own creation, Rog-2000, driving terror into the hearts of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, and the Vision.
If you ever find this book at a con, it's very much worth having! Nuff Said.
Surely all fans of the Claremont/Byrne X-Men run remember this panel from the very last page of Uncanny X-Men #132 (1980)!
After being dumped in the sewers, Wolverine vowed to open up a can of whup-ass on the Hellfire Club, which he did in the next issue. It was an exciting image, with the shadows of the sewer grate above shining down on Wolvy's costume.
John Byrne re-interpreted this moment for an illustration that appeared in his X-Men portfolio in 1993. This version features a lot more muck and sewer gunk that surrounds Wolverine--a truly awful place to be!
Here's the pen & ink version of this illustration. I imagine that some art collectors have commissioned similar pieces? If so, please share them in the comments below. Nuff Said!
Another John Byrne pic to tickle your funny bone, from The Comic Reader 128 in 1976.
Howard the Duck—who was launched into his own title in 1975—gets kicked in the tail by Rog-2000. Rog-2000 was a creation of Byrne’s that appeared in the back of Charlton Comics E-Man. Far from an emotionless robot, Rog-2000 suffers from a bad case of comic-strip envy. Nuff Said!
When the X-Men creative team was about to change in 1977, Dave Cockrum drew this cover for The Comic Reader #145.
John Byrne introduces himself to the X-Men, who have no idea who he is or why Cockrum is missing.
I can't remember exactly, but I believe this cover appeared a few months before John Byrne's first issue of the X-Men, #108, cover dated December. I do remember feeling the loss of Cockrum on the title, but feeling like Byrne could pull it off, since he had done so well on Starlord (see Claremont, Byrne & Austin's Classic Take on Star-Lord) and Iron Fist.
It was a great way for Dave Cockrum to hand over the reins of the X-Men, a title he visually re-designed for a new era. Nuff Said!
Here's a big laugh courtesy of John Byrne, from The Comic Reader 143, circa 1977. It was around this period when Iron Fist was set to become Luke Cage's best buddy--and share the masthead when Power Man was re-titled Power Man and Iron Fist with issue #50. Claremont and Byrne were the creators behind this odd couple pairing.
The signature reads: John Byrne, from an idea by Roger Stern, with apologies to Don Martin. Don Martin was one of the premiere artists from Mad Magazine, who drew funny characters with elongated features. Why not take a visit to the Don Martin Shrine today? Nuff Said!
What was hot during the Marvel Age? The Marvel Age wasn't an era, it was a comic magazine--Marvel's way of keeping fans informed during the 1980s. Here are some of the offbeat characters that were showcased.
Cloak and Dagger burst free of supporting character status into their own mini-series in 1983. I always thought that both Bill Mantlo and Rick Leonardi did some of their best work ever on this title.
I remember buying a really cool Cloak and Dagger poster that Leonardi and Terry Austin drew. Does anyone have a decent scan of that? It was a great image and I'd like to feature it here.
The Micronauts were red-hot as well, even after Michael Golden left the series. Jackson "Butch" Guice came along and injected new excitement into the characters. After the X-Men became popular, it was only natural that Marvel would produce a limited series featuring the two teams getting together.
You have to love Storm's mohawk and biker-girl outfit in this one. Wolverine's supposed to be front and center, but that mohawk is like a vortex.
I believe Arcturus (Commander) Rann is making a comeback in the current Son of Hulk mini-series.
Alpha Flight made a big splash in 1983 when it received a solo title, the first Marvel series created, written, and drawn by John Byrne (who started his Fantastic Four run around the same time). This image was also used as a promotional poster.
Fans were excited--Alpha Flight always gave the X-Men a run for their money, and the series sold well but eventually ran out of steam. The scene I'll always remember is the conclusion of issue #12, where Vindicator dies trying to disengage the circuitry in his costume. That was well done, Byrne totally disrupted reader expectations with that one. Nuff Said!
The Thing pinup by John Byrne, featured in the Fantastic Four Special Edition that I yakked up two weeks ago. Byrne portrayed Ben Grimm as he appeared in the early issues of the FF, somewhat lumpy in places, rather than his modern rocky design. Nuff said!
John Byrne originally gave this tutorial as a pinup page in the Thing #5 (1983). Byrne's third and fourth rules were especially important to artists who followed him: Avoid the Fozzie Thing! He is a monster, not a teddy bear! Keep him craggy! Nuff said.
In 1980, John Byrne was the featured interview in issue #57 of The Comics Journal. Byrne and his superstar inker Terry Austin provided the cover. Here's the original black and white version.
The classic core team of Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler. Here's the actual color cover...
This was one of my favorite TCJ issues of all time. The Byrne interview was full of behind the scenes stuff like his love for Wolverine and modeling some of his character from Clint Eastwood. Byrne also talked openly about his disagreements with Claremont and desire to write his own material. In addition to all of this, you had Steve Gerber, Harlan Ellison, and a Daredevil story rejected by the Comics Code. Why did I ever throw away this issue? Insanity. Nuff said.
